An accountability scorecard

Promised vs. Delivered

New Zealand's Labour-Green Government, 2017-2023

Anyone can promise a better future. Delivering one requires capable leadership, sound decision-making, and effective execution. This review provides a factual record of what was promised and what was achieved.

When Labour and the Greens campaigned for office, they made significant commitments on housing, poverty, climate policy, public services, and the cost of living. This report presents a side-by-side, fully sourced comparison of those commitments against measurable outcomes.

Every figure is linked to its original source. Where a promise was substantially delivered, we acknowledge it. Where outcomes fell short of commitments, the evidence is presented transparently for readers to assess for themselves.

The numbersThe chartsPromise by promiseSources & method
2017-2023 · PMs Jacinda Ardern & Chris Hipkins

The numbers they left behind

The headline figures from six years in power - debt, bureaucracy, housing and the cost of living.

$0b
Net core Crown debt by 2023

Net core Crown debt climbed from $58b (18.6% of GDP) in 2019 to about $152b (38.5% of GDP) in 2023 - the debt-to-GDP ratio more than doubled. Much of the rise was COVID-19 borrowing. Measured as net core Crown debt throughout, not the narrower "net debt" measure the government adopted in 2022.

Source: theFacts.nz (NZ Treasury data)
+0%
Growth in the public service

The core public service grew from 47,251 full-time-equivalent staff in 2017 to 63,117 in 2023 - nearly 16,000 extra roles, a 34% increase, far outpacing population growth.

Source: Public Service Commission workforce data
0%
Of the KiwiBuild homes promised

Labour pledged 100,000 affordable KiwiBuild homes in 10 years. Only around 2,000 were built before the target was abandoned in 2019.

Source: NZ Herald
$0k
Peak median house price (from $530k)

Despite promising to make housing affordable, the national median house price rose from about $530,000 in 2017 to a peak of $925,000 in late 2021.

Source: RNZ / REINZ
0+
On the social housing waitlist (from 5,844)

The number of households waiting for a public home more than quadrupled - from 5,844 in September 2017 to over 25,000 by late 2023.

Source: 1News
0.0%
Peak annual inflation (a 32-year high)

Annual inflation peaked at 7.3% in mid-2022 - the highest in 32 years - squeezing household budgets. Inflation was partly a global phenomenon.

Source: Stats NZ

By the numbers

The record, visualised. Every chart is built from the same sourced figures - hover or scroll to see them animate in.

Net core Crown debt · $ billions · year ended 30 June

The debt mountain

$60b2017$58b2018$58b2019$83b2020$102b2021$127b2022$152b2023
Net core Crown debt nearly tripled - from 22% of GDP in 2017 to 38% in 2023. Much of the surge was COVID-19 borrowing. The 2022 point is the May figure, the last before Treasury retired this measure.
Source: theFacts.nz / NZ Treasury

Net core Crown debt per New Zealander · drag to scrub 2017 → 2023

The bill we leave our children

2023$29,101of government debt for every New Zealander

By 2023, every New Zealander carried $29,101 of government debt - about 19 weeks of the average full-time wage. That is $16,689 more than when Labour took office, a weight that falls on workers, families and the next generation.

Drag across Labour's term. Spread across everyone, government debt per person more than doubled - and by 2023 it was about $85,000 per household, or roughly $162,000 for every child under 15, a debt the next generation inherits. (Debt ÷ Stats NZ estimated resident population, provisional as-published; "weeks of wage" uses average weekly earnings of $1,531, QES June 2023.)
Source: Stats NZ - populationSource: Stats NZ - average earningsSource: theFacts.nz / NZ Treasury - debt

REINZ national median · December each year

House prices took off

$550k'17$560k'18$629k'19$745k'20$905k'21$790k'22$780k'23
Despite a promise to restore affordability, the median price rose about 65% to a $905k December peak (a ~$925k all-time high in Nov 2021) before easing in 2022-23.
Source: interest.co.nz / REINZ

Core public service · full-time-equivalent staff

A bigger bureaucracy

47,252
2017
63,117
2023
The core public service grew 34% - nearly 16,000 extra staff - far faster than population growth, alongside rising consultant spend.
Source: Public Service Commission

Added annual cost of a bigger state

More spending, not more output

~$1.5b
Extra wages / yr
$1.27b
Consultants / yr
The 16,000 extra public servants cost roughly $1.5 billion a year in wages alone (at the $97,200 average), on top of $1.27 billion a year on consultants. Yet labour productivity fell 0.9% in the year to March 2023 and GDP per person shrank - more money in, not more value out.
Source: Public Service Commission - paySource: RNZ - consultant spendSource: Stats NZ - productivity

KiwiBuild homes built vs the 10-year promise

KiwiBuild: the 2% solution

2%
98,000 short
~2,000 built100,000 promised
Labour promised 100,000 affordable homes in 10 years. About 2,000 were built before the target was abandoned in 2019.
Source: NZ Herald

Households on the public housing waitlist

The social housing queue

5,844
Sep 2017
25,000+
Late 2023
The waitlist more than quadrupled - from 5,844 households in 2017 to over 25,000 by late 2023.
Source: 1News

Planned patients treated within the 4-month target

A health system going backwards

~98%
2017
62%
Sept 2023
In 2017 almost everyone needing planned hospital treatment was seen within four months; by September 2023 it was just 62%. About 59,800 people were overdue even for a first specialist assessment, and only 68% of ED patients were seen within six hours (down from ~90%, against a 95% target).
Source: DPMC - planned care targetSource: NZ Herald - overdue specialist list

Outcome of 12 headline promises

The scorecard at a glance

12promises
  • Broken7
  • Partly kept4
  • Kept1
Of the 12 major promises tracked here: 7 were broken, 4 only partly kept, and 1 genuinely delivered - the Zero Carbon Act.

Promise by promise

What they said on the campaign trail, set against what actually happened. Filter by outcome - and follow every link to the source.

Outcome of 12 headline promisesTap a band to filter
Broken7Partial4Kept1
HousingPromise broken

Promised

Build 100,000 affordable homes in 10 years

Labour's flagship 2017 housing policy pledged 100,000 affordable KiwiBuild homes over a decade - split 50/50 between Auckland and the rest of the country - with 1,000 to be completed in the first year.

KiwiBuild policy overview

Delivered

About 2,000 built. Target scrapped in 2019.

The 100,000-home target was formally abandoned in September 2019 as "overly ambitious." By the end of the government's term only around 2,000-2,300 KiwiBuild homes had been completed - roughly 2% of the promise. The first-year target of 1,000 was also badly missed.

NZ Herald - KiwiBuild reset
Child povertyPartly kept

Promised

Halve child poverty

Jacinda Ardern personally took the Child Poverty Reduction portfolio and legislated targets aimed at dramatically cutting the number of children living in poverty over a decade.

NZ Herald - Ardern's child poverty plan

Delivered

Early progress stalled; 2024 targets missed.

Child poverty fell early in the term, then stalled. All three of the government's own legislated targets for June 2024 were missed - for example, around 12.7% of children remained below the headline poverty line (about 149,900 children) against a 10% target.

NZ Herald - targets not met
TransportPromise broken

Promised

Auckland light rail - city to Mt Roskill in 4 years

In 2017 Labour promised light rail from central Auckland to Mt Roskill within four years, extending to the airport and West Auckland within ten.

Light rail in Auckland

Delivered

$228m+ spent. Not one metre of track laid.

After six years and more than $228 million - much of it on consultants and planning - not a single metre of track was built. The project was cancelled by the incoming government in January 2024.

RNZ - light rail cancelled
HousingPromise broken

Promised

End the housing crisis and the reliance on motels

Labour campaigned hard on ending the housing crisis it inherited and reducing the use of motels for emergency housing.

RNZ - Labour's housing promises

Delivered

Social housing waitlist quadrupled to 25,000+.

The public housing waitlist rose from 5,844 households in September 2017 to more than 25,000 by late 2023 - over four times higher - as thousands of families were placed in emergency motel accommodation.

1News - waitlist over 25,000
Mental healthPartly kept

Promised

$1.9 billion to transform mental health

Budget 2019's "Wellbeing Budget" headlined a $1.9 billion mental health package, including $235 million for building and upgrading mental health facilities.

NZ Herald - Budget 2019

Delivered

By 2022, ~$500k of the $235m spent; beds flat.

By April 2022 only about $500,000 of the $235m facilities fund had been spent (around 0.2%), and the number of acute mental health beds was essentially unchanged from 2017. The responsible minister called the slow spend "extraordinary."

NZ Herald - slow spend / flat beds
Housing affordabilityPromise broken

Promised

Make housing affordable again

Labour promised to restore affordability for first-home buyers - banning most foreign buyers, extending the bright-line test, and capping KiwiBuild prices.

RNZ - Labour's housing promises

Delivered

Median price rose from ~$530k to a $925k peak.

Housing became dramatically less affordable. The national median house price climbed from about $530,000 in October 2017 to a peak of $925,000 in November 2021, before easing to roughly $760,000-$785,000 in 2023 - still far above 2017 levels.

RNZ / REINZ - $925k peak
ClimatePromise kept

Promised

Pass binding net-zero climate law

Labour and the Greens pledged legally binding climate legislation - net zero for all greenhouse gases except biogenic methane by 2050 - plus an independent Climate Change Commission and carbon budgets.

Ministry for the Environment

Delivered

Delivered - the Zero Carbon Act passed in 2019.

The Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Act passed its third reading near-unanimously on 7 November 2019, and the Climate Change Commission and emissions budgets were established. Actual emissions cuts over the term, however, were modest.

Zero Carbon Amendment Act 2019
Cost of livingPromise broken

Promised

A "wellbeing economy" that lifts living standards

Labour built its brand around a "wellbeing" approach - lifting incomes and living standards for ordinary New Zealand families.

Beehive - government wellbeing record

Delivered

Inflation hit a 32-year high of 7.3%.

The cost of living surged. Annual CPI inflation peaked at 7.3% in the June 2022 quarter - the highest in 32 years. The spike was driven by a mix of global supply shocks, pandemic stimulus and domestic demand.

Stats NZ - 7.3% inflation
EducationPartly kept

Promised

Free first year of tertiary study

From 2018 Labour made the first year of tertiary study and training fees-free, aiming to widen access, with a stated long-term goal of up to three years free.

Fees Free policy

Delivered

Enrolments didn't rise; 3-years-free never happened.

The free first year was implemented but did not lift enrolments as intended - research found it changed the plans of only about 400 students per cohort despite the large cost. The promised expansion to three years free never materialised.

The Conversation - fees-free study
Public servicesPromise broken

Promised

An efficient, frontline-focused public service

The government framed itself around efficient, frontline public services and reducing the state's reliance on expensive external consultants and contractors.

NZ Govt procurement guidance

Delivered

Bureaucracy grew 34%; consultant spend hit $1.27b.

The core public service grew from 47,251 full-time staff in 2017 to 63,117 in 2023 - up 34%, nearly 16,000 extra staff. Spending on contractors and consultants rose to roughly $1.27 billion a year by mid-2023 - the opposite of "less back office."

Public Service Commission / RNZ
HealthPromise broken

Promised

Rebuild health and cut waiting times

Labour promised to fix a health system it said had been neglected - pouring in record funding and, in 2021, scrapping the 20 district health boards for a single Health NZ to cut waits and "make healthcare accessible for all New Zealanders."

Beehive - "healthcare accessible for all NZers"

Delivered

Waitlists ballooned; targets collapsed.

Access went backwards. The share of patients treated within the 4-month target fell from about 98% in 2017 to 62% by September 2023, around 59,800 people were overdue even for a first specialist assessment, and only 68% of ED patients were seen within six hours (down from ~90%, against a 95% target).

NZ Herald - overdue specialist list hits 60,000
DPMC - planned care 4-month targetDPMC - ED six-hour target
HousingPartly kept

Promised

Rebuild the public housing stock

Labour pledged to reverse years of stagnation and add thousands of state-owned public homes - and did add a net ~12,000 public homes (about 9,900 new builds) by April 2023.

Beehive - 12,000 more public homes

Delivered

Delivered - but at unsustainable cost.

The homes were built - but at a price that proved unsustainable. The 2024 independent review led by Sir Bill English found Kāinga Ora "not financially viable," with debt forecast to reach around $23 billion, and ministers said it had been building homes roughly 12% above private-sector cost - with extreme cases such as Rotorua units at over $630,000 each. (Kāinga Ora disputed the review's conclusions.)

RNZ - review: "not financially viable"
RNZ - building above private-sector costinterest.co.nz - ~$23b debt trajectoryNZ Herald - Rotorua units $630k eachNZ Herald - Kāinga Ora's rebuttal

Money for nothing

Beyond the campaign promises, these flagship projects were launched in government - then abandoned, scrapped or repealed, often after tens or hundreds of millions of dollars had already been spent.

TransportAbandoned

The plan

A $785m harbour cycling bridge

In June 2021 the government unveiled a standalone $785 million walking and cycling bridge across Auckland's Waitematā Harbour.

What happened

Scrapped in months - $51m gone

After overwhelming public opposition it was cancelled in October 2021 - but only after more than $51 million had already been spent on designs and consultants.

1News - $785m bridge scrapped
Stuff - $51m already spent
MediaScrapped

The plan

A $370m public media merger

RNZ and TVNZ were to be merged into a new public media entity (ANZPM), due to launch in March 2023, with about $40m set aside for set-up.

What happened

Canned - nearly $20m wasted

The merger was abandoned in February 2023, after nearly $20 million of public money had already gone on consultants, contractors and an office lease.

1News - nearly $20m spent
EnergyScrapped

The plan

The Lake Onslow "NZ Battery"

From 2020 the government investigated a giant pumped-hydro scheme at Lake Onslow - a project whose price tag escalated to around $16 billion.

What happened

Dumped - $20m+ on a study

It was scrapped in December 2023 after more than $20 million had been spent just investigating it - with nothing built.

RNZ - scheme dumped, $20m+ spent
WelfareShelved

The plan

A national income-insurance scheme

Proposed in 2022, the scheme would have paid redundant or unwell workers most of their income, funded by a new levy on wages.

What happened

Shelved - $21.6m sunk

It was shelved in early 2023 - after ACC had already sunk about $21.6 million into preparing to run a scheme that never launched.

NZ Herald - $21.6m sunk cost
EducationBeing unwound

The plan

Merging 16 polytechnics into one

From 2020 all 16 polytechnics were merged into a single national body, Te Pūkenga, promised to save money and improve training.

What happened

$121m+ to build - now being undone

The merger cost more than $121 million to establish and ran large deficits; it is now being disestablished and broken back into standalone institutions.

RNZ - $121m to establish
TransportWound up

The plan

Fix Wellington's transport

Let's Get Wellington Moving promised the capital a second Mt Victoria tunnel, mass rapid transit and a revitalised Golden Mile.

What happened

$159m spent - $82.7m on consultants

By the 2023 election about $159 million had been spent - $82.7 million of it on consultants - yet little was built. The programme was wound up in late 2023, at a final cost of about $180 million.

NZ Herald - what was spent on LGWM
ReformRepealed

The plan

Centralise the country's water assets

"Three Waters" would have taken drinking water, wastewater and stormwater off councils and into a handful of large regional entities.

What happened

Backlash, then repealed

After fierce nationwide opposition - over co-governance and councils losing control of their assets - the reform was repealed by the incoming government in early 2024.

1News - Three Waters repealed
Law reformWithdrawn

The plan

Tougher hate-speech laws

After the 2019 Christchurch mosque attacks, Labour proposed six changes to strengthen hate-speech and incitement law.

What happened

Five of six dropped

Amid a free-speech backlash, Labour abandoned five of the six proposals in 2022 - keeping only protection for religion and shunting the rest to the Law Commission.

1News - hate-speech proposals watered down

Where the country went backwards

Promises and projects aside, these are the bottom-line results - where everyday numbers moved over Labour's six years. Not every shift was caused by policy alone, but this is the record the country was left with.

47%
Children regularly at school (2023)

Down from 63% in 2017 - by 2023 fewer than half of students were attending regularly, and chronic absence had doubled. (COVID was a major factor.)

Source: Education Counts - attendance
9,270
On the National Gang List (2023)

Up from 5,343 in 2017 - a 73% rise. Police caution the list is an intelligence tool, not a precise count of members.

Source: RNZ - gang list numbers
516
Ram raids in 2022

A 465% jump over two years, peaking at about 116 in a single month, before easing. Most offenders were children or teens.

Source: NZ Herald - 2022 ram-raid total
479
NZ's lowest-ever PISA maths score (2022)

Down from 494 in 2018 - New Zealand's worst international maths result on record, part of a long (and partly global) decline in achievement.

Source: RNZ - worst-ever PISA results
4.9%
of the health budget spent on medicines

Less than half the OECD average (~13.3%) - New Zealand funds few new medicines and ranks among the lowest of comparable nations. (Industry analysis.)

Source: NZ Herald - NZ behind OECD on medicines

Who we paid to deliver this

These were the Labour Cabinet ministers most directly responsible for the record above. Salaries are set by the independent Remuneration Authority and - to Labour's credit - were frozen for the entire 2017-2023 term.

Education & Public Service Minister · 2017-23 (PM Jan-Nov 2023)

Chris Hipkins

$296,007 / year

Public Service Minister while the core public service grew 34%. Education Minister as school attendance fell to 47% and PISA hit a record low.

Source: RNZ - MP/Minister salary rates (frozen 2017-2023)

Finance Minister · 2017-2023 · Deputy PM 2020-Feb 2023

Grant Robertson

$334,734 / year

Net core Crown debt rose ~$92 billion on his watch. Inflation peaked at 7.3%. Architect of the Income Insurance scheme that was shelved after $21.6m sunk.

Source: RNZ - MP/Minister salary rates (frozen 2017-2023)

Transport Minister · Nov 2020 - June 2023

Michael Wood

$296,007 / year

Unveiled the $785m Auckland Harbour cycle bridge - scrapped after $51m+ spent. Held Transport while light-rail planning kept burning money. Resigned in June 2023 over undisclosed shares.

Source: RNZ - MP/Minister salary rates (frozen 2017-2023)

Health Minister · Nov 2020 - Feb 2023

Andrew Little

$296,007 / year

Architect of the DHB → Te Whatu Ora health restructure. Patients treated within the 4-month target fell from ~98% to 62%. Called his own $1.9b mental-health spend "extraordinarily" slow.

Source: RNZ - MP/Minister salary rates (frozen 2017-2023)

A century of promises

For nearly a century the pitch has barely changed, even as the slogans did: a better life for all, just around the corner. Sometimes Labour delivered it. More often the rhetoric has outrun the record - and the distance between 2017's promises and 2023's reality is only the latest chapter.

It has never been hard to promise New Zealanders a better life. The hard part - the part that shows up in the debt, the waiting lists and the houses that were never built - is delivering it.
1938Delivered

Promised a welfare state "unsurpassed in the world" - pensions, free hospitals and state houses for working families.

Then Largely delivered. The Social Security Act and the state-housing programme reshaped the country - Labour's genuine high-water mark.

NZHistory - Social Security Act
1975Reversed

Promised a compulsory savings scheme so every worker would retire with a nest egg.

Then Legislated in 1974 - then torn up within weeks of losing office. Fifty years on, New Zealand still has no compulsory super.

Third Labour Government
1984U-turn

Promised relief from Muldoon's heavy-handed economic controls.

Then Delivered "Rogernomics" instead - sweeping deregulation, free-market reform and asset sales that split Labour's own base.

Rogernomics
1999-2008Mixed

Promised a fairer deal - and to "close the gaps" for those left behind.

Then Delivered the bread-and-butter (KiwiSaver, Working for Families, interest-free student loans) - but quietly abandoned its flagship "Closing the Gaps" pledge.

Fifth Labour Government
2017-2023Missed

Promised transformation - 100,000 homes, an end to child poverty, a rebuilt health system.

Then ~2,000 KiwiBuild homes, net debt up about $92b, and hospital and housing waitlists at records. The chapter this site documents.

NZ Herald - KiwiBuild reset
Different slogans, same pitch
  • 1972 "It's time"
  • 1984 "Bringing New Zealand together"
  • 1999 "New Zealand 2000"
  • 2017 "Let's do this"
  • 2020 "Let's keep moving"
  • 2023 "In it for you"
Source: The Spinoff

How this was put together

  1. 1This site is a critical assessment, but it is built on verifiable, sourced figures. Every promise and outcome links to its source - government departments (Treasury, Stats NZ, the Public Service Commission), official records, and mainstream reporting (RNZ, NZ Herald, 1News).
  2. 2Debt is measured consistently. The headline uses the "net core Crown debt" measure throughout, rather than the newer, lower "net debt" measure the government adopted in 2022. On that consistent basis the debt-to-GDP ratio more than doubled - from 18.6% in 2019 to 38.5% in 2023. A large share of the increase was COVID-19 borrowing, a global pattern, not unique to New Zealand.
  3. 3Where a promise was genuinely kept - such as passing the Zero Carbon Act, or adding roughly 12,000 public homes - it is marked "kept," and partial successes are marked "partial." The goal is an honest scorecard, not a one-sided one.
  4. 4Where a figure compares two points in time, the linked source documents the most recent figure; the earlier baseline is the relevant agency's own published data for that year - the MSD Housing Register for 2017 waitlists, the Public Service Commission for 2017 staffing, and REINZ for 2017 house prices.
  5. 5Some figures (e.g. exact KiwiBuild totals and monthly house-price endpoints) vary slightly by source and date; the direction and scale of each is well established.

Every claim here is backed by a source.

No spin and no invented numbers. Every promise and every figure links to a primary record or mainstream report - follow the receipts yourself.

See all sources & method