Election 2026: What the parties are promising on your groceries, your retirement and your first home

Four political parties announced new policies on 6 September 2026, covering supermarket prices, retirement payments, climate change and help for first-home buyers. The announcements come as parties gear up for the November general election. RNZ

The Green Party announced a plan called "KiwiMart," which would cost more than $6 billion over four years. The plan would force New Zealand's two main supermarket companies — Foodstuffs and Woolworths — to sell 120 stores and two distribution centres so they would be owned by the public rather than private companies. New laws would be needed to make this happen.

Greens co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick said buying existing stores and putting them into public ownership is the way to break up the supermarket duopoly. A duopoly is when two companies control most of a market, which can mean less competition and higher prices. The party also pledged to bring back and expand the previous government's school lunch programme. RNZ

NZ First separately announced its own plan to break up the supermarket duopoly. The party had previously published a campaign document on 19 April 2026 titled "NZ First Will Break Up the Supermarket Duopoly, Bring Food Prices Down for Kiwis." NZ First

NZ First says Woolworths and Foodstuffs control more than 80 percent of New Zealand's grocery market. The party says big supermarkets make exorbitant profits, with one earning up to 19 percent in a single year — over three times the inflation rate. NZ First

NZ First leader Winston Peters also promised that only New Zealand citizens would get NZ Super — the government pension paid to people when they retire. Right now, permanent residents can also receive it. Peters' plan does not raise the retirement age or change how much people get. RNZ

ACT leader David Seymour announced a plan to scrap New Zealand's net zero emissions target and repeal the Zero Carbon Act if elected. The Zero Carbon Act is the law that sets goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. ACT climate change spokesperson Simon Court said the party would try to get a better deal for New Zealand under the Paris Agreement, which is the international treaty on cutting emissions. He said ACT might consider pulling out of the treaty entirely. RNZ

National promised to expand a scheme called the Kāinga Ora First Home Loan, which lets people buy their first home with a 5 percent deposit. The party said that if re-elected, it would raise the income limit so anyone earning less than $300,000 — whether on a single or combined income — could use the scheme. RNZ

National had earlier pledged to widen access to low-deposit mortgages for first-home buyers if it wins the November 2026 election. RNZ The party has also announced legislation that would let farm workers use their KiwiSaver savings to buy their first home. National

The broader context here is that supermarket competition has become a major policy area, with both the Greens and NZ First wanting to break up the duopoly but in very different ways. The Greens want the government to buy stores and run them publicly, at a cost of more than $6 billion. NZ First is focused on the duopoly's stranglehold on the market and what it calls exorbitant profits. Neither plan has been independently costed by Treasury or examined by a parliamentary committee.

On superannuation, Peters' plan would narrow who can get NZ Super. Currently both citizens and permanent residents qualify. His policy stops short of raising the retirement age, separating it from other changes parties have sometimes suggested.

ACT's climate plan, if carried out, would undo the core of New Zealand's approach to cutting emissions. Repealing the Zero Carbon Act and dropping the net zero target would be a major change in climate policy, with effects on the country's emissions trading system and its international obligations. Court's suggestion that ACT might leave the Paris Agreement would put New Zealand outside the global climate accord.

For National, the First Home Loan expansion is the latest in a series of housing announcements. The $300,000 income threshold would open the scheme to far more people than it currently covers. The party's wider housing agenda includes building reforms that introduced proportionate liability, required professional indemnity insurance and home warranties, and imposed harsher penalties. National

Labour, meanwhile, has outlined a fiscal strategy that commits to getting government spending back into surplus by 2029/30 — meaning the government would take in more than it spends. That is the same timing forecast in Budget 2026. Labour's policy page states the NZ Super Fund has grown to $85 billion and delivered strong returns, but notes only 11 percent of it is invested in New Zealand. Labour Labour has also previously called on the Government to direct the NZ Super Fund and ACC wealth funds to withdraw investments from illegal settlements. Labour

The overlapping supermarket proposals from the Greens and NZ First, along with ACT's climate plan and National's housing package, suggest that coalition talks after the election could be complicated. The Greens' $6 billion KiwiMart plan and ACT's plan to repeal the Zero Carbon Act are at opposite ends of how much the government should intervene in the economy. Any government involving both parties would need to reconcile very different views on the role of the state.