An accountability project
Promised vs. Delivered
A fact-based scorecard of New Zealand's governments - and the parties that shape them.
Anyone can promise a better future. Delivering one is harder. We track what every party promised, what was actually delivered, and what it cost - with a link to the source behind every claim.
Every claim is sourced
Each figure links straight to a primary record - Treasury, Stats NZ, the courts, Hansard or the Electoral Commission.
Checked, then checked again
Every claim is independently fact-checked before it goes up. If it can't be stood up, it doesn't run.
No party gets a free pass
Government and opposition, left and right - judged on the same evidence, the same way.
The governments
Each government, judged on its own record - what it promised on the way in, and what it actually did. Who was in power, and when.
Labour-Green
LabourGreenNZ FirstSix years under Jacinda Ardern and then Chris Hipkins - housing, child poverty, debt and the cost of living, promise by promise.
With NZ First (2017-2020), then a Labour majority (2020-2023).View the scorecard →2023 - presentNational-ACT-NZ First
NationalACTNZ FirstThe current coalition under Christopher Luxon - what it has cancelled, cut and delivered, set against what it promised.
A living record - updated as the term continues.View the scorecard →The parties
Beyond the government benches - a closer look at individual parties: how they've voted, what they've proposed, and the controversies within their ranks.
Where the parties stand
Every party's own stated policies, side by side - so you can compare them in one place. Each party links to its official policy page.
These are each party's own stated positions, drawn from their official policy pages. Where a party's live site was unavailable, we used archived copies of their own pages or reputable reporting of their policy launches. Follow the links to read each in full.
Tax & cost of living
Income-tax bracket relief ("Back Pocket Boost"), a FamilyBoost childcare rebate up to $150 a fortnight, restored landlord interest deductibility, and scrapping the Auckland fuel tax.
A 28% capital gains tax on investment property from 1 July 2027 (excluding the family home), with the revenue earmarked for health; cheaper GP visits and action on power prices.
Tax wealth and all forms of income - capital gains, land, wealth and inheritance taxes - with a tax-free threshold on low incomes, to fully fund universal public services.
A flatter two-rate income tax with a 28% top rate aligning personal, trust and company rates; ease the cost of living by cutting wasteful spending.
Make the first $14,000 of income tax-free by 2027 and index brackets to inflation; oppose a capital gains tax; inquiry into removing GST from fresh food; 50% SuperGold rates rebate.
A tax-free first $30,000, a 48% top rate over $300,000, and a wealth tax of 2%/4%/8% above $2m/$5m/$10m; remove GST from all food.
Housing
"Go for housing growth" - fast-track consenting, free up land supply, restore landlord interest deductibility, and an independent review of Kāinga Ora.
Make first homes easier to buy and renting fairer and more secure, and build more homes (specific mechanisms not detailed on the official page).
Enshrine a right to housing in law and run a large government-built, government-run public housing programme, plus a big increase in Māori-led housing.
Tackle housing through planning reform - replace the Resource Management Act with a property-rights-based system to enable faster, cheaper development.
Direct government intervention - a Housing Commission, unlock land near cities, reform planning law, and restore landlord interest deductibility.
A "Whānau Build" programme for affordable and papakāinga housing, transfer of Crown land to iwi/hapū, and taxes on land-banking and vacant homes.
Health
Five national health targets (shorter waits, faster cancer treatment), a third medical school, more nurses and midwives, and free breast screening extended to age 74.
A "Medicard" giving three free GP visits a year, free cervical screening, and a Family Doctor Loan Scheme to improve access to appointments.
Universal, free healthcare - including fully-funded public dental, GP, ambulance, aged care, palliative and mental-health services.
Shift government from provider to purchaser via public-private partnerships, remove race-based provisions (abolish the Māori Health Authority), and publish performance data.
A single system "based on need not race" (abolish the Māori Health Authority), replace Pharmac with a new medicines agency (+$1.3bn), and a $925m/yr waitlist fund.
Free GP and dental care for whānau earning under $60,000, transfer 25% of health funding to the Māori Health Authority, and more funding for Pharmac.
Education
"Teach the basics brilliantly" - an hour each of reading, writing and maths a day, rewritten curricula, and a ban on cellphones in schools.
"Working Futures" - three years of free post-school education or training over a person's lifetime (current status unconfirmed on the official page).
A free, inclusive, lifelong public system embedding Te Tiriti and universal te reo Māori, better teacher pay, and an end to streaming by ability.
A "Student Education Account" usable at any registered school, published school performance data, performance-based teacher pay, and restored charter schools.
Focus on the "three Rs", enforce attendance, remove "gender ideology" and "critical race theory" from the curriculum, and review NCEA.
Resource and prioritise kaupapa Māori education and overhaul a mainstream system the party sees as failing Māori.
Climate & environment
Net zero by 2050 with the Emissions Trading Scheme as the main tool; "Electrify NZ" to fast-track renewables; no farm emissions pricing before 2030.
Focus on renewable energy to cut emissions and power prices, and opposition to a new gas import terminal (drawn from leader statements).
Legally-binding cuts to end fossil-fuel use by 2035, a rapid shift to renewables, and a funded just transition for affected communities.
Keep the ETS as the main tool, keep farming out of it, lower targets and refund ETS revenue to households; says the Paris Agreement must change or NZ should leave.
Won't support emissions pricing "in any form" unless trading partners adopt it; incentivise on-farm mitigation rather than buying overseas carbon credits.
A "Tiriti-centric" approach centred on Māori kaitiakitanga; oppose deep-sea oil and gas; Māori-led freshwater and conservation management.
Law & order
Ban gang patches and public gang gatherings, make gang membership an aggravating factor at sentencing, and add 300 frontline police.
No specific current policy stated on the official policy page.
Focus on prevention, victim support and rehabilitation; build no new prisons (bar replacements); expand marae-based and tikanga approaches.
Restore Three Strikes, prioritise victims over offenders, tougher sentencing and parole, and end taxpayer-funded cultural reports.
500 more frontline police, expanded mandatory minimum sentences, a "degrees of murder" regime, and designating gangs as terrorist organisations.
A tikanga-based justice system aiming to abolish prisons by 2040, decriminalise drug use, and restore voting rights for all prisoners.
Te Tiriti / Māori
Disestablish the Māori Health Authority and remove "co-governance" from public-service delivery - services based on need, not race.
Opposed the Treaty Principles Bill; intends to reinstate schools' Treaty of Waitangi obligations (drawn from leader statements).
Honour Te Tiriti as the founding document, affirm tino rangatiratanga, and pursue constitutional transformation (as envisioned by Matike Mai).
"Equal rights" - the same political and legal rights for all regardless of ethnicity; authored the (defeated) Treaty Principles Bill; remove race-based provisions.
Make English the primary official language, use "New Zealand" not "Aotearoa", repeal the Māori Wards legislation, and abolish the Māori Health Authority.
Centre Te Tiriti and tino rangatiratanga across government, uphold tikanga, and pursue constitutional transformation; a proposed Te Tiriti Commissioner.
Economy & infrastructure
"Rebuild the economy" - cut red tape, build roads and infrastructure for growth, and restore the Reserve Bank's single inflation mandate.
A "New Zealand Future Fund" to invest in the economy, backing local businesses and well-paying jobs.
A "regenerative" economy within environmental limits, more public investment, and a Reserve Bank mandate that includes full employment.
Cut wasteful spending, deregulate, and use public-private partnerships and partial privatisation for major infrastructure.
Balance the budget, a NZ Infrastructure Bank and Ministry of Infrastructure, reopen Marsden Point, keep Tiwai Point open, and lift the minimum wage toward $25.
Raise the minimum wage to $25/hr immediately, raise company tax to 33%, and grow iwi/Māori economic assets.
Every policy, in full
The complete list of each party's stated policies, as published on their own sites. Tap a party to open its full platform - and notice who has done the thinking, and who hasn't.
NationalLed by Christopher Luxon39 policies
Drawn from National's own policy index and themed sub-pages, read live. Some items are framed as actions taken in government.
Economy & cost of living
- "Back Pocket Boost" - income-tax relief by adjusting tax brackets.
- FamilyBoost - childcare cost rebate of up to ~$150 a fortnight.
- Restore interest deductibility for rental properties.
- Remove the Auckland Regional Fuel Tax.
- Investment Boost - 20% upfront tax deduction on new business assets.
- Cut government and consultant spending (~$1bn) and redirect to frontline services.
- Increased property rate rebates for seniors.
- Expand trade exports and pursue new trade agreements (UAE, GCC, India, EU).
- Restore the Reserve Bank's single inflation mandate.
- Replace the Resource Management Act and streamline building consents.
- Fast-track major infrastructure projects.
Law & order
- Ban gang patches in public; non-consorting and dispersal powers for police.
- Restore the Three Strikes regime.
- Add 300 more frontline "beat" police.
- Cap total sentence discounts at 40% and early-guilty-plea discounts at 25%.
- Remove sentence discounts for youth offenders and for remorse.
- Make gang membership an aggravating factor at sentencing.
- A methamphetamine action plan.
Education
- Teach an hour each of reading, writing and maths every day.
- Mandate structured literacy and phonics, with assessments at 20 and 40 weeks.
- Ban cellphone use in schools.
- Replace NCEA with a new qualification system and release a new curriculum.
- A new medical school at Waikato University.
- Disestablish the Te Pūkenga polytechnic merger.
- Teacher incentives: bonding up to $40,000 over five years; covered registration fees.
Health
- Five national health targets (shorter waits, faster cancer treatment).
- ~2,000 more frontline nurses and more trained doctors.
- Extend free breast-cancer screening to women aged 70-74.
- Fund additional cancer medicines and boost Pharmac funding.
- Lower the bowel-screening age from 60 to 58.
- 12-month prescriptions and a 24/7 telehealth service.
- More urgent and after-hours clinics; a Mental Health Innovation Fund.
Housing, environment & more
- "Going for housing growth" - fast-track consenting and free up land supply.
- An independent review of Kāinga Ora; "Local Water Done Well" to replace Three Waters.
- Net zero by 2050 with the ETS as the main tool; "Electrify NZ" for renewables.
- No farm emissions pricing before 2030.
- Welfare reform to reduce benefit dependency; a Social Investment Fund.
- Disestablish the Māori Health Authority; remove co-governance from public services.
- Stop taxpayer funding for section 27 cultural reports.
LabourLed by Chris Hipkins9 policies
Labour's official policy page currently lists only these few named policies - the party says its 2026 platform is still in development. Read live, not padded with older material.
Named policies
- A "Medicard" giving everyone three free doctor's visits a year.
- Free cervical screening for everyone, under the Medicard.
- A Family Doctor Loan Scheme to improve access to GP appointments.
- Introduce a capital gains tax (excluding the family home).
- A New Zealand Future Fund to invest in the economy.
Stated priorities (high-level framing, not itemised policy)
- Good jobs that pay well - an economy that backs local business.
- Healthcare you can rely on - cheaper, earlier, closer to home.
- Affordable homes for all - easier first homes, fairer renting.
- Real action on the cost of living - power prices and cheaper GP visits.
GreenLed by Marama Davidson & Chlöe Swarbrick24 policies
From the Green Party's own policy pages and 2025 alternative budget, retrieved via archived copies (their live site blocks automated access).
Tax & economy
- Tax wealth and all income - capital gains, land, wealth and inheritance taxes.
- A 2025 "Green Budget" raising ~$88.8bn over four years for public services.
- A 2.5% wealth tax on net assets above $2m; a 33% inheritance tax above $1m.
- An "Income Guarantee" of at least $395 a week; a tax-free threshold on low incomes.
- A "regenerative" economy within environmental limits, not growth-first.
- Broaden the Reserve Bank's mandate to include full employment.
Housing
- Enshrine a right to housing in legislation.
- A large government-built, government-run public housing programme.
- Cap rent rises at 2% a year and end no-cause evictions.
- A Rental Warrant of Fitness and a national register of landlords.
- A big increase in Māori-led housing; a "Ministry for Green Works".
Health & education
- Universal free healthcare - incl. dental, GP, ambulance, aged care and mental health.
- Restrict marketing of unhealthy food; improve food affordability.
- A free, inclusive, lifelong public education system embedding Te Tiriti.
- Universal te reo Māori in schools; better teacher pay; end streaming by ability.
Climate & justice
- Legally-binding cuts to end fossil-fuel use and production by 2035.
- A rapid shift to renewables and a funded "just transition".
- Focus justice on prevention, victim support and rehabilitation.
- Build no new prisons (bar replacements); expand marae-based and tikanga approaches.
Te Tiriti & member's bills
- Honour Te Tiriti as the founding document and affirm tino rangatiratanga.
- Constitutional transformation as envisioned by Matike Mai.
- Right to Repair bill (passed first reading, at select committee).
- Copyright (Parody and Satire) bill (passed first reading).
- A bill to ban mining on conservation land (drawn from the ballot).
ACTLed by David Seymour23 policies
Drawn from ACT's eight official policy pages, read live.
Economy & cost of living
- A flatter, two-rate income tax with a 28% top rate.
- Align personal, trust and company tax rates.
- Cut government waste and fund income-tax cuts through savings.
- Reinstate 90-day employment trials for all employers; scrap Fair Pay Agreements.
- Scrap the "ute tax"; repeal unnecessary regulation.
Law & order
- Bring back Three Strikes (no parole on a second violent/sexual offence).
- End taxpayer-funded cultural reports (~$6m/year).
- Scrap the prisoner-reduction target and expand prison capacity.
- Stronger police powers against gangs and organised crime.
- Parole based on evidence of rehabilitation, not political targets.
Health & equal rights
- Abolish the Māori Health Authority; remove race-based provisions from the Pae Ora Act.
- Long-term private-hospital contracts for elective surgery to cut wait times.
- Publish detailed hospital and health-service performance data.
- Repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act.
- Make "need, not race" the guiding principle of policy via a Cabinet Circular.
- Define Treaty principles on the 1840 text; end co-governance in public bodies.
Education, infrastructure & rural
- Restore charter (partnership) schools; performance-based teacher pay.
- "Student Education Accounts" usable at any registered school/provider.
- Publish comparable school performance data; refocus on core knowledge.
- Replace the RMA with a property-rights-based system.
- Public-private partnerships and partial privatisation for major projects.
- Keep agriculture out of the ETS; scrap Te Mana o te Wai.
- Rewrite the Arms Act; challenge the firearms registry.
NZ FirstLed by Winston Peters36 policies
Condensed from New Zealand First's full 2023 Policy Manifesto (47 pages) - their most detailed published policy document. This is a representative selection; the manifesto contains many more.
Democracy & "equal citizenship"
- Legislate to make English a primary official language; use "New Zealand" not "Aotearoa".
- Withdraw from the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
- Repeal the Māori Wards and Constituencies legislation.
- Binding referendum on a four-year parliamentary term at the 2026 election.
- Oppose hate-speech laws; protect freedom of speech.
- Single-sex bathrooms in public-sector buildings; protect women's sport.
Cost of living & tax
- Make the first $14,000 of income tax-free by 1 April 2027; index brackets to inflation.
- Oppose a comprehensive capital gains tax.
- A 50% SuperGold rates rebate (up to $1,600/year) for seniors.
- Inquiry into removing GST from basic fresh foods.
- Restore landlord interest tax deductibility.
- Investigate foreign-owned banks, supermarkets and energy "gen-tailers".
- Examine lifting the minimum wage toward $25/hour via a business tax concession.
Health
- A single health system "based on need, not race" - abolish the Māori Health Authority.
- Double the Pharmac budget (~$1.3bn) and replace it with a patient-focused agency.
- A GP-controlled ~$925m/year waitlist-reduction fund.
- Fund "Gumboot Friday" youth counselling; fund St John to 95%.
- Recruit ~2,000 more doctors via fast-tracked immigration.
- Repeal the Therapeutic Products Act 2023.
Law & order
- At least 500 new frontline police within 18 months; double Youth Aid officers.
- A "degrees of murder" regime with "life for life" for first-degree murder.
- Designate gangs as terrorist organisations; establish a gang-only prison.
- Expanded mandatory minimum sentences for serious violent/sexual offences.
- A Youth Justice Demerit Points system.
Economy, energy & infrastructure
- Balance the budget with caps on total and core Crown spending.
- A New Zealand Infrastructure Bank and a Ministry of Infrastructure.
- A Ministry of Energy; abolish the Electricity Authority.
- Investigate reopening the Marsden Point oil refinery; keep Tiwai Point open.
- Repeal the 2018 offshore oil-and-gas exploration ban.
- Make KiwiSaver compulsory from age 18; restore the KiwiSaver "kickstart".
Transport, primary industries & more
- Rename Waka Kotahi back to the New Zealand Transport Agency.
- Halt Auckland Light Rail; cancel "Road to Zero"; moratorium on new cycle lanes.
- Oppose farm emissions pricing unless trading partners adopt it.
- "Right Tree, Right Place" forestry/ETS reforms; strong biosecurity funding.
- A Royal Commission into media independence; a Media Ombudsman.
- Keep Super at 65; fund 2,000 new aged-care beds.
Te Pāti MāoriLed by Rawiri Waititi & Debbie Ngarewa-Packer29 policies
From Te Pāti Māori's own policy pages, organised under their two "oranga" frameworks, retrieved via archived copies (their live site blocks automated access).
Mana Motuhake (self-determination / Tiriti)
- Establish a Māori Parliament and implement the Matike Mai constitutional recommendations.
- Make Waitangi Tribunal recommendations binding on the Crown.
- Overhaul the Treaty settlement process and end the "fiscal envelope".
- Return conservation land to whānau, hapū and iwi.
- A Parliamentary Commissioner for Te Tiriti o Waitangi to oversee the Crown.
- Entrench the Māori electorates; change the country's name to Aotearoa.
Income & tax
- A tax-free first $30,000; a 48% top rate over $300,000.
- A wealth tax of 2% / 4% / 8% above $2m / $5m / $10m.
- Remove GST from all food; a 2% annual capital gains tax (excl. the whānau home).
- Immediately raise the minimum wage to $25/hour with annual increases.
- Double baseline benefit levels; remove sanctions and work-test obligations.
- Write off the living-cost component of all student loans.
Health & housing
- Transfer 25% of all health funding to the Māori Health Authority.
- Free primary, dental and home-delivered medication for whānau earning under $60,000.
- Invest $1bn a year in health-workforce development.
- "Whānau Build" - 2,000 houses on ancestral land within two years.
- Allocate 50% of new social housing to Māori; tax vacant homes.
- Stop sales of freehold land to offshore interests.
Education & justice
- Fund Māori-medium education on par with mainstream; new hapū-based wānanga.
- Make te reo Māori and Māori history core curriculum to Year 10.
- An independent Māori Justice Authority with 50% of the justice budget.
- Abolish prisons (current type) by 2040; raise the age of criminal responsibility to 16.
- Treat drug use as a health issue; wipe drug-use/possession convictions.
- Restore voting rights for all prisoners.
Oranga Whenua (land & environment)
- End new onshore oil and gas permits; withdraw existing permits within five years.
- Ban seabed mining; a $1bn fund for Māori-owned community energy.
- Recognise Māori proprietary and decision-making rights to freshwater.
- Honour WAI 262; oppose GE food; a Māori Kai Sovereignty Board.
- Phase out synthetic nitrogen fertiliser; help Māori farmers go regenerative.
The lesson is not that New Zealand's challenges are unsolvable. They are. But solving them requires more than election promises, new programmes, or larger government departments. It requires a shared national vision, clear priorities, measurable outcomes, and leaders who can execute effectively.
With a long-term strategy and transparent reporting, progress becomes measurable. Governments, councils, and public agencies can be assessed against defined objectives and deliverables rather than rhetoric. Decisions can be guided by evidence, accountability, and performance - facts rather than fluff.
A nation works best when everyone understands the destination, the milestones along the way, and who is responsible for delivering them. The future of New Zealand is too important to be redesigned every three years.
Ask yourself one simple question:
Can you clearly describe New Zealand's long-term vision and your place within it?