Prime Minister John Key on Sunday claimed the right to sell state assets to prop up a struggling economy after securing an overwhelming election victory to round off a turbulent year in New Zealand. Opinion polls showed the partial sale of state-owned energy companies and national flag carrier Air New Zealand to be unpopular, but Key was adamant it would go ahead.
"There are some New Zealanders that are concerned about it, I acknowledge that, but I also believe very firmly that when those minority stakes are offered to New Zealanders, a lot of them will feel less apprehensive than they do now."
Key said the other priorities of his centre-right administration were welfare reform and rebuilding the earthquake-stricken city of Christchurch.
Saturday's general election was held at the end of a tumultuous year for New Zealand with the Christchurch devastation in February claiming 181 lives and an earlier coal mine explosion that killed 29.
Key, who won plaudits for the way he handled the crises, led his National Party to win 48 percent of the vote - the best result by any party in New Zealand since 1951 and up from 45 percent in the last election in 2008.
Although the 60 seats it produced left him one short of an outright majority Key crossed the threshold with the continued support of previous coalition partners ACT and United Future which won a seat each.
The Maori Party, which also supported the last National-led administration, returns to parliament with three MPs and is likely to remain aligned with the government, further boosting Key's majority.
Key said he would meet ACT, United Future and Maori Party officials on Monday to discuss how they would support National in some policy areas and "agree to disagree" in others. The Maori Party, representing New Zealand's indigenous people, is opposed to the asset sales but co-leader Tariana Turia said Maori tribes were saying if the sell-off goes ahead "we expect to be big players in the action." The planned sales were a contentious issue in the election, however National's campaign manager Steven Joyce said the convincing outcome showed there is a mandate to proceed.