Leader Chris Hipkins at the 2025 Labour Party AGM. Photo: Anneke Smith / RNZ
Labour Party faithful are upbeat as they rally in Auckland's viaduct, roughly one year out from the next election.
The mood has been energetic off the back of recent polling that has Labour tracking ahead of National on almost all issues, including the cost of living.
Already in campaign mode, Labour leader Chris Hipkins took a swipe at Te Pāti Māori in his opening remarks to the membership on Friday.
"I recently saw a whakataukī quoted in the media with reference to a different political party in New Zealand.
"He tōtara wāhi rua he kai nā te ahi - a tōtara that is split in half is only good for firewood. Well I can assure you that our waka is made of a very solid tōtara."
There were lots of cheers and a series of standing ovations as the party's leadership presented a united front at the top of the conference.
"We are energised, we are focused and we are determined to make this a one-term government," Hipkins said.
Deputy leader Carmel Sepuloni said the coalition government's policy programme had put people through so much.
"We now have a health system that is falling over right before our eyes. We've seen the cancellation of thousands of state housing builds and infrastructure projects, increased unemployment and skyrocketing cost of living.
"A tax on our education system and teachers, a tax on workers wanting a fair deal, a tax on women with the scrapping of pay equity, attacks on our rainbow community.
"And where do we even start with the attacks on Māoridom and Te Tiriti?
"We must keep fighting. We need to support each other, to keep the light burning. We have to retain hope and we have to believe that we can win."
Carmel Sepuloni at the Labour Party AGM in 2025. Photo: Anneke Smith / RNZ
Sepuloni, like many other speakers, remarked on the varying views held in the Labour Party and pitched them as a good thing.
"We don't all look the same in the Labour Party. We are a very diverse bunch. This is probably no starker than when looking at your leadership. You have a Sharkies-wearing ginga leader from the Hutt and an Amazonian Pasifika pulatasi-wearing deputy leader from West Auckland.
"We look like we come from different worlds. Have we always agreed over our 17 years of working together? Hell no.
"But do we share the same values and care enough about the same things to make it work? Abso-freaking-lutely."
CTU members at the Labour Party's AGM in 2025. Photo: Anneke Smith / RNZ
'Doesn't it feel good to see those numbers rise?' - Labour president
Party president Jill Day said it was encouraging to see public support for Labour rebuilding.
"Now I know the only poll that matters is the one on election day, but doesn't it feel good to see those numbers rise?" she said, as members cheered.
"To see those numbers rise, to feel the tide turning, to know that New Zealanders are putting their trust back in our party, our caucus, and our leader, Chris Hipkins."
Jill Day at the Labour Party AGM in 2025. Photo: Anneke Smith / RNZ
Day said it had been a tough couple of years.
"Every time we think this National government has gone too far, it pushes a bit further.
"It's exhausting, it's frustrating and it's heartbreaking because behind every decision National makes, a real person is paying the price.
"We see that in the mum, working two jobs, having to choose between petrol and kai for her kids, kaumatua waiting weeks for a GP appointment and teachers buying classroom supplies from their own pay."
Day said the party was busy organising ahead of the election and told members every call, leaflet and conversation mattered.
"Our LECs are growing stronger, our volunteers are knocking on doors, our branches are welcoming new members, and we're selecting candidates who know their communities, who are grounded in the issues and who will not back down from the hard work ahead.
"Election 2026, will be won in the same way Labour has always won: by being visible, by being organised and by showing up, especially when it's hard."
'War on the union movement' - union leader
New Zealand Council of Trade Unions (NZCTU) president Sandra Grey told Labour's membership it had to give those in unions a reason to vote for the party.
"The workers of New Zealand want real change. They want the union movement and New Zealand Labour to be bold and decisive, courageous and united, and we want you to make different economic choices so we all get our fair share."
She said the coalition had "declared war on the union movement".
"I challenge all of you as union members to stand proud every day and say 'I am a worker in union', because the more of us who say that every day, the less they can attack the wonderful leaders of the movement that are standing here with me today."
Grey said workers needed three things: a genuine place on the table, laws to protect their rights to be in a union and public services and infrastructure that met their needs.
"We can't build [the future] on our own, and you can't either as the Labour Party.
"You can't build a better New Zealand without our voices, our support and our ongoing ideas and passion."
Pledge to make 'every dollar count'
Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said the prime minister had failed to deliver on his promise to fix the economy.
She would be a careful steward of taxpayer money, if Labour were elected, she said.
"As a mother of eight, I know what it means to manage responsibly and make every dollar count. Taxpayers' money should be spent with the same care.
"When I was growing up, every cent mattered. While we raised our young family on one income, every cent mattered.
"When I was a tax lawyer working with small businesses, every cent mattered. That's the approach I will take as minister of finance."
Edmonds said growing the economy and balancing the books would mean Labour couldn't say 'yes' to everything.
"I make no apology for that - responsibility must always come first."
She said the party's capital gains tax would shift money from speculation towards productivity.
"In my first budget as finance minister, I will introduce a simple capital gains tax on profits made from investment and commercial property.
"It is part of my plan to reward productive investment that grows the economy, not just the housing market and because I am so determined to grow the economy, the tax will be targeted.
"The family home is exempt, farms are exempt. KiwiSaver, shares, business assets, inheritances and personal belongings are all exempt.
"Did you hear that, Christopher Luxon? They. Are. Exempt."
'Labour is the party for me' - MP Ikaroa-Rāwhiti
Cushla Tangaere-Manuel, who holds Labour's only Māori electorate, talked about her entry into parliament and why the party worked for her.
"I want to acknowledge our Māori caucus, who serve all of Māoridom each and every day, by simply standing in your Māoritanga right where you are.
"We have different levels of proficiency in te reo Māori, tikanga, our language and customs. We have different levels of political experience, different backgrounds and views on certain issues, but we are all Māori as determined by whakapapa.
"This is a direct reflection of the reality for all Māori in Aotearoa, who we have great pride and privilege in representing. That's why Labour is the party for me."
Labour has committed to contesting all seven Māori seats next year.
Tangaere-Manuel said the party was a place where pākeha, Pasifika and Tangata Tiriti whānau amplified Māori voices.
"Labour is a party with the depth of experience and heart, who understand Māori are not tidily packaged in pockets of society like Kohanga and Kura, but are a part of the mainstream of Aotearoa.
"As we head into 2026, the message is clear to all whānau - Me rehita, me poti. Enrol and vote… and remember, whānau, it's two ticks in '26, two ticks Labour."
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