Chris Hipkins

Economy
Labour's fiscal plan commits to returning to an OBEGAL operating surplus, reducing net debt below 20% of GDP, and keeping core Crown expenditure and revenue around 33% of GDP in the medium term, alongside creating an independent Parliamentary Budget Office and restoring the Reserve Bank's dual mandate of price stability and maximum sustainable employment. Its headline tax policy is a 28% capital gains tax on profit from selling residential or commercial investment property, applying only to profit made after July 1, 2027 and only on sale — excluding the family home, farms, KiwiSaver, shares, businesses and inheritances — with the party saying nine in ten New Zealanders won't pay it and the revenue ring-fenced for health. A proposed New Zealand Future Fund would invest Crown assets in New Zealand businesses and infrastructure. For small business, Labour proposes a $10,000 instant asset write-off for businesses with turnover below $10 million from July 1, 2027, 15-day payment of invoices up to $25,000, and raising the GST registration threshold to $80,000 from July 1, 2028.

Health
Labour's "Medicard" policy would give every New Zealander three free GP visits a year at their enrolled practice, free cervical screening for ages 25-69 from October 1, 2027, free maternity scans nationwide from July 1, 2028, and remove the $5 prescription fee from July 1, 2027. A Family Doctor Loan Scheme would help GPs buy into local practices from July 1, 2027, which the party says would create 4.5 million new GP visits, and a Graduate Nurse Job Guarantee — costed at $525 million — would offer eligible New Zealand-trained graduate nurses roles of at least 0.8 FTE from 2027.

Education
Labour has pledged a 10% cut to eligible student loan balances — applied to current graduates on April 1, 2027, and to current and future students after three years of New Zealand residency starting 2031 — with balances of $2,000 or less written off entirely after that track. It has also pledged to make school uniforms more affordable by Term 1, 2028, fund school lunches at $5 per meal ($6.50 for Years 9-13) from Term 1, 2028, and restore rural school bus routes cut by the National government.

Infrastructure
The party has pledged to cap public transport fares at $20 a week in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch (and $10 elsewhere) from July 1, 2027, freeze fuel tax for three years, restart Kāinga Ora social housing construction, improve more than 2,000 state and integrated schools, clear the hospital repair backlog, and roll out "SolarSaver," a fully funded no-upfront-cost solar programme for homeowners, renters and communities within 12 months of taking office.

Governance
Labour has proposed banning price gouging by companies with significant market power across groceries, energy, fuel, telecommunications, banking and insurance, enforced by the Commerce Commission; breaking up the Woolworths/Foodstuffs grocery duopoly by creating two new independent wholesalers; a "Fair Go" consumer-protection law covering cars, electronics, phone and internet contracts, subscriptions and ticket pricing; a new Office of AI and online safety regulator; and repealing the Regulatory Standards Act within its first 100 days. It has also pledged to restore pay equity legislation within 100 days and a $4-an-hour pay rise for care and support workers from January 1, 2027.

Immigration
Labour has proposed a citizenship pathway for children of overstayers and a longer permanent residency process, alongside a new corporate homicide offence.