Kiwis care about how their food is grown, and now they
have a clear, side by side view of where the parties stand
on organics—thanks to a new election
scorecard.
Organics Aotearoa New Zealand (OANZ) has
created an election scorecard
(https://www.oanz.org/new-blog/vote-organic-the-2026-election-scorecard)
to help voters wanting to support policies that grow organic
and NZ’s $1.2 billion organic sector.
Organics is a
high-value part of New Zealand’s food and farming sector,
with export earnings growing at more than twice the rate of
the wider food and fibre industry. Healthier humans and
stronger returns for the environment and rural communities
underline why the sector’s next phase depends on the policy
choices made this election.
The Organic Scorecard,
which goes live today on OANZ’s website
(https://www.oanz.org/new-blog/vote-organic-the-2026-election-scorecard),
will be updated during the election campaign as parties
refine and release policy.
The scorecard reflects
political parties’ responses to seven questions OANZ put
to them.
The scorecard follows the earlier release of
OANZ’s Election Manifesto
(https://www.oanz.org/new-blog/organic-manifesto-goes-to-parliamentsector-calls-for-policy-amp-investment),
also on OANZ’s website, which reflects the organic
sector’s policy priorities.
To create the Organic
Scorecard, OANZ’s Manifesto, along with the seven
questions, was provided to all political parties. Each party
was given ample opportunity to respond to the questions with
supporting evidence from their policy and/or statements.
Results were analysed, placed on a scorecard, checked by the
political parties and are now published.
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“We are
serious about the opportunity that organic presents our
nation, and we wanted to know where political parties stand
with respect to policies supporting our sector,” said OANZ
advisor Brendan Hoare.
“The scorecard will help the
estimated 120,000 organic voters make a decision in our
up-and-coming election on 7 November 2026.
“Beyond
those voters connected to the sector, we know a great many
more Kiwis want a strong organic sector and to support
policies that enable the benefits of organics to grow and
flourish,” said Mr Hoare. “This scorecard is designed to
help inform their decision.”
The organic sector is
poised to evolve and expand. It has its own Organic Act, an
agreed sector-wide growth strategy, a world-first Associate
Minister of Organic, and 9% growth across multiple food
categories in both domestic and export
markets.
“There is absolutely no reason for
political parties not to get behind and support us,” said
Brendan Hoare. “We now need political and policy support
to realise our ambition. The good news is that through our
enquiry, we see areas where political parties are
supportive, and areas where they can do better. This is
great news, and by sharing our scorecard, the public can
vote for an organic future.”
A webinar inviting all
political party leaders is scheduled for early
October.
