一 | AUCKLAND, New Zealand -- Conservative former businessman Christopher Luxon will be New Zealand’s next prime minister after winning a decisive election victory Saturday.People voted for change after six years of a liberal government led for most of that time by Jacinda Ardern.The exact makeup of Luxon’s government is still to be determined as ballots continued to be counted.Luxon arrived to rapturous applause at an event in Auckland. He was joined on stage by his wife, Amanda, and their children, William and Olivia. He said he was humbled by the victory and couldn't wait to get stuck in to his new job. He thanked people from across the country.“You have reached for hope and you have voted for change,” he said.Supporters chanted his campaign slogan which promised to get the country “back on track.” Outgoing Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, who spent just nine months in the top job after taking over from Ardern in January, told supporters late Saturday he had called Luxon to concede.Hipkins said it wasn’t the result he wanted.“But I want you to be proud of what we achieved over the last six years,” he told supporters at an event in Wellington.Ardern unexpectedly stepped down as prime minister in January, saying she no longer had “enough in the tank” to do the job justice. She won the last election in a landslide, but her popularity waned as people got tired of COVID-19 restrictions and inflation threatened the economy.Her departure left Hipkins, 45, to take over as leader. He had previously served as education minister and led the response to the coronavirus pandemic. With most of the vote counted, Luxon’s National Party had about 40% of the vote. Under New Zealand’s proportional voting system, Luxon, 53, is expected to form an alliance with the libertarian ACT Party. Meanwhile, the Labour Party that Hipkins leads was getting only a little over 25% of the vote — about half the proportion it got in the last election under Ardern.And in a result that would be particularly stinging for Labour should it lose the seat, National was in a tight race for Ardern’s old electorate seat, Mount Albert. The seat has long been a Labour stronghold and was also held by another former Labour prime minister, Helen Clark. The National Party candidate for the seat, Melissa Lee, told The Associated Press she was feeling excited but also nervous about the final result in Mount Albert.“It’s been Labour since 1946. It has been the biggest, safest Labour seat forever,” she said. “It would be fantastic if we won it.” Lee said that when she was door-knocking, people had told her they were tired of the current government and were concerned with the state of the economy and the spiraling cost of living. David Farrar, a longtime conservative pollster, said there was still a good chance that Labour would end up holding the seat once all the votes were counted. However, he said, his initial impression of voting throughout the country was that it was turning out to be a “bloodbath” for the left. Luxon has promised tax cuts for middle-income earners and a crackdown on crime. Hipkins had promised free dental care for people younger than 30 and the removal of sales taxes on fruit and vegetables.Also at stake in the election is the government’s relationship with Indigenous Māori. Luxon has promised to axe the Māori Health Authority, which he says creates two separate health systems. Hipkins says he’s proud of such co-governance efforts and has accused Luxon of condoning racism.Within days of taking the reins in January, Hipkins found himself dealing with a crisis after deadly floods and then a cyclone hit New Zealand. He quickly jettisoned some of Ardern’s more contentious policies and promised a “back to basics” approach focused on tackling the spiraling cost of living. Warm spring weather in the largest city, Auckland, seemed to encourage voters, with queues forming outside some polling places. Early voting before Election Day was lower than in recent elections.During a six-week election campaign, both Hipkins and Luxon traveled the country and hammed it up for the cameras. Earlier in the week, Luxon, who served as chief executive of both Unilever Canada and Air New Zealand, told an energized crowd in Wellington that he would crack down on gangs.“I’ve gotta tell you, crime is out of control in this country,” Luxon said. “And we are going to restore law and order, and we are going to restore personal responsibility.”Luxon also got cheers when he promised to fix the capital’s gridlocked traffic with a new tunnel project.Luxon is relatively new to politics but held his own against the more experienced Hipkins during televised debates, according to political observers. But Luxon also made some gaffes, such as when he was asked in a 1News debate how much he spent each week on food.His answer of “about sixty bucks” (U.S. $36) was ridiculed on social media as showing he was out of touch with the cost of living. ___Follow AP’s Asia-Pacific coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/asia-pacific。 Director SS Rajamouli watched Avatar: Fire and Ash at a special screening in India. After catching up with the film, he interacted with director James Cameron ahead of the release of Avatar: Fire & Ash (2025). Rajamouli spoke to Cameron via a live video conference. And during the conversation, Cameron expressed his interest in visiting the sets of Rajamouli's upcoming film, Varanasi. The Hollywood filmmaker offered to drop in on the sets of the Rajamouli's directorial to oversee the second-unit's processes. I’d love to come to Rajamouli’s film set: Cameron Rajamouli spoke to James Cameron for the session titled ‘Meeting of the Minds’: James Cameron in conversation with SS Rajamouli, Avatar: Fire & Ash. The 30-minute-odd video clip was released on the YouTube channel of 20th Century Studios India. Rajamouli and James Cameron’s video interaction has become an instant viral sensation on Wednesday afternoon. Their conversation sparked off great interest in both their films. Rajamouli watched Avatar: Fire and Ash and said, “I felt like a child in the theatre.” James too expressed his interest to come to India and watch Rajamouli working. “I would love to come to your set. May I come to your set sometime and watch you create your magic?” In his reply, Rajamouli replied, "Oh...that would be an absolute pleasure Sir. You are most welcome and not just my unit, but the entire film industry will be thrilled.” ‘Love to operate the camera’ Rajamouli also stated that he has been shooting for Varanasi, and it’s almost a year now. “Another seven-eight months to go. We are in the middle of the shoot.” Cameron also expressed that he would love to operate the camera and shoot some second-unit shots for Rajamouli – much to the latter’s delight. Their interesting and light-hearted conversation has quickly become the talking point on social media.Also Read: Varanasi: Did Director SS Rajamouli Tweak The Title?。
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