In Week 3 of the Taxpayers' Union's Bribe-O-Meter, Labour has proposed requiring supermarkets to operate their wholesale and retail arms separately, and to make price gouging illegal. The direct cost to taxpayers is limited to additional Commerce Commission enforcement capacity, which we have costed at $88.6 million, or $42.75 per household.
National's proposal for a Commerce Commission study into a possible structural separation of Foodstuffs has been costed at $5 million. We've also included National's proposal for a referendum on retaining MMP, costed at $16.6 million.
The Greens have proposed allowing councils to auction leases on commercial premises left vacant for over 12 months, with disputes handled by a new tribunal. We have costed the tribunal at $7.2 million. The Greens have also committed $200 million to promoting te reo Māori.
Opportunity's $5 billion Climate Resilience Fund adds $2,413 per household. This week we have also added interest costs associated with the party's proposed infrastructure borrowing, adding a further $12 billion, or $5,792 per household.
Te Pāti Māori has announced its first costed policy of the campaign, a $1 billion Energy Sovereignty fund intended to support Māori and community ownership of new renewable energy assets, equivalent to $483 per household.
New Zealand First's "Make NZ Healthy" package, comprising fifteen individual policies, was announced without accompanying costings. We have estimated the package at $2.1 billion, or $1,019 per household, based on comparable programme costs and public sector data. We would welcome New Zealand First's own costings for inclusion in future updates.
| Party | Spending Promise | Cost Per Household |
|---|---|---|
| National | $1.99 billion | $960 |
| ACT | $708 million | $342 |
| Labour | $50.47 billion | $24,358 |
| NZ First | $49.40 billion | $23,841 |
| Opportunity | $218.40 billion | $105,406 |
| Green Party | $236.70 billion | $114,239 |
| Te Pāti Māori | Too vague to cost overall | N/A |
Taxpayers’ Union Head of Policy James Ross said:
"This week's announcements show how much of the cost of an election promise can sit off the government's own books. Labour and National's supermarket policies will cost businesses real money, even if most of the bill never shows up on the Crown's balance sheet."
"We've costed New Zealand First's 'Make New Zealand Healthy' at $2.1 billion, but assumptions about how much the party intends to bump nurses' pay are responsible for the lion's share. We invite them to reach out with more detail to update these costings for next week."
"A second party has broken the $100,000-per-household mark this week, with Opportunity joining the Greens. This is over four times as much as the next closest competitors."
Weekly Bribe-O-Meter updates, including our Transparency Score Rankings, are available at www.taxpayers.org.nz/bribe_o_meter.
