Fixing the Basics

Over the last two years, National has been fixing the basics by:

1.     Lowering inflation and interest rates to begin easing the cost of living.

• Stopped wasteful spending, which helped reduce inflation from 7.3% to 3%.
• As a result, interest rates have fallen from 5.5% to 2.5%, lowering mortgage repayments and helping Kiwis with the cost of living.

2.     Reducing taxes on Kiwis to put more money in people’s pockets.

• By raising personal income brackets, the average Kiwi family has had annual taxes cut by $1,560.
• It's also easier for families to afford childcare, with additional FamilyBoost childcare rebates worth up to $240 a fortnight.

3.     Making it easier for Kiwis to farm, build and grow businesses.

• Slashed red tape for farmers including fixing unworkable freshwater rules, restoring commonsense to regulations like winter grazing and limiting farm to forest conversions.
• Cut the red tape hindering Kiwis from building sheds & granny flats in their own back yards.
• Fast-tracking major projects NZ needs for the future, including housing, renewable energy and mining projects, creating thousands of jobs for Kiwis in the process.

4.     Making our streets are safer by cracking down on crime.    

• Banned gang patches, gave Police more powers to tackle gangs, increased Police patrols, and tougher sentences for criminals.
• Delivered an 85% reduction in ram raids and 38,000 fewer victims of violent crime.

5.     Getting our schools back to teaching the basics brilliantly to set our kids up for life.

• Mandated an hour each of reading, writing and maths every single day.
• Banned cellphones in classrooms and stopped new open-plan classrooms, to end distractions and improve learning quality.
• In reading 58% of kids are now meeting expectations up from 36%, and 43% are exceeding expectations - more than double the Term 1 rate (in 2025).
• Under our new maths approach - students made 12 months progress in just 12 weeks.

Building the Future

There is more work to do, and National is focused on building the future. Our plan will secure a better, brighter future for Kiwis for generations to come. We are: 

6.     Growing the economy to create more jobs and better opportunities for Kiwis. 

• Making it easier for businesses to expand and hire people by removing more red tape.
• Delivering new trade deals to create new business opportunities, especially for our farmers and growers. 
• Lifting savings and investment by doubling KiwiSaver over time so New Zealanders are more financially secure.

7.     Maintaining disciplined spending so your taxes are spent wisely.

• Securing lower inflation and interest rates.
• Balancing our books so we don’t burden our children and grandchildren with debt. 
• Cutting taxes whenever it is economically responsible to do so.

8.     Upgrading roads, schools and hospitals giving Kiwis quality, reliable public services.

• Building 17 roads of National significance and 12 roads of regional significance.
• Upgrading Dunedin and Nelson hospitals and building a new Waikato Medical School.
• Building 2,500 new classrooms and providing a maintenance boost for every single school.

9.     Securing affordable housing for families and first-time buyers, so hard working Kiwis. have the security of owning their own home.  

• Making mortgages cheaper with lower interest rates.
• Building more affordable houses in the right places by easing planning restrictions, freeing up unused land, and introducing new import laws so building materials are less expensive.