But the divisions that must now be healed lie deeper than disagreements between the major parties. The success of the minor parties on both the right and left speaks to the underlying divide.
On the right, Act and NZ First appealed to voters who think Labour has taken the country too far along the path to Aotearoa New Zealand.
On the left, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori think it did not go far enough. The loss of so many Māori seats must have come as a hard blow to Labour after having spent so much political capital on empowering Māori and promoting te reo.
Luxon can defuse these issues without abandoning their cause. He could extend an invitation to Te Pāti Māori just as Sir John Key did, to see if there are planks in their platform his Government could accommodate. He could do the same with the Greens on climate policies.
Act will have more leverage in this Government than it has had before. But it has several major concerns to pursue besides co-governance. Inflation, public spending, crime, education and red tape are also its prime targets. NZ First, too, has other objectives, notably a thorough inquiry into the Covid lockdowns.
But the new Government’s first concern will be inflation. Tomorrow, the country learns the latest quarterly rise in the consumers price index. If it is not substantially down on the 6 per cent to June, the figure will lend urgency to the need to reduce spending.
National, Act and NZ First have all campaigned against Labour’s level of spending, and we can expect the Government to run a fine-tooth comb through all departments to remove virtue-signalling agencies and programmes that are not producing much visible value.
The incoming Prime Minister has achieved the unprecedented feat of winning an election as a first-term MP. His instincts appear moderate, but his partner(s) will be in a stronger position than any we have seen. With a common purpose to get the country back on their “right track”, they should be able to agree on a cohesive coalition fairly quickly.
