By Harris Dowson

The New Zealand election is rapidly approaching and the future leadership of our country and the ideals they’ll promote are unclear. We all have a responsibility to engage with this process and cast a vote for the party that we feel represents our beliefs and ideals.

With the recent state of world politics, it’s understandable to just want to shut off and not think about the often frustrating and petty world of politics; however, now more than ever disengagement is something we just can’t do. As enticing of an option as remaining unengaged may seem at times, its not the right option. We have to care about the future of New Zealand. The future of our country hangs in the balance and you want that future to be one that holds your ideals high and treats the issues you care about with respect.

So, in an attempt to make it as easy as possible to gain an understanding of each of the individual parties’ beliefs and proposed policies, I’ve created a list to quickly summarise all of them. I’ve also added their websites, so if one seems to line up with your thinking you can have a more thorough read through about that party. I’d be remiss to not say here also, that above all the most important thing you can do is register to vote! Whether it’s your first time voting or you’ve moved house, you’ve got to get registered or update your details. If you aren’t registered then you can’t vote, it’s as simple as that. Registering is easy and AUT has even laid out booths around campuses with the small amount of paperwork you need to fill out.

The election is on 23 September so we’re getting close. Get involved and have your say!

The Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand

As a Green party it supports social justice, grassroots democracy, nonviolence, and environmentalism. The Greens have a left-wing environmentalist perspective, and also promote progressive social policies.

Policies include:

A reviewed budget to support families. The budget includes; “Making the $220 per week Parental Tax Credit available to all families who don’t get paid parental leave. This ensures every baby born in New Zealand gets the same support and makes the system simpler. Extend sick leave to be a minimum of 10 days a year, so that parents and whanau have time to look after sick kids Ensuring the OSCAR subsidy for after school and holiday programmes is available to all kids from low-income families. Give every new born baby a Wahakura - Baby Pod, which includes a safe sleeping place as well as clothes, nappies and bedding.”

A home for life, this policy promotes a vision of a country where safe, secure, warm, and dry housing is an affordable reality for everyone. This is to be done through, progressive home ownership, working with community housing providers and innovative housing finance. Included in this are plans to increase state housing in New Zealand.

Protecting our drinking water and ensuring clean New Zealand waterways.

A Student Green Card to offer all off peak transport free of charge for NZ students

Climate action. Promoting climate change science and lowering New Zealand’s carbon footprint. By using a Climate Commission that assesses the Government’s progress on meeting targets and provides advice on improvements. A Green Investment Bank that will stimulate growth in low emissions economic activity and revenue neutral ‘Climate Tax Cut’ that puts a price on greenhouse gas emissions, but recycles the revenue back to householders and business via tax credits.

New Zealand Labour Party

A centre-left, social-democratic party. It is currently the second largest party in Parliament. It supports a mixed economy market, with taxation levied to fund particularly its social programmes.

Policies include:

Fixing the housing crisis by building more affordable homes, cracking down on speculators and supporting those in need.

Making immigration work for New Zealand by ensuring that businesses are able to get genuinely skilled migrants when they need them. This will include introducing an Exceptional Skills Visa for highly skilled or talented people and introducing a KiwiBuild Visa for residential construction firms who train a local when they hire a worker from overseas. Strengthen the Labour Market Test for work visas so they are not being used for jobs Kiwis can do, and make our skills shortage lists more regional so migrants coming in under them can only live and work in areas where there is a genuine skills shortage. Require courses for international students to be high-quality, remove the ability to work for international students in low-level courses except where the work is approved as part of their study, and remove the ability to get a work visa without a job for those who have completed study below university level.

Promote easier access to mental health services and increase the resources required by frontline health workers.

Generate ways to give unemployed young people a job for six months, doing work of public value, so they can gain work experience and avoid long-term unemployment.

New Zealand First

A conservative, populist party. It aims "To put New Zealand and New Zealanders First". It is strongly anti-immigration, supports benefits for senior citizens, and advocates buying back former state owned enterprises.

Policies include:

Raise the minimum wage, to $17 in the first instance.

Introduce a new system of subsidizing wages for employers who take on young, unemployed people for trade training and skills programmes. Initially the young person would be assessed for literacy and numeracy skills. These would be included as part of the training package including money from the Job Seeker support benefit for 12 months

Imposing a rigorous and strictly applied immigration policy that serves New Zealand’s interests. Immigration should not be used as a source of cheap labour to undermine New Zealanders’ pay and conditions.

New Zealand National Party

A centre-right, conservative and classical-liberal party. Currently the largest party in Parliament. It supports a mixed economy market, and lower taxation particularly as a stimulus for private enterprise.

Policies include;

Supporting safer families by promoting access to services for those suffering from family violence.

A comprehensive housing package that includes Creating special housing areas in high demand areas across New Zealand to fast-track the building of homes. A $1 billion Housing Infrastructure Fund to accelerate new housing in the high-demand areas where it’s needed most. The new fund will focus squarely on financing infrastructure like roads and water needed to support new housing. Requiring Councils to ensure land supply for housing keeps pace with growth.

Investing in Auckland’s growth by Finalising the business plan this year for the $2.5 billion City Rail Link with Auckland Council and formalise our funding commitment from 2020. This would allow works to start in 2018 – at least two years earlier than currently envisaged. Fast-track and build the up to $1.85 billion East-West Connection Project, to connect the Southern and South-Western motorways – so construction can start as early as 2018. Complete the Western Ring Route – a 48km alternative route around Auckland – by 2019.

ACT New Zealand

A classical-liberal party that promotes free market economics, low taxation, reduced government expenditure, and increased punishments for crime. It sees itself as promoting "accountability and transparency in government".

Policies include:

A tax cut for every New Zealand earner.

Remove New Zealand’s large cities from the Resource Management Act, and create separate urban development legislation, prioritising land supply and reducing red tape on developers

Incentivise councils to consent more land for development and build more infrastructure, by sharing a portion of GST levied on construction.

Open more Partnership Schools – increasing choice in New Zealand’s schooling system.

Reduce or abandon petrol tax and introduce road pricing on new and existing roads, congestion charging, peak time charges and preferential lanes.

The Opportunities Party

A new party; supporting "a prosperous, fair and equitable society", environmental sustainability, and the adoption of a written constitution

Policies include:

Changing what is taxed, not the amount of tax collected. High earners will pay more tax than lower earners.

Change immigration policies to reflect that only those who provided specialised skills will be permitted entry.

Promoting clean rivers and sustainable farming practices to ensure the health of the New Zealand environment

Imposing a small tourist levy for those entering New Zealand to cover costs of maintenance of natural assets.

Supporting climate awareness and instigating methods to lower carbon footprint.

The Maori Party

A party that addresses the concerns of New Zealand's indigenous Māori. It promotes what it sees as "the rights and interests of Māori".

Policies include:

Ensuring Maori rights are upheld in accordance with Te Tiriti O Waitangi

Representing Maori perspective in government

Promote Te Reo in schools

Addressing poverty in New Zealand

Promoting affordable housing for Maori.

United Future

A centrist party, formerly with a strong Christian background. It describes its platform as "common sense". It has a particular focus on policies concerning the family and social issues.

Policies include: