Election 2026 Policies

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Forums › Politics › Election 2026 Policies - Labour

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#3507376 30-Jun-2026 15:38

gzt: TOP's current policy is 1.75% on urban land, 0.5% on rural land.

Also worth pointing out that out that rural land is often productive land used to grow food. Adding cost to food production doesn't help anyone.

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#3509396 8-Jul-2026 10:56

Quite like the look of this Solar Saver policy. You own the system from day 1 (includes battery) and the idea is you repay over time with money you should be saving from reduced power bills (and energy sold to the grid).

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/politics/685297/labour-promises-subsidies-new-loan-schemes-for-installing-solar

National has a similar policy, there's a link on the above article

National's approach seems to be loan against property, repaid through rates, requires 20% equity (so no renters)

Labour's approach is similar, loan via rates, but also has option for lines companies to offer loans. The most significant difference is there is a plug-in option for renters.

Either way, good to see the cost of entry for solar (with battery!) being reduced

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#3509410 8-Jul-2026 12:24

CruciasNZ:

Quite like the look of this Solar Saver policy. You own the system from day 1 (includes battery) and the idea is you repay over time with money you should be saving from reduced power bills (and energy sold to the grid).

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/politics/685297/labour-promises-subsidies-new-loan-schemes-for-installing-solar

National has a similar policy, there's a link on the above article

National's approach seems to be loan against property, repaid through rates, requires 20% equity (so no renters)

Labour's approach is similar, loan via rates, but also has option for lines companies to offer loans. The most significant difference is there is a plug-in option for renters.

Either way, good to see the cost of entry for solar (with battery!) being reduced

I thought the most interesting idea in Labour's policy was the community battery. Looks like a good concept. The only downside is only Councils, community trusts, charities, and lines companies can apply. So ... you can't get together with the neighbours in your cul-de-sac and have a battery shared between you.

Also interesting to see plug in solar panels, that have the charge controller and inverter built in, and plug straight into a wall outlet. That would make it much simpler for renters to access solar power.

I assume plug in panels come with some sort of inbuilt safety system that ensures the pins aren't live until plugged in.

Edit: Forgot to add, RE National policy ... we did the loan repaid via rates for solar hot water. It was PITA selling the house with the loan repayments against the rates. It put off a surprising number of potential buyers. I wouldn't do that again.

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#3509423 8-Jul-2026 12:52

MikeAqua:

Edit: Forgot to add, RE National policy ... we did the loan repaid via rates for solar hot water. It was PITA selling the house with the loan repayments against the rates. It put off a surprising number of potential buyers. I wouldn't do that again.

Interesting viewpoint / side effect that I hadn't considered. I don't intend to move anytime soon, but you never know what the future brings. I'd probably gamble on it anyway and then hope Future Cru isn't going to get pissed with Current Cru

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#3509426 8-Jul-2026 12:57

CruciasNZ:

Interesting viewpoint / side effect that I hadn't considered. I don't intend to move anytime soon, but you never know what the future brings. I'd probably gamble on it anyway and then hope Future Cru isn't going to get pissed with Current Cru

I was surprised by the experience. Buyers didn't want to take on what they saw as our debt. Even though we'd paid off about half of it (IIRC), and they were getting a newish solar hot water system as part of the house purchase. We rejected half a dozen tenders that insisted the debt be cleared prior to settlement

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#3509427 8-Jul-2026 13:22

MikeAqua:

I assume plug in panels come with some sort of inbuilt safety system that ensures the pins aren't live until plugged in.

Yes, I was surprised to see that in other countries they literally plug into a normal power point directly (without some sort of interposer you are supposed to plug in first, or a modified GPO with a special socket for this purpose). I suppose they have some sort of impedance check + positive pressure on all three pins or something to reduce the chances of putting mains voltage out until it is firmly plugged in.

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MikeAqua

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#3509428 8-Jul-2026 13:27

SaltyNZ:

Yes, I was surprised to see that in other countries they literally plug into a normal power point directly (without some sort of interposer you are supposed to plug in first, or a modified GPO with a special socket for this purpose). I suppose they have some sort of impedance check + positive pressure on all three pins or something to reduce the chances of putting mains voltage out until it is firmly plugged in.

There must be something, otherwise it's a 'widow-maker' situation

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#3509433 8-Jul-2026 13:57

Probably something like:

Startup with inverter isolated / shutdown and monitor AC voltage across the live & neutral - it will be 0V with open circuit impedance if the plug is not inserted into a power point
Once AC voltage reaches nominal line voltage (plug is inserted) start the inverter and monitor impedance between live and neutral
If the plug is disconnected the impedance will go back to open circuit, so immediately shutdown the inverter

Couple that with a plug that has a spring-loaded sheath around at least the active wire that slides back into the plug as you insert it into the socket and you should be pretty good to go.

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sen8or

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#3509591 9-Jul-2026 08:02

MikeAqua:

CruciasNZ:

Interesting viewpoint / side effect that I hadn't considered. I don't intend to move anytime soon, but you never know what the future brings. I'd probably gamble on it anyway and then hope Future Cru isn't going to get pissed with Current Cru

I was surprised by the experience. Buyers didn't want to take on what they saw as our debt. Even though we'd paid off about half of it (IIRC), and they were getting a newish solar hot water system as part of the house purchase. We rejected half a dozen tenders that insisted the debt be cleared prior to settlement

I havent read the policy, but the former lender / credit manager in me wonders what happens with the solar debt if (when) repayments become an issue?

Loan arrears and credit arrears on cards and consumer debt are high, add in another debt for solar and what does that look like then? If they do fall into arrears, say with the lines company, how does the lines company recover its costs / debt? The council is probably in a better position to enforce repayment of its debt as part of the settlement process and/or other avenues open to it to recover arears.

If I was buying a house, I'd be of a similar view to some of the other bidders on your house, why is your debt my problem. The asset (solar) is part of the chattels and part of the overall perceived value in the purchasing price, I wouldn't take on another charge / cost or my offer would be reflective of the net effect.

MikeAqua

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#3509599 9-Jul-2026 09:05

sen8or:

If I was buying a house, I'd be of a similar view to some of the other bidders on your house, why is your debt my problem. The asset (solar) is part of the chattels and part of the overall perceived value in the purchasing price, I wouldn't take on another charge / cost or my offer would be reflective of the net effect.

I can see your point but ... we went to market with full disclosure. In the end we just excluded those offers and moved on. We sold at a good price, it was just more complicated than it would have been without a loan like that in place. But, based on that experience, I'd never take on a loan like that again.

Mike

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#3509601 9-Jul-2026 09:10

sen8or:

I havent read the policy, but the former lender / credit manager in me wonders what happens with the solar debt if (when) repayments become an issue?

For the lines company method, no idea. I suspect it'll be treated like overdue power bills, they cut the power if you don't pay and then send it to debt collectors. Where that gets tricky in my head is right now your power being shut off often forces compliance, but if you have solar & a battery then you could adjust to function without the grid.

For where you repay out of rates, I guess it just follows the normal arrears process for rates. Letters, phone call, visit, then mortgagee sale, with payment plans offered along the way if the delinquent is willing to engage.

The bit that makes me a bit nervous on behalf of lower income and retired folk is if you're banking on the money paid back from the grid to help pay your loan, what happens when a lot of people are selling to the grid so the rate per kW tanks due to excess supply in your area?

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#3509607 9-Jul-2026 09:50

I'm broadly in favour of solar when it comes to grid resilience. I live in a new-ish area of Auckland where power outages are frustratingly common (10+ a year). I'd love to keep the lights on and have a big enough battery bank to ditch gas. We still pay a horrendous daily network charge.

But the problem is my new build area is serviced by a private network, who don't let us have solar (and limit the power companies that can service our area). Because it's a medium density area, the houses are either smaller or duplexes, in which case solar is uneconomical. We have nowhere internally to fit a hot water cylinder or battery bank.

If the desired urban form is more compact living, then these problems will not go away.

sen8or

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#3509608 9-Jul-2026 09:50

So at its core, we are potentially asking lines companies to carry a credit risk so that they can make less money from people?

1 + 1 seems to be equaling 4 for this policy

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#3509621 9-Jul-2026 10:36

sen8or:

So at its core, we are potentially asking lines companies to carry a credit risk so that they can make less money from people?

1 + 1 seems to be equaling 4 for this policy

Cue an increase in retail electricity costs to cover that.

Don't forget the top four gentailers are MOM (Mixed Ownership Model) entities, majority owned by the government, that the government expects to make a profit and deliver an annual dividend to government coffers.

MikeAqua

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#3509640 9-Jul-2026 11:10

geek3001:

Cue an increase in retail electricity costs to cover that.

This is why we're going fully off grid in the new build. No utilities of any kind. No way for the utilities industry to get it's rapacious claws into us. We will incur a high capital cost up front (not as much as you'd expect though). But ... our home will then be energy self-sufficient.

Mike

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