After a nine year absence, the Taxpayers’ Union has
relaunched its policy costing “Bribe-O-Meter“
for the 2026 election, with the first update showing the
Greens have already promised $114,139 per household in new
spending.
The Bribe-O-Meter is the most
comprehensive independent policy costing project undertaken
in New Zealand. It cuts through the political noise by
independently costing political party policies to show
taxpayers what each party’s promises would cost on a per
household basis.
The Bribe-O-Meter will be
updated every week through to election day on 7 November to
show what, where, and how parties are bribing voters with
their own cash.
Today’s release of the
Bribe-O-Meter (which covers all policy announcements
up to 11:59pm Sunday 6 September 2026) reveals that the
Greens and Opportunity are far and away the biggest
spenders, promising to blow $114,000-per-household and
$97,000-per-household respectively. On the other side of the
table, ACT has so far pledged $1,271, and National just $936
per household, in new spending.
Commenting
on the project’s launch, Taxpayers’ Union Head of Policy
James Ross said:
“This year’s elections bribes are
coming thick and fast, and they’re bigger than ever. Kiwis
deserve to know the cost of this election before they
vote.”
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“The Greens and Opportunity are far and away
the biggest spenders so far this year, but every party is
going to cost taxpayers. If politicians won’t front up on
the cost of their policies, then we will do it for
them.”
Weekly Bribe-O-Meter updates, including
our Transparency Score Rankings, are available at www.taxpayers.org.nz/bribe_o_meter.
FAQ:
What
is the Bribe-O-Meter?
The
Bribe-O-Meter compiles the political promises of each
of the main political parties, broken down by spending
category.
The Bribe-O-Meter is about
transparency. The Taxpayers’ Union’s policy staff and
advisors will be updating the figures weekly, allowing
potential voters to assess which parties are offering value
for taxpayers’ money as the election campaign
progresses.
Current Government spending plans are used
as a baseline, so only policies that deviate from current
Government policy spending are
included.
How have you costed each
policy?
For some policies, we have taken
parties at their word. For uncosted policies, these have
been independently costed by our team. In some cases, where
parties’ costings are not reasonable or based on a
questionable assumption, independent costing have been
preferred. These costings are separately listed within the
Bribe-O-Meter. Explainers for each can be found at www.taxpayers.org.nz/bribe_o_meter_workings
Will
you work with parties to update your
figures?
Absolutely! We want to provide
the public and media with as much information as possible.
If there are errors or a party disagrees with our assessment
of their costings, we hope that the Bribe-O-Meterwill
encourage the parties to provide the public with more
information and transparency.
How
often will the Bribe-O-Meter be
updated?
The Bribe-O-Meter will be
updated on a weekly basis, with updates published every
Wednesday between now and the election.
Are
the graphics free to use?
Yes, the media
are free to use the graphics, but we ask that they are
attributed to the Taxpayers’
Union.
