Election snapshot: cheaper fares, higher care wages and tax-free KiwiSaver

Summarised by Centrist

The Greens are promising cheaper public transport, Labour higher pay for care workers, and ACT KiwiSaver tax relief and a ban on compulsory spiritual requirements in resource consents.

Greens: free fares and more rail. Public transport would be free for children, students, apprentices, Community Services Card holders and Total Mobility users, with bus and train fares capped at $2 for everyone else. Promises include rapid transit in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, overnight Auckland–Wellington trains, restoring the Southerner and extending Te Huia to Tauranga. The package is estimated at $23.9 billion, with some major projects taking around a decade. The full fiscal plan is still pending.

Labour: care-worker pay rise and a surplus. Labour promises 65,000 care and support workers an extra $4 an hour from January 1, 2027, costing $2.5 billion over four years. It would restore pay-equity legislation within its first 100 days and return the books to surplus in 2028/29. Labour says its budget has headroom for wider pay-equity settlements, whose full cost is not specified.

ACT: tax-free KiwiSaver investment earnings. ACT would remove tax on KiwiSaver investment earnings so returns remain invested and compound. It would also end the government contribution for members receiving employer contributions, replacing it with the tax relief. The estimated net cost is $2.4 billion over four years.

ACT: no compulsory karakia in consents. ACT would ban consent conditions requiring people to fund, arrange or participate in karakia or other religious observances. Ceremonies could remain voluntary. Spiritual beliefs alone could not justify refusing or restricting consent; ACT says protections for heritage, burial grounds and legally recognised rights would remain.

Read more at RNZ

Image: Pseudopanax

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