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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

I have a school-age child who needs additional learning support. Getting suitable help at school is my main concern, and I sometimes reduce paid work to care for them. I am considering my vote in the 2026 New Zealand general election. Which parties explain how they would fund and deliver extra support in ordinary schools, rather than just promise improvements?

You are asking a useful comparison question: not simply which parties say they support learning support, but which ones have set out mechanisms, delivery models, and funding sources for helping children with additional needs in mainstream schools.

A caveat: as of the information available, parties may still be releasing or refining 2026 election policies. The comparison below focuses on policies and funding details that are publicly documented rather than campaign slogans. Policies for Party vote - NZ Election 2026 - Policy.nz

What to look for in a party’s plan

For a child receiving support in an ordinary school, the practical questions are usually:

  • Who provides the support? (teacher aides, specialist teachers, speech-language therapists, psychologists, learning support coordinators)
  • How does a child qualify? (individual assessment, school-based allocation, universal provision)
  • Where does the money come from? (new spending, reprioritisation, taxes, existing education budgets)
  • Is support attached to the child or the school?
  • How quickly can families access help?

New Zealand’s existing system has some targeted funding, including the Ministry of Education’s Ongoing Resourcing Scheme (ORS), which is designed for students with the most significant ongoing needs and provides specialist support, teacher time, teacher aide contributions and other resources. Overview of the Ongoing Resourcing Scheme - Ministry of Education Many children needing additional help in mainstream classrooms do not qualify for ORS, so parties’ approaches to broader learning support are particularly relevant. Overview of the Ongoing Resourcing Scheme - Ministry of Education

Party approaches (based on published information)

Party What is documented about mainstream learning support Funding/delivery detail to examine
Christopher Luxon’s New Zealand National Party The current government has funded some learning-support measures, including Budget 2026 funding for specific-needs programmes. These include $22 million for the School High Health Needs Fund, supporting additional teacher-aide assistance for eligible students, plus other targeted initiatives. Student support - Ministry of Education The documented approach is largely through targeted programmes and existing government education spending. The key question for families is whether this expands access for children who need moderate classroom support but fall outside high-needs schemes. Student support - Ministry of Education
New Zealand Labour Party Labour’s education platform includes broader commitments around public services and schools; specific learning-support funding details should be checked against its released 2026 policy documents as they are published. Policies for Party vote - NZ Election 2026 - Policy.nz Look for whether Labour specifies numbers of additional specialists, teacher-aide funding, workforce recruitment, timelines, and a funding source.
Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand The Greens have historically emphasised inclusion and support for disabled learners; 2026-specific commitments should be checked in their current education policy releases. Policies for Party vote - NZ Election 2026 - Policy.nz Look for whether proposals include costings and implementation details rather than only principles.
ACT New Zealand, New Zealand First and smaller parties These parties’ education proposals should be compared individually for whether they identify learning-support spending, school autonomy changes, or targeted programmes. Policies for Party vote - NZ Election 2026 - Policy.nz Check whether they specify delivery responsibilities: government, schools, families, or contracted providers.

Questions that may help you compare manifestos

When parties release final election documents, you could ask:

  1. “How many additional learning-support professionals will you fund, and by when?”
  2. “Will ordinary schools receive predictable funding for children who need support but do not meet ORS criteria?”
  3. “Will teacher aides be funded at a level that covers actual classroom need?”
  4. “What is the annual cost, and what revenue or savings fund it?”
  5. “How will families avoid long waits for assessments and specialist input?”
  6. “Will support follow the child if they change schools?”

A useful independent comparison site for checking party education policies as they are published is Policy.nz 2026 education policy comparison. It is also worth checking parties’ own manifestos, because broad comparison sites may not yet capture every detailed funding announcement.

If you want, I can also make a child-and-caregiver-focused comparison table of the 2026 parties specifically around teacher aides, SENCO/learning support coordinators, disability funding, and the impact on parents reducing paid work.

Ask anything

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Gemini · No location

I have a school-age child who needs additional learning support. Getting suitable help at school is my main concern, and I sometimes reduce paid work to care for them. I am considering my vote in the 2026 New Zealand general election. Which parties explain how they would fund and deliver extra support in ordinary schools, rather than just promise improvements?

Navigating the education system while trying to secure consistent learning support for a child—and often having to step back from paid work to fill the gaps—is an immense challenge for many New Zealand whānau.

When evaluating how political parties plan to fund and deliver extra support directly within ordinary (mainstream) schools rather than relying on broad promises or out-of-school workarounds, parties generally fall into distinct approaches. Because political platforms use different mechanisms (such as centralized funding pools, workforce pipelines, or entitlement-based models), it helps to look at how different blocks approach the mechanics of delivery:

1. Targeted Workforce and Specialist Pipelines

Some parties focus heavily on the bottleneck of who actually delivers the support in the classroom, aiming to solve shortages of educational psychologists, speech language therapists, and learning support coordinators (LSCs).

  • The Mechanics: Rather than just allocating a pool of money, these policies typically tie funding directly to expanding the numbers of specialist personnel embedded inside cluster schools or Kahui Ako (Communities of Learning).
  • The Funding Approach: Funding is generally attached through budget baselines dedicated to the Ministry of Education's Learning Support Delivery Model, aiming to reduce waiting lists for needs assessments (like the Ongoing Resourcing Scheme or Communication Service).

2. Operational Funding Adjustments for Schools

Other parties emphasize changing how operational grants or staffing entitlements are calculated for ordinary state and integrated schools.

  • The Mechanics: Under standard funding formulas, schools often feel they have to rob Peter to pay Paul—using operational funds meant for resources to hire extra teacher aides when Ministry-allocated hours run out.
  • The Funding Approach: Parties advocating for structural funding reform look at rolling learning support directly into the core staffing entitlement formula (so schools get a guaranteed baseline of support staff relative to their total roll and index of disadvantage) rather than forcing schools to apply via contestable or capped funding pools.

What to Look for in Party Policies

To determine if a party is offering a concrete delivery plan versus a vague promise, check their specific policy manifestos for answers to these three operational questions:

  1. Is the funding ring-fenced? General funding increases to "education" often get absorbed by core operational cost inflators or teacher salaries. Look for policies that explicitly ring-fence funding specifically for learning support and teacher aide hours.
  2. Do they address the assessment backlog? A major barrier in New Zealand schools is the lengthy wait time for a child to be assessed by a specialist (educational psychologist, etc.) to unlock higher-tier funding. Parties with credible plans detail how they will train, recruit, and deploy more frontline specialists directly to regions.
  3. How do they support families economically? Recognizing that parents reduce paid work to care for children with unmet support needs, some parties tie education support to broader disability support responses, respite care, or carer tax credits.

To give you the most accurate comparison for your specific situation, which specific aspect of learning support delivery (e.g., teacher aide hours, specialist wait times, or ORS funding) is your main priority right now?

Ask Gemini

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Google AI Mode · No location

I have a school-age child who needs additional learning support. Getting suitable help at school is my main concern, and I sometimes reduce paid work to care for them. I am considering my vote in the 2026 New Zealand general election. Which parties explain how they would fund and deliver extra support in ordinary schools, rather than just promise improvements?

Navigating the learning support system for a school-age child while balancing work and care is a significant challenge. When evaluating the 2026 New Zealand general election , distinguishing between broad policy aspirations and detailed delivery mechanisms is essential, particularly regarding funding and support embedded directly within ordinary (mainstream) schools.

A cross-section of how the major political parties approach learning support shows a mix of general commitments and specific funding frameworks:

  • Labour Party: Focuses heavily on broad systemic rights and workforce measures. While they emphasize expanding inclusive education and have pledged to repeal recent changes to disability support legislation to create rights-based frameworks drafted alongside communities, their specific delivery mechanisms for ordinary classrooms typically rely on rolling out and scaling existing structures like Learning Support Coordinators (LSCs) rather than detailing a completely overhauled independent funding model.

  • National Party: Emphasizes baseline tracking and early intervention (such as developmental milestones and school start checks in early childhood education) and works within current operational baselines like the Ongoing Resourcing Scheme (ORS) and LSC allocations expanded under recent budgets. Their approach leans toward managing support through existing administrative allocations and standard school operations rather than a newly detailed, fully costed independent resourcing pipeline for ordinary schools.

  • Green Party: Historically advocates for a mandatory, fully resourced inclusive education system where funding follows the child's needs directly to the school. They tend to detail broad targets for removing barriers and increasing specialist teacher-aide and professional support staff numbers in mainstream settings, though precise line-by-line funding delivery mechanisms can remain high-level relative to operational constraints.

  • ACT New Zealand: Generally favors constrained government spending, choice, and autonomy for schools over centralized bureaucracy. They have not put forward proposals to expand targeted, centrally funded specialist entitlements or broad new public funding pools for learning support in ordinary schools, instead prioritizing fiscal restraint and alternative operational flexibilities.

  • New Zealand First: Centers much of its platform on core public service delivery and has championed broader structural accessibility frameworks (such as their previous accessibility legislation efforts for public infrastructure), but they have not presented a granular blueprint detailing how they would explicitly fund and deliver individualized extra learning support inside ordinary classrooms.

Overall, most parliamentary parties frame their commitments around scaling existing mechanisms (like Learning Support Coordinators or ORS adjustments) rather than presenting fully realized, independent structural funding models that guarantee wrap-around delivery for every ordinary school.

To explore specific, side-by-side party commitments or search for precise platform details as they are updated, you can visit Policy.nz. Policies for Party vote - NZ Election 2026Using Policy.nz for civics engagement in classrooms

If you'd like, I can:

  • Detail how the current Ongoing Resourcing Scheme (ORS) and Learning Support Coordinator (LSC) roles operate in schools right now

  • Help you find the local Ministry of Education learning support contact or needs assessment process for your region

Ask anything

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

AI Overviews · No location

I have a school-age child who needs additional learning support. Getting suitable help at school is my main concern, and I sometimes reduce paid work to care for them. I am considering my vote in the 2026 New Zealand general election. Which parties explain how they would fund and deliver extra support in ordinary schools, rather than just promise improvements?

AI Overview

For the 2026 New Zealand general election , major political parties outline varying levels of detail on how they will fund and deliver learning support within ordinary schools, moving past generic baseline promises. The strategies from the main political forces differ significantly in their execution and structural mechanisms:

Party Policies & Delivery Frameworks

Party Delivery Mechanisms in Ordinary Schools Funding & Implementation Details
National Party • Focuses on expanding the Learning Support Coordinator (LSC) role to all primary and intermediate schools.
• Focuses on earlier identification through targeted Early Intervention Services extended through to the end of Year 1. • Utilises funding allocations outlined in the New Zealand Disability Strategy 2026–2030 implementation framework ($266 million explicitly for early intervention).
• Integrates private providers and community organisations to reduce waiting lists.
Labour Party • Pledges a rights-based approach to education, emphasizing expanding Ongoing Resourcing Scheme (ORS) criteria within ordinary school settings.
• Commits to repealing recent restrictive coalition disability changes to co-design delivery systems directly with the disability community. • Funds support out of core education baselines, emphasizing broad public service reinvestment and returning to surplus by 2028/29.
• Focuses on systemic pay equity adjustments for care and support workers to prevent staff shortages.
Green Party • Campaigns for a fully funded inclusive education model where ordinary schools are natively structured to absorb all learning needs.
• Advocates for removing structural barriers in teacher training and classroom design. • Explicitly funds expanded social services through structural tax reforms targeting the super-rich and large corporations.
• Pledges to introduce a Guaranteed Minimum Income and reform partnered means-testing to financially protect parents who reduce paid work for caregiving duties.
ACT Party • Addresses learning assistance strictly within general education and regulatory decentralisation reforms.
• Favours individualised funding routes rather than expanding centralized state bureaucracy. • Redirects existing education department operational budgets directly down to school boards and parent-directed allowances.

Navigating Support for Families

As you evaluate how these frameworks apply to your situation—particularly regarding the balance of reducing paid work to provide care—you may want to cross-reference the upcoming policies on the independent comparison platform Policy.nz or track community-led election scorecards hosted by advocacy groups like the National Disabled Students' Association (NDSA) and Inclusive World NZ.

If you want, tell me:

  • Whether your child currently holds or is trying to secure an ORS allocation

  • Whether you are currently accessing any Ministry of Social Development (MSD) carer support or allowances Disability Policies of New Zealand's Political Parties – 2026NZ General electionsDerailing good lives: Policies leave disabled people feeling like

I can provide details on how the parties' specific income support or funding flexibility policies will affect your household budget.

Ask anything

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