NZ election 2023: What does the New Zealand election mean for Australia?

National Party leader Christopher Luxon, 53, will move from being a first-term MP to prime minister.

His win comes on the back of campaigning on tax breaks and being tougher on crime.

The country’s shift to the right ends Labour’s six years in office, which involved the Covid-19 pandemic, the Christchurch mosque attacks and the White Island volcano eruption.

Luxon is expected to form a government with the help of the ACT party.

In order to form government, either the left or right blocs – how New Zealand refers to coalitions – must reach 61 seats. 

With 90 per cent of the vote counted, National and Act had 61 seats between them – enough for a majority.

What will the result mean for Australia?

In short: not much. University of Sydney senior lecturer Peter Chen said it was unlikely much would shift, other than the Kiwi leader not having the same international profile as Ms Adern previously had.

Mr Evett agreed. “Regardless of who is in power, foreign policy is going to stay the same. It’s usually how Australia is as well,” he said.

So it’s unlikely we’ll see a shift in the way New Zealand feels about issues such as the joining the AUKUS submarine agreement, unless something major happens.

Both leaders met with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese when he travelled across the Tasman in July. 

During the visit both Mr Albanese and Mr Hipkins heralded the relationship as the strongest it had been in years, after wobbles during the Morrison-Ardern era over deportation of Kiwis for serious crimes and the rights of New Zealanders living in Australia.

When he was asked if a Luxon win could change that, the Australian leader declined to comment on the NZ election.

The NZ Opposition leader told the ABC at the time he saw the “very positive, very strong” relationship continuing should he be elected.

Mr Luxon noted that he had worked closely with Mr Albanese while he was chief of Air New Zealand and the Prime Minister was transport minister. Either way the vote falls, negotiations over who will form government must be finalised by November 3.

Mr Albanese publicly congratulated Mr Luxon on his election win on Sunday.

“I look forward to building our Trans-Tasman partnership into the future,” he wrote on Twitter.

The Jacinda Arden-era is over

The country took a rightwards turn nine months after former prime minister Jacinda Ardern resigned as leader.

Ms Ardern led the country through the Covid-19 pandemic, the Christchurch mosque attacks and the White Island volcano eruption.

The pandemic saw the country enforce strict lockdowns, which successfully kept infections low but battered the economy.

As a result, the cost of living became a key issue during the election.

When she stepped down from her role as leader in January, she handed the reigns to Chris Hipkins.

Mr Hipkins accepted defeat on Saturday night.

“In coming days we will ensure a smooth transition to a new government,” he said.

“Despite governing through some of the biggest challenges our government has ever faced, we kept New Zealand moving forward and we protected those who needed help the most.”