The ACT Party wants to cut more than $1.1 billion in foreign aid over four years from 2028 onwards.

The proposal was announced on Saturday by list candidate Paul Henry, who said it would mean a “reality check” for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) on behalf of taxpayers.

“New Zealand has good reason to spend overseas – a stable, prosperous Pacific, strong trade ties and the ability to help when disaster strikes. But foreign aid is taxpayers’ money and should face the same scrutiny as spending here at home,” Henry said.

The fiscal plan unveiled by leader David Seymour on Sunday stated that “overseas spending must be weighed against domestic priorities” and that a foreign aid cut would lessen the government’s need to borrow.

“ACT will reduce foreign aid to 2017 levels, excluding support for Ukraine… this will save around $283 million a year,” the proposal said.

Based on the current 2024/25 to 2026/27 triennium aid budget of $3.06 billion, reducing foreign aid by $283 million per year would amount to a 28 percent cut.

It comes off the back of a National Party promise to reduce aid by $431 million last week, as a means of funding a commitment for new medicines and a lower bowel screening age.

Like National, Seymour said there would be no aid cuts to the Pacific.

“We believe that we should be looking after our friends in the Pacific, that’s critical to New Zealand,” Seymour told reporters on Sunday.

It would also protect spending to support Ukraine, which so far has totalled around $152 million since the war began.

He called the rest of the budget “a blowout”.

“When I see $15 million for transgender passionfruit, that’s not the sort of expenditure people thought they were getting.

“I think some of these boondoggles make people laugh at us.”

The aid item in question was the “Vietnam Climate-Smart Fruit Value Chain,” on which around $4.5 million has so far been spent. None of the information provided about the project on MFAT’s DevData website makes reference to gender-diverse people.

Aid expert Terence Wood told RNZ Pacific that ACT’s proposal would wreak havoc on New Zealand’s aid programme and its workers.

“It would be incredibly disruptive to the aid work that New Zealand does,” he said.

“If you’re got to implement a massive cut over a short period of time, you’re gonna cut things here, there and everywhere – there’s not going to be much scope for carefully selecting the projects that go.

He said a carve-out for Pacific aid suggests that cuts to the rest of the world – for example South East Asia – would be massive.

“If a politician cites a silly sounding project to justify aid cuts, they’re almost certainly trying to hoodwink you.”

Labour’s leader Chris Hipkins said cuts to foreign aid would mean New Zealand’s role as a good global citizen could take a hit.

“Our foreign aid is a small but important contribution we make as a good global citizen. Our trading relationships across the world depend on our good reputation as a good global citizen, and that’s going to be undermined if you have a National, ACT, New Zealand First government still in office after the election.”

He said a lot of New Zealand businesses were involved in delivering foreign aid, and it was on ACT to explain that their business could be cut.

Both National and ACT’s policies were a waste of time, he said.

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters – who has been the foreign minister this term – also criticised the policy, calling it “mindless”.

He said it was “training wheel stuff” and would leave New Zealand with no influence on the world stage.

“It’s high time that they left it to the adults in the room on this matter. This is extraordinary,” he told RNZ.

“What are their qualifications in this field? What’s their experience? Who have they known, and who have they met? And the answer is zero.”