NZ political parties 2026: every party's policies compared

Opposed. Campaigning explicitly as the party of 'no new taxes' and a faster path to surplus through spending cuts.

Goes further, wants a 33% capital acquisitions tax on assets or gifts over $1 million, alongside an annual wealth tax.

Campaigning on a 28% tax on profit from selling investment property from 1 July 2027, with every dollar ring-fenced for health. Excludes the family home, farms, KiwiSaver, shares and businesses.

Opposed. Campaigning on keeping taxes low and returning to surplus by 2028/29 through spending restraint rather than new taxes.

Opposed to new housing-related taxes, framing cost-of-living relief as the priority.

Wants the wealthiest to 'pay their fair share', with revenue directed to housing, health, education and whānau support.

Strongly opposed. Campaigning on flattening income tax rates and cutting spending instead.

Core manifesto policy, 2.5% annual tax on net assets above $10m, projected to raise $3.8b in 2027/28, funding an income tax cut for 96% of people.

Has ruled out a wealth tax this term, choosing a narrower capital gains tax on investment property instead.

Opposed to new taxes of any kind; campaigning on keeping tax low.

No published 2026 position on a wealth tax. Its platform contains no new capital taxes and relies on state ownership instead, but it has not explicitly ruled one out, so this is inferred from the policy it has published rather than a stated commitment.

Supports taxing accumulated wealth. The 2026 platform commits to making the wealthiest 'pay their fair share'; its most recent detailed tax policy proposed 2% on net wealth above $2m rising to 8% above $10m.

Its central pitch, consolidating 43 departments into 19 (folding Te Puni Kōkiri, the Ministry for Women and the Ministry for Pacific Peoples into a new Home Affairs department) and finding savings year after year with no new taxes.

Opposed. Proposes $8b over four years in new green investment and a Ministry of Green Works, funded by taxing wealth and large corporates.

Would rebuild public services and fund them through a targeted capital gains tax rather than cuts.

Committed to surplus by 2028/29 and $6b less borrowing through restraint, but is also increasing health, education and police spending.

Mixed, critical of bureaucracy, but campaigning on large new state spending including buying back BNZ and a $1b oil and gas survey.

Opposed. Wants revenue from taxing wealth directed into housing, health, education and Māori-led institutions.

Strongly opposed, argues for less state involvement in markets, not more.

Would force Foodstuffs and Woolworths to sell 120 stores and two distribution centres into public ownership to create 'KiwiMart', a state-owned chain mandated to prioritise affordability, alongside gentailer separation and a Crown renewable entity.

Middle position, proposes a 'NZ Future Fund' to invest in domestic business, but has not committed to nationalising banks or splitting energy companies.

Opposed to nationalisation, favouring competition and regulatory settings over state ownership.

Flagship policy, nationalise BNZ and merge with Kiwibank to form a Crown-owned 'National Bank of New Zealand', split the four gentailers, and split Foodstuffs into two cooperatives.

Favours public and Māori-led ownership of key assets and enterprise funds, though has not committed to specific nationalisations.

Supports lifting the age of eligibility, arguing the current settings are fiscally unsustainable.

Supports keeping universal super at 65, preferring to raise revenue from wealth rather than restrict entitlement.

Has ruled out changing superannuation settings if elected.

Would keep the age at 65 until 2044, then gradually lift it to 67, not affecting anyone born before 1979.

Flatly rejects any change to NZ Super, including means testing or raising the age.

Opposes raising the age, noting Māori life expectancy is lower, which makes a higher age fall unevenly.

Campaigning as the party of no new taxes and a faster path to surplus through spending cuts.

Proposes a wealth tax, a higher corporate rate for the largest companies and an inheritance tax to fund an income tax cut for 96% of people.

Campaigning on a new 28% capital gains tax on investment property, ring-fenced for health.

The campaign's central line, repeated at the 27 September launch: no new taxes, surplus by 2028/29 through restraint and growth.

Campaigning on tax cuts, including a 20% company rate for small businesses, and its platform contains no new taxes. It has not formally ruled every new tax out, and pairs this with large new state spending.

Wants the wealthiest to pay their fair share through new wealth taxes.

Campaigns on lower, flatter taxes and no new taxes, but has not published a specific small-business rate for 2026.

Explicitly keeps small businesses at 28% while lifting the rate to 33% for the largest corporates, so it is not cutting.

Keeps the company rate at 28% and prioritises health and housing spending over business tax cuts. Inferred from its published policy rather than a stated opposition.

Keeps the company rate at 28% and has not proposed a cut; its pitch is no new taxes rather than lower business tax.

Announced on 24 September: company tax cut from 28% to 20% for firms with turnover under $30 million, which it says will pay for itself through investment and employment.

Wants the wealthiest and largest to pay more, and has published no support for a business tax cut. Inferred.

Drove the sanctions regime through the coalition agreement, including the Money Management card, and argues obligations must carry real consequences.

Would repeal the sanctions regime and overhaul welfare so it treats people 'with respect and dignity', and has campaigned against sanctions doubling.

Has criticised the scale of sanctions and the cuts accompanying them, but has not committed to repealing work obligations. Direction is clear; the specific commitment is not.

Its 'Welfare that Works' policy extends how long an obligation failure counts against someone from 12 months to two years, requires Jobseeker recipients to reapply every six months, and applies the Money Management sanction.

Supported the sanctions regime in government and frames welfare as conditional on obligation, without campaigning on further tightening of its own.

Wants welfare strengthened so whānau are not 'punished for being poor', and incomes lifted so people can live with dignity.

Strongly opposed on property-rights and supply grounds.

Campaigning on a Renters' Rights Bill capping rent rises at 2% a year, scrapping no-cause evictions and creating a rental warrant of fitness.

Supports stronger renter protections and previously removed no-cause evictions in government, but has not adopted a hard rent cap.

Opposed, restored no-cause evictions in government and argues rent caps reduce rental supply.

Prefers supply-side and ownership measures such as Crown co-investment for first-home buyers over rent regulation.

Supports strong renter protections and action on property speculation and vacant homes.

Opposed, argues the shortage is caused by planning rules, and that the state should free up land rather than build.

Campaigning to build 40,000 new public homes over five years, delivered partly through a new Ministry of Green Works.

Would raise the Crown guarantee for community housing providers' social bonds to get more homes built, a smaller-scale approach than the Greens'.

Prefers planning reform and community housing providers to large-scale state building, and has reduced Kāinga Ora's build programme.

No large public-build commitment; focused instead on Crown co-investment to get first-home buyers into private ownership.

Wants a major expansion of public and affordable housing, plus easier home-building on Māori and ancestral land.

Strongly supports deductibility, treating the 2021 removal as an arbitrary tax on one industry.

Would remove interest deductibility for residential landlords again, arguing the tax break inflates house prices and costs billions.

No decided position. Labour removed deductibility in government but says it has not decided whether to reinstate the removal, and will confirm when it releases its fiscal plan.

Restored full interest deductibility in government, phasing it back to 100% from 1 April 2025, arguing landlords should be taxed like any other business.

Supported restoring deductibility as part of the coalition's tax changes.

Opposes tax advantages for property investors, arguing they push home ownership further out of reach for whānau.

Central housing policy, argues planning restrictions are the root cause of unaffordable housing, and backed the Regulatory Standards Act to constrain rule-making.

Opposed, would revoke consents granted under the Fast-track Approvals Act and supports density near transport rather than weakening environmental protection.

Supported urban density reform in government but opposes the coalition's fast-track ministerial powers, and would repeal the Regulatory Standards Act within 100 days.

Replacing the RMA with a new planning system and passed the Fast-track Approvals Act to let ministers approve major projects outside normal consenting.

Its published policy commits to a special economic zone at Marsden Point with relief from planning rules, and its resources minister has pushed to move fast-track consenting to a more development-focused body.

Opposed, argues fast-track consenting removes the scrutiny and Tiriti consultation that major projects should face.

Strongly opposed to landlord regulation, treats it as regulatory overreach into private property.

Campaigning on an independently certified rental warrant of fitness and a national landlords register.

Introduced the Healthy Homes standards in government and supports strengthening them, short of a full WoF regime.

Has eased Healthy Homes compliance timelines, arguing extra cost on landlords is passed to tenants as rent.

Sceptical of added landlord compliance costs, framing them as a driver of higher rents.

Supports enforceable housing quality standards, citing the health burden of cold, damp housing on whānau.

Argues demand-side support does not fix a housing shortage and campaigned to scrap First Home Grants. No stated position on the loan scheme's cap, so this is inferred.

Its housing policy is built on public homes, rent caps and a rental warrant of fitness rather than demand-side lending support, and it has not backed the change. Inferred from that rather than a stated position.

Expanded the scheme's caps in government in 2022 and has not opposed this change, but has published no position on a $300,000 cap. Its 2026 housing focus is social housing supply.

Announced on 6 September: a single $300,000 income cap for the First Home Loan, which it says would roughly double the number of buyers using the 5% deposit scheme, at $4m to $6m a year.

Supports Crown co-investment to get first-home buyers into private ownership, but has taken no position on the $300,000 cap.

No published position; its housing policy centres on public housing and building on Māori and ancestral land.

Opposed; argues the shortage is caused by planning rules and the state should free up land rather than build.

Goes further, campaigning to build 40,000 public homes over five years.

Announced on 25 September as part of a $4 billion jobs and infrastructure plan: at least 6,000 new social homes over four years, $2.9b in capital.

Cancelled 212 Kāinga Ora projects and cut its build programme, preferring planning reform and community providers to large state building.

No large public-build commitment; its housing focus is Crown co-investment to get first-home buyers into private ownership.

Wants a major expansion of public and affordable housing.

Prefers lifting the Pharmac budget to 12% of health spending by 2033 and letting pharmacists treat more conditions to cut GP demand.

Supports free primary healthcare as part of an 'equitable, accessible and properly supported' system.

Flagship policy, three free GP visits a year via a new 'Medicard', and removing the $5 prescription fee from 1 July 2027.

Prioritises more medicines funding, lowering the bowel screening age to 56 and three-day post-natal stays over universal free GP visits.

Sceptical of the tax needed to fund universal free GP visits, focusing instead on cost-of-living relief and regional health access.

Supports free access to primary care, with a focus on prevention and whānau wellness over crisis response.

David Seymour has called the Māori Health Authority an example of racial discrimination, arguing health services should be allocated on need rather than ethnicity.

Supports restoring Māori-led health commissioning as part of Te Tiriti-based partnership.

Created Te Aka Whai Ora in government and opposed its disestablishment, but has not committed to recreating it in the same form.

Disestablished the Māori Health Authority in government, arguing health services should be delivered on need, not ethnicity.

Strongly opposed to a separate Māori health commissioner, consistent with its 2026 platform of 'one people, one law' and its support for disestablishing Te Aka Whai Ora in government.

Core policy, wants a strengthened Māori-led health authority, arguing Māori-designed services close outcome gaps that mainstream services have not.

Strong supporter of standardised assessment and a knowledge-rich curriculum.

Opposes high-stakes standardised testing, arguing education is 'a public good and a lifelong right, not a commodity'.

Would reverse the coalition's curriculum changes and mandated testing, which it calls the 'politicisation of education'.

Campaigning on a new national qualification to replace NCEA, more funding for maths, reading and writing, and doubling Trades Training Academy places.

Supports a back-to-basics curriculum and is critical of what it calls ideological content in schools.

Opposes standardised testing regimes that it says disadvantage Māori learners, preferring mātauranga Māori integrated throughout learning.

Long-standing signature policy, reintroduced charter schools as part of the coalition agreement.

Opposed, argues public education should not be run on a commercial or competitive model.

Opposed, closed charter schools when last in government and would restore school boards' Treaty of Waitangi obligations.

Supported reintroducing charter schools in coalition, though it is not a headline part of National's own platform.

No strong published position; has historically been sceptical of charter schools while supporting local state schools.

Supports Māori-led educational authority and kaupapa Māori schooling, a form of choice, but grounded in tino rangatiratanga rather than market competition.

Strongly opposed, argues for a smaller, more efficient state and lower taxes.

Explicitly campaigning to tax the super-rich and large corporates to fund critical social services.

Campaigning on a capital gains tax with all revenue ring-fenced for health.

Increasing health and education spending, but within a commitment to low taxes and a return to surplus.

Mixed, supports significant new state spending, but opposes the taxes usually proposed to fund it, favouring state asset revenue instead.

Wants revenue from the wealthiest directed into housing, health, education and whānau support.

David Seymour called it 'a bribe' that shifts interest-free debt onto the Crown's books so that 'all taxpayers take on the cost'.

Its education policy commits to exploring a debt write-off scheme, a higher repayment threshold and a progressive repayment scale, so it supports the direction without endorsing this specific policy.

Announced at its 27 September campaign launch: 10% off eligible loans from 1 April 2027, balances under $2,000 cleared, costed at $583.4 million over five years.

Opposed. Campaign chair Simeon Brown: students who borrow from taxpayers 'should be expected to pay it back', and the policy 'means either higher taxes or more borrowing'.

As part of the coalition it announced the end of fees-free study from 2026 and has published no support for a write-off. Inferred from that rather than a stated position.

No published position on student loan settings; its education platform focuses on Māori-led institutions and removing barriers to participation.

Would repeal the Zero Carbon Act and scrap the 2050 net zero target, benchmarking any emissions cap against major trading partners instead. Wants Paris renegotiated over how it treats methane, and would leave only if those terms proved unreasonable, so this is opposition to the targets rather than a commitment to withdraw.

Strongly committed, campaigning on rapidly phasing out fossil fuels and mass electrification.

Committed to remaining in Paris and to the existing emissions budgets.

Remains committed to Paris, while softening the domestic methane target and taking agriculture out of the ETS.

Would withdraw New Zealand from the Paris Agreement.

Committed to climate action and resilience for vulnerable communities, framed through kaitiakitanga.

Supports resuming exploration and expanding resource extraction as an energy security and growth measure.

Strongly opposed, campaigning on rapidly phasing out fossil fuels and prioritising solar, wind, hydro and geothermal.

Introduced the original exploration ban and opposes its reversal, campaigning instead on solar via 'SolarSaver'.

Reversed the offshore exploration ban in government and supports gas as a transition fuel for energy security.

Campaigning on a $1b state-funded survey of offshore oil and gas reserves, funded through a new Future Fund, to bring down power prices.

Strongly opposed, would ban extractive industries including seabed mining.

Campaigning for a split-gas target and keeping agriculture permanently out of the ETS, arguing NZ farmers are the most emissions-efficient in the world.

Opposed, wants agricultural emissions priced so methane targets are actually met.

No settled position. Hipkins says the long-standing policy of pricing agricultural emissions is 'under review' and Labour may not campaign on it in 2026.

Took agriculture out of the ETS in government and set a softer 14–24% methane target for 2050.

Strongly supports keeping farming out of emissions pricing and is critical of climate rules affecting rural communities.

Opposed to exempting the largest emitting sector, favouring regenerative approaches aligned with Māori environmental principles.

Strongly supports resource development and reducing consenting barriers.

Campaigning to revoke all coal, gold and seabed mining consents approved under the Fast-track Approvals Act.

Opposed the Fast-track Act's ministerial powers and supports stronger environmental safeguards, without committing to revoke all consents.

Passed the Fast-track Approvals Act and supports expanding mining as an economic growth measure.

Its published policy commits to returning 50% of mining royalties to the regions, and its resources minister launched a strategy to double mineral exports to $3 billion by 2035.

Would ban extractive industries including seabed mining outright.

Strongly opposed, treats it as an attack on productive farming.

Campaigning to phase out synthetic nitrogen fertiliser and reduce cattle and sheep numbers to improve water quality.

Middle position, supports freshwater standards and reversing the coalition's rollback, but not reducing herd numbers.

No published 2026 freshwater policy. Inferred from the coalition's easing of freshwater rules for farmers and its opposition to limits on stocking rates, rather than a stated commitment.

No published position on stocking rates or fertiliser. Its 2026 platform is silent on freshwater, so this is inferred from its consistent rural and farming advocacy rather than a stated commitment.

Supports regenerative land use and restoring waterways as a kaitiakitanga obligation, without a specific stocking-rate cap.

Supported the coalition transport programme that moved funding into state highways and out of cycleways. ACT has published no separate 2026 transport policy, so this is inferred from that record rather than a stated commitment.

Would reverse the traditional priority on roads: light rail in Auckland and Wellington, intercity rail, targeted free fares and a $1.5b cycle superhighway fund.

Treats roads, rail, public transport, walking and cycling as one connected system, and is campaigning on a public transport fare cap rather than a roading programme.

Its transport programme shifted the budget toward 17 Roads of National Significance and out of cycleways, with $7b for state highway improvements.

Campaigns on roads and regional connections, prioritising the Mill Road corridor, and has pushed to cut cycleway funding.

Frames transport as access and affordability for whānau and regions rather than a roading programme, without a published position on the roads-versus-cycleways split.

Campaigning on adding burglary to the three-strikes regime, with a minimum three-year sentence and no parole or home detention.

Strongly opposed, argues the focus should be on 'preventing harm happening in the first place'.

Opposed reinstating Three Strikes, arguing mandatory minimums produce unjust outcomes without reducing crime.

Reinstated Three Strikes, capped sentence discounts at 40% and removed repeat discounts for youth and remorse.

Supports the coalition's sentencing reforms and consistently campaigns on tougher penalties.

Strongly opposed, argues mandatory sentencing deepens the over-incarceration of Māori.

Campaigning in the opposite direction: a three-strikes rule jailing repeat burglars for a minimum three years with no parole, home detention or early release.

Supports a major shift toward prevention and decarceration, without committing to full abolition by a fixed date.

Explicitly rules it out, described as 'dead-set against' abolishing prisons.

Strongly opposed, expanding prison capacity is an explicit Budget 2026 commitment.

Voted for the reinstatement of Three Strikes mandatory sentencing in 2024, which is expected to increase the prison population rather than reduce it.

Campaigning to abolish prisons by 2040, replaced with community-led solutions, a Māori Justice Authority, and closing youth residences and bootcamps.

Supports expanded capacity as the necessary consequence of longer sentences.

Opposed, would redirect the spending into prevention, housing and mental health.

Supports more police, but opposes expanding prison capacity as the primary response to crime.

Budget 2026 funded frontline police, corrections officers and prison capacity, and in September it promised 50 extra sworn officers for a dedicated Auckland transport police team at $7m a year.

Long-standing supporter of higher police numbers and prison capacity.

Opposed, argues more prisons entrench the over-incarceration of Māori rather than reducing harm.

Its published law-and-order policy is built on mandatory minimum sentences rather than addressing drivers of offending: three strikes for burglary, no parole and no home detention.

Core justice principle, 'preventing harm happening in the first place' and reforming systems toward fair and equitable outcomes.

Favours addressing drivers of crime alongside enforcement, while maintaining prisons and police.

Prioritises deterrence and consequences, while funding some prevention and rehabilitation programmes.

Strongly favours deterrence, and is critical of what it calls soft-on-crime approaches.

Core policy, would reform laws that criminalise poverty and survival, and move toward transformation rather than incarceration.

Supported the gang patch ban and expanded police dispersal powers.

Opposed, argues the ban is ineffective, infringes rights and is disproportionately enforced against Māori.

Genuinely split. Hipkins has repeatedly committed to keeping the ban, while other Labour MPs have signalled repeal. The party has not finalised its position.

Banned gang patches in public in government and campaigns on the resulting drop in ram raids and violent crime victims.

A signature coalition win for NZ First, which has pushed gang crackdowns for decades.

Opposed, argues the powers are used disproportionately against Māori and do not address underlying harm.

Strongly opposed, campaigning to define Treaty principles in law and to put the question to a referendum.

Committed to putting 'Te Tiriti o Waitangi at the heart of a modern Aotearoa founded on real partnership'.

Opposed to the commission: Chris Hipkins said Parliament 'has to be the final decision-making body; not a judicial body', and Labour signalled it would not support the proposal. It does support Treaty obligations in legislation, so this is opposition to the blocking power rather than to the Treaty's role.

Opposed to a constitutional veto body; has removed Treaty clauses from a range of legislation in government.

Strongly opposed, campaigning to disestablish bodies such as Auckland Council's Independent Māori Statutory Board.

Campaigning on an independent commission able to stop or suspend government and Cabinet decisions found to seriously breach Te Tiriti, alongside entrenching the Treaty in law and making Waitangi Tribunal findings binding on the Crown.

Supports putting questions of Māori-specific representation to a public vote, consistent with its equal-citizenship framing.

Opposed, argues a general referendum on Māori representation is inconsistent with Te Tiriti.

Opposed in direction: it is contesting all seven Māori electorates and treats their future as a matter for Māori. It has not published a specific 2026 commitment on a referendum, so this is inferred from that rather than a stated position.

Has not backed a referendum on the Māori seats, though it supports referenda on MMP and a four-year parliamentary term.

Campaigning for a referendum on the future of the Māori electorates.

Strongly opposed, actively campaigning to grow the Māori roll and expand Māori representation.

Wants a market-driven system where employers hire the workers they need, but pairs this with tighter English requirements, a welfare stand-down and an overstayer enforcement unit.

Opposed to cutting numbers, proposes granting residency to migrants on work visas and expanding humanitarian and family reunification pathways.

Committed to cutting net migration by roughly 20,000–30,000, partly by reducing international students in low-level courses.

Wants to increase international student numbers and fast-track residency for Green List occupations by removing the work-to-residence divide.

Announced a major immigration overhaul on 11 September: a referendum on capping resident visas at 20,000 a year, a 10-year welfare stand-down for all visa holders, citizenship qualifying periods doubled to 10 years, and birthright citizenship limited to children of citizens.

No headline net-migration target; frames immigration through Tiriti obligations and the rights of tangata whenua rather than numbers.

Explicit campaign policy, deport serious non-citizen offenders and create an overstayer enforcement unit, plus a five-year welfare exclusion for residency visa holders.

Opposed, campaigns for 'welcoming, safe and fair pathways' and would regularise the status of people on expired visas.

Mixed, supports existing deportation powers for serious offending, but opposes new enforcement units and welfare stand-downs for residents.

Supports deporting serious offenders, while prioritising attracting skilled migrants and students.

Would automatically deport non-citizens convicted of violent or sexual crimes, fraud, organised crime, money laundering or migrant exploitation, widening the criteria to any imprisonable offence. Overstayers would get a 24-month window to leave voluntarily, then face permanent deportation.

Opposed, argues enforcement-led immigration policy targets Pacific and migrant communities disproportionately.

Opposes state promotion of language by ethnicity and has campaigned on abolishing demographic ministries. It has not published a specific te reo policy for 2026, so this is inferred from that consistent position rather than a stated commitment.

Supports active promotion and protection of te reo Māori as a Tiriti obligation.

Supportive in direction: it would restore Treaty obligations removed by the coalition and opposed the English-first directive. It has not published a standalone te reo policy for 2026, so this is inferred rather than a stated commitment.

Mixed, supports te reo as an official language and its teaching in schools, but has directed agencies to use English-first names and communications.

Strongly opposed, has campaigned specifically on English-first names for government departments.

Core policy, normalise te reo across society, invest in community-led revitalisation, and hold the state accountable for language protection.