Wrong about 'right'

Yesterday saw headlines that were various versions of "New Zealand moves to the right."

I was going to comment on the laughability of this claim. New Zealanders voted for the continuation and escalation of expansive redistributionist policies; the retention of state assets; the state saving on their behalf and the state sorting out climate change.

But I need not bother. I will borrow from the Melbourne Age which has concisely put the change into context;

The New Zealand media is portraying the Key government as right-wing, but it is only in what has become a nanny state like New Zealand that such a charge could reasonably be made.

Hence, unlike others, I am not taking for granted that National will do a deal with ACT.