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Following its general election on 23 September, New Zealand waited 26 days for a government to be named. Winston Peters' populist New Zealand First party won 7 per cent of the vote: enough for the balance of power. Peters held court for negotiating teams from the incumbent National Party (which won 44 per cent of the vote) and the opposition Labour Party (which won 37 per cent, but can also count on the 6 per cent won by the Greens). The negotiations were about policy - what policy concessions would win Peters' favour.
Finally, on 19 October, the verdict was announced: NZF would enter a coalition agreement with Labour, and on 24 October a coalition agreement was signed. This ushered into the prime minister's office the charismatic 37-year-old Jacinda Ardern, who was rushed into the Labour leadership only six weeks out from the election to stem bleeding poll results.
In many areas, including tertiary education, NZF had policy alignment with Labour. Both parties wanted to increase financial support for students. Both wanted to reduce immigration - in Labour's case,...