Labour: Released its election manifesto, including three free GP visits a year, capped public transport fares, action against price gouging and electricity market reform.
Leader Chris Hipkins also confirmed Labour would restore pay equity laws within its first 100 days and increase the minimum wage by at least inflation. The party also promised to increase main benefits by wage growth or inflation, whichever is higher, at a cost of $487 million over four years. – Labour (manifesto), NZ Herald, RNZ.
National: Promised an aged care reform steering group to develop a long-term strategy with the industry. Health spokesman Simeon Brown outlined priorities including funding based on patients’ needs, transparent pricing, faster assessments and smoother transitions between services. National would also consider payments to support short stays outside hospitals. Leader Christopher Luxon ruled out sharing the Prime Minister’s role. – RNZ, RNZ, Newsroom.
ACT: Leader David Seymour criticised Marama Davidson’s comments on government borrowing costs, warning the Greens’ spending plans could undermine financial confidence and increase taxpayers’ interest bill. He also urged voters not to back National simply to play it safe, arguing an ACT vote would strengthen the centre-right bloc. – ACT, RNZ.
NZ First: Proposed establishing Auckland Rail to own the city’s metropolitan rail infrastructure and passenger trains, with accountability shared between the mayor and a minister. The party also proposed cancelling replacement frigates in favour of drones and munitions, while increasing defence spending to 3% of GDP by 2032 and supporting domestic manufacturing. – NZ First, B2B News.
Greens: Promoted automatic union membership at an Auckland workers’ meeting, with co-leader Marama Davidson arguing it would strengthen collective bargaining and workplace protections. Davidson also faced scrutiny after estimating interest on government debt at “about 1 to 2 percent,” compared with a reported 10-year government bond yield of around 4.9%. – RNZ, Stuff and Suit and Tie on X.
Election integrity: The Electoral Commission has gone to police over claims people voted multiple times. Read more at RNZ.
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