What would each party's plan cost?
Net four-year fiscal cost of each party's announced policies for the 2026 election, measured as new spending beyond what Treasury's PREFU 2026 forecasts already fund. Positive means the policy worsens the Government's books; negative means it improves them.
Cost basis
Parties covered
7
169 policies tracked
Operating allowance
$9.60b
4 years of new spending already budgeted (PREFU 2026)
Govt expenses 2027/28–30/31
$663.9b
Core Crown, Treasury forecast
GDP 2027/28–30/31
$2,179.6b
Nominal, Treasury forecast
Net cost by party
Four-year totals in each party’s colour: solid bars to the right are spending and tax cuts, light bars to the left are revenue raised and savings. Hover for detail.
Spending & tax cuts (solid)Revenue raised & savings (light)Net cost (diamond)
In context
Net four-year cost against what the next Government will spend and what has already been set aside for new initiatives.
| Party | Net 4-yr | % of govt spending | % of GDP | vs operating allowance | From independent estimates | Uncosted |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Te Pāti Māori | +$58.9b | 8.9% | 2.70% | 613% | — | — |
| Green Party | +$44.9b | 6.8% | 2.06% | 468% | — | — |
| The Opportunity Party | +$13.7b | 2.1% | 0.63% | 143% | — | — |
| NZ First | +$4.08b | 0.6% | 0.19% | 42% | — | — |
| ACT | +$2.24b | 0.3% | 0.10% | 23% | — | — |
| National | +$1.73b | 0.3% | 0.08% | 18% | — | — |
| Labour | +$411m | 0.1% | 0.02% | 4% | — | — |
“vs operating allowance” compares the plan with the $9.6b Treasury already assumes for new spending over four Budgets. Under the “new spending” basis, a plan within 100% could in principle fit without raising the forecast deficit; parties often claim this. Uncosted policies count as $0 and understate the total.
Where the new spending goes
Spending and tax cuts by category (revenue measures excluded). Top five categories; the rest grouped as other.
Welfare & income supportTax: income, GST & exciseEducationHealthEnvironment & climateOther