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

Wednesday, 24 June 2026

The Opportunity Party, led by Qiulae Wong, has aspirations of being the “kingmaker” after November’s election.

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 speaks with media about the latest 1News Verian poll result, on 24 June, 2026.

National leader Christopher Luxon has taken aim at the Opportunity Party, after the political outsiders came within whisker of the vital 5% threshold in the latest political poll.

The Opportunity Party, led by Qiulae Wong, has aspirations of being the “kingmaker” after November’s election. It styles itself as a centrist party that can work with either National or Labour. The party achieved a 4.6% result in Tuesday night’s poll from TVNZ and Verian.

Responding to that poll, and the potential of the Opportunity Party entering Parliament, Luxon said a vote for them “looks like a vote for Labour and the Greens”.

“They want a land tax, they want to make every New Zealander a beneficiary with a universal basic income,” he said. “I haven’t given them any thought. Their policy prescription looks like a Greens and Labour policy.”

‘Citizen’s Income’

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The Opportunity Party has a “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”.

Wong said it was “a shame” Luxon had that response and she invited him to “have a much more grown up conversation” about the policies.

“Our tax reset could be the biggest tax break for working New Zealanders, which I think is something that National would campaign on, would pride themselves on. Perhaps he’s being dismissive to try and capture back some votes,” she told Stuff.

Wong said the party’s “Citizen’s Income” policy would also drive efficiencies in the public service, something she thought parties such as ACT and National would be interested in.

“We estimate it could re-purpose 2000 jobs at MSD. At the moment, it’s an extremely complicated and tangled welfare system that we have,” she said.

“If we can simplify that and remove some of the bureaucracy, then we can use that taxpayer money in better ways and get people more likely to get into work.”

A new potential kingmaker

According to averaged results from Stuff’s Poll of Polls, National and Labour have lost support in recent months. Labour is in the lead at 33.3%, with National at 29.3%. While Opportunity had 4.6% in the 1 News Verian Poll, it sat at 3.7% in Stuff’s Poll of Polls.

Should it make the 5% threshold, 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.

“We just want to be a constructive party in Parliament, whether that’s a Labour-led or a National-led government,” Wong told Stuff.

“We’ve got some big bold policy ideas. We appreciate we might not get them all across the line, but we want to work with the big parties to do things for New Zealand that are going to improve their lives over the next couple of decades.”

Lloyd Burr sits down for a beer and banter with Opportunity leader Qiulae Wong. She thinks Trump’s a moron, Luxon’s a fish out of water, drugs should be allowed at festivals, and prefers coal over gas.

Former Prime Minister Helen Clark casts her vote in Mt Albert, on 17 September, 2005.

Wong dismissed Luxon’s comment that the party’s platform appeared to align with Labour, saying the remarks reflected a mentality of partisan “tribalism”.

Electorate campaign

Reaching the 5% threshold isn’t the only way to enter Parliament: Wong has launched an electorate campaign to win Mt Albert, a Labour stronghold.

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.