Aotearoa Policy Ledger — 2026 General Election
Compiled July 2026 · Sources linked per entry
Topic 01 of a growing ledger

What every party actually says about health.

Not press releases. Not soundbites. The mechanism each party proposes, who it's meant to help, and the dollar figure attached — set out side by side so you can compare them yourself before you vote.

Includes AINZ, a fictitious party built as a thought experiment to test what an "AI-systems-first" health policy would look like against real proposals — clearly marked throughout and excluded from the real-party count.

Where the parties sit
A rough placement, not a ranking — from centrally-run universal targets to devolved, needs-based or market-based delivery.
Universal / central control Devolved / needs-based / market
NAT
GRN
LAB
TPM
ACT
AI
National — restored universal targets
Labour — incremental, system-continuity
Greens — holistic, Tiriti-based, anti-privatisation
Te Pāti Māori — dedicated authority & ring-fenced funding
ACT — competition & private-sector capacity
AINZ — fictitious, systems/data-first (excluded from count)

Party positions, in full

Ordered roughly left to right on the spectrum above. Costings shown as published; marked "unspecified" where no party figure could be found.
National
Governing party
Mechanism: restored health targets

Position

Reinstates national health targets — wait times, cancer treatment access, immunisation rates — with quarterly public reporting by region to "focus the system on doing better." Includes a one-off Immunisation Incentive Payment of $10 per enrolled patient to GP clinics that lift immunisation rates by five percentage points or reach 95%, across three age bands.

Who it targets

General population via GP clinics; specific incentive for under-18s, seniors, and childhood immunisation cohorts.

Delivery record cited

Party cites ~2,000 more nurses, 66 new funded medicines (33 cancer), and new 24/7 Online GP Care already delivered under current government.

Published cost

$10 per enrolled patient

One-off GP incentive payment; broader health budget figures not itemised in policy page.

Source: national.org.nz — "Targeting better health outcomes" & "What we've delivered for you"

Labour
Opposition
Mechanism: continuity & retention

Position

Positioned primarily as critic of the current government's health record (wait lists, ED delays, immunisation drops) rather than publishing a single detailed 2026 health package at time of writing. Has previously supported retaining and continuing to fund Te Aka Whai Ora (Māori Health Authority) while in government, though has been light on further detail about strengthening it.

Who it targets

General population; Māori via prior support for a dedicated Health Authority.

Notable stance

Criticises National's health record as a central 2026 campaign theme, alongside cost of living and housing.

Published cost

Unspecified

No itemised 2026 health costing published on party site as of this ledger's compilation.

Source: PHCC party survey (2023, positions largely maintained per 2026 election reporting) & general 2026 campaign coverage.

Green Party
Opposition
Mechanism: holistic, Tiriti-based system

Position

Frames health as shaped by housing, income, education and environment — not treatable in isolation — and commits to honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi across the health system. Opposes the government's move to give private hospitals 10-year outsourcing contracts for elective surgery, calling it a step down the wrong path. Backs a free, universal public dental service, citing a "Dental for All" report that found it affordable.

Who it targets

Whole population, with explicit equity focus for Māori and low-income groups; universal dental specifically.

Notable stance

Explicitly opposes privatisation/outsourcing of elective surgery to private hospitals.

Published cost

Unspecified (dental)

Free universal dental care described as "affordable" per third-party report; no single Greens-published dollar figure found for full health policy.

Source: greens.org.nz — "Health Policy" & "Complete Party Policy"; Dental for All report coverage.

Te Pāti Māori
Opposition
Mechanism: dedicated Māori Health Authority

Position

Calls for 20–25% of all health funding to be channelled through a re-established, strengthened Māori Health Authority, arguing Māori currently die on average a decade earlier than non-Māori. Proposes free primary and dental care, and free medication delivery to the home, for whānau earning under $60,000/year. Lowers the age for Māori cancer screening by 10 years. Has criticised the government's "one-size-fits-all" targets — including removal of ethnicity from hospital wait-time decisions — as equity being erased by averages.

Who it targets

Māori specifically; whānau under $60k income for free primary/dental care and medication delivery.

Additional mechanisms

$1bn/yr Health Workforce Development fund; $500m/yr Kaupapa Māori Mental Health Service; new Māori ACC Authority (25% of ACC funding).

Published cost

20–25% of health budget

Plus $1bn/yr workforce fund and $500m/yr mental health service, as published in party's 2023 health policy (positions reaffirmed into 2026 campaign).

Source: Scoop — "Te Pāti Māori Unveils Comprehensive Health Policy"; PHCC party survey; Scoop — "Government's 'One-Size-Fits-All' Health Policy Is Killing Māori" (2026).

ACT
Governing coalition
Mechanism: competition & private capacity

Position

General policy direction favours reducing bureaucracy and enabling private-sector and market mechanisms to relieve pressure on the public system, consistent with the party's broader approach across housing and planning (property rights, opt-outs, competition). A detailed, itemised 2026 health-specific policy document was not located separately from the party's general fiscal-restraint and efficiency platform.

Who it targets

General population; framed around taxpayer value and reduced wait times via added private capacity.

Confidence note

Lower confidence entry — based on party's general policy direction rather than a dedicated 2026 health policy document found in this search.

Published cost

Unspecified

No itemised health costing found; recommend checking act.org.nz directly for the current campaign's specific health policy page.

Source: inferred from ACT's general 2026 platform and housing/RMA policy pattern; direct health-specific citation not found.

AINZ (fictitious)
Thought experiment — not a real party
Mechanism: live data & AI-assisted routing

Position

"See the System, Fix the System." A live national health dashboard replacing quarterly reporting; AI-assisted triage that routes referrals to whichever provider — public, private, or kaupapa Māori — has actual capacity right now; mandatory ethnicity- and deprivation-disaggregated reporting built permanently into every regional report, rather than ring-fenced into a separate authority that can later be disestablished; and 5-year-ahead workforce shortage forecasting.

Who it targets

Framed as universal — deliberately avoids allocating funding or authority to any single group, which is also its main criticism.

Honest gap

Te Pāti Māori's precedent — Te Aka Whai Ora was disestablished in 2024 — shows visibility alone doesn't protect equity funding from being politically withdrawn.

Published cost

Not costed

Hypothetical policy — no real budget, agency, or legislative basis exists.

This entry is invented for comparison purposes only. It is not affiliated with any registered New Zealand political party.