Don’t know who to vote for? Policy.nz is the complete guide to the 2026 general election. Compare the parties, candidates and policies to see where you stand.

NZ Election 2026

Year founded

Times in government

Current MPs

Number of electorates held

2025 donations

2026 polling average

The Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand (Te Rōpu Kākāriki o Aotearoa, Niu Tīreni) is a left-wing progressive party. Its programme has historically merged climate and environmental concerns with a commitment to social justice. Founded in 1990, it has provided confidence and supply to Labour governments in 2002 and 2017. Former leader James Shaw is responsible for the Climate Change Act which commits New Zealand governments to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Chloe Swarbrick and Marama Davidson are the co-leaders of the Green Party. Its slogan in 2026 is “For All of Us.”

Green Party

'Rainbow Communities', undated (accessed 13 August 2026)

'Overseas New Zealanders', undated (accessed 13 August 2026)

'Pacific Peoples', undated (accessed 13 August 2026)

'Immigration and Refugees', undated (accessed 13 August 2026)

The ACT Party (Rōpū ACT) is a right-wing libertarian and populist party that advocates free-market policies and reducing the role of government. It currently has 10  seats in parliament. ACT was formed in 1994 from the Association of Consumers and Taxpayers by former National MP Derek Quigly and former Labour minister of finance Roger Douglas. It has had seats in parliament since 1996 and has held the Epsom electorate since 2005. ACT gave support to the fifth National government from 2008 to 2017 through a confidence and supply agreement. The party is currently in government as part of the National-led coaltion. 

ACT Party

'ACT’s New Immigration Policy To Put ‘Reside’ Back In ‘Resident’', 1 September 2026 (accessed 01 September 2026)

'A Fair Contribution', undated (accessed 10 August 2026)

'Deport Serious Offenders', undated (accessed 07 August 2026)

New Zealand First (Aotearoa Tuatahi) are a centrist, yet socially conservative party. The party has traditionally supported a moderate role for government. It emphasises its ability to be a check on both Labour and National and marry economic moderation with conservative views on gender, indigenous rights and immigration. Led by long-term leader Winston Peters, the party has been in government on four occasions, once with National in 1996, then Labour in 2005 and 2017. It has been in government with National and Act from 2023 to 2026. It is known for introducing the gold card for pensioners in 2008 and supporting extractive industries. 

NZ First

'NZFirst Campaign Announcement: NZ Super for Citizens Only
', 6 September 2026 (accessed 11 September 2026)

'NZ First Announces Immigration Reform Policies', 11 September 2026 (accessed 11 September 2026)

The New Zealand Labour Party (Rōpū Reipa o Aotearoa) is a centre-left social democratic party. Its program emphasises the incremental expansion in the role of government in the economy to address poverty and inequality. It currently has 34 seats in parliament. Formed in 1916 by Trade Unions and Socialist political parties, it is historically responsible for much of the modern welfare system. It has held seats in every Parliament since winning 8 in 1919, forming its first government in 1935. Since then, Labour has formed governments on 6 different occasions. Chris Hipkins is the party leader, and its 2026 slogan is ‘Better Starts Now.” 

Labour Party

'New Zealand Future Fund', undated (accessed 11 August 2026)

'Labour to ensure an immigration system that works for New Zealand', 11 September 2026 (accessed 12 September 2026)

'Release: Labour will expand visa-waiver travel to Pacific citizens', 17 September 2026 (accessed 23 September 2026)

The New Zealand National Party (Rōpū Nāhinara) is a centre-right conservative party. It was founded in 1936 as a merger between the liberal United party and conservative Reform parties, its programmes have emphasised the incremental reduction in the role of government to support business and encourage growth. It currently leads the government with 49 seats in parliament. National has historically been regarded as the ‘natural party of government.’ Having been dominant throughout the 20th century.  It has led the government 6 times and held office for longer than Labour. Christopher Luxon is the current leader, with a 2026 slogan of “Fixing the Basics, Building the Future.”

National Party

'Back Pocket Boost for Graduates' (PDF), undated (accessed 31 August 2026)

'Back Pocket Boost for Graduates', 31 August 2026 (accessed 31 August 2026)

'Back Pocket Boost for Graduates', undated (accessed 10 September 2026)

'A firm, fair and affordable welfare system' (PDF), undated (accessed 08 October 2026)

'Firm, fair, affordable welfare', 8 October 2026 (accessed 08 October 2026)

Opportunity, formerly known as the Opportunity Party, is a radical centrist party. Its program has emphasised a combination of economic efficiency, environmental concerns and well-being. Founded in 2016 by businessman and philanthropist Gareth Morgen with the intention of having a party that can work with both sides based on empirical evidence. It has yet to enter parliament, and its best election result was in 2017 when it received 2.4% percent or 63,261 votes. Opportunity is led by Quilae Wong, whose background is sustainable business consulting at KPMG. 

Opportunity Party

The Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party is a pro-drug reform political party. Its platform consists of drug related reforms to health, education, and the criminal justice system. Founded by current co-leader Michael Appleby in 1996, it has competed in 9 general elections, winning no seats. However, former candidates have been successful in other parties. Most notably Metiria Turei, who was co-leader of the Green Party. 

Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party

The New Zealand and Freedom Party is an environmentally focused party characterised by its anti-government beliefs. Its platform largely consists of conservation policy and opposition to COVID restrictions, vaccines and fluoridation of water. It was founded in 2015 by co-leaders Alan Simmons, formerly of the United Future party, and David Haynes, president of the Association of Freshwater Anglers. Following the 2020 pandemic response, many members from the Ban 1080 party joined NZOF. Ban 1080 activist Sue Grey is now the elected leader of the party. Co-founder David Haynes subsequently left the party. In 2023, it received 13,025 votes and 0.45% percent of the vote. 

NZ Outdoors & Freedom Party

The Women’s Rights Party is a trans-critical feminist political party. The party program emphasises that women’s rights are to be based on binary sex as opposed to gender identity. The party co-leaders are Jill Ovens and Dawn Trenberth. Ovens was a trade unionist and former president of the Alliance Party, while Trenberth, who had been a member of Labour, was also a trade unionist. The pair left the Labour Party in 2023, feeling alienated by increased hostility to trans-critical feminist perspectives. The Women’s Right’s Party was founded in 2023 and has never won a seat or entered parliament. In 2023, it received 0.08% percent, or 2,513 votes.

Women's Rights Party

The NZ Loyal Party is a far-right party. Founded in 2023 by antivax activist Liz Gunn, the party’s program revolves around opposition to ‘globalist’ institutions such as the United Nations, Banks, and the World Economic Forum. It opposes both immigration and taxation. The party is currently led by far-right activist Kelvyn Alp. He has a background in conspiracy media, an armed militia that has targeted bankers, and has been involved in legal battles regarding the distribution of videos from the Christchurch Mosque attacks. It has never won a seat in parliament.

New Zealand Loyal

The Alliance Party is a left-wing democratic socialist political party. It was initially founded as an alliance of small left-leaning parties led by Jim Anderton and New Labour in 1991. Its programs historically emphasise opposition to privatisation and support for more ambitious involvement of the government in the economy. It supported the fifth Labour government in 1999 before splitting in 2002 over New Zealand’s involvement in the invasion of Afghanistan.The current iteration of the Alliance is led by Victor Billot who has a background in communications with the Maritime Union. 

Alliance Party

Vision New Zealand is a far-right Christian fundamentalist party. Its programme consists of promoting Christian family values, a smaller role for government, pausing immigration and taking conservative positions on indigenous rights. The party also holds positions opposing abortion, homosexuality, and the construction of new mosques. Founded in 2019 by Brian Tamaki and his wife, Hannah, who leads the party, Vision NZ has not won any seats in parliament. In 2023, it won 0.33% percent of the vote, under the umbrella of Freedoms New Zealand. 

Vision NZ

Te Pāti Māori is a left-wing indigenous rights party. Its programme couples a larger role for the government in the economy alongside an emphasis on “for Māori-by-Māori” solutions and Māori self-determination. It was founded in 2004 by Tariana Turei as a breakaway from the Labour Party following the Foreshore and Seabed legislation that blocked Māori land claims. The party has been in government only once, from 2008 to 2014, in the fifth National government. It has regularly held Māori seats in Parliament and currently holds 4 of the 7 Māori seats.

Te Pāti Māori

The Free Palestine Party is a single-issue anti-Zionist party. Founded in 2026, the party opposes the state of Israel's existence as a Jewish state. Instead, it supports the establishment of a single secular and democratic state in Palestine, with full and equal citizenship. The party is led by Paul Hopkinson and is yet to have competed in a general election. 

Free Palestine

The Animal Justice Party merges its emphasis on animal welfare with concerns regarding the climate, sustainability and equality. Founded in 2023, Auckland-based candidate Robert McNeil, who co-leads the party alongside Danette Wereta, cited both a lack of Green party candidates standing in East Auckland seats and a perception that the Greens have to compromise as the genesis for the party. In 2023, it received 0.17% percent, or 5,018 votes, but it has never won a seat in Parliament. 

Animal Justice Party

The Te Tai Tokerau Party is an electorate-focused indigenous rights party. It was founded in 2026 to support the candidacy of former Te Pati Māori and current MP Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. Kapa-Kingi was suspended by her party following accusations of mismanaging funds. She successfully challenged that suspension in the High Court. With a background in Iwi-run social services, Kapa-Kingi was most prominently the Te Pati Māori spokesperson for housing, children, and Oranga Tamariki.  

Te Tai Tokerau Party

The Conservative Party is a right-wing party. Its platform consists of reducing the size of government, and opposing abortion, gender diversity and euthanasia. Founded by businessman Colin Craig in 2011, the party has competed reliably in elections, but has never reached the 5 percent threshold for election. It is presently led by Helen Houghton who has a background in primary school teaching, and charity Women's Open Home Charitable Trust. 

Conservative Party NZ

Party vote

Policy.nz for Schools

New Zealanders of all backgrounds deserve the right to live freely and express themselves fully. But many feel that proposed legislation around the “definition of a woman” and “move-on orders” for homeless people put these rights at risk. In many cases, questions about belonging, equality and recognition have been set against the right to free speech. 

Community and inclusion

Key policies

With much of NZ's export sector relying on the use of animals for meat and dairy products, few parties have policies on animal welfare. Rising interest in veganism and vegetarian fake meat products have sparked debate about the future of farming animals.

Animal welfare

People with disabilities face unique barriers to inclusion in society. The government recently removed a law that limited payments to people who provide care to relatives with disabilities, but the provision of adequate resources for everyone to participate in the community is an ongoing issue.

Disability

Contest over the rights and responsibilities of speech has become controversial in recent years, with social justice movements seeking to deplatform speakers and boycott events considered problematic. Recently, debate has flared up over what to do with statues and other public symbols celebrating colonial governments.

Free expression and hate speech

The largest Pacific nation, New Zealand is home to diverse communities from across the region. As the impacts of climate change increase in frequency and intensity, NZ's responsibilities to its neighbours and Pasifika communities at home are becoming more pressing.

Pasifika

After same-sex marriage became law, political controversy has increasingly shifted to trans rights. An attempt to extend laws against discrimination to cover gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics failed in the last parliament. The rainbow community still faces challenges others don’t, including high rates of suicide.

Rainbow community

As NZ's population ages, the challenge of housing and caring for older people grows. Recent incidents of seniors being poorly cared for or abused by care providers have undermined trust in the system.

Seniors

Care and support workers won historic pay equity settlement in 2017, paving the way for workers in other female-dominated industries to achieve equitable pay. But implementation of pay equity remains controversial, as does parliament's decision to decriminalise abortion earlier this year.

Women

The schools climate strike marked a recent highpoint for youth political action, as young people across the world took to the streets to demand climate action. The events highlighted the fact that young people are affected by government action as much as any adult – even though they lack political representation.

Young people

Conflicts in Palestine, Ukraine and Iran have made themselves felt in NZ, with the government maintaining alignment with European and American powers. But new trade deals in Asia show that proximity, not just historical ties, inform which countries NZ is connected to. Meanwhile, NZ continues to focus aid funding and diplomatic partnerships with neighbouring Pacific countries, as questions about which powers reign in this region continue. 

Defence and foreign affairs

New Zealand gives aid to various countries and international organisations. Some say NZ should use its aid budget to secure best political advantage, and others that aid should be spent on areas of greatest need.

Aid, development and institutions

Some say New Zealand’s involvement in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and membership of the five eyes surveillance network is inconsistent with the values of peace that NZ stood for in opposing nuclear weapons. A recent inquiry into the conduct of NZ forces in Afghanistan has recommended greater civilian oversight of the defence force.

Defence and veterans

Many take pride in New Zealand's reputation abroad, which is shaped as much by trade and diplomacy as it is by positive media coverage. Although allied with the US militarily, NZ is reliant on trade with China and is increasingly oriented toward Asia and the Pacific, a position which becomes more difficult as tension between the US and China rises.

International relations

New Zealand is a small economy impacted by global trends - like conflict causing a crunch in the oil supply chain - far beyond the government’s control. Inflation in New Zealand is high, despite efforts by the Reserve Bank to control the flow of money through interest rates. Big questions remain about the structure of supermarkets and electricity retailers: should there be more competition in these sectors to lower prices? Some think that artificial intelligence can grow NZ’s economy or improve productivity but many are doubtful that this technology will bring the promised changes.

Economy

NZ's exports account for nearly a third of the economy, and 40 percent of all exports are dairy and meat products. But the environmental impacts of intensive agriculture and ongoing exemptions for agriculture from emissions reduction rules have made the industry a site of political conflict.

Agriculture

Artificial intelligence (AI)

During the lockdown, the government helped many businesses pay wages while they were closed. As businesses attempt to recover from the crisis, there is widespread agreement on the need for further support. Some parties propose subsidies to hire workers, while others favour providing businesses greater flexibility at the expense of security for workers.

Business support

Research and development credits or subsidies for the private sector have been the favoured approach to economic development in recent decades. But parties are increasingly proposing support for particular industries to shape NZ's economy. And the money put towards the Covid-19 recovery has raised questions about what kind of economy we should rebuild.

Economic development and industry

NZ is regarded by some as a world leader in fisheries management but others say local fisheries are in crisis and blame industrial fishing. Recent regulations required installation of monitoring cameras on some fishing boats but implementation has been interminably delayed.

Fisheries

In the last three years, the government restricted foreign ownership of residential property and land. Limits were imposed on foreign purchases of business assets as part of the response to Covid-19. But some argue NZ should welcome more foreign investment including in reside to increase access to capital.

Foreign investment

Planting more trees to absorb emissions is a core part of the government's climate change response and carbon credits have encouraged the purchase of land for forestry. But conversion of agricultural land has been controversial, with farming interests arguing that conversions will destroy small towns. 

Forestry

The government's response to the Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in a big increase in borrowing. Opposition parties say NZ must quickly reduce debt or future generations will be unfairly burdened, even if that means cuts to some public services. Parties on the left say cuts to services would make the crisis worse.

Government revenue and finance

The increasing market power of multinational tech companies has had big impacts on many local industries, from high street retail to news media. Some parties say the tech giants aren't paying a fair share of tax. Others are more interested in content — what you can search and what you can say online. 

Internet and digital technologies

The current government stopped issuing offshore oil and gas exploration permits, but exploration continues onshore. As climate change worsens, there is growing pressure to stop extraction altogether. The question remains how to achieve a just transition to a zero-carbon economy. 

Oil, gas and mining

The current government established a $3 billion fund for regional development, called the provincial growth fund, which it says has created many jobs. Opponents say the fund is wasteful and the money could be better spent elsewhere.

Regional development

With the closure of the borders, the tourism sector is in crisis and domestic tourism is unlikely to make up for the lack of international visitors. The current government has provided some support for tourism businesses, but opposition parties say there are better ways to help the industry weather the crisis.

Tourism

New Zealand relies on international trade, and negotiators have recently begun work on an agreement with the UK post-Brexit. While opening up new economic opportunities, trade agreements have been controversial and some say rules about investment protection undermine democracy.

Trade and exports

The third biggest chunk of government spending, after benefits and health, goes to education. Schools and universities shape the lives of hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders, and the learning and research that happens there flows far beyond each institution. But what should be taught in school curriculums, and how does the government balance supporting trades education in polytechs and academic learning in universities?

Education

Early childhood education (ECE) is outside of the NZ public education system and is funded by a patchwork of subsidies. Pay for ECE teachers and staff is a perennial issue. People who argue for comprehensive funding say that high quality ECE for all children is a public good.

Early childhood education

Soon after the last election, the current government got rid of charter schools, which critics argued were an attempt to privatise the education system and undermine teacher unions. Parties on the right continue to advocate greater involvement of private enterprise in education and say it will increase choice for parents and teachers.

Schools

Closure of the border cut off income from foreign students, causing a funding crisis in tertiary education. These shortfalls highlight longer-term controversies about the way tertiary education and research gets funded and prioritised.

Tertiary education and research

Currently, the first year of tertiary education  and up to two years of training are free under the current government's fees-free policy. Critics of the policy say it's extravagant and too generous to students who don't need the support.

Tertiary fees and student support

The vocational education sector is undergoing big changes, with the current government merging sixteen institutes of technology and polytechnics to form the New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology. In the wake of Covid-19, the current government has also made some trades training free for the next two years.

Trades and vocational education

The current government has drafted a replacement to the Resource Management Act and established “Fast-track” consent for major projects, saying it is important to balance economic needs with protecting the environment. About a third of NZ is public land, and debates about hunting access and economic activity in these areas have been prominent in the last three years. Meanwhile, agricultural emissions are not treated like other industrial emissions - yet the climate crisis continues to exacerbate natural disasters in Aotearoa and beyond. 

Environment

The New Zealand way of life will change as extreme weather events and other effects of climate change become the new normal. Cities and towns across the country will need to adapt to deal with droughts and rising sea levels.

Climate adaptation

Around a third of all land in New Zealand is publicly owned and protected, most of it by the Department of Conservation. The department's use of 1080 to control pests has long been controversial, but a new issue has arisen this election with a proposed cull of tahr, a favourite among some hunters.

Conservation

Last year the government passed the Zero Carbon Act with support from all parties in parliament except ACT. The law sets NZ a target of limiting global warming to 1.5C – the threshold at which the worst effects of climate change start to kick in. But some say that current measures aren't enough to even curb heating below 2C. An ongoing dispute is how agriculture should be treated – the country's main export-earner is also a major source of emissions.

Emissions reduction

There is little dispute between the parties that New Zealand's rivers and lakes are in crisis, with most no longer fit for swimming. But with a major export-earner, agriculture, the main factor in this problem, there are powerful interests at play and rules to protect waterways have been resisted. 

Fresh water and pollution

An island nation, New Zealand has one of the largest exclusive economic zones in the world. As our oceans come under increasing pressure from overfishing and a changing climate, many argue that further intervention is needed to protect ocean ecosystems.

Oceans

As it becomes increasingly difficult to dispose of New Zealand's waste overseas, domestic recycling and waste management has become a pressing issue. The current government banned plastic bags and increased spending on recycling programmes. Some parties advocate incineration to deal with the growing waste problem.

Waste management

The current government has announced a new medical school in Waikato and created a ministerial portfolio for mental health. But many people still feel that the health system isn’t meeting their needs. Parties on the left want to make GP visits and pregnancy scans free. Parties currently in government want to make current health funding go further, by adding more medicines to the list the government subsidises and increasing the scope of work that can be done by roles like physician associates and pharmacists.

Health

In 2018, the current government legalised medicinal cannabis. But New Zealand may be about to go a step further, with the country asked to vote this election on a referendum to legalise and control the recreational use of cannabis. But while the focus for now is on cannabis, alcohol remains a major cause of harm.

Alcohol and drugs

New Zealand's 20 elected district health boards are responsible for delivery of most health services. A recent review recommended halving the number of DHBs and replacing elected members with government appointees, creating a new entity to oversee operational delivery of services, and a greater focus on population health.

Health funding and workforce

Some think of healthcare as being free in New Zealand, and it is, at least compared to countries like the US. But users do pay a contribution to doctor's fees and prescriptions, for example, while specialist treatment isn’t always free. Services vary greatly across the country and some are only available in main centres.

Health services

Medicines

New Zealand’s suicide rate is among the highest in the world, especially among young people. While nearly half of New Zealanders will experience mental illness or distress at some point in their lives, many go without services or treatment. An inquiry into mental health and addiction set up by the current government produced a long list of recommendations, including to increase publicly funded mental health services.

Mental health

Covid-19 has raised consciousness about the importance of strong public health systems, and several parties are proposing changes to beef up New Zealand's public health agencies. But while the pandemic rages on, other lingering health challenges remain, from smoking to obesity.

Public health

For many New Zealanders, buying a home is an out-of-reach aspiration. Efforts to make housing more dense in cities and fast-track consents for big developments are part of how the government has tried to make housing more accessible and affordable. But how should housing as an investment people want to increase in value be balanced with housing as a vital place to live? Who should pay for the infrastructure to accompany new developments? How can the rights of renters and those in social housing, who may not be able to afford a house, be protected?

Housing

Consensus has emerged that there is a shortage of affordable housing. New policy this last term included Kiwibuild, turning Housing NZ into Kainga Ora and tasking the entity with building state and affordable housing, and most recently the progressive home ownership scheme. Nearly all parties agree that the Resource Management Act is a barrier to affordable housing development.

Housing affordability

The current government increased quality standards for rental properties, requiring insulation and basic heating. But it's still the case that many homes in New Zealand aren’t properly insulated. Cold and damp housing is a major cause of illness, especially in winter and among young children.

Housing quality

The current government increased quality standards for rental properties and made tenancies more secure, limiting the situations in which a landlord can evict tenants. But rents remain high as incomes are under increasing pressure from the Covid-19 crisis.

Renting

The government has been building state houses in what it claims is the biggest government house building programme in decades. Opposition parties say this approach is too government-led, and that the government has missed opportunities to partner with private organisations to provide social housing.

Social and public housing

New Zealand’s unemployment rate is currently 5.6%, an 11-year high. Layoffs in the public sector and major industry have some people questioning what kind of working future is available in NZ. With more than 100 people leaving NZ for Australia each day, supporting those who are looking for work and growing productivity and employment is a focus for all political parties. 

Incomes and employment

As part of the Covid-19 response, core benefits were increased by $25. But the government also created a special higher rate of benefit for people who lose their job because of Covid-19, leading to criticism that the benefit system is no longer adequate. Recommendations from a working group established by the government have been largely ignored.

Benefits

New Zealand has so far avoided the scale of unemployment seen in other countries as a result of Covid-19, down in part to the wage subsidy. But many predict it is only a matter of time. Some parties promote the private sector and small business as the key to economic recovery and others say that government needs to step in to create jobs directly.

Jobs and employment

Prices

New Zealand has provided some kind of payment to older people since 1898 but the cost has increased as the population has aged. One approach has been to save money in the government's Super Fund, but some parties say payments should stop during the recovery. Others say it's time for the retirement age to be increased.

Superannuation and savings

New Zealand uses progressive taxation to redistribute wealth, though tax rates are at an historic low and the government ruled out a capital gains tax, despite recommendations from a working group it established early in the term. Aside from benefits, many people receive income support in the form of Working for Families tax credits.

Tax and income support

Along with recent increases to the minimum wage, the government has proposed fair pay agreements that would fix wages and conditions across whole industries. Critics say increases to the minimum wage will increase unemployment, and industry agreements would give too much power to workers and unions.

Wages and working conditions

New Zealand has one of the highest imprisonment rates in OECD countries, and Māori are hugely overrepresented in the system. Those statistics represent not just how crime is punished, but also what causes crime. Making sentencing tougher and banning gang patches is one response from right-wing parties, but left-wing parties say that addressing poverty and inequality should be a focus, to prevent crime happening in the first place. 

Law, justice and government

Access to justice is under threat as the cost of legal action grows and legal aid shrinks, but few parties have any policy on the topic. 

Civil justice

The current government began a programme of criminal justice reform, convening a summit and tasking a working group with planning an approach to changing the system. But the prison population has exceeded 10,000 and continues to grow, driven largely by changes to bail laws in 2014 that remain in place.

Criminal justice

There is political consensus that family violence is one of the most pressing social issues in New Zealand, but parties differ on how to reduce violence and keep people safe. Some favour the criminal justice system and others favour say better social services are part of the solution.

Family justice and safety

Following the Christchurch terror attacks, the government responded quickly to tighten New Zealand's gun laws and undertake a nationwide buy-back of certain firearms. But despite widespread support for these measures across parliament, many firearms owners say they have been unfairly scapegoated.

Firearms

Local government is responsible for a great deal of public services people deal with on a day to day basis: public transport, water, parks, recycling, library and art galleries, as well as well as issues of national significance such as issuing building consents and managing the resource management process.

Local government

The election there are two referendums on the ballot and some parties say New Zealand should have more direct democracy. Recent scandals have challenged public respect for democratic institutions and politicians remain among the least trusted professions in New Zealand.

Parliament and democracy

The number of police officers has increased under the current government, but some parties say more are needed, especially in rural areas. Police say the job is increasingly dangerous, but trials of armed police were met with protest and anger from parts of the community who fear arming police will lead to avoidable deaths.

Policing

A government carries out its work through the public service. Which new inquiries, ministries and commissions a party proposes to create, and which it promises to close down, speaks to its political priorities.

Public sector

Media, culture and recreation Sports, music and film are some of the ways New Zealanders have fun - and the sector employs thousands of people. Some people think the government should be attracting more major events to NZ, while others think this money is better spent supporting local sports and music events. Financial cuts have impacted funding for creative institutions, and many media outlets have closed down - how do political parties ensure that NZ’s culture and entertainment has options available for all people? 

Media, culture and recreation

Many events were cancelled or postponed for the lockdown and the creative sector received emergency funding from the government. One initiative has been to pay artists to work in schools and sector advocates say Covid-19 is an opportunity to fund the sector on a more sustainable basis. 

Arts, culture and heritage

New Zealand's media sector is in trouble after years of job losses and outlet closures. As competition from tech giants for ad revenue intensifies, some say the government needs to step in to support the industry, which many consider vital to the health of the democracy.

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