The Opportunity Party
Progressive party advocating for a Citizen's Income, Land Value Tax, and systemic economic reform to give everyone a fair opportunity.
Policy Positions
TOP's Housing Policy
TOP's Land Value Tax is designed as the primary mechanism to reduce housing speculation by taxing the unimproved value of land annually. This discourages landbanking and encourages development. TOP also supports government underwriting of construction finance, streamlined resource consent approvals, and estimates that New Zealand faces an 80,000-home shortage requiring urgent action.
TOP's Healthcare Policy
TOP advocates for a prevention-focused health system with increased investment in primary care, reinstating smokefree 2025 legislation, expanding the health workforce through better training and conditions, and cross-party agreement on a 10-year health plan to insulate health from political cycles. They support reducing chronic disease through better nutrition education and early intervention.
TOP's Education Policy
TOP proposes reforming early childhood education to favour smaller community centres with equal pay for ECE teachers, introducing compulsory civics education from Year 6, investing in lifelong learning and adult retraining, and reducing screen time in primary schools. They also support reducing tertiary student debt through the Citizen's Income, which provides financial security during study.
TOP's Taxation Policy
TOP proposes a Land Value Tax (LVT) of 1.75% on all land to replace the current property tax system, a Citizen's Income of $370 per week funded partly by the LVT, three income tax brackets (28% up to $70k, 34% up to $180k, 39% above), and a KiwiSaver 2.0 compulsory employer contribution of 6%. The LVT targets land speculation rather than productive activity and is designed to be revenue-neutral when combined with reduced income taxes for most earners.
TOP's Economic Policy
TOP proposes increasing R&D investment to 2% of GDP through targeted tax credits, strengthening the Commerce Commission to break up supermarket and building materials duopolies, creating a new Impact Company legal structure for social enterprises, and shifting economic measurement beyond GDP to include wellbeing indicators. They argue structural reform is needed to address New Zealand's productivity problem.
TOP's Climate Policy
TOP supports fundamental reform of the Emissions Trading Scheme including agriculture, prioritising natural carbon sequestration through soil health and wetland restoration over pine plantation forestry, and giving the Climate Change Commission greater authority to set binding policy. They oppose LNG imports and support electrification of transport and industry.
TOP's Environment Policy
TOP supports 30% marine protection by 2035, phasing out bottom trawling and replacing it with cameras on all fishing vessels to enforce sustainable catch limits, stronger water quality regulations, and rewarding land owners for native forestry and wetland restoration through payments for ecosystem services.
TOP's Crime & Justice Policy
TOP supports decriminalising drug possession for personal use in favour of a health-based approach, establishing specialised courts for addiction and mental health, raising the youth court age to 18, and investing in rehabilitation over incarceration. The Citizen's Income is seen as addressing root economic causes of crime.
TOP's Infrastructure Policy
TOP identifies a $1 trillion infrastructure spending shortfall over the next 30 years and proposes a long-term national infrastructure plan to address it. They support free public transport as a way to reduce road congestion and emissions, replacing the RMA with streamlined environmental legislation, and using the Land Value Tax to fund infrastructure development.
TOP's Employment Policy
TOP's Citizen's Income provides a universal income floor that strengthens workers' bargaining power by removing the desperation to accept any job. They support R&D tax credits to create higher-value jobs, small business support, a fair ACC system, and the Impact Company legal structure enabling businesses to balance profit with social purpose.
TOP's Small Business Policy
TOP supports R&D tax credits for small and medium enterprises, strengthening Commerce Commission powers to break up duopolies that harm small business suppliers (particularly in groceries and building materials), the Impact Company legal structure, and the Land Value Tax which they argue will reduce commercial rents by taxing land rather than buildings.
TOP's Māori Affairs Policy
TOP opposes the Treaty Principles Bill and supports honouring the Treaty of Waitangi. They support te reo Māori language revitalisation, devolution of social services to Māori providers, and argue the Citizen's Income and Land Value Tax will disproportionately benefit Māori who are over-represented in poverty. TOP supports co-governance where Treaty obligations require it.
TOP's Energy Policy
TOP supports reaching 30GW of renewable generation by 2050, household electrification through low-interest government loans for heat pumps and solar panels, merging electricity regulators to reduce costs and complexity, and opposing any LNG import terminals. They support community energy ownership models.
TOP's Citizen's Income Policy
TOP's flagship policy is a universal Citizen's Income (CI) of $370 per week paid to every adult New Zealander, replacing most current benefits and simplifying the welfare system. Superannuitants would receive a top-up so they are no better or worse off. Parents would receive an additional $185/week per child. The CI removes the poverty trap of losing benefits when entering work and eliminates intrusive means-testing.