The Opportunity Party
Expect Better
Qiulae Wong. Not in Parliament. The 1News Verian poll of 8-12 October had them on 8%, still over the 5% line. National has already ruled them out over tax.
Centre to centre-left. Not in Parliament yet. They say they are in the centre. The policies sit left of National: a land tax, a citizen's income, oceans, and the Treaty. The land tax would fall on ordinary urban landowners. National has already said no because of tax. Hipkins opened the door after 12 August, but not the land tax.
What they want
- Tax the land under houses (1.75% in town, 0.5% on farms) to push prices down. Wong says that is a 10-year shift, not a first-term bottom line.
- Pay adults about $370 a week as a citizen's income, instead of many benefits. Wong says that is not a first-term bottom line.
- About 2,000 public-service roles would go over ten years once that payment replaces benefits. Wong says some could be moved. The costings assume a cut.
- Force a bigger KiwiSaver (12% in total).
- Lock the 30-year infrastructure plan into law. Put 60% of the spend on maintenance.
- A climate adaptation law that survives a change of government. National rules for when insurers pull out of flood and coastal areas. Share the cost between central government, councils and owners.
- Ban bottom trawling. Build a lot more renewable power. A fund so factories can switch off fossil fuels.
- Put farm methane into a market so farms can sell cuts, not only cut stock. Let the independent climate watchdog set the carbon-market price.
- Put climate change back in the school curriculum. They called leaving it out political ideology.
- Citizens' juries on big issues.
- Lock a long education plan that more than one party signs, so the next government cannot rip it up. An independent council would set the curriculum, not ministers. The same idea for health.
- Restore marine and coastal area law to the settings before the 2025 changes.
- Put Treaty wording back where the last government took it out. Do not let Treaty findings bind Cabinet.
- Cap gifts at $30,000 per donor. Only registered voters. No company, union or trust gifts. Register lobbyists. A one-year cooling-off before ministers can lobby.
Things to watch
- They want a $30,000 gift cap. They are taking bigger gifts now. Wong and board member Alan Wilderland say they have to play the game first.
- On Q+A, Wong first said the board could not overrule a caucus, then said it could. They now say they are dropping that veto. The filed constitution still has it.
- Their costings cut about 2,000 public-service roles over ten years. The PSA said that would harm services for generations.
- Wong's first-term asks include starting to phase out bottom trawling. National would review that fishing, and would not ban it. Land tax and a citizen's income are still policy. They will not insist on them in the first term.
- The Commission disclosed $70,000 in protected anonymous gifts to them this year. They want to ban that kind of pass-through. A gift is legal. It is not proof a decision was bought.
What they promised, and what happened
Not in Parliament. The gap is the rules they want versus the money they take now.
- They want a $30,000 cap and no company gifts. Named 2026 gifts already include $100,000 cheques. Wong says they have to play the game first.
- On Q+A, Wong first said the board could not overrule a caucus, then said it could. They now say they are dropping that veto. The filed constitution still has it.
- They have not been in Parliament, so there is no ministerial delivery record to score.
Who pays
Only $179,000 in all of 2025. Named 2026 gifts over $20,000 are already about $492,000. That is not a full-year total. Board member Alan Wilderland is the biggest named person. Press reported Alajamber Limited is his company. Those stay as separate filers. Also Phillip Mills (who funds Labour and the Greens) and Brian Cartmell (who funded the government parties).