2023 has been a whirlwind year of politics. Anchored by election day on October 14, the political year kicked off in earnest with former prime minister Jacinda Ardern's shock resignation announcement. From there it has been full speed ahead in the political world. 1News looks back on some of the biggest political moments of the year.
'I no longer have enough in the tank'
On January 19 2023, former prime minister and now Dame Jacinda Ardern took to the lectern in the War Memorial Centre in Napier. She was there on the regular annual Labour Party retreat. As she did so it was broadly expected she would announce the date of the general election - but she said she also had another announcement: she would stand down as prime minister and retire from parliament.
Ardern said she knew what the job took and no longer felt she had "enough in the tank" to do it justice. She officially resigned on January 25, while Chris Hipkins took over as Labour leader and therefore prime minister.
By February, New Zealand had already had two prime ministers in the one year.
Policy bonfires and ministerial malaise
In March, Hipkins sought to slim down the Government's policy agenda and, in an election year, reduce noise on some of its more costly and controversial work programmes.
It meant abandoning legislation to lower the voting age in general elections, narrowing a road speed reduction programme, and scrapping the clean car upgrade scheme, as well as a container return scheme. It also scrapped plans to merge RNZ and TVNZ, among other moves scaling down or scrapping initiatives. It was part of what Hipkins called a "bread and butter" refocus as New Zealanders felt the cost of living pinch.
But not long after a series of cascading issues with ministers began, beginning with Stuart Nash, who resigned as police minister after he revealed — on a live radio interview in March — he had spoken to Police Commissioner Andrew Coster about whether the police would appeal a case.
Further allegations emerged which saw him demoted to the bottom of Cabinet rankings while retaining his economic development, and fisheries and forestry portfolios.
One of those was the revelation the Solicitor-General considered prosecuting Nash for contempt following comments he made after the arrest of Eli Epiha, who ultimately pleaded guilty to murdering Police Constable Matthew Hunt.
Another was that he contacted a senior official from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment in September last year to ask them to look at the immigration case of a health professional in the Napier electorate.
The fourth issue — which saw him sacked from Cabinet at the end of March — regarded an email he sent to donors about Cabinet decisions and his view of them. That move broke Cabinet confidentiality and collective responsibility.
In May, Labour minister Meka Whaitiri announced she would quit the Labour Party and stand for te Pāti Māori at the general election, standing again in the Ikaroa-Rāwhiti seat. She ultimately lost the seat to Labour's Cushla Tangaere-Manuel, the only Māori electorate seat to not fall to a Te Pāti Māori candidate.
In June, a scandal ensued over Transport Minister Michael Wood's undeclared shareholdings in Auckland Airport. He first lost the transport portfolio but retained others and remained in Cabinet.
Wood then resigned as a minister after further shareholdings raised "significant concerns" for Hipkins.
The shareholdings were in the telecommunications sector and the National Australia Bank.
Wood was later punished by his Mt Roskill electorate, the usually safe Labour seat snatched by National's Carlos Cheung.
But it wasn't the end of the ministerial woes, with Labour's Kiri Allan facing questions over treatment of staff in her office. It emerged she was facing mental health challenges and a relationship break up, briefly taking time off to recuperate, before coming back to work.
Shortly after, she crashed her car in Wellington while under the influence of alcohol, and was arrested. She then resigned from her ministerial roles and said she would not stand again in the East Coast electorate. It was contested instead by former Waiariki MP Tāmati Coffey, but National's Dana Kirkpatrick won the seat.
Other parties also grappled with issues with MPs or candidates - perhaps the most notable among them was the Greens' Elizabeth Kerekere.
'Back on track' or 'in it for you'?
The election campaign kicked off in Auckland with the Labour Party campaign launch at the beginning of September, held just a day before National's in the same city. While peppered with interruptions from Freedoms NZ protesters throughout the beginning of his speech, Hipkins took the opportunity to also launch Labour's first major election policy: removing GST from fruit and vegetables.
The policy had mixed reviews.
Other policies followed: free dental for under 30s, more cops, more doctors, more state houses and rebates for solar panels. Hipkins also explicitly ruled out a capital gains or wealth tax under his leadership.
Hipkins visited the love shack while Luxon got cheesy. The photo ops came daily. A big blue bus toured the country, and ACT even had its own plane, Flying Pinky.
National's launch in Manurewa took on an American political rally style, but didn't come with any policy announcements. But they soon came: a new medical school, a tough stance on gangs, reviving roads of national significance, scrapping blanket speed reductions, banning cellphones in schools and mandating an hour each of maths, writing and reading every day in schools.
But of course it was not a two horse race. New Zealand First, cast to the political wilderness after a trouncing in the 2020 election, returned all guns blazing in yet another comeback, ultimately being a crucial cog in the formation of the new Government.
The Green Party had its most successful election to date, with 15 seats, and winning three electorates - Auckland Central, Wellington Central and Rongotai. ACT also had its best result, winning 8.6% of the party vote, giving it 11 MPs. Te Pāti Māori also had a blinder, winning all but one of the seven Māori seats.
New Zealanders decided on October 14. It would be 48 seats for National, 11 for ACT, and eight for New Zealand First - enough to form a coalition government. Labour languished, punished in the polls with just 34 seats. Even with the Greens 15 seats and te Pāti Māori's six seats, it wouldn't be enough for a third term.
And so - New Zealanders got their third prime minister for 2023: Christopher Mark Luxon, leader of the National Party.
Viva la stakeout
But it wasn't to be completely straightforward, for a coalition had to be formed, and that takes some talking. And some more talking. And some more.
In a relative vacuum of information, New Zealand's political journalists camped outside known locations of National, ACT and New Zealand First MPs to get New Zealanders little updates on the formation of their new Government.
While there was some impatience from some quarters, by the end of November it was clear there was just one remaining issue: who would be deputy prime minister.
A coalition deal was announced on November 24, and it was revealed New Zealand First leader Winston Peters would take the role for the first 18 months of the three-year term, with ACT leader David Seymour taking over for the remainder. Peters would also be Foreign Minister, while Seymour established a new ministry as Regulation Minister.
Luxon and the rest of the executive council were sworn in on November 27.
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