David Seymour has roared into his election night party by boat as he celebrates bringing in more MPs to Parliament.
Arriving at the Auckland waterfront location, the ACT Party leader was met by applause as he greeted supporters.
"I want to thank the people of New Zealand… who have put their trust in ACT and would like this genuinely independent team of fabulous ACT MPs to work for you," Seymour said.
Based on current poll results, ACT would bring in 10 MPs, and Seymour said the election of new MPs for his party means New Zealand will need to get used to a new reality.
"For the ACT Party this is just a stepping stone to better policy for all New Zealanders," he said.
"Because as the world has changed our small island nation must change with it."
He said people need to realise COVID-19 won't disappear and we need to get smarter in adapting.
"Make no mistake that the policy settings New Zealand has today are not sustainable. We can't lock ourselves down and keep borrowing to paper over the cracks," he said.
"We must confront our new reality that this virus is going nowhere and get smarter on how we adapt."
He added his priorities will be to reduce debt and rebuild the economy following the devastation of COVID-19.
"This is not our 2020 campaign election night party. This is our 2023 election campaign launch."
