Australian votes likely to help decide winner of New Zealand election

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Opposition Leader Christopher Luxon are vying for the top job after weeks of campaigning..

New Zealand citizen expats can now cast a vote for their mother country if they haven’t been home in less than six years – double the three-year limit in place previously.

Permanent residents have also received an expanded eligibility, from 12 months overseas to four years.

Non-partisan group Every Kiwi Vote Counts is calling on the hefty contingent of New Zealanders in Australia to have their say.

Of the estimated one million New Zealanders living overseas, the group said almost 70 per cent of them were in Australia.

“In the past, elections have seen only one in 10 overseas New Zealanders vote, which represents a mere two per cent of our votes,” group director Tracey Lee said.

“With roughly one million New Zealanders living overseas, we could have an additional 750,000 New Zealanders who aren’t exercising their democratic right to vote.”

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She said the combined votes of the Australian-New Zealand bloc would outweigh eight electorates.

Earlier this month, the group has also launched a tongue-in-cheek campaign led by mascot Darryl Brown, who boasted that Australia had always “guided” New Zealand.

“We showed them how to make pavlova, gave them their best music in Crowded House, their best athletes in Phar Lap, and their best actors – like that gladiator bloke,” he said.

“If you’re an Aussie-Kiwi and have been back to visit in the last six years, then you’re more than qualified to tell them how to run it.”

Overseas voting for the 2023 New Zealand General Election can be done online until tomorrow.

Find more information and links, visit the Every Kiwi Vote Counts website.