Search studies, brands and more…⌘ KExplore research

Evidence · NZ Election 2026

Every question, every answer, every source

Everything the study collected, as it was collected on 5 October 2026. Read any answer in full, or download the tables behind every figure in the study.

questions
174
voters the questions were written as
32
answers collected, of 820 planned
815
answers compared like for like
800
pairs of national and town answers
124
answers with sources recorded
774
answers that showed a link
304

01

Every question, with its answers

Each question was written as a voter would ask it and went to all four assistants. Some were also asked from a town. Open a question to read every answer to it in full.

Showing 20 of 174 questions

Show all 174

02

The tables behind the study

Every figure on the study page comes from these tables. They are CSV files, which open in any spreadsheet.

  • Questions

    nz-election-2026-questions.csv

    One row per question.

    Question id, report reference, question, voter, issue, towns it was also asked from, answers per assistant

    174rows

    Download questions (CSV)

  • Answers

    nz-election-2026-answers.csv

    One row per answer, with its full text.

    Answer id, question id, assistant, town, words, parties named, showed a link, websites recorded as sources, compared like for like, full text

    815rows

    Download answers (CSV)

  • Sources by answer

    nz-election-2026-sources.csv

    One row for each website recorded as a source of an answer.

    Answer id, question id, assistant, town, website, publisher type

    4,216rows

    Download sources by answer (CSV)

  • Checks against official sources

    nz-election-2026-checks.csv

    One row per statement checked.

    Check, answer id, assistant, what the answer said, verdict, what the source says, source, date

    17rows

    Download checks against official sources (CSV)

  • Who to vote for: coding

    nz-election-2026-guidance.csv

    One row per answer to the eight questions that asked who to vote for.

    Answer id, question id, assistant, what the answer did, the words that show it

    32rows

    Download who to vote for: coding (CSV)

  • Location and national answers

    nz-election-2026-towns.csv

    One row per question asked both nationally and from a location, for each assistant.

    Question, town, assistant, both answer ids, parties named nationally and from the town, same parties

    124rows

    Download location and national answers (CSV)

Use these tables to trace findings back to the original questions and answers. The full text of each answer is also on this page, under its question.

03

Read in full and checked

Some answers were read in detail or checked against official sources. Those appear on the study page, beside the findings they support.

ChatGPT · No location

We own a mortgaged home in an area affected by flooding. Insurance affordability, protection works and what happens after another flood are major concerns for us. I am considering my vote in the 2026 New Zealand general election. Who would pay for flood defences under different party plans: homeowners, councils or central government?

As of 4 October 2026, there is no clear party-by-party commitment that homeowners alone would pay. The picture is:

For a mortgaged homeowner, the key unresolved issue is who ultimately bears adaptation costs through rates, taxes and insurance premiums. Treasury says rising flood risk is already threatening home insurability. Residential insurance and climate-related hazards | The Treasury New Zealand

Ask anything

ChatGPT can make mistakes. Check important info.

Captured 5 October 2026 · shown as ChatGPT gave it, not a verified account

Gemini · No location

We own a mortgaged home in an area affected by flooding. Insurance affordability, protection works and what happens after another flood are major concerns for us. I am considering my vote in the 2026 New Zealand general election. Who would pay for flood defences under different party plans: homeowners, councils or central government?

Navigating homeownership in a flood-prone area with the rising pressures of insurance, protection costs, and post-disaster recovery is a central issue for many New Zealanders. As the November 2026 General Election approaches, the question of who pays for flood defences—homeowners, local councils, or central government—remains a major point of debate among political parties.

While exact policy manifestos vary across the political spectrum, the approaches generally fall into distinct philosophies regarding cost-sharing, infrastructure funding, and risk management.

Overview of Party Approaches to Funding Flood Defences

Payer/Stakeholder General Approach & Party Alignment What it Means for Homeowners
Central Government (Stronger funding/co-funding models) Greens, Labour, Te Pāti Māori: Generally advocate for greater central government leadership, dedicated climate adaptation funds, and co-funding arrangements with local councils to protect vulnerable communities. They argue that local councils (and by extension, ratepayers) cannot shoulder the bill alone. Potentially greater protection infrastructure built via central funding, reducing the immediate ratepayer burden, though heavily prone to debate over whether to protect high-risk areas or fund managed retreats.
Shared Model (Central + Local + Private) National, NZ First (Current Coalition): Emphasize regional and local economic tools alongside targeted central support. For instance, the current government has utilized mechanisms like the Regional Infrastructure Fund for regional flood resilience, while expecting local authorities and beneficiaries to share in long-term maintenance costs. Costs are more likely to be distributed via regional council rates or targeted local rates, meaning homeowners may see a rise in local property rates to fund local infrastructure.
Market-Driven / Fiscal Conservatism ACT Party: Tends to favor strict fiscal restraint, localized decision-making, and market-led solutions over large-scale, taxpayer-funded infrastructure subsidies for high-risk private properties, emphasizing property rights balanced against individual risk ownership. Higher exposure for homeowners and local councils. Less appetite for nationwide taxpayer bailouts or broad subsidies for private property protection, putting more pressure on local insurance and personal mitigation.

Key Concerns for Homeowners

1. Who Pays for Hard Defences (Stopbanks, Drainage, Retaining Walls)?

  • The Local Council Burden: Historically, major flood protection schemes (like stopbanks and river management) have been managed by regional councils and funded through local and targeted rates. However, many councils—particularly in regions with small ratepayer bases—face severe financial constraints.
  • Central Government Intervention: Left-of-centre parties (Labour, Greens) lean toward direct central government co-investment alongside councils, arguing that climate change is a national crisis. Right-of-centre parties (National, ACT, NZ First) prioritize economic growth and targeted regional funds (such as the Regional Infrastructure Fund), but generally push back against open-ended national underwriting for localized risks.

2. Insurance Affordability and Managed Retreat

  • Insurance retreat and soaring premiums are tightly linked to who pays for defences. If public flood defences are built, insurance premiums may stabilize. If they are not, properties may become uninsurable.
  • Parties are under mounting pressure to clarify Climate Adaptation Act frameworks—specifically deciding when it makes financial sense to build expensive walls to protect homes versus funding a "managed retreat" (buying out homeowners in high-risk zones). Left-leaning parties generally favor structured state-backed support for communities facing retreat, while market-oriented parties emphasize personal property risk and avoiding moral hazards where taxpayers subsidize building in known hazard zones.

3. What Happens After Another Flood?

  • Post-flood recovery currently relies heavily on EQC (Tokatū Tū Ake Natural Hazards Commission) for land and structural damage caps, private insurance, and ad-hoc central-local government relief packages for infrastructure.
  • Parties differ on how much the state should step in repeatedly for repetitive loss properties. A key differentiator in your vote will be whether you believe the government should structurally subsidize and insure high-risk coastal and riverine settlements, or whether policy should pivot toward forcing risk reduction, stricter land-use planning (restricting new builds in flood zones), and eventual relocation.

What to Look for in Party Manifestos

As you weigh your vote for the November 2026 election, examine each party's specific policies on:

  1. Climate Adaptation Funding: Do they propose a dedicated national fund to co-pay for local council flood defences?
  2. Local Government Funding Tools: Do they plan to give councils alternative funding streams (like GST sharing or tourism levies) so councils don't have to rely entirely on homeowner rates to build defences?
  3. Insurance and Risk Reduction: What are their proposals for managing uninsurable properties and managed retreat?

Are you leaning toward a particular region or local council setup where specific flood management proposals have already been a point of local contention?

Ask Gemini

Gemini is AI and can make mistakes.

Captured 5 October 2026 · shown as Gemini gave it, not a verified account

Google AI Mode · No location

We own a mortgaged home in an area affected by flooding. Insurance affordability, protection works and what happens after another flood are major concerns for us. I am considering my vote in the 2026 New Zealand general election. Who would pay for flood defences under different party plans: homeowners, councils or central government?

As a homeowner in a flood-prone area navigating the 2026 general election, the question of who pays for climate adaptation, infrastructure, and recovery is central. New Zealand’s political parties approach the cost-sharing burden—divided between central government, local councils, and private property owners—through distinct philosophical lenses.

The primary party positions on who funds flood defences and adaptation breakdown as follows:

  • National-led Government / Center-Right Approach: Focuses on a cost-sharing and devolved risk model. The National Party's approach via the National Adaptation Framework emphasizes that responsibilities must be shared. Central government provides strategic tools (such as upcoming nationwide flood mapping standards and legislation requiring local councils to create local adaptation plans), but leans toward the principle that property owners and local government bear foreseeable localized risk. Central government funding is targeted strictly at nationally significant infrastructure or where risk vastly exceeds local capability, meaning day-to-day or regional flood defences lean heavily on councils (rates) and private property alignment.

  • New Zealand First: Frames flood protection and water management explicitly as regional infrastructure rather than broad climate policy. They champion targeted central government investment via mechanisms like the Regional Infrastructure Fund (directing capital toward regional flood protection and water storage projects), combining central government capital injection for regions with local council execution.

  • Labour Party (Center-Left): Generally advocates for a more active central government partnership and co-funding model with local authorities. They argue that local councils and individual ratepayers—especially in smaller or lower-income regions—cannot shoulder the spiraling costs of severe weather defences alone. Their approach favors greater central government backing to assist local councils with major resilience infrastructure and managed retreat frameworks.

  • Green Party: Views climate adaptation through an equity and systemic lens, criticizing delayed funding as a "ticking time bomb". They push for comprehensive, well-funded central government leadership and dedicated public funding for community-led adaptation and managed retreat, aiming to protect vulnerable communities rather than leaving lower-income councils or individual homeowners exposed to soaring insurance and defence costs. [RNZ]

  • ACT Party: Generally aligns with a decentralized, free-market approach that minimizes heavy new central government spending structures, favoring local decision-making and property-level risk management where local authorities and individual property owners manage localized hazard realities.

  • The Opportunity Party (TOP) & Te Pāti Māori: Both advocate for dedicated Crown-backed/Crown-Māori adaptation funds and structured partnerships, emphasizing that central government must step in with specialized funding streams to stop building in harm's way and assist with complex managed retreat or major structural defences.

Summary of Who Pays Under General Party Lines

  • Central Government: Favored more heavily by the left (Labour, Greens, Te Pāti Māori) and regional infrastructure proponents (NZ First) to subsidize or co-fund heavy lifting.

  • Councils & Ratepayers: Relied upon as the primary delivery agents, with National/ACT frameworks expecting local adaptation plans to manage localized risk through existing council rating mechanisms unless thresholds of national significance are met.

  • Homeowners: Under current center-right settings and emerging risk-transfer models, individual property owners carry increasing indirect costs through transparent insurance risk pricing and localized council rating spikes for capital works.

To help narrow down your vote based on your specific situation, tell me:

  • Are you more concerned about upfront regional infrastructure spending (like stopbanks and drainage) or long-term exit strategies / managed retreat if your home becomes uninsurable?

  • Which specific region or local council district is your property in?

I can provide more detailed local context or party manifesto specifics.

Ask anything

Captured 5 October 2026 · shown as Google AI Mode gave it, not a verified account

AI Overviews · No location

We own a mortgaged home in an area affected by flooding. Insurance affordability, protection works and what happens after another flood are major concerns for us. I am considering my vote in the 2026 New Zealand general election. Who would pay for flood defences under different party plans: homeowners, councils or central government?

AI Overview

As you consider your vote in the 2026 New Zealand general election , the question of who pays for flood protection and climate adaptation—whether homeowners , local councils , or the central government —is a central debate. Recent legislative shifts, including the introduction of new climate adaptation frameworks, have drawn clear ideological boundaries between the major political parties regarding financial accountability.

A scannable overview illustrates how the parties propose splitting the bill:

Political Party Primary Funding Burden Core Strategy & Funding Mechanism
National (Coalition) Councils & Homeowners Localized accountability, mandatory council plans, and a National Flood Map; central government support is not guaranteed.
Labour Shared Model Four-way split: beneficiaries (homeowners), exacerbators, the public (government), and banks/insurers.
Green Party Central Government (Wealth Taxed) Broadly funded national climate fund and community trusts, pushing the cost away from local ratepayers and onto mega-corporations/the wealthy.
ACT Homeowners & Engineering Protecting individual property rights, limiting public spending, and opposing council restrictions based on extreme climate models.

National Party (The Coalition Government)

The National-led government’s approach is defined by its National Adaptation Framework and subsequent planning legislation. Their goal is to keep the overall cost to the Crown as low as possible.

  • Central Government: Provides targeted regional funding via the $200 million Regional Infrastructure Fund for physical projects like stopbanks, but has cut previous dedicated climate funds. Central government funding should no longer be automatically assumed by default.

  • Councils: Bear the main administrative and execution burden. They are required to create mandatory adaptation plans for high-priority areas, effectively localizing the accountability.

  • Homeowners: Expected to carry significant risk. The government is developing a National Flood Map (slated for 2027) to make property-specific risks completely transparent, directly impacting private insurance affordability and property values.

Labour Party

Labour strongly opposes the current government's cuts to climate funds and favors a centralized, shared-responsibility framework.

  • Central Government: Recommits to heavy central co-funding, leaning on the work of the previous Parliamentary select committee inquiry and expert working groups.

  • Councils & Homeowners: Protected from bearing the full financial shock alone through a mixed funding model.

  • Financial Sectors: Labour explicitly includes banks and insurers in the cost-sharing conversation, arguing that financial institutions must help absorb the costs of protecting or retreating from risk-prone areas.

Green Party

The Greens argue that the current localized framework creates "unfunded mandates" for councils and leaves homeowners exposed.

  • Central Government: Takes full financial leadership by establishing a comprehensive, centralized National Climate Fund.

  • Homeowners & Councils: Actively shielded from the costs of protection and managed retreat.

  • Funding Mechanism: Paid for by implementing new taxes on super-rich individuals and mega-corporations , ensuring that climate adaptation does not drive up local council rates or individual mortgage stress.

ACT & The Opportunities Party (TOP)

  • ACT: Focuses heavily on protecting individual property rights. They caution against councils using worst-case climate scenarios to devalue homes and prefer localized, practical engineering solutions over massive tax-funded state interventions.

  • TOP: Campaigns on a cross-party Climate Adaptation Act to remove politics from the process, utilizing a strictly balanced, pre-negotiated shared responsibility funding model.

If you want to look closer at how this affects your specific situation, let me know:

  • What region or district your home is located in (to check your local council's current stance)

  • Whether your area is currently classified under a specific flood risk category (e.g., Category 2 or 3)

  • If you are experiencing immediate changes to your insurance premiums or excess

I can provide more targeted information on how these policies translate to your property's value and security.

Ask anything

Captured 5 October 2026 · shown as AI Overviews gave it, not a verified account