The parties · 1 of 7, by current seats
National
At a glance
- Poll average (%)
- 29.8
- Readiness to 2050 /100
- 65 strong
- Voter priorities /100
- 73 strong
- Confidence it happens
- Medium
- Fiscal detail
- Full plan
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 | 17 | 13 |
| Health | 15 | 11 |
| Economy and jobs | 14 | 10 |
| Housing | 14 | 10 |
| Crime and justice | 13 | 10 |
| Climate and energy | 12 | 9 |
| Education | 14 | 10 |
| Migration | 12 | 8 |
| Tax and retirement | 14 | 10 |
| Infrastructure | 14 | 10 |
| Te Tiriti | 7 | 5 |
| Defence and trade | 15 | 10 |
| Community and culture | 13 | 9 |
| 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 | 17 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 14 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 7 | 15 | 13 |
| Voter priorities /15 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 5 | 10 | 9 |
Select a grouping for the rationale and sources behind each score.
Who
Leads the current coalition with ACT and NZ First. Its values page stresses lower taxes, limited government and personal responsibility.
The pitch
The repair job is half done. Keep spending tight, return to surplus in 2028/29, and consider tax relief only once surpluses are growing.
Coalition stance and bottom lines
Names no partners. Rules out Opportunity, even on confidence and supply, and rejects "a four-way coalition" on the left. One bottom line: no new taxes.
Five headline policies
- Rules out new taxes, and tax cuts this term
- Makes KiwiSaver compulsory, rising to 12% of pay by 2032
- Splits Foodstuffs only if the Commerce Commission recommends it, legislating within 100 days for its plan; prices 3.5% to 5% lower than otherwise
- Adds $604m for Pharmac, funded by cutting non-Pacific aid
- Extends paid parental leave from 26 to 30 weeks by 2029
Who gains / Who pays
| Who gains | Who pays |
|---|---|
| First-home buyers | Long-term Jobseekers ($48 a week less) |
| Graduates repaying loans | Aid recipients outside the Pacific |
| New parents | Employers, through KiwiSaver |
On the long game
- Neutral: all four pressures
- Global risks with a concrete plan: 5 of 5
- Governing for the long term: Four-year term: Plans · With other parties: Plans · Institutions: Plans · Inheritance: Plans
| Pressure | Effect | Would it last? |
|---|---|---|
| Ageing and the fiscal gap | Neutral | Likely |
| Productivity and incomes | Neutral | Likely |
| Climate and resilience | Neutral | Likely |
| The infrastructure deficit | Neutral | Likely |
| Risk | At home | With others |
|---|---|---|
| Advanced AI going badly | Plans | Silent |
| Climate change and ecological breakdown | Funded plan | Plans |
| Engineered pandemics | Plans | Acknowledges |
| Great-power conflict, including nuclear war | Funded plan | Plans |
| Erosion of trust and governance | Funded plan | Silent |
Governing for the long term
National: 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. National: Four-year term Plans, Plans with other parties Plans, Long-term institutions Plans, Honours what it inherits Plans.
Sources for these ratings
- Term of Parliament (Enabling 4-year Term) Legislation Amendment Bill, as introduced (27 February 2025)
- 1News, Referendum on four-year election term ditched by Government (18 February 2026)
- National, Hon Chris Bishop's speech to Building Nations 2026 (20 August 2026)
- The Spinoff, We finally have a national infrastructure plan, and both sides of the House agree on it (16 June 2026)
- National, Building the Future: National's Economic Plan (PDF) (28 September 2026)
- National, Fiscal Plan (PDF) (12 October 2026)
- National, Government sets methane targets for 2050 (12 October 2025)
- National, Growing more to feed the world (PDF) (16 October 2026)
Watch for
Several costed promises sit outside the fiscal table. Health takes 61% of the four-year allowance, leaving $7.5b for every other cost pressure. School lunches are funded only to 2029. Debt peaks at 43.9% of GDP in 2027/28 and falls to 39.5%. "No new taxes", yet fuel excise rises in 5c steps from 2028. On Te Tiriti it has no general position, only fisheries obligations.
Since 19 October (not yet scored)
- Backs the under-16 social media ban; Labour backs it too, so it is not a point of difference.
- Luxon still rules out Opportunity, pointing to its land tax.
- Backs a four-year term referendum, as Labour does.
Party order is by seats in the current Parliament. 7 parties, the same template each.