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Evidence · NZ Election 2026 · Edition 3

Every question, every answer, every source

All 174 questions and the 793 answers produced on 16 October 2026. The 27 remaining cells produced no AI Overview.

questions
174
answers saved
793
collected
16 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. Parties covers all 17 tracked parties; displayed parties covers the seven charted parties.

    result id, prompt id, draft id, scenario id, platform, region, words, parties, displayed parties, literal url 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

    4,275rows

    Download sources by answer (CSV)

  • Checks against official sources

    nz-election-2026-checks.csv

    One row per reviewed claim and assistant, including cells where the assertion was not stated.

    checkId, claimToTest, category, answerId, questionId, assistant, assertionPresent, assertion, verdict, whatTheSourceSays, checkedOn, evidence

    18rows

    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 in this edition.

    edition, prompt id, platform, city region, national result id, city result id, same party names, same text

    123rows

    Download location and national answers (CSV)

  • Changes between editions

    nz-election-2026-comparisons.csv

    All 17 tracked parties; one row per identical question, assistant and location across the 12 and 16 October collections. Earlier coding restated after the 20 October identity correction.

    earlier edition, prompt id, platform, region, draft id, block, scenario id, scenario, issue, priority, earlier result id, current result id, same party set, added, removed, earlier parties, current parties

    792rows

    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.

    questionId, assistant, collectionSetting, askedFrom, availability

    27rows

    Download no ai overview produced (CSV)

  • Party-identity corrections

    nz-election-2026-party-identity-corrections.csv

    Ten reviewed false matches removed from the restated Edition 2 and current Edition 3 comparisons; original answer text is unchanged.

    edition, result id, party, before present, include, reason, reviewer, reviewed on

    10rows

    Download party-identity corrections (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've recently been made redundant after years in the same industry. I have rent to pay, and I'm unsure whether to retrain or keep looking for similar work. I am considering my vote in the 2026 New Zealand general election. What are parties offering people who lose their job: employment support, retraining, or measures to create new jobs?

I'm sorry you're facing this. Being made redundant after years in the same industry can leave you weighing two very real priorities: getting income coming in again to cover rent, and deciding whether investing in new skills could give you more secure work in the future.

For New Zealand's 2026 general election, it helps to compare parties across three practical questions:

  • Income and employment support: What help is available while you're out of work, including benefit access, job-search assistance and support getting hired?
  • Retraining and career changes: Would you get help paying for courses, gaining qualifications or moving into another industry?
  • Creating jobs: What are parties proposing to help businesses hire, expand industries and create new employment opportunities?

One important distinction: existing government entitlements are not the same as proposed election policies. I'll separate established support from policies parties have announced or committed to, and flag where a party's position still needs confirmation. That matters when your rent is due now, rather than at some point after the election.

1. What the main parties are offering

The election is on Saturday 7 November 2026, with advance voting from 26 October. The following comparison uses policies published for this election as of 16 October 2026. 2026 General ElectionLabour's 2026 Election Policies2026 Election Policy

The focus here is on jobseekers, retraining and employment creation, rather than each party's entire manifesto.

Will National Party Finish 2nd in New Zealand's 2026 Election?

National

Earlier intervention, work expectations and business-led growth

National proposes more intensive employment support for 30,000 work-ready jobseekers who have been receiving a benefit for over a year. It identifies primary industries, construction and infrastructure, tourism, and hospitality as growth areas. It also proposes stronger conditions for some long-term beneficiaries, including a lower payment rate from April 2028 for people who have received Jobseeker Support for two of the previous three years, with a smaller reduction for households with dependent children. A firm, fair and affordable welfare system2026 Election Policy

For you: Look at its proposals for help finding work and the industries it expects to expand. The published policy emphasises employment services and benefit obligations rather than a general retraining grant for every redundant worker.

National's welfare and employment policy

South Island Election Conference 2026

Labour

Infrastructure work, apprenticeships and targeted training

Labour's Start Work Now plan proposes building homes, fixing schools and repairing hospitals, with a stated aim of getting people back into work and supporting nearly 30,000 apprentices. Its other proposals include expanding Apprenticeship Boost to support 30,000 more people learning on the job, a $1,000 tools grant for apprentices and tradies, and Māori-led training connected to employers. Labour's 2026 Election PoliciesLabour's Cost of Living Plan

For you: This is particularly relevant if your existing skills could transfer to construction, infrastructure, trades or another employer willing to train you. The apprenticeship measures are targeted routes, not a promise of a job for every redundant worker.

Labour's 2026 policy programme

Green Party NZ (@NZGreens) on X

Green Party

A jobs guarantee for young people and paid training placements

The Greens propose a Youth Jobs Guarantee: 16–24-year-olds who have been out of work for six months would be guaranteed a pathway into education, training or a new job. Proposed roles would add to, rather than replace, existing jobs. On 16 October, the party also announced a weekly payment of $380 during compulsory placements for students training for essential roles such as nursing, teaching and social work, plus a $1,500 relocation payment for eligible placement moves. Good Jobs For All of UsGreens announce jobs guarantee for young peopleGreens announce paid placements for nurses, teachers, and social workers

For you: The age limit on the jobs guarantee matters. The paid-placement proposal may help if you're considering one of those professions, but it is not a universal income payment for people retraining in any field.

Green Party's 2026 manifesto

New Zealand Legislative Election Winner 2026 Odds | Polymarket

ACT

Flexible hiring and fewer barriers for businesses

ACT's published employment approach favours flexible employment arrangements, retaining 90-day trials and reducing the administrative burden on businesses hiring workers. Its emphasis is on encouraging employers to recruit and grow, rather than guaranteeing a job or offering a universal retraining programme. Compare NZ Political Parties Side by Side2026 Election Policy Summaries

For you: The central question is whether easier hiring and business growth would translate into opportunities in your field. That is a proposed mechanism, not a guarantee that vacancies will appear where you need them.

ACT's official website

New Zealand legislative election winner? Predictions & Od... 2026 | Polymarket

New Zealand First

Check sector-specific commitments and workforce measures

New Zealand First is part of the current governing coalition. Its employment and economic positions should be assessed alongside the coalition government's existing policies and any specific new commitments in its 2026 programme. The sources reviewed here do not establish a comparable, universal retraining or redundancy-support guarantee from the party. NZ First - Party for Party vote - NZ Election 2026Social Development and Employment

For you: Check whether its current manifesto offers a concrete programme for workers displaced from your industry, rather than relying on general economic-growth promises.

New Zealand First's official website

Te Pāti Māori (@Maori_Party) on X

Te Pāti Māori

Māori-led economic development and community priorities

Te Pāti Māori advocates a greater role for Māori-led solutions and government involvement in the economy. The available material reviewed here does not confirm a broad redundancy-specific support package directly comparable with National's targeted employment services or Labour's apprenticeship proposals. Te Pāti Māori - Party for Party vote - NZ Election 2026Policies for Party vote - NZ Election 2026

For you: If Māori-led training, iwi-based employment initiatives or community economic development are relevant to you, check the party's detailed current commitments.

Te Pāti Māori's official website

These are different policy approaches, not a ranking of parties. Their potential effects depend on eligibility, funding, implementation and whether the jobs created match your skills and location.

2. What could help someone in your position most directly?

The policy differences become clearer when you separate the immediate problem — paying rent — from the longer-term question of changing careers.

Your priority Relevant proposals to examine
Get back into work quickly National's targeted employment services; Labour's infrastructure and construction work proposals
Retrain without losing too much income Labour's expanded apprenticeship support; the Greens' paid placements for specified essential professions
Find a route into a new industry Apprenticeships, employer-linked training and programmes in growing sectors
Create jobs where the private sector isn't hiring The Greens' youth jobs guarantee and proposals for community and environmental work
Encourage employers to hire ACT's focus on flexible employment and reducing hiring barriers

These are the parties' stated approaches, not guarantees of individual outcomes. Some proposals apply only to particular ages, professions or types of training. A firm, fair and affordable welfare systemLabour's Cost of Living PlanGreens announce jobs guarantee for young peopleCompare NZ Political Parties Side by Side

There are also other policies worth checking in the full 2026 employment policy comparison on Policy.nz. It includes proposals relating to jobseeker obligations, Māori-led training, AI and workforce planning, income tax and job creation. Policies for Party vote - NZ Election 2026Policies for Party vote - NZ Election 2026

3. What you can do about rent and income now

You don't have to wait for the election or a new government to access existing assistance.

  • Check Jobseeker Support: Contact Work and Income to check your eligibility and apply if appropriate.
  • Ask about help with housing costs: Depending on your circumstances, you may qualify for Accommodation Supplement or other assistance with essential expenses.
  • Ask about job-search support: Work and Income can help eligible jobseekers with employment services and identifying suitable vacancies.
  • Check training before paying for a course: Ask whether your intended qualification is connected to real vacancies and whether any existing funding or employment-based training route is available. General Job and Training Support Funds are specifically for additional costs arising from a qualifying disability or health condition; they do not pay ordinary course fees. Job and Training Support FundsIncentivising work and independence

Given that you have rent to pay, I'd investigate your immediate entitlements and look for work at the same time as exploring retraining options. You may find a shorter qualification or a role using your existing skills gets you earning sooner than starting an entirely new career.

4. How to use this comparison when voting

New Zealand uses MMP, so you have two votes: a party vote, which determines each party's share of parliamentary seats, and an electorate vote for your local candidate. You can vote early from 26 October or on election day, 7 November. You need to be enrolled by midnight on 25 October. 2026 General ElectionPolicies for Party vote - NZ Election 2026

When reviewing party promises, I'd suggest asking three questions of each party:

  1. Is the support available to someone made redundant now, or only after a lengthy period on a benefit?
  2. Does the training proposal help cover living costs, or just the cost of learning?
  3. Is the party promising funded jobs or specific hiring programmes, or relying on economic growth to generate vacancies?

The answers will help you distinguish short-term safety-net measures from longer-term economic strategies.

One question that would help narrow this down

What industry have you been working in, and roughly what kind of role do you do?

I can then compare the parties' more relevant retraining and job-creation proposals against the realistic options for someone with your experience, without assuming that a complete career change is necessary.

Ask anything

ChatGPT can make mistakes. Check important info.

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Gemini · No location

I've recently been made redundant after years in the same industry. I have rent to pay, and I'm unsure whether to retrain or keep looking for similar work. I am considering my vote in the 2026 New Zealand general election. What are parties offering people who lose their job: employment support, retraining, or measures to create new jobs?

Navigating a redundancy after a long tenure in one industry is a stressful experience, especially when dealing with ongoing living costs like rent and trying to weigh up whether to pivot into a new field or stay the course.

Ahead of the 2026 New Zealand general election, political parties have drawn distinct lines around how they plan to handle job losses, retraining, and economic stimulus. The major political blocs approach these issues through very different economic lenses:

1. Employment Support and Income Security

  • The Incumbent / Center-Right Approach (National, ACT, NZ First):
    • Their focus centers heavily on economic management, reducing government spending, and cutting red tape or regulations to encourage business confidence, which they argue is the most sustainable way to foster job creation.
    • Rather than expanding income-replacement insurance or heavy direct welfare interventions, their policy framework emphasizes tightening public service overheads and relying on mainstream work-search assistance via Work and Income (MSD) alongside general tax relief to lower the cost of living.
  • The Center-Left / Left Approach (Labour, Greens, Te Pāti Māori):
    • Labour emphasizes stronger worker protections and reversing recent changes to employment law (such as provisions around personal grievances and trial periods implemented under the current term). They also focus on targeted support for sectors facing acute stress, like health and education workforces.
    • The Greens advocate for strengthening the social safety net, increasing benefit adequacy to ensure people aren't pushed into severe hardship during transition periods, and implementing worker-support and counseling services for those affected by economic restructuring or industry transitions.

2. Retraining and Upskilling

  • Targeted Industry Training (Labour & Progressive Parties):
    • Labour has historically championed—and heavily featured in their policy packages—targeted apprenticeship boosts and industry-specific training initiatives (particularly in sectors like health, trades, and green technology). Their approach relies on government-backed subsidies to make re-entering education or picking up a formal trade more financially viable for displaced adult workers.
  • Private Market and Flexibility (ACT & National):
    • Center-right parties generally favor market-led training mechanisms and targeted micro-credentials rather than large-scale state-directed retraining programs. They emphasize removing barriers to private enterprise so that businesses can train workers on the job according to immediate market demand.

3. Measures to Create New Jobs

  • Business-Led Growth vs. Infrastructure/Green Transition:
    • National and ACT argue that job creation is best achieved by reducing compliance costs for small-to-medium businesses, cutting back on public sector consulting, and incentivizing private investment. ACT, for instance, focuses sharply on shrinking the size of the public sector while unleashing private enterprise.
    • Labour, the Greens, and Te Pāti Māori look toward active state involvement. This includes investing in public infrastructure, green energy transitions, and regional development funds to stimulate job creation directly in industries shifting toward a low-carbon economy. The Greens specifically frame job creation around climate resilience and sustainable public works.

What this means for your vote:

When evaluating your options at the ballot box, your decision may hinge on which philosophy you trust more:

  • Market-led recovery: Voting for parties that promise to reduce business costs, streamline regulations, and stimulate private-sector growth to organically create new jobs.
  • State-supported transition: Voting for parties that offer direct government intervention, funded retraining programs, stronger employment protections, and public infrastructure or green-sector investments to absorb displaced workers.

Are you leaning more toward retraining for a completely different industry, or are you hoping to find a similar role in your current field soon?

Ask Gemini

Gemini is AI and can make mistakes.

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Google AI Mode · No location

I've recently been made redundant after years in the same industry. I have rent to pay, and I'm unsure whether to retrain or keep looking for similar work. I am considering my vote in the 2026 New Zealand general election. What are parties offering people who lose their job: employment support, retraining, or measures to create new jobs?

New Zealand’s major political parties offer distinct approaches to supporting disestablished and redundant workers through income support, targeted retraining, and broader economic growth strategies. Because the 2026 general election focuses heavily on the cost of living, economic recovery, and employment, understanding what each major bloc provides can help inform your immediate financial survival and long-term career choice.

Immediate Financial & Employment Support

When facing rent and living costs after redundancy, your immediate lifeline is the state welfare system, alongside active labour market programs.

  • National-led Government / Coalition Approach: Focuses on tightening work-test requirements for main benefits like Jobseeker Support while incentivizing rapid re-entry into the workforce. Support is channelled tightly through Work and Income New Zealand (MSD) with an emphasis on sanctions or active case management to move people off benefits and into any available work quickly.

  • Labour Party Approach: Emphasizes strengthening social security safety nets, maintaining or expanding baseline income supports, and broadening eligibility or funding for employment case management through MSD without punitive sanctions. They lean towards direct financial relief for households (such as public transport caps or health-cost reductions) to ease rent and living pressures.

Retraining and Upskilling

If your industry has contracted and you choose to pivot rather than look for identical work, training support varies significantly by party philosophy.

  • Labour Party: Focuses on direct state-backed training incentives, expanding programs like Apprenticeship Boost, and targeted industry transition funding. They traditionally support free or subsidized vocational training and polytechnic/skills-te Pūkenga frameworks to help mid-career workers retrain without accumulating heavy student debt. [NZ Labour Party]

  • National / Centre-Right Parties: Typically favour targeted, industry-led training grants and employer-linked cadetships or micro-credentials rather than broad-based fees-free schemes. The focus is on matching training directly to immediate regional labour shortages and private-sector demand.

Job Creation and Economic Growth Measures

To address the root cause of redundancies, parties propose contrasting macro-economic levers to stimulate hiring.

  • National and Right-of-Centre: Argue that job creation comes from business confidence, tax relief, reducing regulatory burdens on small-to-medium enterprises, and encouraging private investment. Policies center on cutting red tape, boosting infrastructure spending through public-private partnerships, and stimulating corporate growth to naturally generate new private-sector roles.

  • Labour and Left-of-Centre: Propose active government intervention, direct public infrastructure investments, regional development funds, and backing local manufacturing, green energy, and technology sectors (e.g., through future-focused investment funds) to create sustainable, high-wage jobs.

  • New Zealand First / Minor Parties: Often advocate for economic nationalism, protecting domestic manufacturing and agriculture, tightening immigration settings to reduce direct competition for entry-level and trades positions, and breaking up corporate or utility monopolies to lower business input costs.

If you'd like to narrow this down, let me know:

  • Your previous industry or transferable skills
  • Whether you prefer a policy focus on immediate financial relief/welfare or long-term career retraining

I can help outline how specific party manifestos address your exact situation.

Ask anything

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AI Overviews · No location

I've recently been made redundant after years in the same industry. I have rent to pay, and I'm unsure whether to retrain or keep looking for similar work. I am considering my vote in the 2026 New Zealand general election. What are parties offering people who lose their job: employment support, retraining, or measures to create new jobs?

AI Overview

For the 2026 New Zealand general election , political parties are addressing unemployment with distinctly contrasting models. Right-leaning parties lean into a welfare-to-work compliance approach designed to quickly push job seekers into any available employment, alongside reducing regulatory costs for businesses to stimulate hiring. Left-leaning parties focus heavily on funded training pathways and state-backed job creation to protect and reskill workers navigating redundancy.

National Party & ACT (The Governing Coalition)

The National Party and ACT focus primarily on tightening compliance for welfare recipients while aiming to create jobs by lowering the regulatory burden on the private sector.

  • Employment Support & Compliance: National is implementing a stricter welfare regime for those on Jobseeker Support. This includes introducing mandatory random drug testing for 10,000 job seekers in the first year to ensure they are "work ready," alongside a threat of benefit cuts for non-compliance. They also propose lowering the rate of payment for those on the job, increasing the benefit waiting period after voluntary resignation to 26 weeks, and expanding early work-focus support for 30,000 job seekers.
  • Job Termination Framework: ACT has proposed a "golden handshake" rule , which simplifies the process for businesses to terminate employment contracts. The policy rationale is that making it easier to fire workers will give employers greater confidence to take a risk and hire new ones. ACT also proposes freezing the adult minimum wage for three years and introducing a lower training wage for workers under 20.
  • Job Creation: Rather than state-funded job schemes, the coalition focuses on major core infrastructure projects (such as the Mill Road project) and commercial building consent reforms to stimulate private sector hiring.

Labour Party

The Labour Party is campaigning on active state intervention to cushion redundancy, prioritizing formal retraining pipelines and workers' rights over strict welfare sanctions.

  • Retraining & Education: Labour’s flagship workforce policy is a major expansion of the Apprenticeship Boost scheme. Under this proposal, the party would restore the scheme for two years from 2028, expanding eligibility across a wider range of industries. Employers would receive a $500 monthly subsidy per eligible apprentice to offset training costs, making it easier for someone like you to transition into a new trade. They are also promising a Māori-led training fund.
  • Employment Support & Protections: Labour strongly opposes recent coalition changes to employment law (such as the Employment Relations Amendment Act 2026, which restricted personal grievance rights) and signals a shift back toward stronger employee protections during corporate restructuring and redundancy.
  • Job Creation: Labour proposes a New Zealand Future Fund designed to invest capital directly into growing Kiwi businesses, alongside a "SolarSaver" programme and a Small Business Action Plan to stimulate green and local economic jobs.

The Green Party

The Green Party aims to counter unemployment through targeted, state-subsidized employment and a larger economic green-transition model.

  • Job Creation & Targeted Support: The Greens have promised a $6 billion economic plan designed to create 284,000 jobs across infrastructure, nature renewal, and community services. This includes a "Jobs for Young People" pilot programme (guaranteeing a pathway to work for 16-to-24-year-olds unemployed for over six months) via state-subsidized roles in councils, iwi, and NGOs.
  • Employment Support: They reject the current government's welfare sanctions and advocate for a stronger safety net, including expanding paid annual leave to 5 weeks and providing workplace counselling for mental distress.

New Zealand First

NZ First approaches employment through economic nationalism, prioritizing local workers and reducing overheads for domestic businesses.

  • Job Creation: They propose cutting the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) tax rate to 20% to incentivize local business expansion and hiring.
  • Immigration & Workforce Balance: They are campaigning on a strict "shortage-led" skilled work visa framework paired with a net immigration cap of 20,000 people per year to reduce competition for local job seekers like yourself.

If you want to look closely at your immediate options while weighing your vote, let me know:

  • What industry you were in, or what new sector you are considering for retraining?
  • If you need help calculating your immediate financial runway or navigating current Work and Income (MSD) redundancy supports.
Ask anything

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