- Published
New Zealand voted in a new government as fog choked the capital, Wellington, on Saturday - and the mood was as palpable as the grey weather.
asserted
mood → publish → weather
"It's pretty flat," 21-year-old Imogen Vlutger says.
asserted
Vlutger → say → ?
I think we're all tired," Symone, 28, admits.
asserted
Symone → think → ?
"I didn't even vote," one man in his 40s sheepishly confesses.
asserted
man → vote → 40s
He couldn't bring himself to tick any of the boxes, he explains, declining to chat further.
asserted
he → bring → boxes
"Wellington's a bit of a bubble," another voter says, expressing a caveat I heard often, before describing feeling disillusioned.
asserted
I → say → caveat
But polling shows this is a pervasive sentiment across the country: the national mood is low and faith in politics is even lower.
asserted
faith → show → politics
More than half the country no longer sees it as a land of opportunity, a recent study found, while a similar portion fears that the future looks even worse.
asserted
future → see → opportunity
Many Kiwis feel the economy is in ruins, there are no jobs, the cost of living has become sky high, the sense of community that used to be a source of national pride is breaking down and there's no sense of genuine progress on policy solutions.
A record number of them are abandoning ship in search of brighter futures elsewhere.
Saturday's election also saw a record number of voters desert the two major parties, giving neither a clear mandate.
asserted
number → feel → mandate
But it brought new highs for parties across the spectrum: the left-leaning Greens, the right-wing libertarian Act Party and the centrist Opportunity Party – the latter of which had never won a seat in parliament before but could now hold the balance of power with seven.
uncertain
latter → bring → seven
"You have voted to change New Zealand politics for good," the party's ecstatic leader Quilae Wong told Kiwis on election night.
asserted
leader → vote → night
"I personally came into this because I was frustrated at the slow pace of change."
asserted
I → come → change
It will likely be weeks before we know exactly who will make up the governing coalition and what deals have been made to form it.
asserted
deals → know → it
But this is only the first of many challenges facing whoever is the next prime minister of a country at a crossroads.
asserted
whoever → face → crossroads
A perfect storm
New Zealand hasn't always felt like this.
For a long time, the country was viewed as a land of milk and honey – literally – for those who worked hard, with its people ranking amongst the most positive in the world.
A satisfying career, access to quality healthcare, and a close network of family and friends – which research suggests are the three most important building blocks of a happy life – were all there for the taking, University of Auckland Prof Robert MacCulloch says.
uncertain
MacCulloch → feel → Auckland
"The lifestyle was good," the world-leader in the study of happiness economics tells the BBC.
asserted
leader → tell → BBC
"You weren't the highest paid, but you could get by nicely."
uncertain
you → pay → ?
Many who spoke to the BBC said the country's decline accelerated into a dive during the Covid pandemic.
asserted
decline → speak → pandemic
Unemployment is now at an 11-year high and rising.
asserted
Unemployment → rise → high
For Kiwis aged under 24, things haven't been this bad in three decades: jobs are so scarce that one in three either cannot get enough work or have none at all.
asserted
one → age → none
Michael Dawson says he did everything he thought he was supposed to: finished school, studied a trade and obtained a qualification, and has applied for dozens of jobs.
But it's been a year now and the job market is so dire he hasn't had a single interview.
"It has sucked.
asserted
It → say → interview
I'm somewhat cynical with the way I think [about the future] now," the 20-year-old says.
asserted
old → think → future
Zainab Ali, chief executive of support service Youth Inspire, has never seen demand so high, with waitlists for its employment aid workshops stretching into the hundreds.
asserted
waitlists → see → hundreds
The young people who do make it through their doors on the outskirts of Wellington are disheartened.
asserted
who → make → Wellington
"The things we used to hear from everyone's grumpy uncle around the Christmas table sometimes, our young people are now starting to give us that same feedback: like, 'What's the point?'
asserted
point → use → feedback
Meanwhile, household electricity bills have jumped drastically, partly driven by global supply shocks.
asserted
bills → jump → shocks
New Zealand remains one of the least affordable places on Earth to rent or buy a home.
asserted
Zealand → remain → home
High inflation means every dollar is having to stretch further.
asserted
dollar → mean → ?
The island nation produces enough food to feed its population eight times over, but about a quarter of adults are skipping meals because the price of groceries – set by a supermarket duopoly – is among the highest in the developed world.
asserted
price → produce → world
And the headlines are full of healthcare crises: long waiting lists, chronic understaffing, crumbling health infrastructure and climbing costs for patients.
asserted
headlines → crumble → patients
Few stories have captured the state of the system like the death of a man who collapsed in an emergency department toilet after a nine-hour wait in July.
asserted
who → capture → July
"There's a segment of the population that are facing real material hardship... and then there's another segment of New Zealanders that are quite anxious that they could be next," political scientist Luke Oldfield, from Victoria University of Wellington, says.
uncertain
Oldfield → be → Wellington
Increasingly polarised public debate – around topics like Māori rights and the Treaty of Waitangi, healthcare for LGBT+ people and immigration – have added to the mental load for many in those communities.
"There's been a few groups feeling like they're being used as a political football," Dr Lara Greaves, who studies Indigenous politics, says.
asserted
who → add → politics
This perfect storm is driving about 180 people to leave the country every day – a record-breaking exodus that is dividing families, shrinking communities and draining talent pools.
asserted
that → drive → pools
Siblings Sam and Emily tell the BBC that they love New Zealand but find it hard to keep finding reasons to stay.
asserted
it → tell → reasons
Their friends are leaving en masse and even their parents have considered moving to Australia.
asserted
parents → leave → Australia
"It's not just that you're being rewarded for going to Australia, it's that you're kind of actively being punished for staying here," Sam says.
asserted
Sam → reward → Australia
There are still large parts of the country that feel differently, though.
asserted
that → be → country
At the nation's largest livestock saleyard in the town of Feilding, where farmers from all over the island have gathered, Stu Morton says the last year was the best he's had in his 30-year career.
asserted
he → gather → career
The agriculture industry - which makes up about 3% of New Zealand's GDP - was struggling under the previous Labour government's emissions reductions scheme, he adds, but has turned a corner under the National Party.
asserted
he → make → Party
…and 28 more, not listed.
The Aporia
