The parties · 2 of 7, by current seats
Labour
At a glance
- Poll average (%)
- 27.9
- Readiness to 2050 /100
- 56 fair
- Voter priorities /100
- 61 fair
- Confidence it happens
- Medium
- Fiscal detail
- Full plan, checked by a firm Labour hired
Current settings score 58 on Readiness to 2050 and 55 on Voter priorities. Confidence is shown beside the scores, never added to them.
Grouping scores
| Grouping | Readiness to 2050 /21 | Voter priorities /15 |
|---|---|---|
| Cost of living | 11 | 9 |
| Health | 14 | 10 |
| Economy and jobs | 13 | 10 |
| Housing | 14 | 10 |
| Crime and justice | 6 | 3 |
| Climate and energy | 12 | 10 |
| Education | 13 | 10 |
| Migration | 10 | 7 |
| Tax and retirement | 13 | 9 |
| Infrastructure | 10 | 8 |
| Te Tiriti | 14 | 11 |
| Defence and trade | 8 | 5 |
| Community and culture | 11 | 8 |
| Score | Cost of living | Health | Economy and jobs | Housing | Crime and justice | Climate and energy | Education | Migration | Tax and retirement | Infrastructure | Te Tiriti | Defence and trade | Community and culture |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Readiness to 2050 /21 | 11 | 14 | 13 | 14 | 6 | 12 | 13 | 10 | 13 | 10 | 14 | 8 | 11 |
| Voter priorities /15 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 3 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 11 | 5 | 8 |
Select a grouping for the rationale and sources behind each score.
Who
The main opposition. Hipkins was Prime Minister in 2023. Voters rate Labour most capable on all five top concerns. Slogan: "Jobs. Health. Homes."
The pitch
National has failed on growth, jobs and prices. Balance the books "without shrinking the economy", get debt "below 20% of GDP over time", and make property investors help pay for health.
Coalition stance and bottom lines
Names no partners and sets no bottom lines. Keeps the Greens and Te Pāti Māori out of police and justice roles. Says "no way" to Opportunity's tax plan but leaves a deal open.
Five headline policies
- Taxes gains on investment property after 1 July 2027 at 28% to fund health; family homes, family farms, KiwiSaver, shares and business assets exempt
- Gives everyone three free GP visits a year from July 2028
- Caps public transport fares at $20 a week in main centres
- Restores pay equity law; $4 an hour more for care workers
- Repeals Investment Boost; adds a $10,000 write-off for small firms
Who gains / Who pays
| Who gains | Who pays |
|---|---|
| GP and prescription users | Property investors selling at a gain |
| Commuters on public transport | Larger firms using Investment Boost |
| Care and support workers | Smokers |
On the long game
- Neutral: all four pressures
- Global risks with a concrete plan: 4 of 5 (Advanced AI going badly; Climate change and ecological breakdown; Great-power conflict, including nuclear war; Erosion of trust and governance)
- Governing for the long term: Four-year term: Plans · With other parties: Acknowledges · Institutions: Plans · Inheritance: Plans
| Pressure | Effect | Would it last? |
|---|---|---|
| Ageing and the fiscal gap | Neutral | Partly |
| Productivity and incomes | Neutral | Partly |
| Climate and resilience | Neutral | Likely |
| The infrastructure deficit | Neutral | Partly |
| Risk | At home | With others |
|---|---|---|
| Advanced AI going badly | Plans | Plans |
| Climate change and ecological breakdown | Acknowledges | Plans |
| Engineered pandemics | Silent | Silent |
| Great-power conflict, including nuclear war | Acknowledges | Plans |
| Erosion of trust and governance | Plans | Silent |
Governing for the long term
Labour: governing for the long term
Rating on each count, Rated, never added to the scores. Rests on a stated value: long-term plans should survive a change of government.
Rated, never added to the scores. Rests on a stated value: long-term plans should survive a change of government. Labour: Four-year term Plans, Plans with other parties Acknowledges, Long-term institutions Plans, Honours what it inherits Plans.
Sources for these ratings
- Term of Parliament (Enabling 4-year Term) Legislation Amendment Bill, bill page and first reading vote (117 to 6; Labour 34 and Greens 15 for) (5 March 2025)
- Wikipedia, Term of Parliament (Enabling 4-year Term) Legislation Amendment Bill, citing Hansard Vol. 780, 5 March 2025 ('Voting: Te Pāti Māori Votes'; National 49, Labour 34, Green 15, ACT 11, NZ First 8 for; Te Pāti Māori 6 against) (5 March 2025)
- ODT/RNZ, 30-year Infrastructure Plan gets widespread support in Parliament (Labour and Green forewords to the Government response) (16 June 2026)
- Engineering New Zealand, Infrastructure plan gains cross-party support (19 June 2026)
- Labour, Fiscal Strategy (23 August 2026)
- interest.co.nz, Labour pledges return to surplus and independent Parliamentary Budget Office (23 August 2026)
- 1News, Labour says it will set up body to oversee NZ's school curriculum (17 September 2026)
- Labour to accelerate climate action (stays in Paris; ETS review) (8 September 2026)
- Labour, Small Business Action Plan (repeal Investment Boost; $10,000 write-off) (11 August 2026)
- Labour will scrap harmful disability Bill (2 July 2026)
- Deloitte, Election survey 2026: infrastructure (Labour to honour what is contracted, underway and already funded) (15 September 2026)
Watch for
Free GP visits start July 2028; money is booked in 2027/28. The fiscal plan puts a $2.0b surplus (OBEGAL) in 2028/29; its fiscal strategy page says 2029/30. Future pay equity settlements are unfunded. Trade: new markets in Africa and South America; ASEAN, the EU and Canada prioritised. No Treaty settings policy; 5% of government procurement to Māori firms; Māori data sovereignty.
Since 19 October (not yet scored)
- Keep NZ Super at 65; no stated funding.
- Repeal the law that could criminalise rough sleeping: "Criminalising homeless people is not going to address the problem".
- Under-16 social media bill to first reading and select committee within 100 days; feed choice from 16; digital duty of care; independent regulator.
- Backs a four-year term referendum.
Party order is by seats in the current Parliament. 7 parties, the same template each.