Party policies in brief
Note: We have had to omit some material for each party due to space.
ACT PARTY
Rebuilding Democracy Too many of the bad laws we have occur because there is no proper scrutiny or accountability. ACT has a plan to change this, lift the standard of lawmaking, and improve accountability in our democracy. ACT’s Democracy Policy would see three changes
to our current democratic framework. Each of these changes aim to improve democratic accountability and deliver better laws for New Zealanders. Democracy or Co-Government?
There is little open debate about how New Zealand should navigate the choice between
liberal democracy and co-government, because questioning co-government is often met with charges of racism. Our Democracy or Co-Government paper sets out how ACT would restore universal human rights in New Zealand’s laws, public affairs, and constitutional settings. We would do this with the following policy changes:
1) Legislating that the principles of the Treaty are based on the actual Treaty, in contrast with the recent interpretation of obscure Treaty principles, and inviting the people to ratify it.
2) Repealing recent laws, such as the Three Waters legislation, local government
representation legislation, and elements of the Pae Ora legislation, that give different
rights based on identity.
3) Reorienting the public service towards a focus on equal opportunity according to robust statistical evidence instead of racial targeting, along with devolution and choice
for all, as achieved with the recent Equity Index and Isolation Index policy for school
funding, and charter schools among other devolutions.
A Four-Year Term
The second part of ACT’s Democracy Policy is introducing a four-year term. But it’s a
four-year term with a catch. A four-year term is something nearly everyone agrees with, but
nobody has the courage to actually campaign for. It’s time to make it happen. Independent Select Committees The third part of ACT’s trifecta of reforms in our Democracy Policy is to improve the
accountability of government by making a four-year term conditional on parliamentary select committees being truly independent of government and rebalanced in favour of opposition parties.
THE GREEN PARTY
Our vision is a climate-friendly Aotearoa that honours Te Tiriti and meets the needs of everyone within the boundaries of the planet, so that we and the rest of nature can thrive. We are proud of the progress we have made. Over the last six years we have taken more action on climate change than the previous three decades of governments combined, secured the biggest-ever boost in
funding to protect native plants and animals, and delivered New Zealand’s first-ever plan to eliminate family violence and sexual violence. We have had big Green wins in areas like rainbow issues, alcohol regulation, seabed mining, and electoral reform. Their climate-focused announcement about clean power.
The Clean Power Payment will allow:
• Grants of up to $6000 to cover the cost of installing solar power and making energy efficient upgrades,
• Interest-free loans of up to $30,000 to cover the cost of additional zero carbon home upgrades,
• Tax deductible zero carbon upgrades for rental homes. The Zero Carbon Homes upgrade will
• Scale up solar on Kainga Ora homes to 30,000 more households in the next three
years,
• Expand Warmer Kiwi Homes to cover more zero carbon upgrades such as
replacing gas heaters,
• Fund Community Energy providers and by Māori, for Māori approaches.
The party claims the Clean Power Payment will save households up to $1200 on their energy bills, every year, and slash carbon emissions. It would be scaled up over three years, with an initial focus on lower-income households.
"The Clean Power Payment will help people to upgrade their homes to be warmer, without relying on dirty fuels, so everyone can come home to a warm place which doesn't pollute the planet." Davidson said the decisions made by successive governments were disproportionately hurting the 1.4 million New Zealanders who rented. The Green Party, she said, would take action to
guarantee people's rent was always fair and affordable, and homes were warm, dry, and healthy.
LABOUR
Leader Chris Hipkins made a tax announcement confirming GST will be removed from fresh and frozen fruit and vegetables, and revealing it will increase Working for families for about 160,00
families, if re-elected.
Labour’s pledge card priorities are:
1) Free dental care for under 30-year-olds. Basic dental care will be free for everyone under age 24 from July 2025 and under age 30 from July 2026.
2) Remove GST from fruit and vege. Families will save around $20 a month from April 2024, making healthy eating easier.
3) Financial Literacy required in schools. Every school leaver will have a good understanding of banking, budgeting and investing starting 2025.
4) Expand 20 hours free Early Childhood Education to 2-year-olds. Saving parents an average of $133 a week from March 2024.
5) Extra $25 per week for 160,000 working families. Big boost to Working for
Families from April 2024 to help with the cost of raising kids.
6) Add 300 more frontline Police. We’ve already delivered 1,800 additional Police, now we will add 300 more frontline Police by 2027.
7) Four weeks paid parental leave for partners. Partners will get 2 weeks paid leave from July 2024, 3 weeks from July 2025 and 4 weeks from July 2026.
8) Trade mission to India in the first 100 days. Boost economic growth and support our farmers and exporters by working towards a Free Trade Agreement with India.
9) Make Apprenticeship Boost permanent. Businesses who take on an apprentice
will receive $500 per month for 2 years. This successful scheme will be made
permanent.“
I’m aware others have got on the Labour bandwagon and launched their own pledge
card in recent times - as they say imitation is the greatest form of flattery,” Chris Hipkins said. “Unlike our opponents’ pledge card, ours is specific about what we’re going to do and
when we are going to do it. “This is about giving New Zealanders confidence about what a first full term Chris Hipkins Government looks like. It will be focused on the basics of fighting the cost of living and growing the economy. From Labour’s Leader: “What you see is what you get with me. In contrast National’s tax plan doesn’t add up and we don’t know exactly what cuts the Coalition of Cuts will make after ACT and New Zealand First place their demands. There is a lot of uncertainty
around them. I offer experience, stability and certainty with a practical plan that responds to the cost of living crisis today, while also building a better tomorrow,” said Chris Hipkins.
Labour has taken more action on climate change than any other prior government combined, and our actions mean that New Zealand is on track to achieve our first emissions budget. Real progress began with our ban on granting new offshore oil and gas exploration permits in 2018, sending a clear market signal that future electricity generation investment needs to be renewable in order to hit our target of 100% by 2030 We can’t opt out of the effects of climate
change, so we can’t opt out of taking action. A low emissions future is achievable for New Zealand, and with a Chris Hipkins Government we’re well on our way.
NATIONAL PARTY
National’s 100 Day Action Plan
• National has a plan to get New Zealand back on track. “In our first 100 days we will start
rebuilding the economy to reduce the cost of living, restore law and order to make our
communities safer, improve our healthcare and schools, and deliver better housing and
infrastructure.
Rebuild the economy and reduce cost of living
• Introduce legislation to remove the Auckland Regional Fuel Tax which adds 11.5 cents per litre
of petrol, or $7.70 for a full tank.
• Cancel Labour’s planned fuel tax hikes which would add another 12 cents per litre of petrol, or
an extra $8 for a full tank.
• Repeal Labour’s Ute Tax by 31 Dec 2023.
• Stop all work on Labour’s Jobs Tax (Income Insurance Scheme).
• Introduce legislation to remove the Reserve Bank’s dual mandate to get the Bank focused on
putting the lid back on inflation.
• Instruct public sector Chief Executives to begin reducing consultant and contractor
expenditure, and to report on current spending within 100 days.
• Introduce legislation to restore 90-day trial periods for all businesses.
• Repeal Labour’s “Fair Pay” legislation. Restore law and order
• Introduce legislation to ban gang patches, stop gang members gathering in public, and stop
known gang offenders from communicating with one another.
• Give police greater powers to search gang members for firearms and make gang membership an
aggravating factor at sentencing.
Improve health and education
• Set five major targets for the health system, including for wait times and cancer treatment.
• Improve hospital emergency department health workforce security.
• Introduce legislation to disestablish the Māori Health Authority. Introduce legislation to extend
free breast cancer screening for those aged up to 74 years.
• Sign an MOU with Waikato University to progress a third medical school.
• Require primary and intermediate schools to teach one hour a day each of reading, writing and
maths starting in 2024.
• Appoint an Expert Group to redesign the English and maths curricula for primary school
students.
• Ban the use of cellphones in schools. Deliver better housing and infrastructure
• Meet with Councils and communities to establish regional requirements for recovery from
Cyclone Gabrielle and other recent major flooding events.
• Make any additional Orders in Council needed to remove red tape to speed up cyclone and
flood recovery efforts.
• Begin work on establishing a National Infrastructure Agency.
• Issue a draft new Government Policy Statement on Transport reflecting National’s new Roads of
National Significance and public transport projects.
• Withdraw central government from Labour’s failed Let’s Get Wellington Moving programme.
• Cancel Labour’s Auckland Light Rail project.
• Begin work on National’s Going for Housing Growth policy, to expand housing supply, build infrastructure and give councils flexibility over MDRS standards.
• Repeal Labour’s Three Waters legislation.
• Repeal Labour’s RMA 2.0 legislation and introduce a fast-track consenting regime.
• Begin the Kāinga Ora clean-up by commissioning an independent review into the organisation’s
financial situation, procurement, and asset management.
• Establish a priority one category on the social housing waitlist to move families out of
emergency housing and into permanent homes faster.
• Begin efforts to double renewable energy production, including work to issue a National Policy
Statement for Renewable Electricity Generation.
• Amend the Overseas Investment Act 2005.
NEW ZEALAND FIRST
1) New Zealand First will not form a government with the Labour Party, whether in Coalition or as a Confidence and Supply partner.
2) There will be no change to the age of eligibility for Superannuation under New Zealand First.
3) Under New Zealand First vaccine mandates will end.
4) Under New Zealand First, we will change all of the woke virtue signaling names of every government department back to English - back to what they were before the academics from university sociology departments started this madness a few years ago.
5) We will ensure Pharmac has more funds to get the medication to the people that need it most – but the first thing we are going to do is sort Pharmac out – they will concentrate on performance not puffery.
6) Under New Zealand First, if you commit a crime and are part of a gang it will be law that it is an automatic aggravating factor in your sentencing.