Foreign aid row: National says up 26%, Peters says 10%
Foreign Minister Winston Peters' office says National's claim that foreign aid is up 26% since 2021 is wrong. It puts the rise at about 10%. RNZ
The disagreement, reported on 13 October 2026, comes down to how the starting point is measured. National health spokesperson Simeon Brown told RNZ the foreign aid budget had risen 26% since 2021, and National is holding to that figure. The minister's office said its 10% figure is adjusted for inflation, while National's 26% figure is not.
In inflation-adjusted terms, after the effect of rising prices is removed, the spokesperson said the yearly International Development Cooperation (IDC) budget, the main aid fund, rose from $1.009 billion in Budget 2020 to $1.111 billion in Budget 2026. That is $102 million more, or 10.1%. The spokesperson also said the IDC budget had not grown at all since 2021 as a share of total government spending. In 2020/21 it was 0.72% of actual core Crown expenses, the Crown's day-to-day spending, or 72 cents in every $100 spent, according to the spokesperson.
The argument is linked to National's medicines pledge. National said it would redirect foreign aid money to pay for $604 million for new medicines and wider access to already funded medicines if it led the next government. It said it would largely pay for the plan by cutting foreign aid and related administration costs by 10%, while fully protecting aid to the Pacific. National has campaigned on shifting 10 percent of foreign aid funding to Pharmac for cancer medicines.
A National Party spokesperson said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) would work out how the savings were made, targeting non-essential aid first while protecting Pacific funding. ACT is proposing a larger cut. The party said it would cut foreign aid to 2017 levels, excluding support for Ukraine, saving about $238 million a year. It has also promised to cut foreign aid by $1.1 billion over four years while protecting aid to the Pacific and Ukraine. ACT policy announcement
The Government sets the total budget for the New Zealand International Development Cooperation Programme every three years, a period called a triennium. MFAT lists a $2.2 billion aid budget, describing the figure as preliminary to be finalised later in 2026. New Zealand announced $8 million in new assistance for Ukraine alongside extra sanctions targeting Russia.
The broader context here is about baselines and protections, not just the headline percentages. An unadjusted total, an inflation-adjusted total and the IDC share of core Crown spending each tell a different story about growth. The questions to weigh are which measure would be used to set a 10% saving, how Pacific and Ukraine protections would be written into the three-year allocations, and how much choice MFAT would keep over other country and theme budgets. The gap between National's targeted cut and ACT's return to 2017 levels is also relevant for coalition talks, especially where administration costs are counted in the saving.
