Every question and original answer

For a working whānau, the important question is not simply which party promises to reduce the cost of living. It is which policies could leave more money in your household budget, improve access to essential services, and give Māori meaningful influence over decisions affecting whānau, hapū and iwi.

There are some significant differences between the parties contesting the 2026 New Zealand general election, particularly around taxation, public services, housing, energy ownership and Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

The following is a comparison of their published policies as at 30 October 2026. The election is scheduled for 7 November 2026.

1. Household cost-of-living policies

These are the main proposals worth examining if your household relies on wages, pays rent or a mortgage, has children, runs a car, and uses public services.

Labour

New Zealand Labour Party

Focus: Direct relief on everyday expenses and expanding affordable public services.

Published 2026 election policies

Key proposals include:

• Transport: Cap public transport fares at $20 per week in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, and $10 elsewhere.
• Fuel: Freeze fuel tax for three years.
• Healthcare: Three free GP visits annually for everyone.
• Prescriptions: Remove the $5 prescription charge.
• Groceries: Crack down on price gouging and increase supermarket competition.
• Power: SolarSaver loans to help households install solar.
• Employment: Māori-led vocational training to help Māori access skilled, better-paid employment.
• Housing: Introduce a rent-to-buy pathway and make renting more secure.

Labour says its cost-of-living package is fully costed and funded. Some measures would not begin until 2027 or 2028. Labour's Cost of Living PlanLabour's 2026 Election PoliciesLabour's 2026 Election Policies

Worth examining: Whether the transport and healthcare savings would make a meaningful difference to your household, and whether you qualify for the housing and employment initiatives.

National

New Zealand National Party

Focus: Lower taxes, economic growth, private-sector competition and fiscal restraint.

Published 2026 election policies

Key proposals include:

• Tax: No new taxes under its election commitment.
• Groceries: Separate New World and PAK'nSAVE ownership to increase competition.
• Power: A nine-point affordable energy plan.
• Housing: More access to 5% first-home deposits.
• Rates: Keep council rates affordable and refocus councils on core services.
• KiwiSaver: Increase compulsory retirement contributions and provide savings support for children.
• Employment: Support business growth and higher wages through economic expansion.
• Healthcare: More funding for cancer and other serious medicines.

National's October 25 100-day plan also includes its rates cap and other household and economic commitments. 2026 Election PolicyNational’s 100 Day Plan to secure our future

Worth examining: How much of the benefit would come through lower taxes or cheaper services, rather than direct household payments, and how the proposed council rates cap would affect local services.

Green Party

Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand

Focus: Reducing household costs through public services, income redistribution and community investment.

2026 manifesto and campaign announcements

Key proposals include:

• Power: Expand access to rooftop solar and reduce household electricity costs.
• Groceries: Establish a publicly owned supermarket called KiwiMart to increase competition.
• Transport: Free public transport for children and students, with $2 adult fares.
• Education: Free school lunches.
• Tax: Introduce a $10,000 tax-free income threshold and restructure income tax rates.
• Healthcare: Expand publicly funded healthcare, including dental care.
• Housing: Increase investment in affordable and public housing.

The Greens published estimates on 27 October suggesting a two-child family installing solar could save more than $5,000 annually across several policies.

That is a party-produced estimate, not a guaranteed saving. Actual results would depend on eligibility, household circumstances and whether the family could install solar. Green Party plans could save families thousands each yearManifesto 2026Tax Tips: 2026 General Election

Worth examining: Whether your household would benefit from free transport, school lunches, solar and changes to income tax, and how those proposals would be funded.

Te Pāti Māori

Te Pāti Māori

Focus: Whānau wellbeing, Māori economic authority, affordable essentials and tino rangatiratanga.

Published party policies

Key proposals include:

• Tax: A $30,000 tax-free income threshold.
• Groceries: Remove GST from food.
• Housing: Build more public and affordable homes and make it easier to build on Māori ancestral land.
• Power: Establish a $1 billion Energy Sovereignty Fund to support Māori and community-owned energy.
• Healthcare: Rebuild and strengthen Māori-led health services.
• Education: Establish Māori-led education authority and solutions.
• Whānau support: Increase incomes and strengthen welfare support.
• Food: Support Māori-owned supermarkets, local kai sellers and community food systems.

Its energy policy is particularly interesting because it proposes not just cheaper power, but Māori ownership of energy infrastructure and generation. PolicyWe Want Cheaper Power And We Want Our People To Own It.TE PĀTI MĀORI LAUNCHES TE TIRITI ENTRENCHMENT POLICYTax Tips: 2026 General Election

Worth examining: How the proposed tax changes would affect your household's take-home pay, and whether Māori ownership and decision-making would translate into affordable services in your community.

ACT

ACT New Zealand

Focus: Lower taxes, smaller government, competition and individual choice.

Its policy direction includes:

• Restructuring income tax, including a proposed two-rate system.
• Reducing government spending and regulation.
• Making it easier for new supermarkets to enter the market.
• Increasing private-sector competition in service delivery.
• Applying needs-based rather than ethnicity-based approaches to public support.

ACT argues that reducing government costs and taxes is a way to improve household finances. Its Treaty position is also distinct, opposing an ongoing Crown-Māori partnership interpretation that creates different rights. Cost of Living Policy: Where NZ Parties Stand in 2026Where political parties stand on Te Tiriti o Waitangi

Worth examining: Whether lower taxes would outweigh any changes to publicly funded services your household currently uses.

New Zealand First

New Zealand First

Focus: Income support, minimum wages, fuel costs and domestic economic interests.

Key proposals include:

• Increase Working for Families payments.
• Increase the minimum wage annually for three years.
• Make the temporary increase to the in-work tax credit permanent, with a further proposed increase.
• Remove the ETS component of fuel costs.
• Break up power-company and supermarket market dominance.

New Zealand First also proposes abolishing the Waitangi Tribunal and replacing it with a Treaty of Waitangi Completion Commission. Our PolicyElection policy tracker: what the parties are promisingOur Policy

Worth examining: Whether your household qualifies for the proposed Working for Families increases and how its Treaty proposals would affect Māori participation in public decision-making.

The Opportunity Party (TOP)

The Opportunity Party

Focus: Tax and welfare reform, housing affordability and public-service investment.

Its proposals include:

• A broadly universal Citizen's Income of $19,400 annually for eligible adults.
• A land tax to help fund wider tax and income-support reform.
• Free public transport.
• More affordable housing, including papakāinga and multigenerational homes.
• Stronger competition enforcement against supermarkets and other dominant businesses.
• Better pay arrangements for care workers.

TOP also supports strengthening Te Tiriti and greater Māori autonomy in health and justice services. Tax Tips: 2026 General ElectionElection policy tracker: what the parties are promisingWhere political parties stand on Te Tiriti o WaitangiElection 2026

Worth examining: The overall effect of the Citizen's Income and land tax together, particularly if your whānau owns property or is planning to buy.

2. How parties differ on Te Tiriti and Māori participation

This is an important part of your question because household wellbeing is not just about the amount of money coming into the household.

It is also about who decides:

• How Māori health services are delivered.
• Where housing and infrastructure investment goes.
• How Māori land and resources are managed.
• What happens to Māori children and whānau in state services.
• Whether iwi and hapū have genuine authority in decisions affecting them.

Here is a comparison of the parties' broad positions.

Party	General approach to Te Tiriti
Te Pāti Māori	Constitutional transformation, stronger rangatiratanga and binding Crown obligations.
Greens	Te Tiriti-based government, iwi and hapū partnership and Māori authority.
Labour	Recognises Te Tiriti as the founding document and supports partnership, protection and participation.
TOP	Supports honouring Te Tiriti and greater Māori autonomy in some public services.
National	Recognises Te Tiriti as the founding document, with emphasis on equal treatment and Crown sovereignty.
NZ First	Recognises the Treaty but opposes co-governance and expansion of general Treaty principles.
ACT	Emphasises parliamentary sovereignty, equal legal rights and needs-based public services rather than ethnicity-based approaches.

Where political parties stand on Te Tiriti o WaitangiWhere political parties stand on Te Tiriti o WaitangiManifesto 2026

What do these differences mean in practice?

Te Pāti Māori

Proposes an independent Te Tiriti Commission, binding Waitangi Tribunal recommendations and a $220 million Mātike Mai Fund to resource Māori-led constitutional transformation.

Source: Te Pāti Māori, September 2026.

Read its Te Tiriti policy

Greens

Propose making the Māori text of Te Tiriti authoritative in law, incorporating Treaty-based decision-making across government and strengthening iwi and hapū rangatiratanga.

Read the 2026 manifesto

Labour

Supports partnership, protection and participation, and has previously established Māori-specific governance arrangements, including Te Aka Whai Ora. Its current Treaty agenda is less extensive than the Greens' and Te Pāti Māori's.

Read Labour's policies

National, ACT and NZ First

Their approaches place greater emphasis on parliamentary sovereignty, equal treatment and needs-based services, with opposition to some forms of co-governance and Māori-specific institutional arrangements.

Read the detailed party comparison

One important distinction: Māori participation can mean consultation, representation, partnership or actual decision-making authority. These are not interchangeable.

3. Comparing the proposals against working-whānau expenses

Here is a practical way to connect election policies to the expenses that might appear in your weekly budget.

Household expense	Policies to investigate
Groceries	Labour price-gouging rules; Greens' KiwiMart; Te Pāti Māori GST-free food; National supermarket competition; NZ First market reforms.
Electricity	National energy plan; Labour SolarSaver; Greens solar proposals; Te Pāti Māori energy ownership.
Petrol and transport	Labour fuel-tax freeze and fare cap; Greens' cheaper fares; NZ First fuel-cost measures.
Rent and mortgage	Labour rent-to-buy; Te Pāti Māori public housing and Māori land development; National first-home deposits; TOP housing reform.
Healthcare	Labour free GP visits and prescriptions; Māori-led health services under Te Pāti Māori; Greens' expanded public healthcare.
Children's expenses	Greens school lunches and free children's transport; National KiwiSaver for children; Labour's employment and family policies.
Wages and employment	NZ First minimum-wage increases; Labour Māori skills programmes; National business and employment growth; TOP care-worker pay proposals.

These are proposed policies, not guaranteed reductions in your bills. Their effects depend on implementation, funding, eligibility and the final parliamentary arrangements.

4. Questions worth asking before casting your vote

I would encourage you to look beyond campaign headlines and ask each party some practical questions.

Household finances

1. How much additional money would a working household actually retain after tax?
2. Would the policies help households that earn too much to qualify for some benefits but still struggle with rent, power and groceries?
3. Would the proposed changes reduce costs immediately or only several years later?

Whānau and local services
4. What would happen to access to local GPs, dentists, schools and public transport?
5. Would Māori providers receive long-term funding to deliver services?
6. Would Māori households have better access to affordable housing and energy?

Te Tiriti and decision-making
7. Would iwi and hapū have genuine decision-making authority or simply be consulted?
8. Would Māori-led health and education services be supported?
9. Would the party protect Māori land, resources and rangatiratanga?
10. What would happen to these commitments if the party entered a coalition?

These questions can help distinguish a general promise to support Māori from a commitment to Māori authority.

5. Where to check the actual policies

I recommend comparing the official manifestos alongside independent policy analysis.

• Labour – 2026 election policies
• National – 2026 election policies
• Greens – 2026 manifesto
• Te Pāti Māori – policy platform
• ACT – policies
• NZ First – policies
• TOP – policies
• The Conversation – 2026 election policy tracker
• The Spinoff – where parties stand on Te Tiriti

6. Let's make the comparison more useful for your whānau

There is a difference between a policy that sounds good nationally and one that actually improves your household's weekly finances.

I can build a more detailed comparison using a working-whānau budget, without assuming that all Māori households have the same needs or circumstances.

One question to start:

Are you mainly interested in a household where both parents work and are raising tamariki, or a household with one working parent and children?

That will help me compare the parties' proposals for:

• Take-home pay and tax.
• Working for Families and family support.
• Food and power bills.
• Housing and transport.
• Healthcare and education costs.
• Māori participation, rangatiratanga and Te Tiriti.

The aim would be to show the practical financial implications and constitutional differences side by side, so you can make your own informed voting decision.