The National Party says it will extend paid parental leave from 26 to 30 weeks by 2029, if re-elected. The policy would also let both parents take leave at the same time, rather than one after the other. Announced under the "Budget 2026" banner with the theme "Fixing the basics," the first step would be an increase from 26 to 27 weeks (National Party). From 1 July 2027, the government would also keep making KiwiSaver contributions for people on paid parental leave, even if they have paused their own contributions (National Party).

The announcement came the week after Stuart Nash resigned as a New Zealand First candidate. Nash had said National MP Katie Nimon was "the laziest" for the amount of leave she took after having a baby. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said he could not have predicted Nash's comments about Nimon (RNZ).

Labour criticised National for blocking a paid parental leave extension in 2016. Luxon, asked about that, said he only entered Parliament in 2020 and did not know what happened before then. He framed the policy as forward-looking (RNZ).

Labour's broader critique pointed to National's record on several fronts: the 2016 leave block, cuts to Best Start payments, reduced school lunch funding, and restarting pay equity negotiations. The ACT Party separately questioned the timing of National's announcement (RNZ).

The policy rollout comes against a difficult polling backdrop for National. In an RNZ-Reid Research poll, National recorded 28.7 percent, which would give it 36 seats in Parliament, down from 48. That result has direct implications for the party's list — the mechanism in MMP where parties fill seats based on their share of the party vote. National currently has five list MPs: Nicola Willis, Paul Goldsmith, Gerry Brownlee, Melissa Lee, and Nancy Lu (RNZ).

Willis is running as a list-only candidate and said she was not concerned about getting back into Parliament. Goldsmith contests the Epsom seat held by ACT's David Seymour and was not sure he would be back on 28.7 percent party vote. Hutt South MP Chris Bishop said it would be "highly unlikely" he would keep his electorate seat on current polling (RNZ).

The broader context here is a party pitching a family-friendly policy while its own MPs face the possibility of significant seat losses. The gap between National's current 48 seats and the 36 projected on 28.7 percent party vote means roughly a dozen MPs could be out of Parliament after the next election, depending on electorate results and the final count. The fate of senior figures like Goldsmith and Bishop depends on factors beyond the party vote alone — electorate contests where ACT's David Seymour holds Epsom, and where Bishop's Hutt South margin may not hold on current numbers.

The paid parental leave policy itself is phased rather than immediate. The first step moves leave from 26 to 27 weeks, with later increases building toward 30 weeks by 2029. The simultaneous-leave provision would allow both parents to draw on paid parental leave at the same time, rather than one after the other. The KiwiSaver component, starting 1 July 2027, would see the government continue its contributions during parental leave even when the parent has stopped their own.

For the press gallery, the political dynamics around this announcement are at least as notable as the policy substance. Nash's resignation and his comments about Nimon's parental leave created the immediate news environment in which National chose to announce an extension to that same entitlement. Luxon's deflection on the 2016 vote — that he was not in Parliament at the time — is a line that may not hold if Labour keeps pressing the contrast between National's past opposition and its current proposal. And ACT questioning the timing adds coalition-management friction to a week where National would have preferred a clean policy rollout.

The polling numbers sharpen every one of those dynamics. At 28.7 percent, National's list ranks tighten considerably. List MPs who entered Parliament on a stronger party vote now face a margin where electorate wins and losses directly determine whether they return. Willis's stated confidence about returning as a list-only candidate suggests the party's internal read of the situation may differ from the public polling, or at least that senior figures are choosing not to signal concern publicly. Goldsmith's uncertainty about his own return is more candid, and reflects the genuine electoral risk the party faces in its heartland seats.