After last night's close election tally, parties will be scrambling to form majorities. Labour leader Helen Clark thanked "mainstream New Zealand" for its support, while National leader Don Brash refused to concede defeat. While the results so far fail to tell who will form the next government, the figures do prove the powerful influence of the divisions opened up by this years campaign. While the traditional divide between rural and urban New Zealand held strong, one of the most influential dissections of the nation was the conservative Christian values dragged into the political mainstream through both religious groups and secular parties. Religious Affairs Professor Paul Morris says New Zealanders aren't as liberal as Labour thought they were, since National had deliberately introduced a moral agenda into the campaign, by appealing to a clearly defined “mainstream” under attack from Labour's social policies. The National party clearly won over the majority of Christians and moral conservatives yesterday, as National's success contrasted the poor results of Christian parties. Christian Heritage last night had 0.15% support, Destiny had 0.55%, and United Future, formed out of the explicitly Christian Future New Zealand party, dropped from 8 seats parliament to only three so far this election. The election campaign had a uniquely moral tone with criticism of Labour's policies such as Civil Unions, the Prostitution reform legislation and anti-discrimination and hate-speech bills being used as ammunition for elaborate campaigns by parties courting the conservative voters, and by groups such as the Exclusive Brethren and the Maxim Institute leading up to yesterday's vote. The shape of New Zealand's next government will be formed over the coming weeks, as the 218,000 special votes are still being counted, and parties are bargaining for support and seats. Labour has 50 seats so far, and with the Green's six seats they need another six to have majority in parliament. Don Brash, however, believes the race for power is still wide open. He does not believe Labour will be able to form a Government, given the volatility of the minor parties it wants to form a coalition with. Minor parties are keeping quiet about their options, as they know they hold a lot of power and can bargain with either side to get into government.
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Sunday, 18th September 2005 - 12:00pm