Luxon says party closing in on 5% ‘wants to make every New Zealander a beneficiary’

Wednesday, 24 June 2026

PM Christopher Luxon says he “hasn’t given any thought” to Opportunity, after the party recorded its strongest ever result in the 1News Verian Poll, rising to 4.6%.

If the party reached 5% at the November 7 election, they would become the first new political party to enter Parliament this way since MMP began in the 1990s.

Party leader Qiulae Wong on Wednesday would not say whether she would prefer to work with National or Labour, instead attacking the politics of left versus right.

Wong was also contesting the long-standing Labour stronghold of Mt Albert as an alternative path to Parliament.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has put a dampener on The Opportunity Party’s ‘Kingmaker’ aspirations, saying a vote for them “looks like a vote for Labour and the Greens”.

Speaking from Auckland on Wednesday morning, Luxon was responding to questions about the 1News Verian Poll result out on Tuesday that had National taking a one point hit falling to 29%, while Opportunity was on the rise, recording 4.6%, within striking distance of the 5% needed to enter Parliament at the 7 November election.

Should they make that 5%, they would be the first new party to enter Parliament in this way, since the start of MMP in the 1990s. Their arrival would have the potential to shake up any coalition negotiations given their self-styled centrist positioning on the spectrum.

Luxon put Opportunity on the left though. “They want a land tax, they want to make every New Zealander a beneficiary with a universal basic income [UBI],” he said. “I haven't given them any thought. Their policy prescription looks like a Greens and Labour policy.”

UBI was the general term used to describe Opportunity’s ‘Citizen’s Income’ policy that the party said would “ensure that every Kiwi has the basics to live well and contribute”.

The party’s description of the policy said, “almost all adults will get up to $370 ($19,400 a year) paid into their account weekly”, and it would “replace most benefits, with top-up support available for superannuitants, parents and others”. Opportunity said it would be paid for by the Land Value Tax.

Luxon’s comments came after Opportunity leader Qiulae Wong spoke on Morning Report on RNZ on Wednesday, saying the party was centrist, and quite different to New Zealand First, who, “have a bit of a nostalgic view of what New Zealand can be, and want to take us backwards to the past, whereas Opportunity is very much focused on taking us forward”.

She said NZ First, who have history as a kingmaker after election day, had approached the role of the minor party in a coalition government differently to how Opportunity would.

“Well, I think if we compare ourselves to NZ First, I believe they stand for division, and they use division to get votes, whereas we want to actually find common ground and bring people together, particularly our major parties, who do actually agree on a lot of stuff a lot of the time, but they do need a bit of a broker sometimes to move forward.”

When asked if she would prefer Opportunity to go into government with National or Labour, Wong hit out at the faction politics of left versus right.

“I think it's actually a real shame we've now created this left bloc and a right bloc, and that's not the point of MMP,” she said.

“If you look at international examples, there's much more diversity in the way those coalitions come together, we may as well have first past the post if we're just going to have a left and right,” she told Morning Report.

“So we think that we actually need a stable centrist party that can hold both sides accountable to moving forwards, versus something like New Zealand First, which I think accentuates the pendulum politics.”

There was another way to enter Parliament though, by winning an electorate seat, and Wong was standing in Mt Albert.

It was the seat of prime ministers for Labour, with three leaders coming from there, Helen Clark, Phil Goff and Jacinda Ardern.

Incumbent MP, Labour’s Helen White, told Stuff on Wednesday morning that she was confident of winning again.

“Labour is going to have that seat this year for 80 years,” White said.

“That's an incredible taonga. It's a connector into middle New Zealand, and it's one of the most multicultural seats in the country, and it's a really wonderful thing.”

In March, Wong told Stuff’s Lloyd Burr that 2026 could be Opportunity’s year, but she didn’t want to get ahead of herself.

“I feel a lot of pressure because it feels like the time has never been more right for a party like ours. There is a lot of expectation on us,” she said.

“We have a good strategy and we are on a good track.

“We've never been in such a good position seven months out from an election with our member numbers, our polling numbers, our fundraising numbers, besides Gareth Morgan's $2.5m or whatever he put in,” she laughed then.

“We've never had this much momentum this early. We've got a good base. It's gonna take a lot more grind, but I do think we're on the right track,” Wong said.

And the momentum had continued through until now, June, the big Q left was - could they keep going?