The best way to do this is usually with a clear privacy statement. 

What is fair depends a lot on the circumstances like the individual concerned (age and capacity), the sensitivity of the information, the purpose for collection, or the degree to which the collection intrudes on privacy.

If you are sending personal information to a third-party solely for storage, then you may not need to comply with IPP12. Read our guidance on using third-party providers for information about your privacy obligations. 

Under IPP12, you make sure that the personal information you send will be protected by comparable privacy laws in the country the agency is based in.

Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/09/29/guidance-for-the-retail-sector/

Today’s pre-election update forecasts healthy economic growth and a distinct improvement in the government’s books, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says.

“I’m pleased that New Zealanders’ hard work, resilience and adaptability through tough economic times is bearing fruit.

“Today’s numbers show that the deficit in the year ending July this year was $3.4 billion smaller than forecast in the Budget in May, reflecting stronger economic momentum. 

Treasury’s forecasts also show:

significantly smaller deficits this year and next year
bigger surpluses in the following years
less debt
lower debt servicing costs
the economy growing at an average of 2.6 per cent 
220,000 more jobs being created; and
wages rising faster than prices.

“The positive outlook reflects hard work by households and businesses, backed by a government focused on restoring fiscal discipline and driving economic growth. 

“The upgraded forecast is driven to a large extent by actual improved performance. Businesses have been doing better than anticipated, which feeds into the government’s bottom line through increased tax revenue.

“Treasury’s Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Update shows the operating balance deficit shrinking from the $11.4 billion forecast at the Budget to $6.8 billion this financial year and to less than $1 billion next year. 

“Over the following three years the surplus is forecast to grow from $4 billion to almost $12 billion.

“Debt is forecast to start declining as a proportion of the economy in 2028/29 and to fall in dollar terms in 2030/31. That will be the first such fall since 2017/18. 

“The improved forecast means the Government will borrow $15 billion less over the next four years through reduced bond issuance. This is on top of the $6 billion reduction in forecast borrowings at the Budget and means borrowing costs will be lower.

“That is welcome news. The amount New Zealand spends servicing our debt each year is significant, equivalent to the cost of building more than four Dunedin Hospitals every single year. 

“Ultimately, this frees up more money for the things New Zealanders care about and ensures we are in a stronger position to weather the next global conflict or major weather event.

“The same applies to households and businesses. Wages rising faster than prices means Kiwis will have more of their own money in the bank and more choices about how to use it, whether that’s taking the kids on holiday, saving for a house deposit, or investing more in their business or KiwiSaver.

“A stronger fiscal position cannot be taken for granted and treated as a green light to open the chequebook, because Kiwis know from bitter experience that things can always change and global instability is not going away.

“There is still a lot of work to do to turn the forecasts into reality and there are clear risks to the forecasts from ongoing instability in the Middle East. That is why we need to stay the course.

“The pre-election forecasts are based on the work done to restore fiscal discipline to government spending and an ongoing commitment by our government to maintaining that discipline. 

“The last government’s irresponsible spending, combined with the Reserve Bank’s over-stimulus of the economy, caused unnecessary hardship that many Kiwis are still feeling the effects of.

“The lesson of the past 10 years is that governments must manage the public’s money as carefully as people manage their own finances.

“The pre-election update confirms that is what this government has been doing.

“Our plan to prioritise responsible economic management, underpinned by careful spending and a consistent focus on growing the economy, is working. Now is the time to stick with the plan and secure a stronger financial future for every New Zealander.”

Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/09/29/economy-strengthening-books-getting-better/

The Coalition Government continues to back regional air services with an investment in Bay of Plenty-based Sunair, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones and Associate Transport Minister James Meager say.

The Regional Infrastructure Fund (RIF) loan of $2.08 million to Sunair will go towards the potential acquisition of two new aircraft, essential fleet maintenance, and the refinancing of existing debt. 

“Airlines such as Sunair are a critical part of the economic and social fabric of our regions,” Mr Jones says.

“They are enablers of business activity and economic growth, facilitate access to education and health services, boost tourism, and enhance community wellbeing and resilience.

“This loan means Sunair can improve efficiency and be better positioned to expand services in the future if the demand is there. It’s meaningful and timely relief in this difficult operating environment,” Mr Jones says.

The new larger aircraft proposed to be added to Sunair’s fleet will increase passenger capacity, provide greater operational flexibility, and reduce reliance on its existing fleet of six-seaters.

The loan to Sunair is part of the $30 million regional air connectivity package developed in 2025 to support vulnerable regional air services.

Sunair currently provides air services to the upper half of the North Island across Northland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Coromandel, Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay, with many of its routes not served by other airlines.

“This loan boosts the resilience of the aviation network across these regions by preserving routes that may not be viable for larger operators but remain important for regional connectivity,” Mr Meager says. 

“For the communities and businesses in towns like Wairoa, Whitianga or Whakatāne, having access to Sunair services can be a vital lifeline.”

Editors’ note:

For more information on the regional air connectivity RIF package, see Government backing vital regional connectivity | Beehive.govt.nz.

The following loans have been provided to date:

• Air Chathams – $17.2m to refinance debt
• Sounds Air – $4.5m to upgrade its fleet and refinance debt. 
• Island Air – $252,000 for fleet maintenance. 
• Golden Bay Air – $1.1m to refinance debt and fund essential ongoing maintenance
• Stewart Island Flights – $640,000 for aircraft refurbishment

Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/09/28/government-backs-bop-regional-aviation/

It’s great to be back in Tauranga, a city I came to in a snap
election in 1984 and stayed for a quarter of a century.

That quarter century was a time of enormous progress from a
sleepy maritime hideaway to the fastest growing city in New
Zealand.

Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/09/26/winston-peters-ending-the-waitangi-make-work-industry/

Finance Minister Nicola Willis has announced the short-term appointment of Rebecca Williams as an internal member of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC).

Ms Williams will commence her one-year term on 15 October 2026, concluding on 14 October 2027.

The reduced term reflects adherence to electoral conventions, ensuring the next administration retains discretion over long-term appointments while maintaining the MPC’s operational and statutory requirements.

“Ms Williams brings strong institutional knowledge to the Monetary Policy Committee,” Nicola Willis says.

“I am confident that her expertise will support the MPC in its critical role of maintaining price stability.”

Currently Senior Manager, Economics at the RBNZ, Ms Williams has been with the bank since 2010, holding key roles in the Economics Directorate. She brings valuable expertise in monetary policy, economic forecasting, and policy analysis.

Notes to Editors:

The Board is expected to recommend the appointee to the new Assistant Governor Monetary Policy role for appointment to the Committee.

Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/09/25/appointment-to-monetary-policy-committee/

New Zealand First is announcing today it will campaign on lowering the company tax rate for SMEs to 20% for companies with turnover under $30million, from its current 28% tax rate.

This is a much-needed bold step to encourage more investment by our small businesses that will create higher productivity, expand their business, and employ more New Zealanders.

Corporate taxes can reduce productivity, particularly in entrepreneurial and innovative sectors.  Lower company tax rates can improve long-run productivity growth, and stimulate the creation of new companies.

A lower tax rate leaves additional cash available for reinvestment and reduces reliance on bank debt.

It is estimated that the tax reduction will have an initial annual fiscal cost of approximately $1billion. This will be more than covered in the medium term by more companies collectively paying a lower tax rate, higher employment, a growing economy, and more spending.

This is about moving away from policies that give short-term sugar hits to consumers and move toward proper long-term investment in businesses that will grow our economy and increase productivity, increase labour demand, employment, and wages.

A similar move has been made by Australia in recent years and provides a credible international model.  New Zealand needs to catch up to key competitors to ensure that we are seen as a country of growth for our businesses that innovate and create productivity and employment.

The OECD consistently ranks corporate income taxes among the taxes most harmful to economic growth because they affect investment decisions and capital formation.

It shows that lowering corporate tax rates encourages investment by reducing the cost of capital, and that corporate taxation can have a negative effect on productivity.

New Zealand needs smart long-term thinking to turn our economy around and get our economy growing.

Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/09/24/nzfirst-to-campaign-on-20-tax-rate-for-smes/

Further investments will be made through the Gas Security Fund into two projects to help secure New Zealand’s ongoing energy needs, Resources Minister Shane Jones and Associate Finance Minister Chris Bishop say.

The projects are:

• $14.5 million to contract Schlumberger New Zealand (SLB) to create the first basin-scale offshore pseudo 3D dataset using state-of-the-art seismic technology – with free access for industry for two years to incentivise companies to explore in New Zealand.
• $21.5m for a time-limited equity arrangement for EnZed Energy’s Kaheru offshore exploration project in Taranaki. The project has an estimated total cost of $71 million, with EnZed Energy seeking to raise the remaining $49.5m from other investors.

The Schlumberger project will bring together existing public and private datasets, alongside proprietary seismic technology that improves access to and understanding of the underground geology in the Taranaki, East Coast, and Great South basins.

“The value of this project is that it transforms a huge amount of fragmented subsurface exploration information into a single, basin-scale, AI-enabled exploration product delivered in industry standard format,” Mr Jones says.

“This is easier to access and interpret, making it more useful for industry. It will be very attractive to international exploration companies deciding where to put their money and effort.”

The datasets will be available free of charge to potential explorers for two years, reducing costs and improving access to key information for the sector.

The EnZed Energy project will explore the promising Kaheru prospect off Taranaki to determine whether commercially recoverable gas is present.

“This project could identify a significant new source of domestic gas supply to help meet our nation’s energy needs in the coming years. It targets an estimated 182 petajoules of additional gas reserve in the Kaheru permit. That’s equivalent to nearly 25 percent of New Zealand’s January 2026 proven and probable gas reserves,” Mr Jones says.

“The Gas Security Fund is intended to help us keep the lights on and the wheels of industry turning during periods when electricity supply from hydro, wind and solar is constrained,” Mr Bishop says.

“That’s good news for businesses, households, and essential services like hospitals and schools. New Zealanders need access to a reliable energy supply when renewables are unable to meet demand.

“The fund has been designed to provide time-limited support to the gas sector so it can continue contributing to the supply of energy needed for activities that support jobs and underpin key sectors of our economy as we move towards more renewables,” Mr Bishop says.

Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/09/24/further-investment-into-gas-security-projects/

The independent review of New Zealand’s monetary policy response to COVID-19 shows the Reserve Bank was too slow to take its foot off the accelerator when the economy recovered more strongly than expected, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says.

The review, conducted by Massachusetts Institute of Technology Professor Athanasios Orphanides and former Reserve Bank Assistant Governor David Archer, was established to identify lessons that could be learned to improve the response to future economic shocks.  

“The review concludes that the initial response to the pandemic from the Reserve Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) was appropriate and effective, but monetary policy stimulus remained in place too long.

“This stimulus, on top of an already overheating economy, contributed to a costly boom-bust cycle. Inflation reached 7.3 per cent and the unemployment rate fell to what the reviewers call an ‘unsustainable historic low’.

“Getting inflation back under control required a substantial tightening of monetary policy that increased unemployment and curtailed growth.”

Nicola Willis says the reviewers also took issue with the previous government’s decision to broaden the Reserve Bank’s mandate by requiring it to support maximum sustainable employment as well as maintain price stability.

“In the reviewers’ words ‘these amendments downplayed the importance of price stability’ and ‘effectively mandated that the Bank should tolerate larger and longer lasting inflation deviations from target’.

“One of this Government’s first actions on taking office was to restore the Bank’s single focus on inflation, as the greatest contribution monetary policy can make to employment in the medium term is keeping inflation under control.

“The reviewers also welcomed changes made to the MPC charter earlier this year to encourage diversity of thought in MPC decision-making.

“Those changes include making committee members’ votes public when there is not consensus and making it easier for MPC members to discuss their views publicly.”  

The review’s recommendations are primarily for the Reserve Bank and the MPC and focus on strengthening monetary policy decision-making under uncertainty.

“I expect the Bank to consider these recommendations carefully and report publicly on its response.

“The Government also acknowledges the review’s recommendations around the interaction between financial governance and monetary policy and will consider further advice.

“The COVID-19 pandemic constituted an unprecedented economic shock. It has taught New Zealand some painful lessons.

“It is important that we learn those lessons and do not repeat the mistakes of the past,” Nicola Willis says.

Note to Editors:
•    Dr Orphanides is a former governor of the Central Bank of Cyprus and member of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank, and a professor of the Practice of Global Economics and Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 
•    Mr Archer is a former Reserve Bank assistant governor and former head of the Central Banking Studies Unit at the Bank for International Settlements. 
•    The independent review is available here: https://www.treasury.govt.nz/publications/commissioned-report/independent-review-monetary-policy-response-covid-19-pandemic
•    Summary factsheet attached

Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/09/22/lessons-to-be-learned-from-covid-response/

Today’s GDP figures show the economy grew in the June quarter, defying expectations of a contraction, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says.

Stats NZ figures put GDP growth for the June 2026 quarter at 0.2 per cent, following upwardly revised growth of 0.9 per cent in the March quarter.

“The first half of this year was tough as families and businesses dealt with a sharp spike in fuel prices caused by the conflict in the Middle East.

“The Reserve Bank had pencilled in flat growth for the June quarter, and many economists had been picking the economy to shrink. Instead, it grew.

“That’s a credit to New Zealand’s construction sector, who saw their largest increase in activity since June 2023 with an uptick in residential building activity.

“Our exporters also held up better than expected and kept the economy moving through a difficult few months.

“A growing economy means more jobs and higher wages. It means more money coming into communities. It means more doctors, nurses and teachers, and better schools and hospitals.

“Over the year to June, New Zealand’s economy grew 2.6 per cent. That’s higher than Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and the European Union across the same period. 

“National has a plan to build on this economic growth – because that is how we can get the books back in order with no new taxes and give Kiwis the confidence that if you work hard you can get ahead.

“Our responsible economic management means growth is expected to average 2.7 per cent over the next four years, with 220,000 new jobs being created by 2030 and wages growing faster than household bills every single year.

“Global uncertainty hasn’t gone away. Fuel prices remain well above where they were at the start of the year, and that will keep testing households and businesses in the months ahead.

“Despite the international situation, New Zealanders can be confident the recovery is well underway.”

Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/09/18/gdp-shows-economy-grew-through-fuel-shock/

Te Pūtea Matua – Reserve Bank of New Zealand has today published the 2026 Māori Access to Capital (MA2K) Snapshot, providing an updated industry-level view of Māori access to capital across participating banks, alongside the latest available aggregate system-level information.

Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/09/18/maori-access-to-capital-ma2k-snapshot-2026/

The Government is progressing a new development levies system to improve infrastructure funding for housing and urban growth across New Zealand, with several changes confirmed following consultation with councils and developers.  

Housing Minister Chris Bishop, Local Government Minister Simon Watts and Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Cameron Brewer say the updated proposals include changes to how levy areas will operate, requiring the Crown to pay development levies, independent regulation through the Commerce Commission, and a revised timetable for implementing the new system.  

“New Zealand has struggled for decades to build infrastructure at the same pace as our towns and cities have grown,” Mr Bishop says.  

“We can free up land for housing, but if the infrastructure isn’t there to support development, projects will still struggle to get off the ground and communities rightly worry about additional pressure on existing roads, pipes and local services.  

“The development levies system is a once-in-a-generation improvement to infrastructure funding. We consulted extensively on how the new system should work, and we have listened to feedback. Today we are confirming several changes to the proposals and the next steps for implementation.”  

Mr Watts says one of the significant changes following consultation is how levy areas will operate.  

“Councils strongly supported moving from development contributions to development levies, but developers raised legitimate concerns about over-charging, cross-subsidisation and the need for greater consistency and predictability.  

“Under the revised approach, councils will be required to establish separate levy areas where there are substantial differences in forecast infrastructure costs.  

“This is a change from the approach we consulted on, which would have allowed broader levy areas alongside high-cost overlays.  

“It means charges will better reflect differences in the cost of servicing development in different locations, while still giving councils the flexibility they need to plan infrastructure over the longer term.”   

The Government has also confirmed that core Crown agencies, as well as Crown entities, will be required to pay development levies.  

“Under the current development contributions regime Crown entities, such as Kāinga Ora and the New Zealand Transport Agency, pay development contributions but core Crown agencies, including the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Justice and Department of Corrections, do not,” Mr Bishop says.  

“That inconsistency will end under the new system.  

“If the Crown builds a new school, hospital or other facility that creates additional demand on local roads, water networks and other infrastructure, it is reasonable that it pays its fair share.  

“Growth should pay for growth, regardless of whether that growth is being driven by private development or the Crown.”   

The Commerce Commission will be the independent regulator of the new development levies system, with the Government providing $30 million through Budget 2026 to establish the regulatory function between 2026 and 2030.  

“The Commerce Commission will establish nationally consistent methodologies for calculating levies, set information disclosure requirements, monitor the operation of the system and have a compliance and enforcement role,” Mr Brewer says.  

“Independent regulation will help build confidence in the new system by ensuring councils and developers are working from clear and consistent rules.  

“Councils will retain the ability to respond to local circumstances, while developers and ratepayers will have much clearer information about how charges have been calculated and confidence that the system is independently overseen.”   

The Local Government (Infrastructure Funding) Amendment Bill will be introduced in the first quarter of 2027, with further opportunities for councils, developers and the public to have their say through the select committee process and consultation on the detailed levy calculation methodologies and disclosure requirements.   

Councils and water organisations will have flexibility over when they implement development levies after the Commerce Commission has issued the required calculation methodology, through to 2030.   

Development levies will replace the current development contributions system and allow councils and water organisations greater flexibility to recover the forecast cost of providing infrastructure capacity for growth across defined areas.  

Levies will apply to infrastructure including water supply, wastewater, stormwater, transport, reserves and community infrastructure.   

“Under the current system, councils can struggle to recover the full cost of infrastructure needed for growth, particularly where infrastructure has not yet been individually planned and costed,” Mr Watts says.  

“When that happens, existing ratepayers can be left carrying the shortfall.  

“The new system will put councils in a much better position to plan ahead and recover an appropriate share of the long-term infrastructure costs associated with growth.  

“At the same time, developers need confidence that charges are fair, predictable and based on clear rules. The new system will provide greater national consistency, transparency and independent oversight.”   

Mr Bishop says the reforms are a critical part of unlocking housing growth.  

“The Government launched its Going for Housing Growth programme to fix the underlying problems that have made it too difficult and expensive to build enough homes in New Zealand.  

“We are freeing up more land for development, improving the way infrastructure is funded and financed, and giving councils stronger incentives to support housing growth.  

“Infrastructure funding has too often become a handbrake on development. These reforms will give councils better tools to fund growth, give developers greater certainty about what they will be expected to contribute, and reduce the risk that existing ratepayers are left paying for the cost of new development.  

“Creating a more predictable system for housing growth, with the infrastructure to support it, is an important step in fixing the basics and building the future.”  

Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/09/16/next-steps-confirmed-for-development-levy-reform/

The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi is calling on all political parties to reject ACT’s plan to slash pay for workers under 20 and a three-year freeze on the minimum wage.

“Paying young people $14.37 an hour is unconscionable. It’s nowhere near enough to live on, and it tells young workers their time is worth less than everyone else’s,” says Sandra Grey, NZCTU President.

ACT’s proposed training wage would let employers pay under-20s 60 percent of the adult minimum wage for their first 12 months with any employer. Working full-time, that’s $29,889.60 a year – $19,926 less than an adult on the minimum wage doing the same job.

It would replace the current starting-out wage, cutting the bottom rate for young workers by a quarter, from $19.16 to $14.37 an hour. And because it applies to any employer, it massively widens the scope and means that a young person could be dropped back to it every time they change jobs.

“David Seymour and ACT seem intent on dragging young workers back to 19th-century levels of hardship,” says Grey.

ACT is again proposing to freeze the minimum wage at its current rate for three years. Based on the Reserve Bank’s latest inflation forecasts, that would leave a full-time minimum wage worker $3,877 worse off annually by 2029 than if the rate kept pace with inflation.

The minimum wage has already fallen four percent in real terms since 2023 under ACT Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden. A full-time minimum wage worker in 2026 earns $2,076 less than they would if the minimum wage had risen in line with inflation.

“This would lock in pay cuts for the workers who can least afford them,” says Grey.

“The minimum wage is already 20 percent below the Living Wage – the next Government should be closing that gap, not widening it.”

ACT’s wider small business package is another attack on working people. It would make it easier for employers to pressure workers out of their jobs without accountability, and cut the time workers have to take a personal grievance to the Employment Relations Authority from three years to three months. “New Zealand should be building an economy where work pays enough to live and thrive on – not cutting wages, weakening rights and leaving working people worse off,” says Grey.

Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/09/15/14-37-an-hour-acts-pay-cut-for-young-workers/

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand – Te Pūtea Matua will now regulate and supervise the High Value Clearing System, under the Financial Market Infrastructures Act 2021. This follows the Minister of Finance’s decision to designate the system on the Reserve Bank’s recommendation.

Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/09/15/rbnz-to-regulate-and-supervise-the-high-value-clearing-system/

The Government will change the Local Government (System Improvements) Amendment Bill to ensure councils can set appropriate development contributions that reflect the growth-related infrastructure costs associated with Fast-track projects, Housing and Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop and Local Government Minister Simon Watts say. 

“Fast-track is helping desperately needed housing, infrastructure, energy and investment projects move through the consenting system without being bogged down in unnecessary red tape,” Mr Bishop says.

“Fast-track approval does not give developers a free pass to build irrespective of infrastructure constraints. Expert panels can and already are imposing conditions requiring roads, water, wastewater and other infrastructure to be in place before development can proceed. 

“The issue we are addressing is where existing development contributions do not adequately account for the development enabled through Fast-track, because they reflect what is anticipated in a district plan rather than the proposed use of the land.

“That can happen where a development proceeds sooner than anticipated in council infrastructure planning, brings forward the need for a major network upgrade, uses capacity that had been planned for growth elsewhere, or relies on infrastructure across council boundaries.

“Where a development creates additional infrastructure costs, an appropriate share should be met by the development rather than being shifted onto existing ratepayers.”

Last month, the Government announced it would amend the Local Government Act 2002 to give councils better tools to recover these costs. The changes will be progressed through an Amendment Paper at the Committee of the Whole House stage of the Local Government (System Improvements) Amendment Bill, to be considered by Parliament this week.

“The changes will allow councils to amend their development contribution policies where necessary to recover eligible growth-related capital costs associated with a Fast-track development,” Mr Watts says.

“Importantly, councils will be able to make those targeted amendments without going through the usual consultation process, allowing them to respond quickly where an existing policy does not adequately reflect the infrastructure demands of a development.

“Any amendment will need to be adopted within six months of Fast-track approval, notified to the authorised person and published as soon as practicable.

“We are also addressing cross-boundary infrastructure costs. Where growth in one council area creates eligible infrastructure costs for another council, the collecting council will be able to recover those costs and transfer the appropriate share of the development contribution.

“Council boundaries should not prevent the fair recovery of infrastructure costs created by growth.”

“The new settings will apply to all Fast-track projects unless an applicant has received a draft decision to approve or decline the project when the legislation comes into force,” Mr Bishop says. 

“They won’t apply to projects already approved.

“This creates a clear transition point and helps councils recover infrastructure costs from eligible projects while giving certainty to projects within the fast-track process.

“Fast-track has been a much-needed circuit breaker for projects that should be creating jobs, delivering homes and growing local economies. These changes maintain that certainty and effectiveness while making sure the infrastructure funding system can keep up.”

The changes are an interim step towards the Government’s wider overhaul of infrastructure funding through its Going for Housing Growth programme.

“Going for Housing Growth will help unlock more homes for New Zealanders by fixing the fundamentals of our housing market and making housing more affordable,” Mr Bishop says.

“The programme is focused on three practical changes: freeing up land for development, removing unnecessary planning barriers, improving how growth infrastructure is funded and financed, and giving councils and communities stronger incentives to support more housing.

“As part of this work, we are replacing development contributions with a more flexible Development Levies system, giving councils better tools to plan for and fund the infrastructure needed for growth. Further details on the design of the system will be released shortly.

“Development Levies are expected to be in place from 2029 and will support councils to respond more effectively to growth over the long term.

“In the meantime, councils need workable tools now. These changes ensure the existing development contributions system can work effectively alongside Fast-track.

“Fast-track is about enabling growth and investment. This is about making sure the infrastructure funding system keeps pace with that growth, while protecting ratepayers from costs they should not unfairly be expected to carry.”

Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/09/15/development-contributions-strengthened-to-recover-fast-track-infrastructure-costs/

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand – Te Pūtea Matua has published near-final versions of four Deposit Takers Act 2023 (DTA) standards, consultation submissions, and the questions that existing banks and non-bank deposit takers will need to answer if they are applying for a DTA licence.

Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/09/14/reserve-bank-releases-near-final-dta-standards-and-licensing-questions-for-regulated-deposit-takers/

An Uncertain World

We are living through a hugely complex and challenging period.

This places an enormous premium on experience, and through experience, good judgements that protect New Zealand’s vital interests.

We take the world as it is, not as some cloistered varsity lecturer or woke leftie wants it to be. The record shows that we have exercised sound judgement when it has mattered most.

With experience comes prudence, and with diplomacy comes opportunity, and that is why we are guardedly optimistic that New Zealand will emerge from the serious global disruptions in a strong position to exploit every opportunity that we create or that comes our way.               

The State of the Economy

We all know the economy isn’t where it should be.  We all know that, without having to be told because kiwis are struggling sometimes working two, even three jobs, just to make ends meet.

New Zealand First has constantly said that it will take time to turn our economy around.

We have been open about that – and when other parties at the last election said that they could fix it within three years – we said that was a mistake. We knew the damage done to the economy by the previous Labour government couldn’t be undone in three years. 

We know it can be fixed – but it will take time. 

We are making some positive movements as an economy in such uncertain times. But we can, and must, do better.

But to do much better, we need many more New Zealand First MPs in parliament.

Many, many, more.

Inflation is on the rise again, not nearly as bad as under Labour, but it is on the rise.

Interest rates are on the rise again, not nearly as bad as under Labour, but on the rise.

Our slow economic recovery has been set back by events in the Middle East and worsened overnight with the capture of the Red Sea port, thereby blocking Saudi Arabian Oil.

That said, stability in the middle east is likely to be restored more quickly than New Zealand’s economic return to recovery.

And that’s because, our government inherited a disaster of massive overborrowing, and spending not on production, not on wealth creation, not on employment, and not on exports, but purely on consumption.

And we’re paying a massive price for that now.

We just had the COVID Inquiry showing the previous Labour government borrowed sixty billion dollars to deal with COVID, and yet they spent thirty billion of it on something else.

That is half of the sixty billion wasn’t spent on COVID.  And you’re sitting in this audience and the mainstream media have told you what the thirty billion was wasted on.

We have turned the economy around – there is growth, but not nearly as much as we need.

The current economic climate and the reality of our situation just shows the sad thing about New Zealand over the past fifty years.

We went from being in the top three in the world to a non-competing economy.

Back then we had strong growth of over five percent a year, every year, and MPs who understood nationalism, who understood the national interest.

And then in 1984 we had the neoliberal experiment of Labour’s Roger Douglas and then National’s Ruth Richardson and the rest has been a massive disaster.

We became the victim of a totally unfettered free market – straight out of the neoliberal economic Milton Freidman textbook.

The left and right, Labour then National, went on to sell our assets, privatise our country, open our borders to mass immigration, open our society to every wild-west simpleton ideology – an ideology that has been proven over the past forty years to be an abject failure and purveyor of misery and struggle.

Only one party leader and one party – New Zealand First – has never subscribed to that ideology.

New Zealand First began because we opposed that ideology.

We have always believed in economic nationalism – where we own our country’s assets, where we have targeted government intervention, where we give a hand up in times of need, where our country gives capitalism a human face.

NZFirst Immigration Policy

How many times has New Zealand First been attacked for being xenophobic and racist, look around the world – it calls to mind the quote from The Mikado “the idiot who praises with enthusiastic tone, all centuries but this and every country but his own.”

We need smart immigration policies – where we shift the dial to a highly skilled critical workforce that our country needs, and provide real reasons for these kiwis to stay in New Zealand to rebuild our country together.  A system that consistently provides the skills we need domestically, working alongside the education system which fills the skills we need in our industries.

We need a system that focusses on the needs of the employers, industry, and kiwi workers.

Smart, not more, immigration.

Ladies and gentlemen, it may come as a surprise to most, but over 30% of all current New Zealand residents were not even born in New Zealand. That’s approaching a third of all who live in New Zealand weren’t born here.  Thirty years ago, in the 1990’s it was just 14%. 

On that same upward trend, without smart immigration policies, in as little as just another 15 or 20 years that percentage will be approaching 50% of people living here not being born here. That’s your children and grandchildren’s generation.

It’s not just about the number of migrants coming into our country, it is about all of those young, trained, driven, smart, working-age kiwis that are leaving. 

Under Labour’s 2023 final year, they let in 132,000 new migrants, net.  There was a record number of people leaving New Zealand to go to Australia last year and apply to be citizens – the most concerning statistic is that half of those so-called New Zealand citizens who left, were not even born in New Zealand.

New Zealand is being used as a steppingstone into Australia.  We take them in, train them, up-skill them, look after their families, and they then move to Australia or elsewhere.  How is this an effective immigration policy?

Ladies and gentlemen, the fact is, in the past four years around 622,000 new migrants have come to this country, with a net number of 165,000.  That increase in our population is almost the size of Hamilton over just four years.  But the past is not the most concerning part.  It is where we could be headed without a smart immigration policy and what that means for the future of our country.

Concerns are growing, as to some of the people who have come here who don’t salute our flag, don’t honour the values of our country, don’t respect the people living here, don’t respect the right to have our own religion and freedom of speech.  These are values that we need to fight to protect.  If you don’t want to sign up to those values, don’t come.

People around the world are fearful as to where their countries are going – just look at States in America, the UK, Ireland, Germany, and recently in Australia – and New Zealanders are no different. They are more acutely aware of the problem we’re dealing with here than the politicians are.

They have seen the international circumstances of careless immigration policies transforming cities, changing cultures, changing centuries of development and social life, and people feel at risk because of it.

We believe in a country called New Zealand, with one law, one people, one flag, and one set of values that our forebears fought and died for. And if we are the only party willing to stand in the way of globalist politicians and bureaucrats trying to take our country away, then so be it.

Immigration Policy

Two days ago New Zealand First announced a number of campaign policies that will make sweeping changes to current immigration laws.

Taxpayer owned TVNZ refuses to report anything we have said on this critical policy. Not one story or article.

New Zealand’s immigration system must serve New Zealand and New Zealanders.

For too long, governments have relied on immigration to drive headline economic growth and cheap labour.

The result has been greater pressure on housing, infrastructure and public services, increased competition for entry-level jobs, and declining public confidence that immigration is being managed in the national interest.

Population growth must not outpace our ability to build the country.

New Zealand First will substantially reduce non-essential immigration and restore the principle that immigration is a privilege, not a right.

New Zealand is more than an economy. It is a nation with its own history, institutions and way of life.

New Zealand needs to start viewing our citizenship as most other countries around the world do – as a privilege that comes with special and unique rights and identity.

This does not take away from the ability for migrants looking to move here, contribute, and help build our country from showing total commitment and patriotism for New Zealand by becoming a citizen.

In addition to the already announced policies of citizen’s only voting and citizen’s only NZ Super, New Zealand First will introduce the following policies in the next term of government:

·       Birthright Citizenship – New Zealand First will update birthright citizenship requirements, so that only the children of citizens will be automatically entitled to New Zealand citizenship at birth.

·       Asylum Seeker Changes – New Zealand First will reform the asylum seeker system, updating current settings so that they are fair, consistent, and fit for purpose. Protected person status will become temporary by design, subject to ongoing assessment.

o   Any person who seeks asylum while in New Zealand on a working-class visa will be ineligible to do so.

o   Asylum claimants will not be able to use the temporary work rights granted during the assessment period as a stepping stone to another visa.

·       Permanent Resident and Citizenship Qualifying Period Adjustments – New Zealand First will double the required period to qualify for citizenship from five years to a minimum of ten years. The qualifying period for permanent residence will be extended from two to five years.

·       Citizenship and Permanent Residence Application Fees – New Zealand First will increase the cost of applying for New Zealand citizenship and permanent residence to reflect its value and to better fund the wider immigration system.

·       Welfare Stand-Down Period – New Zealand First will implement a 10-year welfare stand-down period for all visa holders, meaning non-citizens will be ineligible for jobseeker, accommodation supplement, or any other benefits during their first 10 years in New Zealand.

·       Broadened Ability to Deport  – New Zealand First will widen the criteria for deportation liability to cover any offence for which imprisonment is available as a sentence – with automatic deportation for those found guilty of violent or sexual crimes, found guilty of fraud, participating in an organised criminal group, money laundering, aiding and abetting under the Immigration Act, or migrant exploitation.

·       Resident Visa Cap Referendum – New Zealand First will hold a referendum on the introduction of a legislated annual cap on the number of resident visas issued each year. Included in the Resident Visa Cap Referendum will be:

o   A resident visa cap of 20,000 per year.

o   Linking immigration settings directly to infrastructure capacity.

o   Requiring major population growth to occur only where infrastructure already exists or is fully funded and scheduled for delivery.

o   Stopping councils being forced to adapt to central government planning where local infrastructure cannot support it.

o   Development of a 30-year Population Plan to coordinate immigration, housing and infrastructure planning.

·       Social Housing for Citizens First – New Zealand First will ensure that social housing will be made available to citizens first and foremost.

·       Chronic Overstayers – New Zealand First will implement a 24-month amnesty for overstayers to self-deport with no restrictions on applications to return.

o   Any overstayer found past the clemency period has lapsed will be deported and permanently ineligible to apply for any visa in the future.

o   In recognition of our commitment to our enduring Pacific relations, we will allow for a 24-month clemency period to facilitate any Pacific overstayer to apply to remain in the country legally on a valid visa. This will apply only to overstayers of Pacific origin.

·       Student Visa Holders – New Zealand First will ensure student visa holders intending to transition to another visa will be required to leave before reapplying for another visa from abroad.

·       Removal of Automatic Work Rights for Student Visa Holders – New Zealand First will remove the automatic work rights for international students and stop our kiwi jobs being taken by foreign students.

o   Export education was designed to allow foreign students to come here, their economy pay for their education, and go back.  It was not designed to allow them to take jobs off kiwis, have our economy pay for their education, and then to use the visa to move on to residence or work.

o   It will be mandatory for any international student who wants to work in New Zealand while they study to apply under strict conditions to work. First and foremost, those job opportunities cannot be taken from New Zealanders looking for work.

·       Immigration Ministerial Portfolio – It is imperative that a New Zealand First Minister holds the Immigration portfolio when part of the next coalition government to ensure the oversight, control and reform of the immigration system.

You have the right to determine the future size and character of your country.

This set of polices is about taking back control of our country and valuing our unique citizenship the way it should be.

New Zealand First since our formation has been warning about mass immigration being used as a crutch for the economy and failing workforce planning for our own people.

In 2017 when we became part of the government immigration was dramatically cut back. In 2021, when we were no longer part of the government, the governments feet came totally off the brakes, and Labour governing with the Greens began approving 213,000 migrant visas in just 18 months.

Following Covid in 2022, the immigration department loosely approved nearly every application for residency in New Zealand.

And when Labour was unleashing these hundreds of thousands of new immigrants on New Zealand, the National Party and the Act Party said absolutely nothing.

As it says in the good book – “By their deeds you will know them”.

We need immigration to New Zealand. It has been an essential part of our history. But this should be smart controlled immigration policy – bringing in immigrants who we need, not who need us.

It will always bring the inevitable naval gazing by the other parties who would rather fill gaps in our economy and workforce with migrants, than train and maintain kiwis, and protect the “kiwi dream”.

The ‘kiwi dream’ belongs to kiwis who have worked hard for our country, invested time, sweat, pride, and belongs to the generations who share in our country’s history. It is not for just anybody around the world who decides to come to our great country for five minutes and claim what we have built just for their convenience.

Ladies and gentlemen, for decades you have heard other politicians gloating perversely that “diversity is a strength”. 

You’ve heard them all say it. 

And its false. 

Because unity is a strength, not diversity. Diversity is weakness and disunity.

The choice is in your hands, not retail globalist politicians.

Labour’s Mass Immigration Policy

Around three hours after New Zealand First announced our immigration policies on Friday, Labour decided to release theirs.

Except Labour was what you would expect – a bunch of empty words that want to sound like they are talking about immigration, but do exactly what they have always done – tinkered around the edges with a sprinkling of crazy global citizenship policies thrown in.

And by the way, Labour’s Twyford – he of the 100,000 KiwiBuild Homes, except there weren’t even 1000, had the temerity on the news on Friday night to accuse New Zealand First policies as being “racist” – this from the guy who created Labour’s immigration policy in 2017 by searching for ‘Chinese sounding names’ in the Auckland home owners register. Remember that?

Twyford said “Immigration should be planned around what New Zealand needs, and it should be managed in a way that’s fair to everyone here and everyone who comes,” – he must think New Zealanders are stupid, this is coming from the party that in 2023, alone, let in an extra 132,000 net new migrants.

An astonishing number. There is no person on the planet who thinks this type of number can be managed by our infrastructure.

They did it to disguise their failing economy and artificially boost demand.  They had no care whatsoever for the long-term effect it would have on our country.

Labour is the party of mass immigration.

What is most concerning with what they announced, is that they said they would “set up a citizenship pathway for children born in New Zealand, and reviewing parent visa, health, and English-language rules”.

In other words, they want someone who has been here for five minutes to be able to have a child who will automatically become a citizen – which will give the immigrant parents the right to stay.

This is pure lunacy. They are treating our citizenship like it means nothing. They are saying our citizenship is just a spreadsheet exercise and box that needs to be ticked.

We in New Zealand First believe our citizenship is a privilege, not a right, and not just part of some bureaucratic machinery.

Waitangi Tribunal / Greens Grocers

There have been policy announcements from other parties over the past week.

Greens Grocers

The Greens new policy of Nationalising Private Supermarkets is textbook communism by stealth.

The Greens have gone full Soviet-style. The waiting queues will be kilometres long – just look at how it turned out in places like Venezuela.

The Green Party has literally stated that their government would “pass new laws forcing Woolworths and Foodstuffs to sell 120 existing stores and two major distribution centres” into public ownership. 

And on dependant calculations their buying those shops for a quarter of their market value.

This is forcing private companies to sell their businesses to the government – it is not only nuts, it is the definition of communism.

The Greens are economic illiterates – this from Chloe who wants to be the Minister of Finance.

Chris Hipkins is waking up in cold sweats even before the election.

Waitangi Tribunal

The Waitangi Tribunal is currently operating as a grievance make-work scheme and way out of scope of its original purpose when it was established.

Does it need to be abolished? Yes.

The Act Party also announced that it would abolish the Waitangi Tribunal once all settlements are completed.

But unfortunately the Act Party’s announcement comes straight out of Jim Bolger’s speech circa 1990 – where he said it will be wound up by 2014 once all settlements were completed. Remember that? “Once completed” means “sometime never”.

Sadly, the Act Party policy is the same illusion that Bolger had and doesn’t deal with the Tribunal.

New Zealand First’s plan is to deal with the Waitangi Tribunal once and for all – and we will be announcing this policy shortly.

Willie Jackson Co-Governance / Māori Apprenticeships

Labour’s Willie Jackson on Q&A was asked if Labour was going to bring back co-governance.

Willie said yes, but “apparently co-governance scares people, so we might give it a new name”.

Whatever new name he wants to give it, it will still be:

Separatist.

Racist.

Apartheid.

Co-governance is the destruction of our democracy. That’s why New Zealand First opposes it.

Because we believe in one people, one flag, one country, one law for all.

That is why we announced a policy to abolish the unelected Independent Māori Statutory Board.

Labour is on a patronising separatist race to the bottom along with the Greens, Te Pati Māori, and Opportunity Party.

Our vision and values as a country should be based on need not race – the sooner we get rid of separatist thinking and work together as one people the sooner we will have a better future together as one people.

Māori Party Destructive Bottom Lines

The Labour Party’s coalition partner, the Māori Party, released a tax policy – they called a “bottom line”.

They want to introduce a wealth tax, a massive corporate tax, a stamp duty, a property speculation tax, and an offshore speculation tax.

This is both a jobs killer and a business killer.

But guess what, surprise surprise, these wealth taxes don’t apply to Māori.

This is a policy for the taxpayer funded Māori elite, by the taxpayer funded Māori elite, from the taxpayer funded Māori elite.

All they have done is treat Māori with disdain, turn up to parliament once a month, and do a haka now and again in the House.

And who wants to sit with them at Cabinet with their extremist views? The Labour Party.

Opportunity Party’s Communist Consultants

Another party the Labour Party wants to work with is the new Opportunity Party.

The Opportunity Party wants homeowners to pay 1.75% of your home’s land value every year, that’s on top of your local rates.

Now you will have to pay an annual rent to the government.

And when the leader of the Opportunity Party was asked how an old couple could afford a $20k land tax bill every year, she said “they will have to downsize their house to afford it”.

This is blisteringly ignorant. But it gets worse.

It will be used for a Universal Basic Income of $19,400 every year, for everyone, for life, even if they are not working.

Opportunity Party calls this ‘fairness’.

New Zealand First calls it ‘communism’.

And who wants to sit with them in Cabinet? The Labour Party.

Green Party Debt Machine

The Greens want an $88 billion debt increase, and have a new policy bribe to give $2.4 billion to Marae – without any oversight or audit of taxpayers’ money.

This is inverse racism of the worst sort. They think they can use a bribe to get your vote. This doesn’t reflect respect for you, but sheer contempt for who you are.

The Greens are obsessed with race, gender, pronouns, and protests, performative politics, virtue signalling, and woke cancel culture, and they have completely lost sight of what their party once stood for.

Old Labour Is Gone

Ladies and gentlemen, this is the stark truth. The Labour Party that you once knew, perhaps even supported, is no more.

That party is gone. All of these polices and parties they are willing to support are proof of that.

Can you imagine Helen Clark or Michael Cullen, or Bob Tizard or Peter Frazer signing up to this?

Some Announced Bold Policies

We have announced a policy to break up the power companies, splitting the supermarket duopoly, creating a truly competitive New Zealand owned bank.

We have announced a policy to return mining royalties back to the regions.

We announced our KiwiSaver policy with automatic $1000 sign-up at birth, we will establish a $100 billion Future Fund that will invest in a thirty-year infrastructure plan for our country.

And we have announced a policy to ensure only citizens are allowed to vote in our country.

We will pull out of the Paris Accord.

We are going to have a referendum on the Maori seats, invest $1billion to find and extract our own oil and gas in our deep sea basins, we announced the ‘Kiwi Kids Grant’ that will support New Zealand citizens raising their first three children, through the first three years of their lives.

And while all the other parties argue about spending and taxation, New Zealand First is different.

We are talking about doubling our economy by 2050. Which is the only way we are going to be able to pay for the things that New Zealanders need.

Covid Inquiry into Vaccine Injuries

We have announced establishing a proper transparent inquiry into those who were injured by the Covid 19 vaccine – so we can find out exactly what happened, who was responsible, and publicly hold them to account.

Why did 311,000 12-17 year olds get a second vaccination when Labour’s Hipkins and Verrall were told not to give it to them?

The Choice On The Right

This year we have been packing the halls around the country with ordinary hardworking kiwi battlers who see the only party talking common sense.

They all see what makes New Zealand First different from every other party.

We are the only socially conservative party.

We are the only nationalist party.

We are the only patriotic party – a word that is now so often criticised. We stand proud to be patriots of New Zealand.

What’s most important, is that we are the only party that can counter-balance the present spectrum of extremists in parliament.

And we have the vitally experienced team and the bold policies to back it up.

New Zealand First is not just running in another election this year, we are running to save our country economically and socially from extremists.

Conclusion

Ladies and gentlemen, we are all here because we love our country, and we are proud of it.

True democracy is a rare flower in the history of humanity.

Down thousands of years living in democracy with freedom is a historical rarity.

We have inherited a free country that our forebears fought and died for, and it’s our job to preserve it.

But only if we are proud of what we have inherited can we come together and move forward to shape the vision of our country’s future.

We live in a country that, at its core, traditional New Zealand values once saw us amongst the world’s leaders – hard work, fair pay, valuing our citizenship, building a sense of community, and knowing who we are as kiwis.

We must remember, New Zealand is the beneficiary of Western values, democracy, and the rule of law. And the advancement and enhancement of those principles have only occurred in those societies that have united together as one people – and who celebrate their nationhood instead of perpetuating division.

There is a lot of uncertainty around the world and at home, but we must keep hope alive that, with hard work and perseverance, tomorrow will be better.

We must never stop believing in New Zealand.

That is our vision and that is our mission.

To protect, to save, and to restore New Zealand’s place at the top of the world.

By putting New Zealand and New Zealanders first.

We are asking you to join us – and Party Vote New Zealand First.

Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/09/13/winston-peters-2/

Attribute to Inspector Phil Gillbanks:

Police are continuing to search for missing 52-year-old man Billyjoe Pereniki.

Billyjoe was reported missing from his home address in Opape Beach Road, Ōpōtiki on Monday 7 September having last been seen on the afternoon of Sunday 30 August.

Billyjoe is described as comfortable in the bush and is well known in the local area, however, the length of time that he has been away and not in contact with family is now considered unusual.

Police investigators have been following information from the public and as yet have not been able to locate Billyjoe through those enquiries.

Police Search and Rescue staff and NZ Land, Search and Rescue volunteers accompanied by a Police Search and Rescue Dog Team have thoroughly searched the area surrounding his home address. Surf Lifesaving volunteers in an IRB have searched the adjacent coastline.

Search activities will continue over the weekend.

Police continue to ask locals and the wider community to keep an eye out for Billyjoe.

Anyone with any information as to his possible whereabouts should contact police immediately.

Please reference file number 260907/0793.

ENDS

Issued by Police Media Centre

Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/09/11/search-continues-for-missing-opotiki-man/

Transport Minister Chris Bishop and Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown have confirmed appointments to the newly established Auckland Regional Transport Committee (ARTC), an important step in strengthening Auckland’s transport governance.

“The ARTC will play a critical role in aligning central and local government priorities and ensuring Auckland has a transport system that meets the needs of a growing city,” says Mr Bishop.

“For too long, Auckland’s transport system has suffered from fragmented decision-making and a lack of clear long-term direction.

“These reforms are about putting in place stronger governance, greater accountability and a clear strategic focus for Auckland’s transport future.

The ARTC is made up of three Ministerial appointees, three Auckland Council appointees and a jointly appointed Chair.

Daniel Williams will serve as Chair for a one-year term from 14 September 2026 to 13 September 2027. The three Ministerial appointees will also serve for the same term.

The three Ministerial appointees are:

• Carl Blanchard
• Bronwyn Coomer-Smit
• Stuart Shepherd

The three Auckland Council appointees are:

• Cr Andy Baker
• Cr Shane Henderson
• Mayor Wayne Brown (to be replaced by Cr Maurice Williamson*)

The appointments are the next step in implementing changes made by the Local Government (Auckland Council) (Transport Governance) Amendment Act 2026, which came into force on 7 May 2026.

Mr Bishop says Mr Williams brings more than 30 years of experience across master-planned communities, major infrastructure and commercial developments in New Zealand and the Pacific.

“His extensive experience will be of significant value to the ARTC as it takes on its strategic role, and I am pleased to see him appointed as Chair.

“Alongside Daniel, the Ministerial appointees bring complementary expertise across infrastructure investment, transport planning, economics and spatial planning.

Mayor Brown says the appointments are an important step towards a more integrated approach to transport planning for Auckland.

“This is a significant milestone and an important step forward in finally delivering a more integrated and coordinated approach to transport planning for Auckland,” says Mayor Brown.

“The ARTC is a unique committee, established through transport reform that formed one of my cornerstone policies to fix Auckland’s transport system and improve how major transport decisions are made.”

The committee reflects the importance of genuine partnership, a key principle of the Auckland Regional Deal, and will play a critical role in bringing together local and central government to align priorities and provide long-term certainty for Aucklanders.

“Daniel Williams is a suitable chair. It has been an extensive search because we wanted a strong, experienced and credible chair for this important role.

“Major projects don’t go wrong overnight, they start wrong. That’s why it’s critical the committee gets the foundations right from day one and provides the governance and oversight needed to make good decisions early.

“Daniel brings significant real-world experience and is already well known to Auckland Council through his work as the independent Chair of the Regulatory Review Committee, where he successfully helped council and industry work together to resolve complex regulatory issues.

“His proven ability to build consensus, tackle challenges and drive outcomes will serve the ARTC and Auckland well as it begins this important work.”

Notes to editor:

• *Mayor Wayne Brown will sit on the committee for the first three months, with former Minister of Transport Cr Maurice Williamson replacing him thereafter
• The Auckland Regional Transport Committee was established as a statutory committee by the Local Government (Auckland Council) (Transport Governance) Amendment Act 2026, which came into force on 7 May 2026.
• The ARTC comprises three Ministerial appointees, three Auckland Council appointees and a jointly appointed Chair.
• The committee’s functions include providing long-term strategic direction for Auckland’s transport system, delivering a 30-year transport plan for Auckland and preparing the Auckland Regional Land Transport Plan.

Appointee biographies

Daniel Williams

Daniel has been a Director of Woods NZ for over 30 years and was Managing Director for over 20 of them. Daniel has over 35 years of professional experience as a surveyor with involvement in a broad range of projects, including master-planned communities, large infrastructure builds, and commercial developments throughout New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. Daniel successfully oversaw the growth of the Woods to be a significant contributor to land development throughout New Zealand. Daniel has been a major figure in the New Zealand surveying industry. He has contributed significantly to the profession, including serving as a board member and board chair for Survey and Spatial New Zealand.

Carl Blanchard

Carl is a highly experienced corporate finance and capital markets adviser with more than 30 years’ experience advising corporates, investors, local authorities and the Crown. He has deep expertise across infrastructure, energy, transport and property, and has led some of New Zealand’s most significant equity capital markets transactions, including major IPOs, mergers and acquisitions, and strategic asset sales. Prior to joining Forsyth Barr, Carl was a partner at PwC, leading the infrastructure advisory practice, lead the Accident Compensation Corporation direct investment team and spent 16 years at Jarden in senior leadership roles. He started his career at the Treasury and is a former chair of the New Zealand Takeovers Panel.

Bronwyn Coomer-Smit

Bronwyn is a founder and ex-Director of Flow Transportation Specialists Limited. Bronwyn is a civil engineer, specialising in transport engineering, with over 45 years’ experience in strategic transport planning, traffic engineering, road design and construction, in South Africa and New Zealand. Over the past 30 years her work in New Zealand has involved the project management and public consultation of many different types of traffic and transportation projects, including for local and central government agencies. She also served as a board member of the North Harbour Hockey Association for nine years.

Stuart Shepherd

Stuart is a company director and strategic advisor with a career focused on economics, finance, infrastructure and property. His experience includes co-founding the Sustainable Property Investment Fund (a mid-sized commercial property fund), serving as a Commissioner on the Auckland Unitary Plan Hearings Panel and as a member of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development’s Housing Expert Advisory Group, chairing the Government’s 2017 Housing Infrastructure Fund Assessment Panel and advising on resource management reforms. He is also a Founding director and chair of Home Capital Partners (part of the Home Foundation Group) and a director of Crown Infrastructure Delivery Ltd (the Government’s vertical infrastructure delivery agency).

Auckland Council appointees

Cr Andy Baker

Andy Baker is a Franklin local, growing up in Drury. He has had a varied work life serving as a frontline police officer in South Auckland before returning to the family dairy farm then becoming a successful restaurateur and later as a manager of emergency management and rural fire for various Councils.

In 2010 he followed his family heritage and entered the world of local politics, becoming the first chair on the Franklin Local Board and then being elected as Franklin ward councillor in 2022.

Andy is currently chair of the Transport and Infrastructure Delivery Committee, chair of the Rural Advisory Panel, and was previously a board director of Auckland Transport amongst a host of other appointments and responsibilities.

He is heavily involved in the local community through rugby and sport where he is the ground announcer for Counties Manukau Rugby, NZ Cricket Super Smash and is currently Patron of Counties Special Olympics.

Cr Shane Henderson

Shane Henderson is an experienced local government leader with over a decade of service across Auckland’s governance system. He has served as a Councillor for the Waitākere Ward since 2019 and is currently Deputy Chair of Auckland Council’s Transport and Infrastructure Delivery Committee and Chair of the Road Controlling Authority Sub-Committee. Prior to his election to Council, he chaired the Henderson-Massey Local Board and is a former community lawyer.

His work in public office has centred on affordable public transport, effective infrastructure delivery, smart urban planning, and environmental protection. Born and raised in West Auckland, Shane brings a strong suburban lens to governance and decision-making. Living in Te Atatū South with his young family, he is driven to ensure all Auckland communities can access transport that is fast, affordable, and sustainable.

Cr Maurice Williamson

Maurice Williamson is an Auckland Councillor for the Howick Ward who brings extensive experience from careers in both central and local government. He represented Pakuranga as a Member of Parliament for 30 years, from 1987 to 2017, and held a range of ministerial portfolios across successive National-led governments, including Transport, Broadcasting, Local Government, Customs, and Statistics.

Following his parliamentary career, Maurice served as New Zealand’s Consul-General in Los Angeles before returning to public service in Auckland. In 2022, he was elected to Auckland Council’s Governing Body as the Councillor for the Howick Ward. A strong advocate for transport, Maurice is committed to delivering practical solutions and positive outcomes that improve connectivity and quality of life for Aucklanders.

Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/09/17/members-appointed-to-aucklands-new-regional-transport-committee-2/

Date:  11 September 2026

The current 10-year moratorium will expire on September 16, 2026. It does not affect existing permits held by 6 operators in Akaroa and Lyttelton.

Banks Peninsula/Te Pātāka-o-Rākaihautū is a nationally important stronghold for the Hector’s dolphin, one of the world’s smallest. They are classified as Threatened-Nationally Vulnerable, which means they are at high risk of extinction. There are about 15,000 Hector’s dolphins left.

DOC Mahaanui Operations Manager Andy Thompson says Akaroa Harbour has a high density of dolphins.

Akaroa Harbour is thought to be one of the few places globally where dolphin encounters in a sheltered harbour are almost a certainty. The near constant presence of the dolphins makes them an integral part of the harbour ecosystem.

“The effects of tourism on Hector’s dolphins have been extensively studied with strong evidence of behavioural and habitat change from interactions with vessels. We want to ensure this species stays and is protected as much as possible while allowing sustainable tourism.

“Many of the marine mammal tourism operators are working alongside us to look after the Hector’s dolphins. This moratorium allows us to shift focus to monitoring, research, and compliance, to ensure the dolphins are protected for generations to come,” he says.

The moratorium boundary has been extended from Akaroa Harbour to all waters around the peninsula from the Avon-Heathcote Estuary/Ihutai mouth to Birdlings Flat.

Andy says it is important the dolphins have quieter areas outside the harbour where they can feed, socialise, and thrive, without the impacts of concentrated recreation and tourism activities.

“We believe implementing the moratorium and extending the boundary are   the best ways to protect this species. We also recognise the significant economic benefits the existing tourism operators bring in. We have spoken to them throughout this process and we have broad support. We all want the Hector’s dolphins to thrive here,” he says.

Contact

Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/09/11/moratorium-on-new-marine-mammal-permits/

Business leader David McClatchy has been reappointed as a Member of the Guardians of New Zealand Superannuation Board, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says.

The board manages and administers the investments for the NZ Superannuation Fund and the Elevate NZ Venture Capital Fund which, as of 30 June, were worth $94.4 billion.

“Mr McClatchy’s reappointment – for a further three years from October 1 this year – recognises his strong commitment and contribution, maintaining stability and continuity during the pre-election period and into the future.

“Mr McClatchy brings extensive experience in managing and operating large investment businesses, overseeing portfolios for mutual societies, corporates, superannuation funds, and sovereign wealth funds. He has held a variety of governance roles within the investment sector.

“His reappointment to the board maintains the governance leadership, investment expertise and connections needed for the continued growth of the NZSF and Elevate. It also underscores the Government’s commitment to ensuring the Guardians continue to deliver robust investment performance and fulfil their mandate to grow New Zealand’s sovereign wealth funds for future generations in an environment with heightened volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity.”

Mr McClatchy has been a board member since 2021.

Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/09/09/guardians-board-member-reappointed/

Hamish Glenn
Engagement Advisor
[email protected]

Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/09/09/securing-the-future-the-role-of-the-repo-market/

Police can confirm one person has died following a crash in Avondale on 2 September.

The crash, involving a vehicle and a cyclist, occurred on Rosebank Road at about 3.50pm.

One person was critically injured and sadly died in hospital on Saturday as a result of their injuries.

The Serious Crash unit completed a scene examination and enquiries into the circumstances of the crash remain ongoing.

ENDS.

Holly McKay/NZ Police

Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/09/08/fatal-crash-avondale/

Franz Josef township marked a major flood resilience milestone today, with the completion of key works on the Waiho River, Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson says.

“Homes, dairy farms, the aerodrome, and the Waiho River’s south bank will all enjoy improved flood protection now upgrades are completed for two major stop banks.

Franz Josef is a nationally significant tourism destination, attracting up to two million visitors annually. These infrastructure works will make a material difference to the lives and resilience of this community,” Mr Patterson says.

The works are part of a second stage of improvements to the Franz Josef Flood Protection Scheme and were co-funded through a $6 million grant from the Regional Infrastructure Fund. 

The Franz Josef Flood Protection Scheme (the Scheme) is a vital infrastructure project aimed at safeguarding the Franz Josef township and surrounding areas from flooding caused by the Waiho River. The river is fed by meltwater from the Franz Josef Glacier, and often carries large boulders and debris, making flood events particularly destructive.

Stage one of the Scheme was supported by a $9.2 million grant through the 2021 COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund – Infrastructure Group to improve resilience across the township.

“These works are about giving the Franz Josef community greater confidence and security in the face of increasing flood risk, while longer-term decisions about the future of the area are worked through,” Mr Patterson says.

The completion of the stopbanks makes way for the final piece of the stage two works, the Havill Wall upgrade. This will protect key assets between the Waiho River and the Tartare Stream, including the wastewater treatment plant, State Highway 6, homes, farmland, a holiday park and a local school.

Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/09/07/key-franz-josef-flood-resilience-works-completed/

New Zealand is a step closer to securing its ongoing energy supply through the first projects to be supported by the Gas Security Fund, Resources Minister Shane Jones and Associate Finance Minister Chris Bishop say.

The fund will invest up to $23.5 million in two projects run by Todd Energy, a New Zealand-owned explorer and producer operating in Taranaki.

The Ministers approved the funding as time-limited loans with co-investment from Todd Energy, as part of New Zealand’s move towards more renewable energy.

“Together, these first investments from the $200 million Gas Security Fund could unlock up to 19.9 petajoules of additional gas reserves over five to nine years to maintain our energy supply as we transition to renewables,” Mr Jones says.

“These two projects, if successful, are expected to provide around four petajoules per year at peak production. That’s equivalent to around 6 percent of New Zealand’s 2027 expected gas production,” Mr Jones says.

The McKee Gas Cap project will receive a loan of up to $16.2m for drilling and connecting a new gas well, with Todd Energy contributing almost $7m.

The McKee-Tariki Production Well project will receive a loan of up to $7.3m toward converting an existing well to access gas in the deeper Tariki reservoir, with Todd Energy contributing about $3.1m.

“Maximising existing fields and infrastructure with an experienced New Zealand operator is one of the fastest ways to bring the needed gas to market, ensuring timely support for New Zealand’s ongoing energy needs, including a reliable supply of electricity,” Mr Jones says.

“Both projects will help keep domestic, commercial and industrial users operating, especially during periods of high demand, such as winter peaks or dry years when renewable electricity generation is lower.”

If successful, both projects are expected to have gas on stream by the end of 2027.

“Together, in the first year alone, these projects are expected to deliver the equivalent energy needed to power more than 80,000 New Zealand households for a year,” Mr Bishop says.

“Importantly, both projects involve significant co-investment from Todd Energy, ensuring the inherent risk associated with bringing new gas to market is shared. We’re using public funding to de-risk new gas well drilling and spark significant private sector investment for ongoing public benefit.

“Reliable and affordable energy is fundamental to a growing, productive economy. Businesses need confidence that the energy they depend on will be available when they need it, enabling them to plan ahead, invest and grow. That certainty supports investment, expansion and job creation.”

The Ministers say both projects align well with the Gas Security Fund’s objectives.

“The fund is designed to bring the gas we need to market more quickly and improve the reliability of our electricity generation while the country continues its transition to a lower-emissions economy,” Mr Jones says.

There has been strong interest in the fund, with 17 proposals submitted since it opened in January. More funding announcements are expected soon.

The Gas Security Fund is administered by Kānoa – Regional Economic Development & Investment Unit within the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.

Investment decisions are made jointly by the Resources Minister and the Associate Finance Minister, supported by advice from an independent Gas Advisory Panel.

Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/09/07/first-two-gas-security-fund-projects-announced/

An Uncertain World

We are living through the most challenging international environment that New Zealand has faced in the past 80 years. Navigating chaotic conditions such as these requires experience. 

And experience has never mattered more.

This is not a time for performative posturing and senseless virtue signalling. It’s a time for cool heads, rational judgements about what is possible, and an active diplomacy that listens, learns, and adapts to the chances when they present themselves.

That’s what we’ve done in the last three years.

It has been in stark contrast to the vacuum that was left by the Labour government in the preceding three years.

The chasm that was left in our international relationships was immense when we came into government, and the position Labour left New Zealand in, in the midst of such an unstable world and economically precarious position was potentially devastating. 

The world is in a troubled state, the worst we can remember. And yet, having returned last week from the Pacific Islands Forum, we are hopeful, because our discussions were gripped by how our friends, like us, see opportunity amidst so much turmoil.

We haven’t needed lectures from others to act; no, we’ve been seizing chances to advance New Zealand’s economic and security relationships with energy ever since this term began. Our 80 plus overseas trips have not been to collect passport stamps, but to enhance existing agreements, or create new ones, whether in our region, the Pacific, or in Asia, South America, Europe and the Nordics.

In country after country, we have learned first-hand that they want to do more with us, they too see opportunity, and our job is to make the most of them.

That said, do not underestimate just how disruptive the geo-strategic environment is. It’s a hugely complex and challenging period we are facing. This places an enormous premium on experience, and through experience, good judgements that protect New Zealand’s vital interests.

We take the world as it is, not as some cloistered varsity lecturer or woke leftie wants it to be. The record shows that we have exercised sound judgement when it has mattered most. 

With experience comes prudence, and with diplomacy comes opportunity, and that is why we are guardedly optimistic that New Zealand will emerge from the serious global disruptions in a strong position to exploit every opportunity that we create or that comes our way.                

The State of the Economy

As for the state of the economy, well we all know the economy isn’t where it should be.  We all know that, without having to be told because kiwis are struggling sometimes working two, even three jobs, just to make ends meet.

New Zealand First unlike the rest, has constantly said that it will take time to turn our economy around. 

We have been open – and when other parties at the last election said that they could fix it within three years – we said that was a mistake. We knew the damage done to the economy by the previous Labour government couldn’t be undone in three years.  We know it can be fixed – but it will take time.  And we need to communicate that to New Zealanders, to ensure kiwis understand the challenge, and join us on the pathway to economic and social recovery.  

We are making positive movements as an economy in such uncertain times. But we can, and must, do better.

Inflation is on the rise again, not nearly as bad as under Labour, but it is on the rise.

Interest rates are on the rise again, not nearly as bad as under Labour, but on the rise.

Our slow economic recovery has been set back by events in the Middle East.  And yet, stability in the middle east is likely to be restored more quickly than New Zealand’s economic return to recovery.

And that’s because, our government inherited a disaster of massive overborrowing, and spending not on production, not on wealth creation, not on employment, and not on exports, but purely on consumption. 

And we’re paying a massive price for that now.

We just had the COVID Inquiry showing the previous Labour government borrowed sixty billion dollars to deal with COVID, and yet they spent thirty billion of it on something else. 

That is half of the sixty billion wasn’t spent on COVID.  And you’re sitting in this audience and the mainstream media here today, and none of them have told you what the thirty billion was wasted on.

We have turned the economy around – there is growth, but not as much as we need. 

The current economic climate and the realities of our situation just shows the sad thing about New Zealand over the past fifty years. 

We went from being in the top three in the world to a non-competing economy.

Back then we had strong growth of over five percent a year, every year, and MPs who understood nationalism, who understood the national interest.

And then we had the neoliberal experiment of Labour’s Roger Douglas and then National’s Ruth Richardson and the rest has been a massive disaster.

We became the victim of a totally unfettered free market – straight out of the neoliberal economic Milton Freidman textbook.

The left and right, Labour then National, went on to sell our assets, privatise our country, open our borders to mass immigration, open our society to every wild-west simpleton ideology – an ideology that has been proven over the past forty years to be an abject failure and purveyor of misery and struggle.

Only one party leader and one party – New Zealand First – has never subscribed to that ideology. 

New Zealand First began because we opposed that ideology.

We have always believed in economic nationalism – where we own our country’s assets, where we have targeted government intervention, where we give a hand up in times of need, where our country gives capitalism a human face.

Paris Accord

There have been a number of things that occurred over the past week when we have been overseas that need addressing.

Last week the Prime Minister said that the Paris Accord obligations were a ‘non-negotiable bottom line’. If that’s true, up to $22 billion of our hard-earned taxpayers’ money is going offshore.

It’s just common sense that instead of draining our money offshore, into foreign economies, we invest it looking after our own environment. 

And New Zealand First is the only party that believes that.

We need to look at the illogical state of what the Paris Accord actually means. Around sixty percent of the worlds CO2 emissions come from four countries – China, United States, Russia, and India. New Zealand’s emissions amount to only around 0.17%.

Why are we making a rod for our own backs, punishing our farmers and our taxpayers and our economy, when China or the US could sneeze and produce more CO2 overnight than we do in a year? 

Here is what a lot of people don’t know.  China built more than 50 large coal powered power plants just last year – that’s one a week. And what did the NZ Labour Party do? Ban coal. Closed Marsden Point. 

What are the Greens doing? Screaming blue-murder that the world is going to end because New Zealand isn’t cutting our emissions enough.  These MPs are on another planet.

The former longest serving Labour Party PM in the UK, Tony Blair, made a similar statement to New Zealand First’s about what the world needs to do on the Paris Accord. The world is catching on and we are going to get left behind in crippling debt and a swamp of regulations on our productive sector if we remain signed up to the Paris Agreement.

We are in the Heartland of agriculture today, the Waikato, and we need to stop this nonsense.

New Zealand First is saying we need to get out of the Paris Accord altogether.

Willie Jackson Co-Governance / Māori Apprenticeships

Willie Jackson again last week became the gift that just keeps on giving.

He continues to reveal with a megaphone all of the things that Labour are planning to do if they get back to power.

On Q&A last week he was asked if Labour was going to bring back co-governance. 

Willie said “apparently co-governance scares people, so we might give it a new name”. 

Whatever new name he wants to give it, it will still be: 

Separatist. 

Racist. 

Apartheid.

Co-governance is the destruction of our democracy. That’s why New Zealand Fists opposes it. 

Because we believe in one people, one flag, one country, one law for all.

He is announcing out loud what Labour are planning to do – reverting to type and going straight back to dividing this country by race.

They are on a patronising separatist race to the bottom along with the Greens, Te Pati Māori, and Opportunity Party. 

Labour also announced separatist funding for apprenticeships to ensure young people get the skills and training they need to get a job.

But there is one catch – this policy only applies to Māori. 

Why funding just for Māori who are struggling? Why not all struggling kiwis?

Our vision and values as a country should be based on need not race – the sooner we get rid of separatist thinking and work together as one people the sooner we will have a better future together as one people.

Janet Dickson

Last week the real estate agent Janet Dickson lost her licence for refusing to take a compulsory cultural tikanga and te Tiriti course..

This tikanga course has no relevance to Janet Dickson’s real estate job.  

No one should lose their job for refusing to take a tikanga course that has no relevance to what their job is. 

This course add-on does not help one real Māori obtain accommodation.

This is woke political and cultural correctness gone mad. 

Māori Party Destructive Bottom Lines

And last week, the Labour Party’s coalition partner, the Māori Party, released a tax policy – they called a “bottom line”. 

They want to introduce a wealth tax, a massive corporate tax, a stamp duty, a property speculation tax, and an offshore speculation tax.

New Zealand needs to become more productive and encourage New Zealanders to start businesses that employ people, rebuild industry, and make us wealthy again.

The Māori Party instead think the way to grow employers is by soaring business tax rate, making us uncompetitive with other countries in attracting investment.

This is both a jobs killer and a business killer.

And here’s the rub.

These wealth taxes don’t apply to Māori.

This is a policy for the taxpayer funded Māori elite, by the taxpayer funded Māori elite, from the taxpayer funded Māori elite.

We are the only party that has never done a deal with the separatist Māori Party and we never will.

What is worse, is the Māori Party are now actively campaigning against people giving their party vote to the Māori Party.

They are wanting to manipulate the Māori vote by telling people to party vote for some other party on the left.

This is after giving everyone a lecture for decades on the importance of an independent Māori vote, and why other Māori MPs are not Māori enough.

All they have done is treat Māori with disdain, turn up to parliament once a month, and do a haka now and again in the House.

And who wants to sit with them at Cabinet with their extremist views? The Labour Party.

Opportunity Party’s Communist Consultants

Another party the Labour Party wants to work with is the shiny new Opportunity Party.

The Opportunity Party wants homeowners to pay 1.75% of your home’s land value every year, that’s on top of your local rates.

Now you will have to pay an annual rent to the government.

And when the leader of the Opportunity Party was asked how an old couple could afford a $20k land tax bill every year, she said “they will have to downsize their house to afford it”.

This is blisteringly ignorant. But it gets worse.

Because, the $20k per annum from an old couple on the pension is not going to infrastructure, health, education, fuel or food prices.

It will be used for a Universal Basic Income of $19,400 every year, for everyone, for life, even if they are not working. 

Opportunity Party calls this ‘fairness’. 

New Zealand First calls it ‘communism’.

The question is, what are you as the voter, going to call it?

The Opportunity Party also wants to raise the youth court age to twenty-five years old – however, when they were questioned on that, they quickly deleted the 25 year court age from their website and then said they haven’t figured out the new court age yet.

And their constitution has the unelected board having the power to veto any caucus decision. 

Their ‘redistribution of wealth’ and bludging tax policy doesn’t stack up.

And born in Fiji and immigrated to New Zealand, she says the country’s name should be called “Aotearoa New Zealand”.

And who wants to sit with them in Cabinet? The Labour Party.

Green Party Debt Machine

The Greens want an $88 billion debt increase, and have a new policy bribe to give $2.4 billion to Marae – without any oversight or audit of taxpayers’ money.

If you’re a Māori, tell us honestly, what does that reflect about what the Greens think of you?

This is inverse racism of the worst sort. They think they can use a bribe to get your vote. This doesn’t reflect respect for you, but sheer contempt for who you are.

The Greens care more about a geopolitical war happening ten thousand miles away that they know nothing about, than what is happening in their own country.

The are obsessed with race, gender, pronouns, and protests, performative politics, virtue signalling, and woke cancel culture, and they have completely lost sight of what their party once stood for.

English Language

The Green Party MP Tamatha Paul said in parliament that English was a ‘bastard language’. 

She should have been booted out of parliament for using that word for a start.

We are proud of our country’s history and our foundation English language – which is now an official language thanks to New Zealand First. 

Two days ago a Bog-Irish Band called “Kneecap” backed Tamatha Paul’s comments stating that the English language was a ‘colonisers’ bastard language’.

We are not going to sit by and be lectured by some bunch of low IQ weasels who have no idea about history, and even less of an idea about the woke cultural madness they foolishly promote – that goes for the hopeless TikTok politicians like Tamatha Paul too. 

The fact is the Greens are no longer worried about the environment like Rod Donald and Jeanette Fitzsimons once were – they have turned into a bunch of weirdo globalists who like to sanctimoniously lecture people – while wearing costumes from some other country.

And who wants to sit at the Cabinet table with them? The Labour Party.

Old Labour Is Gone

Ladies and gentlemen, this is the stark truth. The Labour Party that you once knew, perhaps even supported, is no more.

That party is gone. All of these polices and parties they are willing to support are proof of that.

Can you imagine Helen Clark or Michael Cullen, or Bob Tizard or Peter Frazer signing up to this?

These are people who believe in a separatist society, and who want to borrow, tax, and spend – but have zero economic credentials, or even vision, to deliver growth.

Chris Hipkins and Labour are willing to work with parties like Opportunity, Greens, and the Māori Party because Labour care more about the number of seats that will give them power, rather than the danger of who it is they will share power with.

Ladies and gentlemen, part of New Zealand First’s mission is to keep these dangerous lefties out of power.

The Choice On The Right

This year we have been packing the halls around the country with ordinary hardworking kiwi battlers who see the only party talking common sense.

They all see what makes New Zealand First different from every other party.

We are the only socially conservative party.

We are the only nationalist party.

We are the only patriotic party – a word that is now so often criticised. We stand proud to be patriots of New Zealand. 

What’s most important, is that we are the only party that can counter-balance the present spectrum of extremists in parliament.

And we have the vitally experienced team and the bold policies to back it up. 

New Zealand First is not just running in another election this year, we are running to save our country economically and socially from extremists.

Some Announced Bold Policies

We have announced a policy to break up the power companies’ monopoly, and drive power prices down.

We have announced a policy to split the supermarket duopoly, and drive food prices down.

We have announced a policy to re-establish a competitive New Zealand owned state bank, to drive banking charges down.

We have announced a policy to return mining royalties, created in the regions, back to the regions.

We have announced establishing a proper transparent inquiry into those who were injured by the Covid 19 vaccine – so we can find out exactly what happened, who was responsible, and publicly hold them to account.

Above all, on Covid 19, we want to hold to account those politicians who were told not to give the second vaccine to 12-17 year olds, withheld that advice from parents and 311,000 young people, wrongly, got the second vaccine.

If this was a transparent democracy then how could Hipkins and Verrall still be in politics today.

We announced our KiwiSaver policy with automatic $1000 sign-up at birth. It means the day a baby is born it gets $1000 in its account to start saving.

We have announced our policy is to establish a $100 billion Future Fund that will invest in a thirty-year infrastructure plan for our country. 

And we have announced a policy to ensure that by 2029 only citizens are allowed to vote in our country. We are going to fix one of the loosest electoral laws in the world.

We have announced a policy to have a referendum on the continued existence of the Māori Seats.

And to be independent from events like in the Strait of Hormuz, we announced a policy to invest $1billion to start exploring our gas and oil reserves in our deep-sea basins so we can own and export our own oil and gas.

And we announced the ‘Kiwi Kids Grant’ that will support New Zealand citizens raising their first three children, through the first three years of their lives – $5000 per child for each of the three years.

And while all the other parties argue about spending and taxation, New Zealand First is different.

We are talking about doubling our economy by 2050. Which is the only way we are going to be able to pay for the things that New Zealanders need.

Value of Citizenship

New Zealand needs to start viewing our citizenship as most other countries around the world do – as a privilege that comes with special and unique rights. 

This does not take away from migrants the ability to move here and help build our country, from showing total commitment and patriotism for New Zealand by becoming a citizen. 

We have massively allowed so many of our standards to drop.

Even the most basic of privileges and rights in any country like voting has in our country become more like an expectation for anyone, rather than a unique right for New Zealanders.

Ladies and gentlemen, why do so many ‘apologetic globalists’ act shocked and dismayed that a political party is wanting to ensure that citizenship actually mean something? 

There is a difference in this election. Kiwis are looking at what parties are offering as their values and principles in these uncertain times.

Campaign Announcement: Citizen Only Super

In recent years, some commentators have questioned the affordability of NZ Super.

Our NZ Superannuation scheme was designed to look after our seniors in their retirement.

Kiwis who left school sometimes at the age of fifteen or sixteen, worked two, sometimes three jobs, for forty or fifty years of their lives paying taxes – sometimes through the highest tax periods in our country’s history.

They deserve to be looked after in their retirement.

With our growing older population and the increasing costs of super on taxpayers, how is it fair that the tax burden of supporting seniors now goes to paying for the full retirement of someone who has migrated to our country and only lived and paid taxes for sometimes less than half of the time compared to those who have worked their whole lives here?

We are a fair society, and we should always strive to maintain that – it is what makes our country unique.

When NZ Super was established in 1977, it was not in the context of the immigration levels we currently have. 

Over just the past twenty years, New Zealand has had a total net migration of around 650,000 people into our country, at an average of over 30,000 each year.

That means more people than the population of Christchurch have moved to New Zealand in the past twenty years.

And with that 650,000 migrants that has come with it a percentage tax burden just for NZ Super which is a ticking timebomb.

Under current settings, you don’t have to be a New Zealand citizen to gain full access to NZ Super payments.

In fact, you don’t even have to be a permanent resident. You only need to have a resident visa.

How have we come to a point of having no value or meaning of being a New Zealand Citizen?

Currently, someone who has lived in New Zealand for just twenty years, and only need to be in the country for five years after the age of fifty, can be eligible for full super payments. 

That means they only have to be in New Zealand for one year out of every three after the age of fifty, and they can get the same full amount as someone who has worked their entire life paying taxes since they were fifteen years old.

How is that fair?

As the old saying goes – “generous to a fault”.

The annual superannuation bill for older migrants has hit a billion dollars.

In December 2025, the Crown paid $2 million a week to over 42,000 super annuitants who became resident in New Zealand aged 50 or older.

Annually, the total works out at over $1 billion.

That sum has more than doubled in the past 10 years – from  $500 million in 2015, to $1 billion last year.

New Zealand First believes we need to instil some meaning and value back into being a Kiwi, and back into being a New Zealand Citizen.

Today we are announcing a campaign policy that only New Zealand citizens will be eligible for New Zealand Super.

This policy will have a grace period to take effect within the next three years.

If you want to get NZSuper then you need to sign up, be proud enough of New Zealand, and show full commitment to our country and become a citizen – our taxpayers should no longer continue to be used as a bottomless pit by some migrants to our country.

This is about economic fairness, and it is about putting New Zealanders first.

NZFirst Party of Conservatism, Patriotism, Nationalism

We signed a coalition agreement to govern with stability and experience three years ago – and we have kept our word. 

New Zealand First brings what is too often missing in politics – experience and common sense.

New Zealand First brings a commitment to New Zealand industry, to manufacturing, to jobs right here for our own people.

New Zealand First brings commonsense to immigration policy – where we allow in people that we need, not people who need us.

We believe in infrastructure before population growth, not afterwards, and infrastructure focused on fixing what’s broken, not flash upgrades and vanity projects.

New Zealand First brings traditional kiwi conservative values – where hard work should be rewarded, where job security and home ownership underpins a stable family life. 

We want a country where young people aren’t worried about their family’s future, or where they see better opportunities overseas.

We are the party of social conservatism, patriotism, and nationalism. Those values are what it means to be a Kiwi – and New Zealand First is proud to not only stand by those values, but to fight for them.

We must be focussed on what New Zealanders gave us a mandate to do – turning this country around with policies and values that will give our country a better future – driving down the cost of living, cost of food, cost of power, cost of fuel, and turning this economy around – and doing it all with stability and experience.

We in 2023 inherited an economic nightmare. But not enough government members of parliament understood that. 

This pivotal election voters want to hear a clear and unified message – that we are going to win, and take New Zealand back to being a leading economy again. 

Challenging the Status Quo

The greatest threat to this blind ideology, to social elitism, and to the status quo, is New Zealand First.

And the country we are defending is called New Zealand – it’s in our party’s name.

We fight for the hardworking blue-collar Kiwi battler, who just wants the chance to help build a country they are proud of.

In this election, we have a rare chance to change the shape of parliament for the better, and in doing so, to reshape our country the way you want it.

We are asking you to make a choice with our future generations in mind.

Take back control from the Wellington bubble.

Take back control from those who choose to be CV politicians, where they are here one day, “no more gas in the tank”, and are gone the next – taking with them a rolodex of international jobs, speaking circuits, or book tours, looking back over their shoulder at New Zealand’s decline – which they caused. 

New Zealand First, from our launch thirty-three years ago, has been battling that elitist status quo. No one can deny that. On issue after issue that needed public exposure, the rest remain silent. When others wouldn’t raise a finger, we have raised the roof.

Conclusion

Ladies and gentlemen, we are all here because we love our country, and we are proud of it.

True democracy is a rare flower in the history of humanity.

Down thousands of years living in democracy with freedom is a historical rarity. 

We have inherited a free country that our forebears fought and died for, and it’s our job to preserve it.

But only if we are proud of what we have inherited can we come together and move forward to shape the vision of our country’s future.

We live in a country that, at its core, traditional New Zealand values once saw us amongst the world’s leaders – hard work, fair pay, valuing our citizenship, building a sense of community, and knowing who we are as kiwis.

We must remember, New Zealand is the beneficiary of Western values, democracy, and the rule of law. And the advancement and enhancement of those principles have only occurred in those societies that have united together as one people – and who celebrate their nationhood instead of perpetuating division.

There is a lot of uncertainty around the world and at home, but we must keep hope alive that, with hard work and perseverance, tomorrow will be better.

New Zealand First is nationalist, patriotic, and socially conservative – values that we fight for. 

It hasn’t been easy – but things in life worth doing never are.  

We must never forget that challenge.

We must never stop believing in New Zealand.

That is our vision and that is our mission.

To protect, to save, and to restore New Zealand’s place at the top of the world.

By putting New Zealand and New Zealanders first.

We are asking you to join us – and Party Vote New Zealand First.

Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/09/06/winston-peters/