This term, issue by issue · Community, inclusion and culture
Community and culture: offers are narrow, and almost none plans for an older, more disabled population
The Greens' accessibility standards and universal design rules, and Opportunity's Tell Us Once system, are the only answers that build capacity for an older, more disabled population; National's parental leave and Labour's carer pay rises help today but add recurring cost.
What is at stake now and by 2050
This term
About one in six New Zealanders is disabled, and the new Disability Support Services Act, passed on 1 September 2026, sets the rules for the support many of them and their carers rely on. Alongside it, voters face live choices on children's social media use, retirement village repayments and a 2% savings cut across arts, culture and public media funding in Budget 2026.
Number to know
17% of people in New Zealand households are disabled, about 851,000 people (Stats NZ Household Disability Survey 2023).
Source: 17 percent of New Zealanders are disabled (Whaikaha, Stats NZ Household Disability Survey 2023)
By 2050
Disability rises steeply with age: 35% of people aged 65 and over are disabled, and working-age people per person over 65 fall from 3.8 to 2.8 by 2050, so demand for disability support, carers and accessible housing grows faster than the workforce that pays for and delivers it. Choices made now on accessibility standards, carer pay and how support is legislated set the cost and quality of that care for two decades.
Number to know
35% of people aged 65 and over are disabled, about double the national rate (Stats NZ 2023); 3.8 to 2.8 working-age people per person over 65 by 2050 (Treasury).
Source: Treasury, He Tirohanga Mokopuna 2025 (Long-term Fiscal Statement)
Current settings
The Disability Support Services Act (passed 1 September 2026) gives disability support its first legal framework, with $2.1b of extra funding committed through successive Budgets. Budget 2026 applied a 2% savings requirement to arts, culture and heritage ($27.1m over four years, including $13.8m at NZ On Air); the government's under-16 social media bill was introduced on 24 August 2026 but did not get a first reading before the election.
The options on the table
| Option | Backed by |
|---|---|
| Ban under-16s from social media accounts by law, enforced by a regulator |
|
| Regulate platforms through a digital duty of care rather than (or before) settling an age ban |
|
| Seek a negotiated settlement with platforms (screen-time limits, parental controls) instead of a ban |
|
| Repeal and replace the Disability Support Services Act with law co-designed with disabled people |
|
| Rights-based disability law with enforceable accessibility standards |
|
| Simplify disability support access (Tell Us Once, Māori-led services, funding by need) |
|
| Hunter-led management of introduced game animals through the Game Animal Council |
|
| Faster retirement village repayments (nine months versus three months) |
|
| More stable public funding for arts, Māori arts and public media |
|
| Abolish population-group ministries (Women, Pacific Peoples and others) |
|
Where each party stands
Voter priorities out of 15 (the four core tests plus relief this term) and Readiness to 2050 out of 21 (the four core tests plus the three long-run tests). Current settings come first, as the bar to beat. Open a party for every test score, the rationale and the sources.
Current settings
- Voter priorities
- 9/15
- Readiness to 2050
- 12/21
Test scores, rationale and sources for Current settings
Test Score /3 Counts towards Diagnosis 2 Both scores Mechanism 1 Both scores Funding 2 Both scores Delivery 3 Both scores Relief 1 Voter priorities Future effect 1 Readiness to 2050 Durability 2 Readiness to 2050 Candour 1 Readiness to 2050 Rationale
The DSS Act names a driver (an unlegislated, financially unsustainable support system) and is funded in Budgets ($2.1b) and in force, but the path to better outcomes is asserted, not tested. Labour pledges repeal and the under-16 bill stalled, so durability is low; arts savings ($27.1m) are stated without naming who loses.
Relief this term
The Disability Support Services Act and $2.1b of Budget funding keep support going, but arts and public media take a 2% cut ($27.1m) and the under-16 social media bill lapsed, so little new relief lands this term.
Sources
National
- Voter priorities
- 9/15
- Readiness to 2050
- 13/21
Online safety, parental leave, retirement village repayments and a hunting and fishing plan.
- Ban under-16s from social media; age checks by platforms; fines up to the greater of $40m or 10% of global turnover (bill introduced 24 August 2026)
- Paid parental leave from 26 to 30 weeks by 2029 ($328m over four years in fiscal plan)
- Retirement villages repay 10% within four weeks and the balance within nine months
- Recognise game animals in law; Game Animal Council as statutory manager; service dog ID card
Test scores, rationale and sources for National
Test Score /3 Counts towards Diagnosis 2 Both scores Mechanism 2 Both scores Funding 2 Both scores Delivery 2 Both scores Relief 1 Voter priorities Future effect 1 Readiness to 2050 Durability 2 Readiness to 2050 Candour 2 Readiness to 2050 Rationale
Names drivers (1 in 3 teens on social media over five hours a day; slow village repayments) with a named bill, regulator and penalties; parental leave is costed in the fiscal plan ($328m). Labour backs the age ban, but ACT and NZ First oppose it; the retirement village paper names the trade-off (a three-month rule would add up to $118,000 to entry costs).
Relief this term
The under-16 social media ban bill would need reintroducing (the current bill lapsed) and has no start date, and faster retirement village repayments are undated; paid parental leave is an income payment scored in G01.
Sources
Labour
- Voter priorities
- 8/15
- Readiness to 2050
- 11/21
Repeal the disability support law, regulate online platforms, faster village payouts.
- Repeal the Disability Support Services Act and replace it with law drafted with disabled people
- Under-16 social media ban, digital duty of care and an independent digital regulator, legislation within 100 days
- Retirement villages repay 10% within five working days and the balance within three months, existing residents included
- Rainbow Pae Ora health strategy; $4m for Tū Manawa and $12m over four years for Active Me, Kia Tū (children's sport)
Test scores, rationale and sources for Labour
Test Score /3 Counts towards Diagnosis 2 Both scores Mechanism 2 Both scores Funding 1 Both scores Delivery 2 Both scores Relief 1 Voter priorities Future effect 1 Readiness to 2050 Durability 2 Readiness to 2050 Candour 1 Readiness to 2050 Rationale
Names drivers (platform power, a rushed disability law, slow village payouts) with a regulator, a duty of care and 100-day legislation. Children's sport money is stated ($4m; $12m over four years) but the DSS replacement and regulator are not costed; the age ban has National's support. Says little on who pays for three-month payouts beyond a hardship exemption.
Relief this term
Labour promises to introduce its online safety regulation within 100 days but gives no start date for the under-16 ban, and faster retirement village repayments are undated; repealing the Disability Support Services Act may disrupt support this term. Small or undated relief, so 1.
Sources
- Safer online (Labour)
- National turns flawed disability Bill into law
- National's retirement village policy leaves residents out of pocket
- Getting kids off screens and back to being kids
- Labour will scrap harmful disability Bill (2 July 2026)
- Labour to deliver stronger healthcare and protections for rainbow communities (22 September 2026)
Greens
- Voter priorities
- 7/15
- Readiness to 2050
- 11/21
The broadest offer: disability rights law, rainbow rights, arts and public media funding, animal welfare.
- Disability rights law based on Te Tiriti with enforceable accessibility standards; Total Mobility subsidy back to 75%
- Human Rights Act amended for gender identity and sex characteristics; extend hate speech law; revoke the puberty blocker ban
- Stable, non-gambling arts funding; living wage for artists on public projects; more funding for RNZ, Whakaata Māori and community media
- Department of Animal Welfare with a Minister and a Parliamentary Commissioner for Animal Justice; state-owned retirement villages
Test scores, rationale and sources for Greens
Test Score /3 Counts towards Diagnosis 2 Both scores Mechanism 2 Both scores Funding 1 Both scores Delivery 1 Both scores Relief 1 Voter priorities Future effect 2 Readiness to 2050 Durability 1 Readiness to 2050 Candour 2 Readiness to 2050 Rationale
Broadest and most specific offer: enforceable accessibility standards, universal design for housing, Enabling Good Lives as the model, and named law changes (Human Rights Act, animal welfare department). Care worker pay equity is costed ($1.1b a year) but most items are uncosted and untimed; it names losers (recreational hunting ranks below pest control; wealth tax payers fund the package).
Relief this term
Broad offer (disability rights law, Total Mobility subsidy at 75%, more arts and public media funding, rainbow law changes), but none carries a start date or timetable, and the rights law and state villages build slowly.
Sources
ACT
- Voter priorities
- 9/15
- Readiness to 2050
- 12/21
Hunter-led game management, free speech protections and fewer population-group ministries.
- Transfer game animals on conservation land from DOC to the Game Animal Council; recognise them as a resource, not pests
- Make abusing a pet to coerce a family violence victim a crime, up to seven years' prison
- Bar professional regulators from disciplining members for lawful speech outside their practice
- Abolish demographic ministries, saving $187m a year (fiscal plan); a Meta-style platform deal instead of an under-16 ban
Test scores, rationale and sources for ACT
Test Score /3 Counts towards Diagnosis 2 Both scores Mechanism 2 Both scores Funding 2 Both scores Delivery 2 Both scores Relief 1 Voter priorities Future effect 1 Readiness to 2050 Durability 2 Readiness to 2050 Candour 1 Readiness to 2050 Rationale
Pet coercion law cites research (half of victims delay leaving over pets) and overseas precedent; ministry abolition ($187m a year) sits in the published fiscal plan; vehicles are named (Crimes Act, letters of expectation). Hunter-led game management is shared with National; it does not say who loses from abolishing ministries or the Meta-deal approach.
Relief this term
Narrow items: a new pet-coercion offence for family violence, speech protections for regulated professionals and game animal management; it opposes the under-16 ban in favour of a platform deal.
Sources
NZ First
- Voter priorities
- 7/15
- Readiness to 2050
- 9/21
Targeted items: fireworks, combat sports and the Christchurch Cathedral.
- Ban retail sale, manufacture and import of fireworks for public use; approved public displays only
- Combat Sports Commission to license events and promoters, with medical standards
- $15m to complete the first stage of the Christchurch Cathedral rebuild
- Opposes the under-16 social media ban (coalition 'agree to disagree')
Test scores, rationale and sources for NZ First
Test Score /3 Counts towards Diagnosis 2 Both scores Mechanism 2 Both scores Funding 1 Both scores Delivery 1 Both scores Relief 1 Voter priorities Future effect 1 Readiness to 2050 Durability 1 Readiness to 2050 Candour 1 Readiness to 2050 Rationale
Narrow but concrete: the combat sports commission responds to a coroner's report, and the fireworks ban names fires, pet distress and ACC costs. The cathedral is costed ($15m) with no funding source and NZ First publishes no fiscal plan; no timelines or partners named.
Relief this term
Fireworks sales ban, a combat sports commission and $15m for the Christchurch Cathedral are narrow and untimed; it opposes the under-16 ban.
Sources
Te Pāti Māori
- Voter priorities
- 4/15
- Readiness to 2050
- 6/21
Māori-led disability services, Toi Māori, rangatahi sport and takatāpui protections.
- Māori-led disability services, funded by what whānau say they need rather than forms
- More support for Māori-led arts infrastructure, funding and creative industries
- Invest in sport pathways for rangatahi
- Protect takatāpui Māori wellbeing and ensure public services account for it
Test scores, rationale and sources for Te Pāti Māori
Test Score /3 Counts towards Diagnosis 1 Both scores Mechanism 1 Both scores Funding 0 Both scores Delivery 1 Both scores Relief 1 Voter priorities Future effect 1 Readiness to 2050 Durability 1 Readiness to 2050 Candour 1 Readiness to 2050 Rationale
Commitments to Māori-led disability services, Toi Māori, rangatahi sport and takatāpui protection describe the problem but not a vehicle, amount or timeline. None of these items is in its costed tax package.
Relief this term
Māori-led disability services, Toi Māori, rangatahi sport and takatāpui protections are stated as intent with no amount, vehicle or timeline.
Sources
Opportunity
- Voter priorities
- 7/15
- Readiness to 2050
- 9/21
Disability support simplified and backed by a citizen's income; arts supported through income security.
- 'Tell Us Once' system so disabled people do not repeat their story to each agency
- End sub-minimum wage exemptions for disabled workers; Citizen's Income and a disability allowance
- Better respite and support for unpaid carers; restore pay equity for care and support workers
- Arts: citizen's income, repeal the charitable donations cap, recognise arts in innovation funding
Test scores, rationale and sources for Opportunity
Test Score /3 Counts towards Diagnosis 2 Both scores Mechanism 2 Both scores Funding 1 Both scores Delivery 1 Both scores Relief 1 Voter priorities Future effect 1 Readiness to 2050 Durability 1 Readiness to 2050 Candour 1 Readiness to 2050 Rationale
Names drivers with numbers (one in six disabled; bottom ten in the OECD for public arts spending; income precarity, not grant levels, as the barrier) and a plausible Tell Us Once mechanism. The disability allowance is stated but not shown in its costed tax package; delivery is intent only.
Relief this term
Tell Us Once, ending sub-minimum wage exemptions and better carer respite could help disabled people, but none is dated; the citizen's income is the main lever for artists and has no start date in these documents.
Sources
Place yourself
Agreeing sometimes means change and sometimes keeping current settings. Take the quiz to compare across every issue.
| Statement | National | Labour | Greens | ACT | NZ First | Te Pāti Māori | Opportunity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under-16 social media ban. Children under 16 should be banned by law from holding social media accounts. | Agrees | Agrees | Mixed | Disagrees | Disagrees | No stated position | Mixed |
| Keep the DSS Act. The Disability Support Services Act passed in 2026 should stay in force. | Agrees | Disagrees | Disagrees | Agrees | Agrees | No stated position | Mixed |
| Village payout in 3 months. Retirement villages should have to repay departing residents in full within three months. | Disagrees | Agrees | No stated position | No stated position | No stated position | No stated position | No stated position |
| Game animals as resource. Introduced game animals such as deer and tahr should be recognised in law as a hunting resource, not only as pests. | Agrees | No stated position | Disagrees | Agrees | No stated position | No stated position | No stated position |
✓ Agrees, ○ Mixed, ✗ Disagrees, · No stated position. Silence is a finding.
Why each statement matters
Under-16 social media ban Children under 16 should be banned by law from holding social media accounts.
- What it means
- A bill introduced in August 2026 would ban under-16s from social media accounts, with platforms checking ages and facing large fines. It did not get a first reading before the election.
- The case for
- It protects children from harmful content and addictive design during key years of growing up.
- The case against
- Age checks are hard to enforce, raise privacy concerns and may push children to riskier sites.
- The trade-off
- Stronger protection for children versus privacy and enforceability.
Keep the DSS Act The Disability Support Services Act passed in 2026 should stay in force.
- What it means
- The Disability Support Services Act (September 2026) gives disability support its first legal framework, setting eligibility and ministers' powers. Disagreeing means replacing it with a law written with disabled people.
- The case for
- It gives certainty now, backed by $2.1b of extra funding, rather than restarting the process.
- The case against
- Disability groups and critics say it was rushed with poor consultation, so it may not meet needs.
- The trade-off
- Stability now versus a slower rewrite, as need grows with an ageing population.
Village payout in 3 months Retirement villages should have to repay departing residents in full within three months.
- What it means
- When residents leave or die, villages repay their capital, which can take many months. There is no legal deadline now. This would require full repayment within three months; another plan sets nine months.
- The case for
- Residents and estates get their money sooner, often when needed for care or a new home.
- The case against
- Faster payouts raise villages' costs, which could flow into higher entry prices for new residents.
- The trade-off
- Quicker payouts versus possibly dearer entry for future residents.
Game animals as resource Introduced game animals such as deer and tahr should be recognised in law as a hunting resource, not only as pests.
- What it means
- Introduced game animals such as deer and tahr are mainly treated as pests on conservation land now. This would recognise them in law as a hunting resource, with the Game Animal Council (a hunter-focused body) managing herds.
- The case for
- Hunters gain a say in herd numbers, supporting a popular pastime and the businesses around it.
- The case against
- These animals damage native plants, and conservation goals could come second to hunting.
- The trade-off
- Hunting interests versus protecting native ecosystems on public land.
The 2050 test
The Greens' accessibility standards and universal design rules, and Opportunity's Tell Us Once system, are the only answers that build capacity for an older, more disabled population; National's parental leave and Labour's carer pay rises help today but add recurring cost. ACT's ministry cuts and the coalition's DSS framework aim at fiscal control of support spending but do not say how demand from ageing will be met. Nobody sets out how disability and aged-care support will be funded as people over 65, a third of whom are disabled, grow faster than the working-age population.
| Party | Effect to 2050 | The policy that drives it | Would it last? |
|---|---|---|---|
| National | Neutral | Paid parental leave to 30 weeks; nine-month retirement village repayments. Adds a modest costed transfer for young families and shifts some risk to village operators, with no change to how disability or aged-care demand is funded. Source | Partly |
| Labour | Neutral | Repeal and replace the DSS Act; three-month village payouts. Changes the rules for support and repayment but does not cost or fund the growth in disability support demand from ageing. Source | Partly |
| Greens | Neutral | Disability rights law, universal design standards, state-owned retirement villages, care worker pay equity. Universal design lowers the future cost of ageing in place, but large uncosted income and service commitments offset that on the fiscal side. Source | No |
| ACT | Neutral | Abolish demographic ministries ($187m a year saving). A small saving that does not touch the main drivers of disability and aged-care cost growth. Source | No |
| NZ First | Neutral | No disability or aged-care offer in this grouping. Its G13 items (fireworks, combat sports, cathedral) do not affect ageing costs. Source | No |
| Te Pāti Māori | Neutral | Māori-led disability services funded by need. May improve access for disabled Māori but has no costing or delivery path that changes long-run cost. Source | No |
| Opportunity | Neutral | Tell Us Once; disability allowance within a Citizen's Income. Cuts administrative churn for disabled people, but the allowance's cost and effect on long-run spending are not shown separately. Source | No |
All sources for this grouping are listed on the sources page.