New Zealand voted in a new government on Saturday as fog choked the capital, Wellington — and the mood was as palpable as the grey weather. "It's pretty flat," 21-year-old Imogen Vlutger says. "There's this kind of apathy and a bit of dread." "Tired. I think we're all tired," Symone, 28, admits. One man in his 40s sheepishly confesses: "I didn't even vote." He couldn't bring himself to tick any of the boxes, he explains, declining to chat further. "Wellington's a bit of a bubble," another voter says, expressing a caveat I heard often, before describing feeling disillusioned. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing BBC News.
Election results
Saturday's election also saw a record number of voters desert the two major parties, giving neither a clear 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. "You have voted to change New Zealand politics for good," the party's ecstatic leader Quilae Wong told Kiwis on election night. "I personally came into this because I was frustrated at the slow pace of 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.
Economic hardship
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. 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. Unemployment is now at an 11-year high and rising. 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.
Youth sentiment
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. A lot... I'm somewhat cynical with the way I think [about the future] now," the 20-year-old says. 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. The young people who do make it through their doors on the outskirts of Wellington are disheartened. "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?'"