Māori and Pacific youth will bear the brunt of 'more of the same', economist warns

An economist is warning that young Māori and Pacific people may bear the brunt of another three years of "more of the same", with Pacific MPs saying the next government must deal with the cost of living.

Economist Ganesh Nana says preliminary results pointing to the return of a National-led government are a pretty saddening indication of where people are.

"We voted for more of the same, given all of the challenges that we face.”

Nana says special votes are unlikely to change the government.

"Sadly, that will hurt those who are way more vulnerable than most of us. And unfortunately, Māori and Pacific, especially the young, are at the front line bearing the brunt of that."

Labour's Lemauga Lydia Sosene, who holds Māngere by 11,970 votes, has told William Terite on Pacific Mornings that government policy has not benefited Pacific communities.

Listen to Dr. Ganesh Nana's full interview below.

"We don't believe in the ethos that they have put corporate business first. And what about our people? What about the loss of jobs, the health sector, the cost of living? This has been a cost of living election."

Nana says youth unemployment is really quite a sore mark on the country in terms of providing jobs.

"There's nothing in the policy platform of more of the same that would turn around the job opportunities for the young and, dare I say, for Māori and Pacific."

Listen to Lemauga Lydia Sosene's full interview below.

Nana says the next government should be unapologetic in helping people who are vulnerable.

"Those things are food and energy security, homelessness and, dare I say, climate change. Those things are not going away."

Green MP Teanau Tuiono says those pressures drove the Greens to a record 16 seats on preliminary results.

"People have been responding positively to our policy announcements, which have been about tackling the cost of living crisis, taking on the power companies, taking on the supermarket duopoly.”

He says parties should focus on making sure to bring down the cost of living, put food on the table, keep the lights on and have a good future.

Nana says the next finance minister must look at the same priorities in their first hundred days.

Listen to Teanau Tuiono's full interview below.

"The core economic position is a commitment to spend a serious amount of dollars to put our homeless in homes, to feed our people who cannot feed themselves, and to reduce the cost of power, which is literally water falling over a dam.

"There is no reason why Aotearoa people should go hungry, or go cold, or go homeless."

With Finance Minister Nicola Willis not set to return on preliminary results, attention is turning to whether ACT leader David Seymour could take finance.

Nana says that would be an even more serious challenge for Aotearoa, putting privatisation of health and education on the agenda.

"Privatisation only serves those who can afford those services, and the ones who cannot afford them are left to fend for themselves."

New Zealand First's Alfred Ngaro, set to return on the list, says National, ACT and NZ First sit at 67 seats and he expects that majority to hold once more than 300,000 special votes are counted.

Listen to Alfred Ngaro's full interview below.

"We're not here to make up numbers. We're here to put the voice, the initiative, the experience, the innovation, the entrepreneurs and the best of who Pacific can be at the table.”

Nana's message to Pacific families is to hold on to what they’ve got.

"Hold on to the jobs that you've got, hold on to your young, do as much as you can to convince them to stay here and to change the direction of this country."

Eight of the 27 Pacific candidates are set to enter Parliament on preliminary results, none of them from National.

The final official results are due on 27 November.