Search studies, brands and more…⌘ KExplore research

Evidence · NZ Election 2026 · Edition 2

Every question, every answer, every source

All 174 questions and the 793 answers produced on 12 October 2026. The 27 remaining cells produced no AI Overview.

questions
174
answers saved
793
collected
12 Oct 2026

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 unchanged question.

    id, draft, text, voterCode, issue, towns

    174rows

    Download questions (CSV)

  • Answers

    nz-election-2026-answers.csv

    One row per produced answer, with its complete original text.

    result id, prompt id, draft id, scenario id, platform, region, words, parties, literal url answer, associated source answer, temporal pair, common four platforms, response text

    793rows

    Download answers (CSV)

  • Sources by answer

    nz-election-2026-sources.csv

    One row per website associated with an answer; repeated citations count once.

    answer id, question id, assistant, region, domain, publisher

    4,137rows

    Download sources by answer (CSV)

  • Checks against official sources

    nz-election-2026-checks.csv

    One row per reviewed proposition, retaining both answers, extracts and the reviewed change.

    check, draft id, platform, claim, verdict, assessment, source url, source label, source date, checked date, old result id, new result id, old excerpt, new excerpt

    15rows

    Download checks against official sources (CSV)

  • Who to vote for: coding

    nz-election-2026-guidance.csv

    One row per manually reviewed guidance answer. Codes overlap; original answers supply the evidence.

    draft, assistant, q, voter, a, declined, matched, shortlist, asked, chose, extract

    31rows

    Download who to vote for: coding (CSV)

  • Location and national answers

    nz-election-2026-towns.csv

    One row per matched national/location pair, with both editions.

    prompt id, draft id, scenario id, issue, platform, city, edition 1 same party set, edition 1 national result, edition 1 city result, edition 2 same party set, edition 2 national result, edition 2 city result

    124rows

    Download location and national answers (CSV)

  • Changes between editions

    nz-election-2026-comparisons.csv

    One row per identical question, assistant and location across the two collections.

    prompt id, draft id, scenario id, scenario, issue, platform, region, old result id, new result id, old words, new words, same party set, old parties, new parties, added parties, removed parties, literal same domains, literal old domains, literal new domains, literal added domains, literal removed domains, associated same domains, associated old domains, associated new domains, associated added domains, associated removed domains

    793rows

    Download changes between editions (CSV)

  • No AI Overview produced

    nz-election-2026-coverage.csv

    One row per planned cell where no AI Overview was produced.

    prompt id, platform, region, draft id, block, scenario id, scenario, issue, priority, question, cause, availability

    27rows

    Download no ai overview produced (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

For the 2026 New Zealand general election: What are the main competing party approaches to grocery prices and household bills in the 2026 New Zealand election?

The 2026 New Zealand general election is featuring cost of living — especially groceries and household bills — as a major area of competition between parties. The broad divide is between parties that emphasise market competition, supply-side reforms and fiscal restraint and parties that favour stronger government intervention, regulation or direct support. Consumer NZ

Here is a comparison of the main approaches:

Party / grouping Grocery prices approach Household bills / cost-of-living approach
National Party of New Zealand Focuses on increasing competition rather than direct price controls. It supports measures such as stronger competition settings, encouraging new supermarket entrants, and reforms aimed at improving wholesale access. Consumer NZ Emphasises economic growth, lower taxes/no new taxes, and fiscal management as the route to improving household incomes. Policy.nz
New Zealand Labour Party Supports tougher action on supermarket power, including addressing excessive pricing concerns and making wholesale supply fairer. Consumer NZ Frames cost of living as requiring targeted government action, including measures intended to reduce everyday costs such as transport and essentials. Labour Party
Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand Argues stronger intervention is needed in the grocery sector, including breaking up supermarket concentration and increasing regulator powers. Consumer NZ Generally favours stronger public support and regulation to reduce pressure from essentials such as food, housing and energy costs. Consumer NZ
New Zealand First Has proposed structural changes to supermarkets, including splitting Foodstuffs into separate entities to increase competition. Policy.nz Has focused on reducing pressure from essentials through competition reforms and changes to major sectors such as energy. Wikipedia
Te Pāti Māori Proposes community-based alternatives, including support for Māori-owned supermarket and food retail options through its kai sovereignty proposals. Consumer NZ Emphasises direct support for households facing hardship, including food affordability measures such as a proposed kai tax credit. Consumer NZ
ACT New Zealand Generally favours competition and reducing regulatory barriers rather than government intervention in pricing. Consumer NZ Focuses on reducing government costs, regulation and taxes as a way to improve household finances. Consumer NZ

Key policy arguments in the debate

1. Should government break up or restructure supermarkets?

This is one of the clearest dividing lines.

  • Intervention-focused parties argue supermarket concentration contributes to higher prices and that stronger structural changes are needed. Proposals include splitting supermarket businesses or creating more community-owned alternatives. Consumer NZ
  • Market-focused parties generally argue the priority should be encouraging competition, lowering barriers for new entrants, and improving the regulatory environment rather than directly restructuring businesses. Consumer NZ

2. Should the focus be prices or incomes?

Parties differ on whether the main problem is:

  • prices being too high (requiring regulation, competition rules or direct intervention), or
  • households not earning enough relative to costs (requiring economic growth, tax changes, wage/income policies or targeted assistance). Labour Party

3. Direct help versus long-term reforms

  • Some parties emphasise immediate relief: reducing specific bills, increasing assistance, or making essentials cheaper.
  • Others emphasise longer-term economic settings: productivity, investment, competition and government finances. Labour Party

A key point for voters comparing these policies is that parties often agree that grocery and household costs are a problem, but differ over whether the main lever should be government intervention, stronger competition, income support, or economic growth. Consumer NZ

Ask anything

ChatGPT can make mistakes. Check important info.

Captured 12 October 2026 · shown as ChatGPT gave it, not a verified account

Gemini · No location

For the 2026 New Zealand general election: What are the main competing party approaches to grocery prices and household bills in the 2026 New Zealand election?

In the lead-up to the 2026 New Zealand general election, the cost of living, household bills, and high grocery prices driven by the prominent supermarket duopoly (Foodstuffs and Woolworths) have emerged as central campaign issues.

The major political parties have proposed starkly contrasting approaches to address these financial pressures:

1. The Green Party: Structural Intervention and Nationalisation

  • The Proposal: The Greens have announced a major policy to break up the existing supermarket duopoly by nationalising roughly 120 Woolworths and Foodstuffs supermarkets to establish a state-owned supermarket entity tentatively called "KiwiMart".
  • Approach: Radical market intervention. The party argues that corporate greed and lack of genuine competition are inflating food prices, and that direct public ownership is necessary to drive down costs for everyday consumers.

2. The New Zealand Labour Party: Cost-of-Living Focus and Practical Relief

  • The Proposal: Labour is campaigning on comprehensive cost-of-living relief, focusing heavily on making everyday essentials, healthcare, housing, and transport more affordable.
  • Approach: Rather than state ownership of supermarkets, Labour emphasizes strengthening regulatory powers, fostering fair competition, boosting household incomes, and targeted financial support for families to counter inflation and rising utility and transport costs.

3. The National Party: Economic Growth and Fiscal Management

  • The Proposal: National’s core strategy centers on broad economic management, keeping taxes low, and boosting overall productivity to raise real wages.
  • Approach: National focuses on "fixing the basics"—arguing that sustainable relief from high grocery and household bills comes from a strong economy, disciplined government spending, and encouraging business investment rather than heavy market interventions or price controls.

4. New Zealand First: Income Support and Wage Protection

  • The Proposal: NZ First has targeted household budgets directly through income-side policies, such as pushing for substantial increases to Working for Families support (e.g., a proposed $120 weekly boost for eligible families) and tying minimum wage increases directly to inflation.
  • Approach: Alleviating the burden of grocery and utility bills by ensuring that lower- and middle-income working families have their baseline incomes protected against inflationary spikes.
Ask Gemini

Gemini is AI and can make mistakes.

Captured 12 October 2026 · shown as Gemini gave it, not a verified account

Google AI Mode · No location

For the 2026 New Zealand general election: What are the main competing party approaches to grocery prices and household bills in the 2026 New Zealand election?

In the lead-up to the 2026 New Zealand general election , the cost of living, grocery prices, and household bills have emerged as central campaign issues. The major political parties have outlined contrasting philosophies and interventions to address these pressures.

According to policy announcements and coverage compiled by outlets like Consumer NZ and RNZ, the main competing party approaches break down as follows:

  • Labour Party
  • Approach: Direct market intervention and structural reform paired with targeted household relief packages.
  • Grocery Policy: As detailed on the NZ Labour Policy Pages, Labour proposes forcing the major supermarket co-operatives/chains (Foodstuffs and Woolworths) to structurally separate their wholesale and retail operations into independent entities. They also propose giving the Commerce Commission new enforcement powers to investigate excessive pricing and allow consumer groups to bring price-gouging cases to court.
  • Household Bills: Unveiled a broader cost-of-living package featuring three free GP visits annually, the removal of the $5 prescription charge, public transport fare caps, a three-year freeze on fuel tax rates, and low-interest SolarSaver loans to reduce household electricity bills.
  • National Party
  • Approach: Regulatory reliance and conditional structural change led by independent oversight rather than political direction.
  • Grocery Policy: National has signaled openness to a split of Foodstuffs brands, but maintains that this should be contingent upon formal recommendations from the Commerce Commission. Finance spokesperson Nicola Willis stated that politicians should not act as "supermarket executives from the Cabinet table," emphasizing that market remedies should be driven by the independent regulator rather than direct ministerial intervention. [Consumer NZ]
  • Green Party
  • Approach: Public ownership and strengthening consumer protection enforcement.
  • Grocery Policy: The Greens' headline "Affordable Kai" policy proposes establishing a publicly owned supermarket chain named "KiwiMart" through the forced divestment of 120 stores and distribution centres from Foodstuffs and Woolworths.
  • Household Bills & Consumer Rights: They advocate significantly increasing the Commerce Commission's funding, penalties, and enforcement powers, alongside introducing a mandatory pricing accuracy code that includes automatic compensation for shoppers who are overcharged.
  • ACT New Zealand
  • Approach: Free-market facilitation, cutting red tape, and removing import barriers.
  • Grocery Policy: ACT strongly opposes government-mandated corporate break-ups, characterizing them as unfeasible or heavy-handed. Instead, they focus on lowering entry barriers for new competitors by introducing a streamlined, one-stop consenting process for new supermarkets (aiming for approvals in months rather than years) and defaulting to accept food labels from recognized overseas regulators to reduce compliance costs. [Consumer NZ]
  • New Zealand First
  • Approach: Strict regulatory penalties and stronger compliance frameworks.
  • Grocery Policy: NZ First proposes aligning New Zealand’s penalties for serious corporate and market breaches with Australia's model—introducing heavy fines scaling up to $10 million, three times the commercial gain, or 10% of turnover. They also support creating a more agile framework for industry rules to target competition blockages without waiting for prolonged legislative reform. [Consumer NZ]
Ask anything

Captured 12 October 2026 · shown as Google AI Mode gave it, not a verified account