annual conference<\/a> – called a congress in election years – in Wellington.<\/p>\nWhile a recent poll puts Labour ahead of National and the left bloc ahead of the coalition, polling was not mentioned at all on Saturday morning.<\/p>\n
Instead, the focus was on rallying the membership, preparing them for the campaign and telling them what was “at stake” at the election.<\/p>\n
With four and a half months to go until polling day, deputy leader Carmel Sepuloni and finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said this year’s election would “define the country for years to come”.<\/p>\n
Edmonds, who was battling through sickness, told members the election would be a choice between two futures.<\/p>\n
“A country that cuts or a country that grows. A country that sells what it owns or a country that backs what it could become. A country that watches its young people leave or a country worth staying in and worth coming home to.”<\/p>\n
Wellington’s inclement weather proved a slight spanner in the works for the gathering. Flight cancellations and road closures meant around 150 people were not able to make the event, instead having to watch online.<\/p>\n
Party president Jill Day told those who did manage to make it that simply getting to the conference deserved a round of applause.<\/p>\n
Sepuloni, meanwhile, riffed that “the only thing that can be broken faster than this National government’s election promises is my umbrella”.<\/p>\n
The Labour Party says this year’s election will define the country for years to come, as the party gears up for the campaign ahead. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n
‘What is your why?’<\/p>\n
In her welcome speech, Day said members were asked ahead of the conference “what is your why?”<\/p>\n
She had received lots of different responses from members, she said, and what had emerged was a collective “why”.<\/p>\n
“Our why is the belief that we rise or fall together. Our why is the belief that a child’s future should not be determined by the circumstances of their birth,” she said.<\/p>\n
“Our why is the belief that hard work should be rewarded, and our why is the belief that Aotearoa New Zealand is strongest when we look after one another.”<\/p>\n
Day told members the election would not be won on who had the best values but on how those values were talked about in communities and when knocking on doors.<\/p>\n
“Let us campaign with courage, let us campaign with kindness, let us campaign with hope, and let us campaign to win. We must win.”<\/p>\n
![\"Deputy](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/deputy-labour-leader-carmel-sepuloni-speaks-at-the-party-con-WMSVWZLHJJE7HAIOV337FUNOOA.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Deputy Labour leader Carmel Sepuloni speaks at the party conference in Wellington. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n
‘I’ll make the numbers add up’ – Edmonds<\/p>\n
While Day’s speech was heavy on Labour and its values, Sepuloni spent a fair chunk of hers talking about the government.<\/p>\n
“The Government are taking us down a track where the country we have always known and loved is becoming unrecognisable. This is what is at stake at this year’s election. New Zealanders deserve better.”<\/p>\n
The cost of living was the No. 1 issue being raised with Labour when candidates were out and about, with many people feeling left behind, she said.<\/p>\n
She also challenged the Government on its overhaul of pay equity.<\/p>\n
“I’ve got four words for National and they are ‘Not on our watch’.”<\/p>\n
But Sepuloni gave no indication of how the party planned to pay for the reinstatement of the former regime.<\/p>\n
Treasury has costed the savings from changing the pay equity legislation at $12.8 billion over four years, although leader Chris Hipkins has frequently rejected such a price tag.<\/p>\n
Edmonds also did not speak of any specific costings for policies.<\/p>\n
At National’s conference last week, finance minister Nicola Willis accused Labour of a “hidden bill” and of “unfunded promises.”<\/p>\n
But Edmonds insisted she would make everything add up.<\/p>\n
“We will manage the books carefully. Every dollar will be treated for what it is: your money, hard earned,” she said.<\/p>\n
“I’ll make the numbers add up, I assure you of that. Not just on a spreadsheet but in every home around this country.”<\/p>\n
Edmonds accused the government of trying to cut its way to growth.<\/p>\n
“When you cut a job, you cut a wage. You cut a wage, you cut a grocery shop. When you cut a grocery shop, you cut the corner dairy, the local bakery, the cafe down the road.”<\/p>\n
Chris Hipkins did not address members on Saturday, and speeches by Labour campaign chair Kieran McAnulty and M\u0101ori campaign chair Willie Jackson were closed to media.<\/p>\n
The party did not announce any new policy on Saturday either, although Hipkins is set to make an announcement during his speech on Sunday afternoon.<\/p>\n
Labour’s polling is relatively stable in the early to mid-30s.<\/p>\n
The party did suffer a five-point slump in this week’s 1 News Verian poll, dropping to 32%.<\/p>\n
However, in that poll Labour was still ahead of National, and the left bloc would have the numbers to form a government.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Labour Party says this year’s election will define the country for years to come, as the party…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":497867,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,8028,43,135,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-497866","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-labour-party","tag-news","tag-politics","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497866","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=497866"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497866\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/497867"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=497866"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=497866"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=497866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}