'No hope, no plan': Opposition parties react to Budget 2026

Finance Minister Nicola Willis has revealed her third Budget at Parliament today. Here’s how the opposition parties reacted.

Labour leader Chris Hipkins said the Government failed to show it had a plan to help New Zealanders get ahead.

“Nicola Willis has given New Zealanders nothing to ease the pressure they are under. Instead of helping struggling New Zealanders, Christopher Luxon and Nicola Willis chose to make lives harder.”

Budget under fire as critics say it fails to ease cost-of-living pressures - Watch on TVNZ+

He pointed to planned cuts to the public service and rent hikes for social housing tenants as examples of the Government making life harder for Kiwis.

"They broke their promise to fix the economy, instead are soon to sack 9000 people who deliver essential services that families rely on.

“Cutting these roles will affect social workers, police, housing and healthcare, and hurt the regional economies as thousands more families struggle to make ends meet.

“They’ve chosen cruel housing policies, which will see 80,000 households worse off, on top of earlier decisions to cut housing builds and increase the number of Kiwis living on the street.”

Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds criticised the budget’s lack of a package dedicated to addressing the cost of living.

“This Budget takes no action to help with rising costs. Families are choosing between expensive food and expensive fuel, tapping into their retirement savings just to stay afloat now.

“A trip to the doctor now costs close to $100 in some parts of the country. Rates and insurance have gone up. Energy bills have skyrocketed 20%, contributing to a 15-year high in business liquidations.”

Budget 2026: Key announcements, winners and trade-offs explained, watch on TVNZ+

She said the Government had contributed significantly to high unemployment and was going make it worse with its planned cuts.

“We cannot afford another three years of National’s failures.”

Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick said today's Budget was proof the Government had "no hope, no plan, no ambition and no vision for our country".

She was particularly critical of the Government’s climate plans, saying taxpayers faced an ever-increasing bill from New Zealand’s obligations under the Paris climate agreement.

“We have all known for years that meeting the Paris Agreement, covering 2021 to 2030, will require offshore mitigation.

“The entire Budget Economic and Fiscal Update is a stark warning for hooking our economy up to more fossil fuel vulnerability, and reads like an ad for renewable energy generation."

She also pointed to a report out today that found homelessness was at its highest level ever in New Zealand.

“The Government’s housing strategy is clearly prison, where they’re today chucking half a billion dollars to increase capacity for prisoners.”

Co-leader Marama Davidson said the country’s poorest were being made to pay.

“This Budget shows it’s students, renters, social housing tenants, whānau on low incomes and families already stretched thin, who did nothing to cause this Government's economic mess, are the ones being told to wear it."

She said the Government could be doing much more to address the effects of the cost of living on households but had chosen not to.

Asked for his thoughts on the Budget, Te Pati Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi said: "Where there's a Willis, there's no way"

He was not happy about the lack of targeted support for Māori development, saying there had been a $134 million decrease.

"It's the least investment we've had in 15 years, since this Government was actually in charge the last time."

Waititi wanted to see new and "targeted investment" in lowering youth poverty and incarceration rates for Māori.

He called for a heavier focus on equity, saying it would be the difference between the "haves and the have-nots".

"This is not about the haves and the have-nots; this is about the have-nots and have yachts.

"Those who are already at the top of the cream can will continue to benefit from this particular Government, and its budget, and those at the bottom of the cream can, by the time you get there, it's fly bone."