And that's a wrap...sort of. All ordinary votes have been counted, but there are still hundreds of thousands of special votes, and various political wranglings to come.
National have won 46 percent of the party vote, but the situation is by no means simple.
Here's a brief run-down of the results...
The big picture
- The final result: National 46%, Labour 35.8%, NZ First 7.5%, Greens 5.8%, (Māori Party 1.1%), ACT 0.5%
- That compared with the latest RNZ Poll of Polls: National at 45.1%, Labour on 37.2%, Greens 7.2%, NZ First 6.6%, the Māori Party 0.7%, ACT 0.6%.
- Seats - On current numbers, National get 58 seats , winning 41 electorates and 17 additional list seats. Labour won 29 electorates and 16 additional list seats. NZ First won nine list seats, Greens won seven list seats and ACT won a single electorate: Epsom.
- Māori seats - All seven Māori seats have been won by the Labour Party, removing the Māori Party from Parliament (And ensuring Mana's Hone Harawira does not return).
- With National-ACT on 59 seats, Labour-Greens on 52 and 61 seats required for a majority, New Zealand First likely holds the balance of power.
- Advance votes totalled 1,240,740 compared with about 718,000 last election.
- About 3.2 million people - or 91 percent of eligible New Zealanders - were enrolled, compared to 92.6 percent last year.
- Results are on the Electoral Commission's website
Key battlegrounds
- Epsom - ACT Party leader David Seymour has won the seat comfortably over National's Paul Goldsmith.
- Ōhāriu - Peter Dunne's vacated seat - Labour's Greg O'Connor has defeated National's Brett Hudson by 679 votes.
- Auckland Central - National MP Nikki Kaye has won against Labour's Helen White.
- Te Tai Tokerau - Labour's Kelvin Davis defeated Mana's Hone Harawira.
- Christchurch Central - Labour's Duncan Webb has beaten sitting National MP Nicky Wagner.
- Hutt South - Vacated by Labour's Trevor Mallard, National's Chris Bishop won against Labour candidate Ginny Andersen.
- Waiariki - A must-win for the Māori Party - Labour's Tamati Coffey beat Māori Party co-leader Te Ururoa Flavell.
What to watch for now
- New Zealand First leader Winston Peters says any decision about a potential support arrangement will be made in the national interest and could take some time.
- The Labour Party leader Jacinda Ardern will be making calls to leaders this morning as she attempts to form a government.
- National leader Bill English has said he will be in contact with Mr Peters in the next few days.
- Final numbers could yet shift, with hundreds of thousands of special votes yet to be counted, with results due 8 October.
- A writ for the next government is required by 12 October giving parties some time to sort out a coalition.
John Campbell and Guyon Espiner hosted RNZ's live election coverage, on 101.3 or 101.7 FM, Freeview Ch50, Sky Face TV Ch83, Facebook and YouTube.
Follow our live coverage throughout the night here.
