Labour has released its long-awaited fiscal plan saying every election promise is paid for, but it has not provided a cost for fully re-implementing pay equity legislation.

It does however promise an immediate pay rise to 65,000 care and support workers, costing $2.5 billion over four years, and Labour leader Chris Hipkins says there's "plenty of headroom" within the plan to pay for pay equity overall.

Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds says Labour will keep operating allowances - that is, new day-to-day spending - at the $2.4 billion set by the coalition government in Budget 2026.

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Labour's already announced capital commitments were:

• $200 million capital injection for the New Zealand Future Fund
• $420 million for the initial student loan write-off
• $200 million for hospitals
• $400 million for schools
• $2.9 billion for Kāinga Ora housing, spread over four years
• $7 million for Ratepayer Assistance Scheme (RAS) solar expenditure

Hipkins said most of the party's big election policies had been announced.

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Labour promised to reversed half of the first tranche of public sector cuts announced in the government's Budget, and fully reverse the second tranche.

The party is working on the assumption that the government is already halfway through that first tranche of cuts.

"In many cases the cuts have already been made, and we're not going to reverse cuts that have already been made," Hipkins said.

"The current government aren't releasing that information, so we've had to make some assumptions about that."

Hipkins said Labour would scrap the Ministry for Regulation, and the savings realised would largely be divvied up among other agencies.

Road rules are changing from Thursday. Here's what you need to know.

Four new rules that come into effect on 1 October include changes to overtaking, where e-scooters can travel and where children can ride their bikes.

"These changes are about fixing the basics: safer streets, clearer rules, and less bureaucracy getting in the way of everyday travel," Transport Minister Chris Bishop said in announcing the changes earlier this year.

Okay, what are the changes?

The new rules:

• require a minimum passing gap of 1.5 metres when drivers pass other road users who are not driving a motor vehicle
• allow children up to 12 years old to ride bikes on footpaths and allow parents or caregivers to ride with them
• allow people to ride e-scooters in cycle lanes
• require road users to give way to buses leaving bus stops

The Government sought feedback from the public on possible transport changes earlier this year, Bishop said, and received about 6000 responses.

More at link.

Chris Hipkins has made a campaign commitment to reverse pay equity changes in the first 100 days of a Labour government, during a packed public meeting in Christchurch.

The Labour leader received a standing ovation walking into a community hall in Spreydon on Monday night where close to 200 people filled the room, with some spilling out the doors.

The meeting was held a day after Labour launched its campaign, promising "plenty more fire" this election.

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Hipkins said Labour would quickly reverse pay equity law changes if elected.

"I think probably the most reprehensible thing I have seen in my time as a member of Parliament was the government's decision last year with no notice, with no warning, with no consultation, to pass under urgency a law that cancelled pay equity for tens of thousands of women," Hipkins said.

"I want to give you a reassurance that within the first 100 days we are back in government we will reverse that change.

"When we have reversed that change, care and support workers will be the first in the queue to sit down with to get a settlement because you've waited long enough."

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Hipkins has promised to explain how Labour's promises will be paid for after the government opens its books on Tuesday, after which the party will need to crunch the numbers.

Te Pāti Māori has unveiled its $3.1 billion plan for "kai sovereignty", promising tax credits, a Community Kai Fund and funding for Māori-owned supermarkets if elected.

The party said the policy sets out a path from "kai dependency to kai sovereignty" and would deliver immediate cost-of-living relief by investing in Māori and community food production and ownership.

The policy includes:

• An "Income Tax Kai Credit" for people earning $60,000 or less valued at up to eight weeks of kai each year. The party estimates the credit will support 64 percent of the Aotearoa (3 million people) and cost $2.8 billion.
• Establishing a Māori Kai Sovereignty Board with powers to address poverty and hunger.
• Setting up a $100 million Community Kai Fund for home gardens, marae māra kai and community farms and scholarships for rangatahi to study food sciences.
• Invest $100m in Mātai Ahuwhenua for whenua blocks to grow their own kai and work with councils to set aside more land for farms.
• $100m in seed funding to set up Māori-owned supermarket chains and regenerative and organic farming training programmes.
• Protect the whakapapa of kai by honour the findings of WAI 262, support Māori kai licensing and trademarks, develop a Māori Seed Conservation Strategy and oppose genetically engineered food.

Te Pāti Māori MP for Hauraki-Waikato Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke said Aotearoa produces a huge amount of food but too many whānau were struggling to put it on the table.

"That is not a shortage of food. It is a failure of the system."

RNZ Election Policy Guide 2026

Your comprehensive guide to every policy announced by every party. Guides are updated as policies are announced so check back regularly.

• Business
• Crime and justice
• Economy
• Education
• Energy, climate and environment
• Governance
• Health
• Housing
• Māori issues
• Other policies
• Tax
• Technology
• Transport
• Welfare, family, youth and seniors

Policies are listed in chronological order of release and guides are constantly updated, so please check in regularly. Minor parties are limited to those with a decent prospect of entering Parliament through party vote or a specific electorate.

New Zealand First is wanting to make sweeping changes to the country's immigration laws.

The party unveiled over a dozen new policies on Friday as part of a dramatic overhaul of the immigration system ahead of November's general election.

Part of the reforms put forward include a referendum on enacting an annual cap of 20,000 resident visas issued each year.

The party also wants to update birthright citizenship requirements, so only the children of citizens are automatically entitled to New Zealand citizenship at birth.

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The party wants to change settings for asylum seekers, where any person who seeks asylum while in New Zealand on a working-class visa would be ineligible.

Asylum claimants would not be able to use a temporary work rights granted during the assessment period as a stepping stone to another visa.

Qualifying periods for permanent residents and citizenship would also be more rigourous with the required period to qualify for citizenship from five years to a minimum of 10 years. The qualifying period for permanent residence will be extended from two to five years under the proposed reforms.

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More at link

ETA: Full details at their site: NZ First Announces Immigration Reform Policies

Three of the Government's nine key targets risk not being met, the latest update shows.

The 218,500 people receiving Jobseeker benefits remains significantly higher than the 140,000 target, and education targets remain elusive.

In health, shorter wait times in emergency departments is considered "feasible", but still a way off. Shorter wait times to access elective treatments has improved from "feasible" to "probable".

A target to reduce the number of households in emergency accommodation has been met well ahead of schedule, as has a goal to reduce the number of victims of assault or robbery.

RNZ is tracking progress towards each of the Government's nine targets, which were announced by Prime Minister Christopher Luxon in April 2024. The targets were chosen to focus the public sector on priorities, and progress is updated each quarter.

Lots more, infographics etc. on RNZ

We are now just two months away from Election Day on the 7th of November.

You must be enrolled to vote before the election.

The last day to enrol is the 25th of October.

Unlike previous elections, you can NOT enrol and vote at any voting place, including on election day.

The current government changed this, and it is a change that many people, particularly first-time and younger voters may not be aware of.

Take a few minutes to check in with your friends, whānau, work colleagues, classmates, teammates, and anyone else in your network. If they are not enrolled, encourage them to do it now.

You can enrol to vote if you'll be 18 years old on or before 7 November. That means if you turn 18 after enrolments close on 25 October, but on or before Election Day, you're eligible to vote, and enrolling early is your ticket to being able to vote in the election this year.

While you're at it, it's also a great opportunity to check that your enrolment details are up to date.

https://vote.nz/enrolling/enrol-or-update/enrol-or-update-online

Once more: you will not be able to vote if you are not enrolled by the 25th October

PS: Today is also the day that Candidate nominations open.

Additional Key Dates:

https://vote.nz/2026-general-election/about/overview/key-dates

The election campaign is heating up, with parties announcing a raft of new policies on Sunday, less than nine weeks out from the general election.

Politicians targeted superannuation, supermarkets, climate change and the housing market in their latest announcements throughout the day.

Here's everything you need to know about politicians' latest pledges.

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Greens announce 'KiwiMart' plan

The Green Party has revealed its plan to establish a publicly-owned supermarket chain to break up the duopoly and drive down food prices.

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NZ First promises citizens-only superannuation

New Zealand First will restrict superannuation to citizens from 2029.

Leader Winston Peters said the cost of NZ super for migrants was a "ticking timebomb" for the country.

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ACT vows to end 'political virtue signalling' over climate change

ACT leader David Seymour said the country's approach to dealing with climate change was broken and sending the country broke.

On Sunday he announced the party's plan to change that by ditching the net zero emissions target, repealing the Zero Carbon Act and cutting carbon tax if elected

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National eyes easier path to homeownership

National has vowed to help more people buy their first home by expanding access to the First Home Loan scheme run by Kāinga Ora

It allows buyers to purchase their first home with a 5 percent deposit, rather than 20 percent which most banks require.

The ACT party has vowed to get rid of the net zero emissions target, repeal the Zero Carbon Act and cut carbon tax if elected.

Its climate policy is largely a repeat of what it brought to the 2023 election campaign, and promises not to "kneecap New Zealand's prosperity for the sake of political virtue signalling".

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ACT leader David Seymour said the country's approach to dealing with climate change was broken and sending the country broke.

"A small trading nation can't ignore climate policy, but overdoing it backfires and puts unnecessary costs on Kiwi businesses and households," he said.

ACT's policy was "grounded in economic reality" and would reduce emissions without imposing costs on New Zealanders that trading partners were unwilling to bear, Seymour said.

The policy includes:

• repealing the Zero Carbon Act and scrapping the target of net zero emissions by 2050, instead benchmarking New Zealand's emissions cap against major trading partners
• cutting the Carbon Tax by removing the Government's minimum price for Emissions Trading Scheme auctions
• introducing a carbon tax refund, returning 100 per cent of net carbon auction revenue to New Zealanders
• opposing new climate taxes, including a tax on agricultural emissions
• discouraging productive farms being converted into carbon forests and requiring forest owners to carry long-term costs and risks of their forests
• offering "carbon assistance" to businesses that can demonstrate a competitive disadvantage against overseas producers if those competitors have lower or no carbon costs

More at link

The population of the world’s heaviest parrot, the kākāpō, has surpassed 300 birds for the first time in 75 years, after a record breeding season triggered by the mass fruiting of a native New Zealand tree.

Ninety chicks were officially added to the population of the critically endangered birds on 1 September, pushing the total to 325 – a record high since recovery efforts began.

“The last time the population is thought to have exceeded 300 birds may have been as long as 75 years ago,” said Deidre Vercoe, the conservation department’s kākāpō recovery operations manager.

“We had a four-year gap between breeding seasons, so it’s fantastic to finally see the population increase after all that time.”

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A recovery programme was established in 1995 with a population of just 51 birds and has battled challenges with genetic diversity, infertility and poor chick hatching rates. There are three kākāpō breeding populations, all based on predator-free islands off the South Island.

Kākāpō breed only every two to four years when the native rimu trees produce large numbers of berries, so repopulation is slow. This year, after a four-year wait, a bountiful harvest of rimu berries prompted the birds to breed and produce a record number of chicks

Public Service Minister Paul Goldsmith has criticised public servants planning to strike next week, saying the industrial action is part of a "broader political campaign" to change the government.

About 10,000 members of the Public Service Association (PSA) are set to strike on the afternoon of Wednesday, 9 September following prolonged pay negotiations.

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"They've got little pamphlets out there saying 'change the government'," he said. "The people of New Zealand will be inconvenienced out of what could be seen as a broader political campaign."

Goldsmith said public servants received "very significant" pay bumps under the Labour government and had continued to be offered modest increases.

"They've got a right to strike, but I think it's poor form."

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In May, the government announced plans to cut a further 8700 public service roles over the next three years.

It also promised to streamline and merge the roughly 40 government departments, but further details have yet to be revealed.

A newly released document, reported on Tuesday, revealed Public Service Commissioner Sir Brian Roche last year advocated to reduce the number of government agencies down to between 15 and 20.

Labour says it will guarantee a job in the public health system for every graduate nurse and increase the recruitment subsidy to address shortages in primary care.

Labour's health spokesperson, Ayesha Verrall, said graduate nurses were being trained in New Zealand but were looking overseas for their first job instead of starting their careers here.

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The party's policy document explained the jobs would be offered through the existing Advanced Choice of Employment and primary care employment schemes.

The jobs would be offered at graduation, rather than being staggered throughout the year, and would be for at least 0.8 full-time equivalent.

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In 2025, Labour said fewer than half of graduating nurses were initially offered jobs through the Advanced Choice of Employment scheme.

The party would also double the funding for graduate nursing roles in primary care, from $20,000 to $40,000 in rural areas, and $15,000 to $30,000 in urban areas.

Thousands of youths across the country are set to lose access to unemployment benefits, after a welfare bill passed into law under urgency on Friday night.

From November 2026, the government will end Jobseeker payments to 18 and 19-year-olds whose parents earn more than $65,000.

In October last year, it was estimated that around 4300 young people would become ineligible for support as a result.

Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston said the legislation reflected the government's commitment to reduce benefit dependency and encourage people into work.

"This legislation reinforces the expectation that young people who are not in employment, education or training should be financially supported by their parents, not by taxpayers through the welfare system," she said.

"New Zealanders deserve a welfare system that is firm, fair and simple."

The bill also makes changes to how accommodation supplements are calculated.

Upston said the changes would "better target that support to those who need it most".

"Importantly, it does not apply to homeowners who are receiving New Zealand superannuation, veteran's pension, supported living payment, or the emergency benefit that is the equivalent to the supported living payment.

"The partner or spouse of a recipient of one of those benefits will also not be impacted by the change."

The ACT party wants to allow people to make tax-free profits from cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin, as long as they hold onto it for more than a year.

It would also make it easier to use crypto for small purchases by creating a tax exemption for such low-value transactions.

Inland Revenue says 355,000 New Zealanders use crypto, with $36 billion worth of transactions recorded.

Under the current rules, investors have to calculate tax on profits every time they sell or swap their assets.

ACT's campaign pledge, unveiled on Thursday, would mean any gains made on certain personal crypto held for more than 12 months would not be taxed.

More at link

Te Pāti Māori has unveiled its "Kiwi tax plan" for the November election, which retains some policies from last election, tweaks some others, and launches an entirely new one.

The party leaders said they wanted give New Zealanders "room to breathe" by putting money back in their pockets, and they would "tax workers less."

The party's announcement on Wednesday afternoon laid out the nine key tax changes the party wanted to see, with just one it had not previously campaigned on: a new 5 percent "stamp duty".

Documentation provided by the party suggested this would apply to "residential sales, excluding first home buyers for homes under $1 million".

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Speaking to reporters, co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer said Te Pāti Māori was announcing a plan to transform the "broken tax system".

"Because people across Aotearoa are struggling more now than ever before, 3 million people in Aotearoa are living off less than $60,000 a year, and it's a statistic that politicians and certainly this government is responsible for."

Co-leader Rawiri Waititi said Labour's Capital Gains Tax didn't go far enough when it came to transforming the tax system.

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The promise to remove GST from fresh food is now a "targeted tax credit" for those earning under $60,000 a year, with the party saying the payment would be "equivalent to eight weeks of kai".

The policy document was unclear on just how much that would be or how it would be administered.

The party's proposal for a wealth tax - 1.5 percent on "net wealth" above $2 million, rising to 2 percent for wealth above $5m, and 2.5 percent for $10m or more - was more moderate than the 2 percent, 4 percent and 8 percent it proposed in 2023.

Te Pāti Māori also doubled its promise for extra funding to tackle tax evasion and fraud, from $500m to $1 billion.

The remaining four policies were exactly the same as the 2023 proposals, including income tax adjustments, returning the company tax rate from 28 percent to 33 percent, and introducing land banking and vacant house taxes, both also at 33 percent.

Housing minister Chris Bishop says it doesn't sit comfortably with him that there is no guarantee of shelter for people on any given night, "we have a enormous challenge around housing in this country".

But he pointed out, that would have been the case under the last government too.

Last week, RNZ reported an admission from officials there was no guarantee shelter could be provided for anyone on any given day.

The admission was put to Bishop on Tuesday, and asked if it sat comfortably with him, to which he replied "no."

Bishop said he wasn't going to pretend "for a moment" there's not a challenge in terms of housing and homelessness.

"I've spent much of the last three years doing my best to try and fix it," he said, referencing the fast track legislation and "building more social homes".

"Last week, we announced 820 new social houses around the country, including areas that are really in severe housing need, like the east coast and the far north, for example, where we're now directing quite a lot of new social housing funding."

Labour has released their fiscal strategy for the election, promising to get back to surplus by 2029/30, slash debt and set up an independent Parliamentary Budget Office, if elected.

Leader Chris Hipkins said his party would "get the books back into shape", but would not do it by "making life harder" and cutting services.

"New Zealand should be a country where hard work gets you somewhere. Where you can get ahead, put down roots and know your kids will have opportunities here.

"We'll invest in the things that make New Zealand stronger - our hospitals and schools, infrastructure, skills and the businesses that create jobs" Hipkins said.

Labour's fiscal strategy has six policies:

• Achieve a surplus by 2029/30 and keep a sustainable fiscal position over the forecast period. Labour return to using the original OBEGAL (Operating Balance Before Gains and Losses) indicator and ditch the OBEGALx measure introduced by Finance Minister Nicola Willis.
• Aim to reduce net debt down to 20 percent of GDP over time and investment in initiatives that support a growing economy.
• Keep core Crown Expenditure and revenue at around 33 percent of GDP when their capital gains tax is fully implemented.
• Set up an independent Parliamentary Budget Office to scrutinise government finances and election commitments.
• Give the Reserve Bank it's dual mandate back, making so it must consider price stability and maximum sustainable employment.
• And, bring back wellbeing reporting to so decisions take into account the impact on New Zealanders.

This week the Minister of Health was forced into an admission that threatens the wider government narrative of success in Health.

We look at the admission and look across nine years of nursing workforce data. Just how many nurses have been added, when, and by whom?

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The question repeatedly sidestepped was "Is it correct that the net increase in Health New Zealand full-time equivalent nursing staff between the quarters ending March 2024 and March 2026 is 54?"

When the "yes" finally came, the House dissolved into groans of "was that so hard?" and "caught in a lie".

Adding 54 extra nurses across two years is contrary to an oft-repeated Government mantra; that more than 2,000 extra nurses have been added by the Government. It is held up as key evidence of success.

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Where do the numbers 54 and 2,100 come from?

A reason for the very grudging answer from Minister of Health Simeon Brown is that it highlights that all but 54 of the 1,252 extra nurses added since December 2023 were already on staff when the 31 March 2024 snapshot was counted - by the end of the Government's first four months in office. Presumably their arrival occurred after a long and bureaucratic employment process that started who knows when.

The higher 2,100 number appears to have been achieved by stretching reality to its statistical limits. Reaching 2100 requires two imaginative leaps. Firstly, you must count all part time nurses as a whole unit (ignoring the more accurate Equivalent Full Time method). Secondly you have to imagine that the current government were making hiring decisions prior to even winning the 2023 election.

2,162 is the difference in the non-EFT nurse count between 30 September 2023 and the latest 2026 snapshot. 30 September is two weeks prior to the 2023 election and two months before Christopher Luxon's administration was even sworn in.

Health NZ leaders told the Health Minister tight controls on hiring staff were crucial to delivering its budget and that recruitment of any frontline worker was only possible with the sign-off of senior executives.

In a briefing to Simeon Brown last March, then-Health Commissioner Professor Lester Levy and interim chief executive Dr Dale Bramley said strict recruitment rules had been in place throughout 2024/25, and frontline hiring decisions required the sign-off of the regional deputy chief executive.

"This has been coupled with regular close monitoring of recruitment pipelines and the establishment of the HR oversight group," Levy and Bramley wrote. "The expectation is for these controls to remain in place throughout 2025/26."

The documents were released under the Official Information Act to the Public Service Association (PSA), which says Health NZ intentionally delayed recruitment, leaving patients and health workers suffering as a result.

More at link...