The battle for the hearts, minds and votes of New Zealanders is over - nearly - with the preliminary results on Saturday putting National in a position to form the next government and Labour consigned to the opposition benches.
National's exact path to government is not fully clear, and depends on the final vote count. Even so, it's far preferable to the position Labour's in, having to put on a brave face despite anger and recriminations at the result.
In this week's Focus on Politics, Political Editor Jane Patterson gets the lay of the land as the nation waits on the final election results.

Election results in a clear winner, a clear loser, a complex path to power

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In Focus on Politics, RNZ's deputy political editor Craig McCulloch whips through a whirlwind week at Parliament.

Focus on Politics for Friday 3 May 2024

Successive governments have claimed crack downs on youth vaping but retailers are flouting the law, with just one prosecution on the books. 
Retailers have until the end of the year to phase out single-use products, but academics say MPs' fears vape manufacturers will just adapt are justified. 
In this week's Focus on Politics, Political Reporter Anneke Smith looks at concerns vape manufacturers will find loopholes in new regulations.

Vaping regulations battle 'immeasurably harder' under coalition - campaigner

As global tensions escalated this week, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon was touring South East Asia, strengthening defence and security ties. 
Back home, his government was accused of drifting away from New Zealand's independent foreign policy.

Luxon boosts defence amid rising global tensions

Andrew Hoggard might be new to Parliament, but he's certainly not new to New Zealand's screens and airwaves.
The Manawatū dairy farmer was president of Federated Farmers from 2020 to 2023, and one of the more prominent critics of the previous government's agricultural policies.
In this week's Focus on Politics, RNZ Political Reporter Giles Dexter sits down with new MP - and new minister - Andrew Hoggard, to discuss the suite of reviews and replacements he's been tasked with.

From lobbyist to legislator: Andrew Hoggard's vision for reform

Public Service Targets are set for a comeback but with job cuts looming over ministries and agencies, unions fear public servants are only being asked to do more with less.
Originally introduced by the John Key National government, the targets have led to improvements in the past - but that experience shows there are also risks. 
In this week's Focus on Politics, Political Reporter Giles Dexter looks at the impending comeback of Better Public Services targets, one of the points in the government's new action plan.

Election results in a clear winner, a clear loser, a complex path to power

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