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Evidence · NZ Election 2026 · Edition 6

Every question and original answer

All 174 questions and the 783 complete answers recorded on 26 October 2026. Source lists and sentiment assessments are included, alongside the unchanged original answers.

questions
174
answers saved
783
collected
26 October 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

    questions.csv

    One row per question, with its original wording.

    id, text, reference, enabled, axes, collectionSettings

    174rows

    Download questions (CSV)

  • Complete answers

    answers.csv

    One row per saved answer, including its original text.

    id, questionId, assistant, collectionSetting, askedFrom, text, words

    783rows

    Download complete answers (CSV)

  • Answers included in each comparison

    memberships.csv

    One row per answer and comparison, showing which results were counted together.

    comparisonId, answerId, rowKey, included

    2,227rows

    Download answers included in each comparison (CSV)

  • Party names found in answers

    codings.csv

    One row per answer, party and comparison, with the recorded decision and evidence.

    comparisonId, answerId, entityId, kind, measure, counted, quote, reason, evidence

    37,859rows

    Download party names found in answers (CSV)

  • Sources recorded with each answer

    sources.csv

    One row per answer, with its recorded websites, source-list status and visible links.

    answerId, capture, domains, urls, literalUrls, origin

    783rows

    Download sources recorded with each answer (CSV)

  • What the voting-guidance answers did

    behaviour-coding.csv

    One row per guidance answer, with the recorded behaviours and supporting passages.

    answerId, draft_id, platform, explicit_choice_boundary, conditional_party_or_bloc_alignment, prioritised_shortlist, elicits_additional_user_information, unconditional_single_party_vote_instruction, rationale, evidence, review_provenance

    31rows

    Download what the voting-guidance answers did (CSV)

  • Checks against official sources

    checks.csv

    One row per selected statement checked in an answer.

    checkId, claimToTest, category, answerId, questionId, assistant, assertionPresent, assertion, verdict, evidence, whatTheSourceSays, assessment, checkedOn, paragraphs, previousCheckId, earlierAnswerId, earlierAssertion, trajectory

    11rows

    Download checks against official sources (CSV)

  • Statements selected for checking

    check-register.csv

    One row per selected check, with its reason and official source.

    checkId, claimToTest, category, whyChecked, primarySourceUrl, answerId

    11rows

    Download statements selected for checking (CSV)

  • Research findings

    findings.csv

    One row per finding, with its figure and supporting records.

    id, statement, summary, caveat, value, denominator, evidence

    10rows

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  • Evidence behind the findings

    findings-evidence.csv

    One row per finding, with the records supporting it.

    findingId, rows

    10rows

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  • What changed for each voter

    case-decisions.csv

    One row per voter situation, with the earlier and later readings.

    case, transition, quote, assessment, draft_id, scenario, earlier_result_id, result_id, earlier_quote, earlier_assessment, earlier_review_provenance, current_review_provenance

    32rows

    Download what changed for each voter (CSV)

  • Answers read in detail

    report-evidence.csv

    One row per answer included in the detailed research readings.

    key, answerId, interpretation, text

    63rows

    Download answers read in detail (CSV)

  • Party counts by edition

    party-count-tables.csv

    One row per comparison, edition, assistant and party, with its answer count and total.

    panel, edition, platform, party, numerator, denominator

    510rows

    Download party counts by edition (CSV)

  • Answer length by assistant

    platform-tables.csv

    One row per comparison, edition and assistant, with the recorded answer lengths.

    panel, edition, platform, answers, median_words, total_words

    60rows

    Download answer length by assistant (CSV)

  • Location comparisons by edition

    regional-tables.csv

    One row per national-and-location comparison and edition.

    edition, prompt_id, platform, city, draft_id, block, scenario_id, scenario, issue, priority, common_5_6, complete, national_result_id, city_result_id, same_text, same_party_set, same_displayed_party_set

    248rows

    Download location comparisons by edition (CSV)

  • Changes by topic

    issue-tables.csv

    One row per topic, showing answer totals and changes in party names.

    issue, current_answers, matched, changed_party_sets, changed_displayed_party_sets

    20rows

    Download changes by topic (CSV)

  • Links visible in answers

    literal-source-evidence.csv

    One row per answer, with the web links present in its text.

    edition, result_id, literal_urls, literal_domains, associated_capture

    783rows

    Download links visible in answers (CSV)

  • Separate website reference totals

    aggregate-references.csv

    One row per website in the separate reference summary; these totals do not identify which answer used it.

    domain, citationCount, referenceCount, promptCount, urlTotal, trendTotal, platforms

    716rows

    Download separate website reference totals (CSV)

  • Answers compared with 23 October

    pairs.csv

    One row per answer with an earlier counterpart to the same question, assistant and location.

    earlierAnswerId, answerId, questionId, assistant, collectionSetting, askedFrom

    780rows

    Download answers compared with 23 october (CSV)

  • Checks across editions

    edition-checks.csv

    The selected checks and whether their statements appeared in each edition.

    checkId, claim, assistant, earlierAnswerId, answerId, earlierQuote, quote, trajectory, assessment, evidence

    9rows

    Download checks across editions (CSV)

  • Statements and sentiment assessments

    claims.csv

    The saved assessments of statements about tracked parties, with their answer references and verified extracts where available.

    claimId, answerId, entityId, role, tone, quote, nativeQuoteVerified, origin

    21,110rows

    Download statements and sentiment assessments (CSV)

  • Original saved statement assessments

    raw-native-claims.csv

    One row per saved statement, with its original wording and party assessments. These are automated results, not independently checked facts.

    quote, brands, stance, claimId, claimText, sourceResultId

    26,774rows

    Download original saved statement assessments (CSV)

  • Original saved source records

    raw-native-sources.csv

    Every saved source record, distinguishing citations from other references. The source rankings count citations only.

    answerId, url, domain, metadata, domainType, citationKind

    8,656rows

    Download original saved source records (CSV)

  • Sources by answer

    source-associations.csv

    One row per answer and website; repeated references to the same website count once.

    answer id, question id, assistant, domain, publisher

    4,767rows

    Download sources by answer (CSV)

  • National and location answers

    place-pairs.csv

    One row per complete national-and-location pair in this edition.

    question id, assistant, place, national answer id, place answer id, national entities, place entities, same entities

    118rows

    Download national and location 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.

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For the 2026 New Zealand general election: Compare parties' plans for crime prevention, policing, sentencing and rehabilitation.

New Zealand 2026 general election: Crime and justice policies compared

The key differences between New Zealand's political parties on crime are how they balance prevention, police resources, punishment, victims' rights and rehabilitation.

For the 2026 general election, it is useful to separate four policy areas:

  • Crime prevention: addressing youth offending, family violence, addiction, poverty, gang recruitment and repeat offending before crimes occur.
  • Policing: police numbers, frontline visibility, investigative capacity, gang enforcement and responses to organised crime.
  • Sentencing: prison terms, bail, parole, repeat-offender rules, sentencing discretion and victims' rights.
  • Rehabilitation: education, addiction treatment, mental health support, reintegration into the community and reducing reoffending after release.

One important distinction: a party's announced election policy is not the same as a law already in force, and coalition partners may compromise on their proposals. The comparison below focuses on the national political landscape and distinguishes established policy directions from proposals that need confirmation in the parties' latest 2026 manifestos.

1. The main parties compared

The clearest documented differences are in sentencing and prison policy. For policing and prevention, the parties also differ in their emphasis on enforcement, early intervention and community-led services.
Party Overall justice approach
National More enforcement powers, tougher sentencing, gang restrictions and visible policing. It says it will continue its current law-and-order programme. Restoring law and orderNZLS | 1. What are your party’s key objectives in the justice portfolio?
ACT New Zealand Stronger consequences for repeat offenders, a focus on victims' rights, and more police enforcement, including a proposed three-strikes rule for repeat burglary. NZLS | 1. What are your party’s key objectives in the justice portfolio?LawTalk 966
New Zealand First Mandatory minimum sentences for serious offences, tougher parole eligibility, stronger action against organised crime and life without parole for specified murder offences. NZFirst Law and Order Policy Announcement: Tougher Sentences, Degrees of Murder, Smashing Organised Crime, Life Means Life
Labour A different political tradition from the current government's sentencing programme, with greater emphasis historically on prevention and rehabilitation. Its precise 2026 positions on each justice measure should be checked against its latest detailed policy. Better Starts NowNZLS | 1. What are your party’s key objectives in the justice portfolio?
Green Party Generally associated with addressing social causes of offending, restorative justice, rehabilitation and reducing reliance on imprisonment. Confirm the details against its current 2026 justice policy before treating any specific measure as a new election commitment.
Te Pāti Māori Major structural change to the justice system, including a proposal to abolish prisons by 2040 and replace the existing model with Māori-led, community-based justice. Te Pāti Māori wants to abolish prisons. The idea is not just a fantasyTe Pāti Māori promise prison abolition in new justice policy

These are differences in policy direction, not a ranking of which party would reduce crime most effectively. The table also does not imply that every party has published a fully costed, detailed policy in all four areas.

2. Policing and crime prevention

National

National's approach centres on visible policing, enforcement and disrupting gangs. Its published record includes restoring Three Strikes, expanding police powers against gangs, and increasing police time spent on the beat. The party reports reductions in violent-crime victimisation and serious youth offending during its term, although those figures are the party's own measures and do not by themselves establish that any one policy caused the changes. Restoring law and order38,000 fewer victims of serious violent crime as gang laws mark one year

ACT

ACT's 2026 justice priorities include stronger enforcement against gangs and illegal firearms, and 100,000 additional rural police patrol hours each year. Its policy also includes stronger responses to rural crime, including livestock theft and poaching. NZLS | 1. What are your party’s key objectives in the justice portfolio?LawTalk 966

New Zealand First

New Zealand First's October 2026 package proposes a dedicated organised-crime agency, additional police resources and stronger measures against transnational criminal networks. It frames the protection of victims and communities as a central purpose of policing. NZFirst Law and Order Policy Announcement: Tougher Sentences, Degrees of Murder, Smashing Organised Crime, Life Means Life

Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori

For these parties, it is important to distinguish general approaches from specific 2026 commitments:

  • Labour: its detailed current justice proposals need to be checked before attributing particular police numbers, gang measures or prevention programmes to its election platform.
  • Greens: the party's broader approach has emphasised prevention and addressing underlying drivers of offending, alongside rehabilitation and restorative approaches. The exact 2026 funding and implementation proposals require verification.
  • Te Pāti Māori: its announced justice direction centres on Māori-led justice and community-based alternatives to the existing prison system. Its 2040 prison-abolition proposal is a structural reform proposal, not a claim that serious offending would simply go without a response. Te Pāti Māori wants to abolish prisons. The idea is not just a fantasyTe Pāti Māori promise prison abolition in new justice policy

The central question for voters in this area is whether a party prioritises more enforcement capacity, early intervention to prevent offending, or a combination of both—and how it intends to fund and measure those efforts.

3. Sentencing, bail and parole

This is where the parties' proposals are most concrete.

Issue National ACT New Zealand First
Repeat offending Restored Three Strikes for specified serious offences Proposes Three Strikes for Burglary, including a minimum three-year sentence without parole for a third conviction Proposes wider use of mandatory minimum sentences
Serious violent crime Tougher sentencing rules and limits on sentence discounts Emphasises consequences and victims' rights Proposes substantially longer sentences for specified violent offences
Murder sentencing Existing life-sentence framework, with further reforms to be checked against current policy Focus on accountability and serious offending Proposes degrees of murder, including life without parole for first-degree murder
Parole Retains a stricter law-and-order approach Supports consequences for serious repeat offending Proposes raising parole eligibility thresholds
Sexual offending Proposes abolishing good-character assessments at sentencing for all sexual offending Supports stronger consequences for serious sexual offending Proposes more mandatory minimum sentences for serious sexual offences

Sources: the parties' election statements and the New Zealand Law Society's October 2026 justice-policy comparison. NZLS | 1. What are your party’s key objectives in the justice portfolio?NZFirst Law and Order Policy Announcement: Tougher Sentences, Degrees of Murder, Smashing Organised Crime, Life Means LifeRestoring law and order

New Zealand First's proposed murder categories include life imprisonment without parole for first-degree murder and a minimum non-parole period of 30 years for second-degree murder. Its policy announcement also proposes a minimum eight-year non-parole sentence for causing death through a coward punch. These are proposals, not all existing law. NZFirst Law and Order Policy Announcement: Tougher Sentences, Degrees of Murder, Smashing Organised Crime, Life Means Life

How do Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori differ?

A useful distinction when comparing these proposals is between deterrence (whether a penalty discourages offending), incapacitation (preventing someone from offending in the community while imprisoned), and rehabilitation (reducing the likelihood of further offending). These are different objectives, and a policy can pursue more than one.

4. Rehabilitation and reducing reoffending

Rehabilitation programme | Prisons | Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand

National and ACT

Their current policy direction prioritises accountability and public protection, while retaining rehabilitation within the justice system. An important question is how much additional support they would provide for addiction treatment, education, employment and reintegration, particularly for repeat offenders. Restoring law and orderNZLS | 1. What are your party’s key objectives in the justice portfolio?

Youth justice family group conferences | Oranga Tamariki — Ministry for Children

Labour

Labour rejects prison abolition and maintains that prisons have a role in rehabilitation. Its wider policy emphasis on health, employment and opportunity is relevant to prevention, but those general commitments should not be mistaken for specific, funded crime-prevention programmes. Better Starts NowTe Pāti Māori wants to abolish prisons. The idea is not just a fantasy

Righting Wrongs the Maori Way - YES! Magazine Solutions Journalism

Greens

The party's approach places greater emphasis on social causes of offending, restorative justice and reducing disparities in imprisonment. Its stated concerns include Māori over-representation and the growing number of women in prison. Te Pāti Māori wants to abolish prisons. The idea is not just a fantasy

Te Hui Oranga 2024 revives Pacific solidarity against threats to moana – Te Ao Māori News

Te Pāti Māori

The party proposes shifting substantial resources from prisons, police and courts towards Māori-led justice, prevention, rehabilitation, reintegration, mental health and addiction services. Its policy proposes abolishing youth justice residences by 2030 and prisons by 2040. Te Pāti Māori wants to abolish prisons. The idea is not just a fantasy

New Zealand First's published October package focuses much more explicitly on punishment, victims' reparation and organised-crime enforcement than on a new rehabilitation programme. Its announcement does not, by itself, establish that the party would eliminate existing rehabilitation services. NZFirst Law and Order Policy Announcement: Tougher Sentences, Degrees of Murder, Smashing Organised Crime, Life Means Life

5. What to compare before deciding

Four practical questions can help you examine the policies beyond their slogans.

1. Will the party prevent crime before it happens?

Look for specific commitments on youth offending, family violence, school engagement, addiction treatment, gang recruitment and support for people at risk of offending.

2. Will police have the capacity to respond?

Compare funded officer numbers, response times, investigative resources, rural coverage and measures against organised crime—not just announced powers.

3. What happens to repeat and serious offenders?

Check the actual proposed rules on sentencing, bail, parole and sentence discounts, including how the policies distinguish serious violence from lower-level offending.

4. What happens after prison?

Look for measurable commitments on addiction treatment, literacy and qualifications, employment, housing after release, victim support and repeat-offending rates.

Official sources to follow

These are useful starting points for checking the full proposals and updates as the campaign continues.

Bottom line: National, ACT and New Zealand First put greater emphasis on enforcement and tougher consequences, with differences between their specific sentencing proposals. Labour rejects prison abolition, while the Greens and Te Pāti Māori place more emphasis on structural reform, prevention and alternatives to imprisonment, with Te Pāti Māori proposing the most fundamental change to the prison system.

The central policy trade-off is how parties propose to balance immediate public protection and accountability with preventing future crime and reducing reoffending. The details of funding, implementation and measurable outcomes matter as much as the stated direction.

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For the 2026 New Zealand general election: Compare parties' plans for crime prevention, policing, sentencing and rehabilitation.

For the 2026 New Zealand general election, law and order, public safety, and justice policy feature distinct ideological divides between political parties. Parties approach crime through vastly different lenses, balancing between retributive deterrence ("tough on crime") and public health/social welfare prevention models.

Overview of Party Positions

Party Crime Prevention & Social Focus Policing Sentencing & Corrections Rehabilitation & Harm Reduction
National Party Focus on family integrity, welfare reform tied to work, and parental accountability. Expanding frontline presence; targeted initiatives such as dedicated public transport security teams (e.g., Auckland public transport). Tougher sentences: Removing good character discounts for sexual offending; removing the right to silence in child murder cases; cracking down on gangs and patches. Emphasises personal accountability and consequences, with less emphasis on systemic decarceration.
Labour Party Early intervention, family and domestic violence prevention, and addressing socioeconomic drivers of crime. Support for resourcing frontline police and specialized response units. Balanced sentencing; strengthening protections and legal frameworks around domestic and sexual violence. Focus on breaking cycles of abuse, supporting specialist non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and community-based rehabilitation.
Green Party Root-cause prevention: addressing poverty, housing instability, and mental health access. Skeptical of carceral expansion; advocates for community-led safety alternatives. Justice reform focused on lowering prison populations; legislative changes such as criminalizing coercive control. Health-led approach: Broad drug reform (such as reviewing or replacing the Misuse of Drugs Act), scaling up mental health and addiction services, and restorative justice.
ACT New Zealand Focus on individual responsibility, economic freedom, and reducing welfare dependency. Backs resourcing police to target high-crime and violent offending. Strict penalties for violent and repeat offenders; prioritization of public safety over offender rehabilitation metrics. Open to evidence-based harm reduction where economically efficient, but generally leans toward stricter penal consequences.
New Zealand First Strong emphasis on public safety, cracking down on retail and violent crime, and supporting victims' rights. Boosting frontline police numbers (e.g., recruiting hundreds of new officers). Victim-centric sentencing: Prioritizing victim safety over offender rights; examining standalone offenses like coercive control; tougher penalties for gang activity. Targeted funding for specialist support agencies (like Women’s Refuge); skepticism toward broad decriminalization while backing specific regional addiction support.
Te Pāti Māori Whānau-centred wellbeing, systemic equity, and addressing the drivers of Māori over-representation in the justice system. Moving away from traditional punitive policing toward community-led and Māori-designed safety frameworks. Decarceration policies; repealing laws that disproportionately affect Māori; cultural accountability measures. Kaupapa Māori solutions: Rebuilding Māori-led health and justice authorities; shifting resources entirely toward holistic healing, cultural safety, and social support.

Key Thematic Differences

1. Crime Prevention

  • Right-of-Centre (National, ACT, NZ First): Prevention is primarily framed around deterrence, visible enforcement, swift rule-of-law consequences, and targeting visible public disorder (such as gang patches, public transport security, and retail crime).
  • Left-of-Centre & Progressive (Labour, Greens, Te Pāti Māori): Prevention is viewed through a socio-economic and public health lens. They emphasize tackling poverty, housing instability, mental health distress, and early childhood or domestic intervention programs to stop crime before it occurs.

2. Policing

  • Parties across the spectrum generally support maintaining or growing frontline police numbers, but differ on how police should operate.
  • National and NZ First emphasize tactical deployment and specialized units (e.g., transit security or gang taskforces). Conversely, parties like the Greens and Te Pāti Māori advocate for shifting certain emergency responses away from armed police toward health, mental health, and community-led social workers.

3. Sentencing

  • National and NZ First advocate for a "tough on crime" approach, pushing for higher sentencing thresholds, restricting judicial discretion in certain contexts (such as removing good-character discounts for sexual crimes or limiting rights to silence in severe child abuse cases), and prioritizing public safety over offender rehabilitation.
  • The Greens and Te Pāti Māori campaign against prison population growth, favoring rehabilitative frameworks, addressing systemic biases within the courts, and introducing alternative sentences that keep offenders connected to their communities and culture.

4. Rehabilitation & Harm Reduction

  • Debates heavily feature drug reform and support for victims of family and sexual violence.
  • Progressive parties push for health-based drug laws, decriminalization or regulatory alternatives, and expanded addiction treatment spaces. National and NZ First concentrate heavily on supporting victim-support NGOs (like Women's Refuge) and enforcing strict penalties for supply, while maintaining caution around widespread drug legalisation.

Are there specific aspects of these party platforms—such as youth justice, drug policy, or regional policing strategies—that you would like to explore further?

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For the 2026 New Zealand general election: Compare parties' plans for crime prevention, policing, sentencing and rehabilitation.

For the 2026 New Zealand general election, political parties diverge significantly on law and order, splitting between tougher punitive and deterrent frameworks versus preventative, community-led, and systemic approaches.

ACT New Zealand

  • Core Approach: Put victims first, restore strict consequences, and target repeat offending.
  • Policing & Prevention: Proposes 100,000 additional rural police patrol hours annually, tougher penalties for livestock theft and poaching, and improved 111 text coverage in remote rural areas. [New Zealand Law Society]
  • Sentencing: Advocates expanding tough sentencing measures, including a "Three Strikes for Burglary" policy (imposing a minimum three-year sentence without parole for a third burglary conviction), alongside maintaining and extending current coalition measures like gang patch bans and reinstated Three Strikes laws. [New Zealand Law Society]

New Zealand First

  • Core Approach: High deterrence and severe accountability for serious and violent offenders.
  • Sentencing: Pledged a formal degrees-of-murder regime that increases minimum non-parole periods (raising minimums from 10 to 20 years for certain serious classifications) and introduced 'life means life' provisions. [RNZ]
  • Self-Defence & Public Safety: Announced intentions to investigate implementing 'stand your ground' self-defence laws regarding property and personal safety, alongside support for military-style academies and youth justice demerit frameworks.

Te Pāti Māori

  • Core Approach: Described as "hard on healing rather than hard on crime," focusing on systemic transformation and the complete overhaul of the penal system. [WhichParty NZ]
  • Sentencing & Rehabilitation: Pledges to abolish all New Zealand prisons by 2040, replacing incarceration with community-led, whakapapa-based healing, kaupapa Māori mental health support, and restorative justice.
  • Prevention & Structural Reform: Proposes establishing an independent Māori Justice Authority, raising the age of criminal responsibility to 16, and redirecting prison funding into community-based trauma and social rehabilitation.

Labour Party

  • Core Approach: Focuses broadly on early crime prevention and socioeconomic drivers, while acknowledging past criticisms regarding the pace of addressing youth crime.
  • Sentencing & Corrections: Leader Chris Hipkins and party spokespeople have rejected radical penal abolition (such as Te Pāti Māori’s prison phase-out), affirming that prisons remain necessary for public safety and targeted rehabilitation. Labour's primary campaign emphasis heading into the late-2026 voting period has concentrated primarily on cost-of-living, health, and economic stability while framing general law-and-order positions around prevention.
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