Any election campaign always brings the political commentators out of the woodwork.
As with any government that's been in power for a long time, the National Party has started to cop the blame for everything from interest rates to the global financial crisis.
Many people seemed to have their hopes pinned on a new government to "fix" New Zealand.
What seems galling about this is that it shirks our own responsibilities to do our own good. There's some parts of the community that the government can't and won't seem to reach.
Whether the party you voted for is in power or not, everyone has the ability to drive some of the change they want to see.