OPINION: Mr Luxon, our Prime Minister, is keen on numbers. The National Party came into power by capturing approximately 38% of the votes. According to the Electoral Commission, in 2023 there were 3.6 million registered voters (out of a population of more than 5 million). National secured just under 1.1 million votes to get into power.
Luxon is also great on KPIs (key performance indicators – great for reviewing performance, or more particularly, poor performance). A quick overview; Education (or should that be education with a small “e” – it’s hard to know with all the changes to the curriculum); Health (ohhh dear, but at least National knows that its voter base is more likely to be able to afford private health insurance); Law and Order (ICE worked out well in the US didn’t it, how about "move-on" orders to assist our poorest and most in need people by preventing them from engaging in “disruptive behaviour” such as begging and sleeping rough in town centres); Race Relations (Trump was keen on a wall, maybe National thought it could sit on top of a wall before deciding which side to jump down on; Beneficiaries (National’s plan was to slash benefits to make them get back into work – unemployment was roughly 4% in December 2023, it now sits at 5.4% in December 2025 and is tipped to rise even higher).
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