{"id":612960,"date":"2026-09-27T02:08:16","date_gmt":"2026-09-27T02:08:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/612960\/"},"modified":"2026-09-27T02:08:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-27T02:08:16","slug":"election-2026-christopher-luxon-warns-labour-bereft-of-ideas-as-he-reveals-nationals-10-top-promises","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/612960\/","title":{"rendered":"Election 2026: Christopher Luxon warns Labour bereft of ideas as he reveals National\u2019s 10 top promises"},"content":{"rendered":"

The National Party leader launched his party\u2019s official campaign by deploying a new \u201cpledge card\u201d loaded with 10 commitments he says his party will deliver on if re-elected.<\/p>\n

They are mostly generic mission statements and policies, including having \u201ceconomic growth that delivers new jobs and higher wages\u201d, \u201cno new taxes\u201d, \u201cbetter school results\u201d, \u201ctougher consequences for criminals\u201d, \u201cfaster healthcare and more medicines\u201d, \u201cbetter infrastructure\u201d and the \u201cbooks in surplus\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"NationalNational leader Christopher Luxon at his party’s campaign launch. Photo \/ Jamie Ensor.<\/p>\n

The card also refers to policies already announced by National including compulsory KiwiSaver, a paid parental leave extension from 26 to 30 weeks and a \u201cbetter deal at the supermarket\u201d, which the party hopes to achieve by pursuing structural separation of Foodstuffs.<\/p>\n

Speaking at the International Convention Centre in central Auckland, with hundreds in attendance (although the auditorium wasn\u2019t full), Luxon said his Government had \u201cinherited a country in dire straits\u201d.<\/p>\n

He highlighted several of the issues he argued New Zealand faced then, such as high inflation, frequent ram raids, a focus on co-governance in the health system, and public money being given to the Mongrel Mob.<\/p>\n

\u201cLabour lost the plot. They spent more. They borrowed more. They taxed more. And through it all, they lost sight of what really matters. Your business. Your community. Your family. And your safety. Now, they\u2019re desperately trying to argue they\u2019ve changed. Do you believe them? I don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"NationalNational leader Christopher Luxon at his party’s campaign launch. Photo \/ Jamie Ensor.<\/p>\n

Luxon said Labour had \u201cembarrassingly little to say\u201d, cherry-picking areas in which it is yet to release extensive policy. <\/p>\n

While the National leader tried to suggest Labour has offered little policy, Chris Hipkins\u2019 party has released some, ranging from a capital gains tax to fund three free GP visits, a fare cap for public transport, solar panel loans, a new KiwiSaver policy, an independent curriculum group, to promising every nurse graduate a job.<\/p>\n

\u201cChris Hipkins says he\u2019s still warming up. Well, I\u2019ve got one simple message. You \u2018better start now\u2019. Because this country needs more than a slogan, it needs a plan. And Labour doesn\u2019t have one.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said, \u201cI could give you chapter and verse on Labour\u2019s scandalous lack of policy just a matter of weeks out from election day\u201d, but he pushed a key message about Kiwis not being able to afford new taxes or additional spending under Labour.<\/p>\n

\"NationalNational couldn’t quite fill the auditorium at the International Convention Centre. Photo \/ Jamie Ensor<\/p>\n

Among the achievements Luxon highlighted was replacing the Resource Management Act, education reform, completing a Free Trade Agreement with India, and \u201ccracking down on gangs\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cNational is the party of delivery. But the job isn\u2019t done yet. So today, I\u2019m proud to present National\u2019s 2026 pledge card. Ten commitments. My personal promise to every New Zealander.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pledges are: <\/p>\n

Economic growth that delivers new jobs and higher wages;No new taxes so you keep more of what you earn;Compulsory KiwiSaver with higher contributions and a $1500 baby boost;Paid Parental Leave extension from 26 to 30 weeks;Better school results by replacing NCEA, regular assessment and teaching the basics brilliantly;Tougher consequences for criminals and more police patrols;Faster healthcare and more medicines on top of 33 new cancer medicines already delivered;Better infrastructure with Roads of National Significance, new classrooms and new and upgraded hospitals;A better deal at the supermarket by driving competition;Books in surplus so we don\u2019t saddle our kids with new debt or more taxes.\"NationalNational leader Christopher Luxon and former Prime Minister Sir John Key at the party’s campaign launch. Photo \/ Jamie Ensor.<\/p>\n

National has attempted to stick to Labour the various taxes proposed by the minor parties, arguing that Hipkins will need the additional revenue they would generate in order to fund the party\u2019s spending promises. <\/p>\n

Hipkins has consistently said Labour would only introduce a capital gains tax if elected to power, ruling out those being campaigned on by the party\u2019s potential post-election bedfellows. <\/p>\n

Luxon was yesterday swamped by people at Auckland\u2019s Moon Festival, held to celebrate the Chinese mid-autumn. <\/p>\n

After delivering a brief speech, in which he invoked the Chinese Year of the Fire Horse to argue that New Zealand needed to keep the momentum of having National remain in power, Luxon ditched the formalities to meet those who had braved the wet day to attend. <\/p>\n

\"NationalNational leader Christopher Luxon at Auckland’s Moon Festival. Photo \/ Jamie Ensor<\/p>\n

He spent nearly 30 minutes stuck in the same location as a long line formed of people wanting to grab a selfie with the Prime Minister. <\/p>\n

After his team eventually pulled him out, Luxon was asked what the biggest issue was he was hearing from people.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh look, it\u2019s a pretty simple choice. No new taxes, or nine new taxes from Hipkins and his mates,\u201d Luxon responded.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople don\u2019t like that. They want to keep more of their own money in their own back pocket.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"NationalNational leader Christopher Luxon and MP Nancy Lu. Photo \/ Jamie Ensor<\/p>\n

Luxon went on to wave signs with National Party volunteers \u2013 who recited the \u201cno new taxes\u201d line \u2013 on the side of a busy Auckland road, before walking around a nearby food market. <\/p>\n

Jamie Ensor is the NZ Herald\u2019s chief political reporter, based in the press gallery at Parliament. He was previously a TV reporter and digital producer in the Newshub press gallery office. He was a finalist in 2025 for Political Journalist of the Year at the Voyager Media Awards.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The National Party leader launched his party\u2019s official campaign by deploying a new \u201cpledge card\u201d loaded with 10…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":612961,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[9055,2246,806,5837,301878,5432,16426,5903,71,692,6044,5511,6721,16427,3556,71084,111,43,139,12885,69,1118,4762,2170,33170,30503,1517,312,3010,8218,4518,5977,102],"class_list":["post-612960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-9055","tag-2246","tag-as","tag-battle","tag-bereft","tag-between","tag-christopher","tag-election","tag-from","tag-he","tag-ideas","tag-just","tag-labour","tag-luxon","tag-national","tag-nationals","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-november","tag-nz","tag-of","tag-party","tag-plan","tag-presenting","tag-promises","tag-reveals","tag-says","tag-top","tag-warns","tag-weeks","tag-which","tag-with"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/612960","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=612960"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/612960\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/612961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=612960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=612960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=612960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}