For CityWatch NZ’s coverage of the 2026 General Election survey questions were emailed to all registered parties. Email invitations went first to the party secretaries on 15 October 2026, then follow-up emails were sent to each party’s local government spokesperson (or a similar contact).
It would have been good to get more replies from more of the parties.
Gwynn Compton from the Local Aotearoa substack also asked parties about local government issues, receiving replies from New Zealand Labour Party, The Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand, ACT New Zealand, and Opportunity Party. His post on the parties’ answers can be found here: https://localaotearoa.substack.com/p/seven-parties-asked-four-answered
[CityWatch NZ is not affiliated with, or endorsing, the Local Aotearoa substack. Though we like to point our readers towards multiple sources of potential useful information].
Twelve questions in the CityWatch NZ survey were prepared and selected based on issues CityWatch NZ covers and issues where central government decisions and policies have a major impact on local governments.
Answers from each party are presented as received, without any editing of the text content.
When a party did not answer the survey or any specific question, a neutral “No answer provided” has been put next to the party and question.
Parties are listed in alphabetical order, according to their registered names.
Question 1: Does your party support local referendums before any council amalgamation plans are implemented, and should those be binding or non-binding referendums?
ACT New Zealand: No answer provided.
Alliance Party of Aotearoa New Zealand: No answer provided.
Animal Justice Party Aotearoa New Zealand: No answer provided.
Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party: The Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party supports referendums.
Conservative Party NZ: No answer provided.
Free Palestine: No answer provided.
New Zealand First Party: No answer provided.
New Zealand Labour Party: Labour supports simplifying local government, but not at the cost of communities losing their local voice. There are sensible conversations to be had about councils working together, sharing services and delivering better value, but reform has to be done with councils and communities, not imposed on them. If elected, Labour will assess where the current reorganisation process is at and work with councils to get the settings right.
New Zealand Loyal: Yes. Binding referendums of affected ratepayers are mandatory before any amalgamation. NZ Loyal rejects forced mergers. We restore smaller, local borough-style councils that keep decision-making close to the people who pay and deliver lower costs with higher efficiency.
NZ Outdoors & Freedom Party: NZ Outdoors & Freedom support Direct Democracy as our flagship policy – Direct Democracy embeds such actions as “citizen initiated binding referendum” and locals making decisions about local issues. So Yes, NZOFP does support binding referendums on local council amalgamations. The ones who are affected are the ones who should decide their future.
Opportunity Party: No answer provided.
Te Pāti Māori: No answer provided.
Te Tai Tokerau Party: No answer provided.
The Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand: No answer provided.
The New Zealand National Party: No answer provided.
Vision New Zealand: No answer provided.
Women’s Rights Party: No answer provided.
Question 2: What is your party’s approach to protecting residents and future generations from the costs of the new “Local Water Done Well” companies’ wasteful spending, since they can now borrow more with less democratic accountability over critical decisions?
ACT New Zealand: No answer provided.
Alliance Party of Aotearoa New Zealand: No answer provided.
Animal Justice Party Aotearoa New Zealand: No answer provided.
Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party: The ALCP policy is for government assisted full development of the sustainable organic Hemp Industry, which will create jobs, save our forests and clean our waterways. The Hemp plant grows to 16 feet in 6 months. It supplies all the necessities of life, building materials, textiles, paper, fuel, pharmacueticles and food. The hempseed is regarded as a super food containing omegas, vitamins and minerals. Plant based proteins is also a growth industry.
Conservative Party NZ: No answer provided.
Free Palestine: No answer provided.
New Zealand First Party: No answer provided.
New Zealand Labour Party: Labour warned that the Government’s approach to water would leave households carrying the cost of decades of under-investment, and many are now feeling that in their water bills. Water organisations are owned by their communities and must be accountable to them. That means strong regulation and transparency, so people can see how their money is being spent and that it is being spent well. Labour won’t dump the cost of Government decisions onto household bills. We will work with councils on the long-term funding and financing challenges they face.
New Zealand Loyal: NZ Loyal opposes the creation of larger, less-accountable water entities that can borrow more while democratic oversight shrinks. Water services belong under local borough-style councils with strict debt limits and full ratepayer control. Our sovereign currency and 1% transaction tax policy (replacing all other taxes including GST) funds infrastructure without loading future generations with wasteful debt structures.
NZ Outdoors & Freedom Party: Councils were hung out to dry when central government stopped supporting local government critical infrastructure in the 1980’s when everything was “privatized”. We lost our Public Works Dept amongst other essential institutions including Three Waters. Since then councils have had to fund expensive water projects from rates and borrowing, which increases the cost of the projects. NZOFP says we should go back to govt grants or no/low interest funding (sovereign foundational credit ) for Three Waters infrastructure. (We made a submission to Govt on this issue, happy to send it to anyone interested in reading more on the parties views)
Opportunity Party: No answer provided.
Te Pāti Māori: No answer provided.
Te Tai Tokerau Party: No answer provided.
The Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand: No answer provided.
The New Zealand National Party: No answer provided.
Vision New Zealand: No answer provided.
Women’s Rights Party: No answer provided.
Question 3: Does your party support capping the annual increases in council rates, and at what level?
ACT New Zealand: No answer provided.
Alliance Party of Aotearoa New Zealand: No answer provided.
Animal Justice Party Aotearoa New Zealand: No answer provided.
Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party: The ALCP does not have a policy on this except for the development of the three cannabis industries – R.!8 Recreational, Affordable medicinal and the multi billion dollar hemp industry will help with government taxes. We refer you to the Delloitte Canada Cannabis report showing the rapid growth of this industry once sensibly regulated.
Conservative Party NZ: No answer provided.
Free Palestine: No answer provided.
New Zealand First Party: No answer provided.
New Zealand Labour Party: Labour supported the Government’s rates capping bill through its first reading so the issue could be properly debated. But an arbitrary limit is no substitute for a serious discussion about how local government is funded. Councils can’t be asked to deliver more roads, pipes, housing and services while the money to pay for them is squeezed. Labour will put everything on the table, including new funding tools such as visitor levies where councils indicate they want them. We will also implement the full Ratepayer Assistance Scheme, so households can postpone rates and spread development contributions over time
New Zealand Loyal: Yes. Rates increases are capped at or below CPI. Under a restored borough council model – smaller units focused on core services – costs stay minimal and efficiency remains paramount. Waste, consultants, and non-core spending are eliminated.
NZ Outdoors & Freedom Party: NZOFP supports NOT rating or taxing people out of their homes. Rates have reached a level that we wonder how anyone can afford a home at all. It is NOT the council’s job to force people out of their homes! (Tauranga CC comes to mind). A few solutions 1) Direct Democracy – the people choose what their money is spent on NOT the bureaucrats, NOT the politicians but the people who are paying the bill 2) National Govt funds critical infrastructure through Reserve Bank funding at zero/low interest (sovereign foundational credit )to take pressure off homeowners rate costs. Not sure what the cap should be, NZOFP policy is to let the people decide through local decision making systems such as citizens assemblies and referendums.
Opportunity Party: No answer provided.
Te Pāti Māori: No answer provided.
Te Tai Tokerau Party: No answer provided.
The Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand: No answer provided.
The New Zealand National Party: No answer provided.
Vision New Zealand: No answer provided.
Women’s Rights Party: No answer provided.
Question 4: What is your party’s position on the GST on rates being returned to councils?
ACT New Zealand: No answer provided.
Alliance Party of Aotearoa New Zealand: No answer provided.
Animal Justice Party Aotearoa New Zealand: No answer provided.
Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party: The ALCP does not have a policy on this local government matter.
Conservative Party NZ: No answer provided.
Free Palestine: No answer provided.
New Zealand First Party: No answer provided.
New Zealand Labour Party: Rates alone can’t pay for everything councils are being asked to deliver. The Government can’t keep demanding more from councils while providing less. Labour believes everything should be on the table in a serious conversation with local government about funding, including new funding tools. We haven’t made a specific commitment on returning GST on rates, and any change would need to fit within our fully costed fiscal plan.
New Zealand Loyal: Under NZ Loyal’s 1% transaction tax, GST is abolished entirely along with income tax and company tax. The current GST-on-rates system ends. Local borough-style councils will operate with far lower overheads and clearer funding from the simplified national system plus appropriate user-pays.
NZ Outdoors & Freedom Party: GST is a tax on a tax and should be abolished. If not abolished, then used locally for critical infrastructure.
Opportunity Party: No answer provided.
Te Pāti Māori: No answer provided.
Te Tai Tokerau Party: No answer provided.
The Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand: No answer provided.
The New Zealand National Party: No answer provided.
Vision New Zealand: No answer provided.
Women’s Rights Party: No answer provided.
Question 5: What is your party’s position on central government-owned and Crown land paying rates to councils?
ACT New Zealand: No answer provided.
Alliance Party of Aotearoa New Zealand: No answer provided.
Animal Justice Party Aotearoa New Zealand: No answer provided.
Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party: The ALCP does not have a policy on this local government matter.
Conservative Party NZ: No answer provided.
Free Palestine: No answer provided.
New Zealand First Party: No answer provided.
New Zealand Labour Party: Central and local government serve the same communities: taxpayers are ratepayers. Where central government decisions and assets add to councils’ costs, that should be part of an honest conversation about how local government is funded. We will work with councils on their long-standing funding challenges rather than leave ratepayers to pick up the bill.
New Zealand Loyal: Yes. All land using local services must contribute fairly. Crown and government-owned land pays rates equivalent to comparable private land. Smaller, decentralised borough councils cannot be forced to subsidise central government exemptions.
NZ Outdoors & Freedom Party: No position.
Opportunity Party: No answer provided.
Te Pāti Māori: No answer provided.
Te Tai Tokerau Party: No answer provided.
The Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand: No answer provided.
The New Zealand National Party: No answer provided.
Vision New Zealand: No answer provided.
Women’s Rights Party: No answer provided.
Question 6: What is your party’s approach to ensuring that chief executives of councils and council-owned organisations are held accountable when failures and/or wrongdoing cause loss of life, large-scale pollution, and/or costly blowouts in project costs?
ACT New Zealand: No answer provided.
Alliance Party of Aotearoa New Zealand: No answer provided.
Animal Justice Party Aotearoa New Zealand: No answer provided.
Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party: The ALCP believes institutions public or private, should be held accountable for wrong doing.
Conservative Party NZ: No answer provided.
Free Palestine: No answer provided.
New Zealand First Party: No answer provided.
New Zealand Labour Party: When failures cost lives, pollute our environment or waste ratepayers’ money, communities deserve answers and accountability. Health and safety, environmental and public audit law already places duties on the people running councils and council-owned organisations, and those laws should be enforced. Chief executives are accountable to their elected councils, and councils are accountable to voters. Labour will work with local government to make sure governance and accountability settings are clear and working as they should.
New Zealand Loyal: Chief executives and senior managers face personal accountability – dismissal, civil liability, and criminal investigation where warranted. In a decentralised borough council system, lines of responsibility are short and direct; failures cannot be hidden inside large bureaucratic structures.
NZ Outdoors & Freedom Party: CEO’s are highly paid to make correct decisions. There needs to be a system that ensures honesty, integrity, transparency and accountability. Our current system does not enforce any of that and is therefore not fit for purpose. Our advisor in governance, Dr Wendy Gillespie, has written down how a country ensures public servants perform appropriately (below) and we would follow her guidance. www.thegovernanceprojectnz.co.nz
Opportunity Party: No answer provided.
Te Pāti Māori: No answer provided.
Te Tai Tokerau Party: No answer provided.
The Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand: No answer provided.
The New Zealand National Party: No answer provided.
Vision New Zealand: No answer provided.
Women’s Rights Party: No answer provided.
Question 7: Does your party have a position on increased use of AI (generative artificial intelligence) by councils, council-owned organisations, and the consultants they pay to write reports, analyse information, and develop strategies?
ACT New Zealand: No answer provided.
Alliance Party of Aotearoa New Zealand: No answer provided.
Animal Justice Party Aotearoa New Zealand: No answer provided.
Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party: The ALCP understands that AI is a useful tool that is permeating all walks of life. Of course we should try and control it, if that is possible. This is new technology that we are all grappling with.
Conservative Party NZ: No answer provided.
Free Palestine: No answer provided.
New Zealand First Party: No answer provided.
New Zealand Labour Party: Used well, AI can help deliver services more efficiently, but there must always be human accountability for decisions that affect people’s lives. Labour will set up an Office of AI to coordinate AI policy and develop standards across government. We will set clear expectations for the public service on AI use, including human oversight, accountability and privacy. We will also take steps to understand the full lifetime cost of adopting AI across the public service.
New Zealand Loyal: AI may be used only where it clearly cuts costs, improves efficiency, and remains fully transparent and auditable by elected members and the public. Opaque consultant-driven AI work that inflates costs or obscures decisions is rejected. Smaller borough councils reduce the need for expensive external reports in the first place.
NZ Outdoors & Freedom Party: When NZ privatized Govt and Council functions, we lost the “institutionalized knowledge” that made sure we didn’t, for example, build on flood plains or liquefaction zones. AI doesn’t know all the information, and it doesn’t know what it doesn’t know, which creates potential for catastrophe. We are nervous of excess reliance on AI for important jobs, partly because if we stop learning because we think AI will work it all out for us, we’ll never know either. AI only knows because a human thought of it at some point, if we stop thinking and writing things down, both AI AND humans will become stupider. So short answer, we think AI can be used for some simple councils functions and for research but not reports, strategies etc.
Opportunity Party: No answer provided.
Te Pāti Māori: No answer provided.
Te Tai Tokerau Party: No answer provided.
The Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand: No answer provided.
The New Zealand National Party: No answer provided.
Vision New Zealand: No answer provided.
Women’s Rights Party: No answer provided.
Question 8: Does your party support congestion charging or time-of-use charging schemes, and how much of New Zealand’s transport network should be covered by such schemes?
ACT New Zealand: No answer provided.
Alliance Party of Aotearoa New Zealand: No answer provided.
Animal Justice Party Aotearoa New Zealand: No answer provided.
Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party: The ALCP does not have a policy on this.
Conservative Party NZ: No answer provided.
Free Palestine: No answer provided.
New Zealand First Party: No answer provided.
New Zealand Labour Party: Labour supported the legislation enabling time-of-use charging, building on groundwork done by the last Labour Government. Whether a scheme is right for a particular city should be decided by councils and their communities, not forced on them by a minister. Any scheme must come with reliable public transport alternatives.
New Zealand Loyal: No. These are additional taxes on ordinary movement. NZ Loyal prioritises proper infrastructure investment through sovereign monetary policy and the 1% transaction tax, not new charges on existing roads. Local borough councils focus on practical road maintenance rather than revenue-raising schemes.
NZ Outdoors & Freedom Party: No, do not support. It ends up being another “poor tax” where the people who can least afford it have to spend more of their hard earned cash just getting to work, kids to school/sports etc. We do need to be more clever in how we manage traffic – perhaps staggering work start/finish times, work from home options, more “mini-bus” and supporting car share options would be more beneficial.
Opportunity Party: No answer provided.
Te Pāti Māori: No answer provided.
Te Tai Tokerau Party: No answer provided.
The Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand: No answer provided.
The New Zealand National Party: No answer provided.
Vision New Zealand: No answer provided.
Women’s Rights Party: No answer provided.
Question 9: Does your party support public-private partnerships and for-profit investors gaining ongoing financial or ownership interests in existing transport corridors (such as adding tolls to roads and bridges located on well-established routes)?
ACT New Zealand: No answer provided.
Alliance Party of Aotearoa New Zealand: No answer provided.
Animal Justice Party Aotearoa New Zealand: No answer provided.
Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party: The ALCP does not have a policy on this.
Conservative Party NZ: No answer provided.
Free Palestine: No answer provided.
New Zealand First Party: No answer provided.
New Zealand Labour Party: Labour has been open to tolling new roads, but we oppose tolling existing roads. We have ruled out tolling the existing Auckland Harbour Bridge to pay for a second crossing. Households are under enough pressure without new charges being added for roads they have already paid for.
New Zealand Loyal: No. Existing roads and bridges stay in public ownership without permanent private tolls or ongoing ownership interests. Decentralised local councils manage local networks; they do not hand monopoly rents on established routes to private investors.
NZ Outdoors & Freedom Party: No do not support. NZOFP says bring back the Public Works Department to decide. These critical roading projects should NOT be political decisions – they should be made locally in conjunction with the PWD where and when roads are needed. We do not need private investors owning our stuff.
Opportunity Party: No answer provided.
Te Pāti Māori: No answer provided.
Te Tai Tokerau Party: No answer provided.
The Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand: No answer provided.
The New Zealand National Party: No answer provided.
Vision New Zealand: No answer provided.
Women’s Rights Party: No answer provided.
Question 10: What is your party’s position on councils and NZTA installing a considerable amount of roadside surveillance and sensor technology over the last decade (such as number-plate reading cameras, Bluetooth signal monitors, as well as a range of other cameras, sensors, and detectors)?
ACT New Zealand: No answer provided.
Alliance Party of Aotearoa New Zealand: No answer provided.
Animal Justice Party Aotearoa New Zealand: No answer provided.
Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party: The ALCP community have been subject to surveillence for consuming a God given herb. We are not comfortable with invasions of privacy and would like to see checks and balances. For example footage should be destroyed after a certain period of time. The danger of data storage is that it can be hacked putting peoples privacy and safety at risk.
Conservative Party NZ: No answer provided.
Free Palestine: No answer provided.
New Zealand First Party: No answer provided.
New Zealand Labour Party: Technology can help manage traffic and improve safety, but it must never come at the expense of people’s privacy. Any agency collecting information about New Zealanders on our roads must comply with the Privacy Act. It should collect only what it needs and be clear about how that information is used, stored and shared. Labour’s approach to new technology is to protect people’s rights, safety and privacy, with clear standards for the use of personal information and human accountability for how it is used.
New Zealand Loyal: NZ Loyal opposes further expansion of mass roadside surveillance. The growth of number-plate cameras, Bluetooth monitors and related sensors has occurred with insufficient democratic scrutiny. Smaller, accountable borough councils are far less likely to install pervasive monitoring systems without clear local consent and necessity.
NZ Outdoors & Freedom Party: NZOFP believe that people didn’t agree to any of this surveillance – and this is being forced on to us without our consent in the name of “safety” . And we’re not sure about the legality of much of it. It feels like Big Brother and we feel that it may be being used in ways that has not been publicly admitted to.
Opportunity Party: No answer provided.
Te Pāti Māori: No answer provided.
Te Tai Tokerau Party: No answer provided.
The Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand: No answer provided.
The New Zealand National Party: No answer provided.
Vision New Zealand: No answer provided.
Women’s Rights Party: No answer provided.
Question 11: Does your party support the general public being fully informed about the technologies and devices being deployed as surveillance and sensors on the transport network (including brands, models, capabilities, data storage and processing procedures, as well as what other entities, foreign and domestic, have access to use the collected data)?
ACT New Zealand: No answer provided.
Alliance Party of Aotearoa New Zealand: No answer provided.
Animal Justice Party Aotearoa New Zealand: No answer provided.
Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party: Of course the ALCP believes the public should be informed on all matters especially data storage.
Conservative Party NZ: No answer provided.
Free Palestine: No answer provided.
New Zealand First Party: No answer provided.
New Zealand Labour Party: Labour supports openness about how public agencies collect and use information about New Zealanders. People should be able to understand what is being collected, why, how long it is kept and who can access it. That has to be balanced against protecting the security of the systems themselves, but the starting point should be transparency. This is consistent with our commitment to set clear standards for the use of private information and strengthen New Zealand’s control over its data.
New Zealand Loyal: Yes. Complete transparency is required: brands, models, capabilities, data storage, processing, retention, and every domestic or foreign entity with access. Secrecy is incompatible with accountable local government. Decentralised councils make such opacity harder to maintain.
NZ Outdoors & Freedom Party: Yes support being fully informed. Also bring it back to the people to decide via a Direct Democracy question – give us the information and let us decide who has access to our information and how much surveillance we are prepared to allow. This is “our tax dollars” being used to watch us. Let the people decide how they want their money spent!
Opportunity Party: No answer provided.
Te Pāti Māori: No answer provided.
Te Tai Tokerau Party: No answer provided.
The Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand: No answer provided.
The New Zealand National Party: No answer provided.
Vision New Zealand: No answer provided.
Women’s Rights Party: No answer provided.
Question 12: Does your party support central government subsidising councils to install speed bumps and raised platforms on roads?
ACT New Zealand: No answer provided.
Alliance Party of Aotearoa New Zealand: No answer provided.
Animal Justice Party Aotearoa New Zealand: No answer provided.
Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party: The ALCP does not have a policy on this.
Conservative Party NZ: No answer provided.
Free Palestine: No answer provided.
New Zealand First Party: No answer provided.
New Zealand Labour Party: Road safety decisions should be guided by evidence, not opinion, and no one should accept road deaths as normal. Councils know their local roads best and should be able to use proven safety measures where their communities support them. Labour hasn’t made a specific commitment on dedicated funding for speed bumps or raised platforms. Transport funding priorities are set through the Government Policy Statement on land transport, and evidence on what saves lives should guide them.
New Zealand Loyal: No. Central government should not fund devices that impede traffic flow and emergency response. Local borough-style councils decide practical road safety measures based on local conditions and cost-effectiveness, not central directives or subsidies for obstacles.
NZ Outdoors & Freedom Party: NZOFP has no position on this.
Opportunity Party: No answer provided.
Te Pāti Māori: No answer provided.
Te Tai Tokerau Party: No answer provided.
The Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand: No answer provided.
The New Zealand National Party: No answer provided.
Vision New Zealand: No answer provided.
Women’s Rights Party: No answer provided.
[The content of any survey answers represents the views of the relevant party as supplied to CityWatch NZ. Posting of this content on the CityWatch NZ website does not necessarily constitute endorsement of those views by CityWatch NZ or its editors. CityWatch NZ functions to provide information and a range of different perspectives on New Zealand’s cities and local councils. If you disagree with or dispute the content, CityWatch NZ can pass that feedback on to the author. Send an email to feedback@citywatchnz.org and clearly identify the content and the issue.]
