Every question, every answer, every source

For your situation, the key question is less “who has the biggest health policy?” and more who proposes making it easier for an older person to remain at home while giving the family carer reliable services, information, respite and financial/work support.

I’ve looked at the parties’ current 2026 material. There is an important caveat: not every party has published a detailed policy specifically for unpaid family carers, so I’ve distinguished concrete commitments from broader health or aged-care positions.

What the main parties are proposing

Party	Relevant 2026 position	What it could mean for a family caring at home
National	Has launched the Mahi Aroha Carers’ Strategy Action Plan, covering unpaid carers' health and wellbeing, financial security and recognition. It specifically aims to improve access to information and services and have government agencies work more closely together. New roadmap for supporting unpaid carers | National Party	Most directly targeted at the coordination problem you describe. However, much of this is an action plan rather than a new entitlement to a specified amount of respite/home support.
Labour	Its 2026 platform promises substantially more health funding, three free GP visits a year, free prescriptions, more GP capacity, and a $4/hour immediate pay rise for care and support workers, with pay-equity legislation restored. Labour's 2026 Election Policies	Could improve the availability/cost of formal care and make healthcare easier to access. But I have not found a Labour 2026 commitment comparable to National's dedicated unpaid-carer coordination action plan.
Green Party	Calls for a properly supported, accessible health system; its seniors policy emphasises dignity, autonomy and support for older people. It has also committed to restoring pay equity and funding a settlement for about 65,000 care/support workers, including people working in older people's homes. Manifesto 2026 - Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand	Strong emphasis on in-home care, the care workforce and older people's autonomy. The Greens have also backed long-term reform of the fragmented aged-care system. Long-term investment in aged care can't wait - delaying it will only increase the cost - Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand
NZ First	Its current campaign is focused heavily on changing the health system toward prevention. Its published aged-care programme includes more residential-care capacity, better funding for aged-care providers and a longer-term inquiry into fully funded aged care. NZFirst Campaign Announcement: The Plan to “Make NZ Healthy” - New Zealand First	More emphasis on aged-care capacity and the wider health system than on a specific package for unpaid family carers.
ACT	I found current 2026 health proposals around patient choice, medicines and end-of-life decision-making, but not a detailed 2026 package specifically for unpaid family carers or coordination of home-based aged care. ACT New Zealand	Its publicly stated proposals are less specific to the day-to-day support/coordination problem you describe.

National: coordination is the clearest theme

National is the party currently offering the most explicit response to the “I have to navigate multiple services while also working and caring” problem.

Its September 2026 Mahi Aroha action plan is intended to improve carers' access to information, services and support, with government agencies working more closely together. It has three priorities: health and wellbeing, financial security, and recognition/appreciation. New roadmap for supporting unpaid carers | National Party

There is also a broader government reform agenda around aged care. An independent Aged Care Ministerial Advisory Group reported in August that New Zealand's system is fragmented and recommended major reform, including better integration of aged-care and health services. Aged Care Ministerial Advisory Group media release: Major reform needed to secure New Zealand’s aged care future | Ministry of Health NZ National has previously highlighted the need for older people to be able to stay at home and move between different levels of care, and for better integration between aged care, health and disability services. Louise Upston Update - October 2025 | National Party

One concrete example of the current government's direction is expanded Hospital in the Home, allied-health support when people return home, and transitional/aged-residential care intended to make discharge from hospital easier. More staff, extra beds as hospitals prepare for winter | National Party

The limitation is that the carers' action plan does not appear to promise a simple new entitlement such as “X hours of respite care per week”. It is primarily a framework for improving the system.

Labour: strengthen the services surrounding the family carer

Labour's 2026 health programme is broader rather than specifically “carer policy”: three free GP visits annually, free prescriptions from July 2027, more GP capacity and significant additional health funding. Labour's 2026 Election Policies

For home carers, its particularly relevant commitment is restoring pay-equity legislation and immediately increasing care-and-support workers' pay by $4/hour from January 2027. Labour says this covers approximately 65,000 workers. Release: Labour to restore pay equity, immediate pay rise for care and support workers

That matters because your ability to get dependable outside help depends partly on whether there is a viable home-care workforce. Labour's proposal is therefore more about strengthening the workforce and reducing barriers to healthcare, rather than creating a dedicated carer's navigation system.

Greens: care as a system, with more emphasis on in-home care

The Greens explicitly frame older people as entitled to support that enables them to live with dignity and autonomy, and have argued that New Zealand needs long-term reform covering both in-home and residential aged care. Manifesto 2026 - Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand

Their October 2026 care-worker proposal is particularly concrete: restoring pay-equity law and funding a settlement for roughly 65,000 care and support workers. The party specifically includes workers who help older people in their own homes. Greens commit to pay equity for care workers - Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand

Their 2026 manifesto also says disabled people and their whānau should have access to the services they need and live with dignity and autonomy. Manifesto 2026 - Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand

So the Green approach is comparatively focused on building a better publicly supported care system and workforce, although the detailed unpaid-carer navigation/respite offer is less clearly spelled out than National's action plan.

One important point about the system you are dealing with now

New Zealand already has a mechanism intended to coordinate home support: a Needs Assessment and Service Coordination (NASC) assessment through Health New Zealand. An eligible older person can receive a publicly funded home-support package, and, following assessment, a family/whānau member can in some circumstances be employed by a contracted provider to provide agreed care. Home support services for older people and others

That means a useful question to put to every candidate is:

“If I am working part-time and providing daily unpaid care, what will your party actually change so that I have one clear pathway to health care, home support, respite, financial assistance and other services, rather than having to coordinate them myself?”

I'd also ask:

• Will there be a single point of contact/care coordinator for families?
• Will carers receive guaranteed respite or other replacement-care hours?
• Will the older person's needs assessment automatically connect them to health, disability and social-support services?
• What financial help is available to someone who reduces paid work because of caring?
• What will be done about shortages and reliability of home-support workers?
• Can family members be paid for some of the care they already provide?
• How will the policy work for someone who wants to keep their family member at home rather than enter residential care?

Those questions get much closer to your lived problem than general promises about “more funding for health”.

For an independent side-by-side view of the 2026 party policies, Policy.nz's 2026 election policy comparison is also useful; it covers health, disability and seniors policies and separates actual policy commitments from general party descriptions. Policies for Party vote - NZ Election 2026 - Policy.nz

If you tell me roughly how many hours of care you provide each week and whether the older person is currently receiving NASC/home-support services, I can next compare the parties specifically on respite, carer payments, paid family care, home-help hours, and keeping carers in paid employment—the parts most likely to affect your household.