Christopher Luxon

Rule Changes

Preliminary results left National on 29.21% and 42 seats; Luxon called the result 'too close to call'. On November 8 he softened his refusal to work with Opportunity, saying a deal was 'highly unlikely' but that he wanted to build a relationship, and urged everyone to 'calm down' while special votes are counted.

Preliminary results on November 7 left National and Labour nearly tied, with BBC News reporting a low national mood and voters deserting the major parties: Labour 29.36% and National 29.21%. National was projected to win 42 seats and Labour 36 in a 131-seat Parliament, with the National-led bloc of National, ACT and New Zealand First holding 67 seats, a one-seat majority. About 399,000 special votes, roughly 14% of the total, remain to be counted before the official result on November 27.

Updated 3 days ago

Built World

As of September 2026: Officially opened the City Rail Link

For the first time in Auckland's history, trains run beneath the city centre. The NZ$5.5 billion City Rail Link carried its first fare-paying passengers on September 13, 2026, capping a project that survived a century of false starts and a decade of construction.

Updated Sep 13

Rule Changes

As of July 2026: Hosted Modi and co-signed the partnership

No Indian prime minister had set foot in New Zealand for 40 years. On July 11, 2026, Narendra Modi ended that gap in Auckland by signing a package that lets Indian and New Zealand warships refuel and repair at each other's bases.

Updated Jul 11

New Capabilities

As of May 2026: Publicly backed OpenStar at demonstration

For the first time, a commercial company has confined plasma in a levitated dipole reactor — using a single half-tonne superconducting magnet floating freely in a vacuum chamber, held aloft only by magnetic force. Superheated gas swirls around it at over one million degrees Celsius. On February 17, 2026, Wellington-based OpenStar Technologies publicly demonstrated this feat in its five-meter-wide "Junior" prototype, with New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon triggering the final stage of the experiment.

Updated May 30

Force in Play

As of May 2026: Coordinating national response

Nine people died during storms that struck New Zealand's North Island from January 16–22, 2026. Three separate incidents account for the deaths: a campground landslide, a home collapse, and a river drowning.

Updated May 22