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New Zealand’s National Party government has won its third consecutive election, increasing its vote and trouncing the Labour Party.
Echoing Paul Keating’s true believers speech, Key said of his win: “This is a victory for those who kept the faith.”
As counting drew to a close tonight, National had won 48.1% of the vote, an increase of 0.8%. It appears certain to win 61 seats in the 120-member House of Representatives, an increase of two. [Read more…]
The New Zealand Labour Party government has been defeated in today’s general election.
The Prime Minister, Helen Clark, has conceded defeat and announced her resignation as Labour leader.
“My job as leader of the Labour Party is complete,” Clark told supporters.
Clark’s government was elected in 1999 and served three terms.
The new Prime Minister will John Key, leader of the National Party. [Read more…]
Following a newspaper report this morning that the former Defence Minister, Peter Reith, had contradicted statements by the Prime Minister, John Howard, about when they spoke to each other and what was said about allegations asylum seekers threw children overboard, both men made media appearances today to show that they are in fact in agreement.
Reith has criticised the report in The Australian, whilst the government seemed happy to both defend Reith and allow him to take the flak for Children Overboard. As always, John Howard chose his words carefully.
Howard spoke at a press conference with New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark. [Read more…]
The Prime Minister, John Howard, has returned to Australia this morning to be confronted by chaos in the nation’s airports, following the overnight shutdown of Ansett Airlines.
The airline was shut down at 2am today, but thousands of passengers have arrived at airports unaware of the closure. Passengers expecting connections with other flights are also stranded. Radio reports say that queues of up to a thousand people have formed at capital city airports.
The Deputy Prime Minister, John Anderson, has made a number of angry appearances on television and radio condemning the decision of Air New Zealand to cut Ansett adrift. Anderson claims he was only told on Sunday of the true extent of the airline’s financial difficulties. He says the Administrator appointed this week to manage the airline asked for around $170 million to keep the airline flying over the next two days. [Read more…]