NZ Election 2026 · The Parties, the Issues and the Long Game

Voting for the long term

What to look for if you are voting for the long term: seven questions to ask of any party

These come from the tests in this report. You can use them on any party, any promise and any candidate, including ones this report does not cover.

1. Cause, not symptom

Does the plan go after what drives the problem, or only ease how it feels this year?

2. A path that works

Is there evidence it works, and a target you can check by 2029?

3. Paid for, and honest about who pays

Is it costed, and does the party say who loses? A promise with no losers usually has hidden ones.

4. Built to last

Does another party back it, or is it locked into a law or an independent body? If one election can undo it, it is not long-term.

5. Room for the next shock

Does it leave the country able to absorb a pandemic, an earthquake or a war in Asia, or does it spend that room now?

6. Beyond our borders

Does the party say how it will work with other countries on risks no country can manage alone?

7. Continuity across governments

Does it help the next government keep long-term work on track: a four-year term with safeguards, plans agreed across parties, and independent bodies that hold long-term plans?

Red flags

  • No costing, or no start date.
  • "Nobody loses."
  • Scrapping a policy without proposing a replacement.
  • A long-term plan that depends on one party alone.

Ask your candidate

The Long game page has one question for each pressure and global risk, ready to put to a candidate.

Two stated values

Questions 6 and 7 carry this report's two stated values: that working with other countries matters on the global risks, and that long-term plans should survive a change of government. Readers who do not share them can weigh the first five on their own. The Method page sets out both.