Labour has unveiled its first economic policy before the 2026 election; a wealth fund intended to take the dividends of some Crown assets and redistribute them into New Zealand businesses in the hopes of creating new jobs.

The proposal comes with few costings, details - of what assets will be included in the fund - or projections about how many jobs may be created as a result. But Labour is confident it will lead to Kiwi business staying here, leading to local wealth creation.

The amount of ring-fenced money that would be invested into New Zealand businesses would depend on the entities chosen and their dividends for a certain year. Labour is not saying what assets could be included in the fund, citing commercial sensitivity.

Labour is calling the policy the New Zealand Future Fund. That’s the same name as that given to an idea put forward by NZ First last year which would see up to $100 billion invested into infrastructure, though there’s little detail available about how it would work.

NZ First leader Winston Peters took aim at Hipkins over this, saying Labour’s policy was a “try-hard Temu mail-order rip-off”.

Under Labour’s plan, the dividends of a selected group of assets, such as state-owned enterprises, would be pooled and then reinvested into New Zealand businesses. An initial $200m capital contribution from the Crown would help get the ball rolling.

The political party believes designing the fund like this will allow for a “steady revenue stream through dividends, an asset base to leverage, and the ability to invest for long-term national benefit”.

“Returns will be both financial and social,” a policy document says. “Some investments may not deliver the fast profits of global markets, but they will create lasting national value – stronger communities, lower costs, more resilient industries, and opportunities to keep talent and ideas in New Zealand.”

“That might include backing community renewable energy or high-tech start-ups. Each investment will help create secure jobs, lower costs over time, and keep skills, ideas and profits here at home.”

The fund would be independently governed by the Guardians of the Super Fund and have the Minister of Finance as the sole shareholder. While the minister would outline the fund’s objectives, they would not have any power to direct what investments should be made.

The Crown assets chosen would be protected by legislation to ensure they cannot be sold off and remain in public ownership.

Labour leader Chris Hipkins and finance spokeswoman Barbara Edmonds. Photo / Dean Purcell

Labour is trying to position the policy in contrast to what it says is a reliance by the current coalition Government on overseas investment. It says while New Zealand has talent, it lacks domestic backing, leading Kiwis and their ideas to head offshore.

“New Zealanders have a clear choice: an economy going backwards because of National’s short-term thinking, or one built by New Zealanders, for New Zealanders. Labour is backing a future made in New Zealand,” Hipkins said.

The party’s finance spokeswoman Barbara Edmonds said the fund would “turn innovation into real businesses and real jobs here at home”.

“The Future Fund is how we back ourselves as a country – so jobs, opportunity, and wealth is made here and stays here,” she said.

“The fund will invest in New Zealand for the benefit of everyone, building infrastructure and backing innovative businesses to create secure, well-paid jobs and grow wealth in every region.”

It’s unclear what scale of investment is expected from this fund, but Labour has pointed to other countries which it says have “built wealth by backing their own potential” and “New Zealand must do the same”.

“Singapore’s Temasek began modestly in 1974 with S$354 million. Today it is worth more than S$434 billion. Australia’s superannuation has grown to A$4.2 trillion, helping drive investment in its people and industries. They succeeded because they set direction, took the long view, and were willing to invest.”

Labour said while New Zealand’s Super Fund is worth $85 billion, only 11% of that is invested in New Zealand.

“That’s part of the problem: too little of our own capital backs our own ideas. The result is low productivity, flat wages, and missed opportunities.”

At a press conference, Hipkins said Labour was deliberately not specifying what assets would be included as there are “potential market sensitivities”.

“We have said that on the list would be some of our State-Owned Enterprises, potentially Mixed Ownership Model companies and so on. There’s obviously a process that we would need to go through in Government before we could publicly name those.”

Asked whether a $200 million capital contribution was enough, Edmonds said as with other funds, this one had to start somewhere. More detail would come with the party’s fiscal plan before the election.

There was no timeline given for establishing the fund and when jobs would start being created as a result of it. But Edmonds said she would be ready on day one in Government to give her officials instructions.

Barbara Edmonds said the fund would help support Kiwi businesses. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Act’s David Seymour called the Labour policy a “boondoggle proposal” and warned that when politicians “engage in fiscal fantasies, they can’t fix what matters”.

“They take their eye off the health, education and infrastructure balls, and we all fall further behind. All Labour have planted today is the seeds of another clean-up job for the Government after them, if they ever get to kick off this disaster-in-a-can.”

Seymour was critical of Labour not providing costings, arguing “that would be too honest” for the party.

“New Zealanders could see just how badly the Government books would be hit, and just how much extra tax we’ll all have to pay,” he said.

“They won’t tell us what the investment ‘objectives’ of the fund will be, other than that the returns will be ‘social’. In other words, bureaucrats will pick winners based on what’s fashionable, not based on what can actually turn a profit.”

He said previous initiatives like the Green Investment Fund showed politicians “don’t make good investment decisions”. Labour’s policy though, would see the Guardians of the Super Fund make such choices around where the money went.

The Labour policy is similar in name to NZ First’s policy announced at its party conference last year. NZ First’s proposal didn’t have details around the source of funds, but said investments would be made “in our national interest”.

Peters said on Monday: [Hipkins] even has the temerity to name their cheap knock-off the same exact thing we did".

“They say imitation is the most sincere form of flattery but this is just getting ridiculous.”

When Hipkins was asked about the similarities to NZ First’s policy, the Labour leader said the proposal had “skipped my attention” as Peters had spent most of the conference “slagging us off instead”.

“I did go back and have a look at what scant detail is available about that,” Hipkins said.

“It would appear to me that’s more about creating a fund for investment in infrastructure that has overseas investors investing in it. That is not what this is about.”

While this is Labour’s first major economic policy of the 2026 election campaign, it’s likely to be overshadowed shortly by the party revealing its highly anticipated tax proposal.

Notably, the policy document released today says, “tax can’t be the Government’s only source of income”.

“It’s time to build new ways of generating national wealth for the benefit of everyone. The Future Fund will do exactly that – keeping opportunities in New Zealand by investing in our people, our ideas and our industries.”

Recently, Labour has been putting a focus on the number of New Zealanders heading offshore, claiming it to be a “direct result of a Government with no plan and no vision”.

StatsNZ migration figures released last week showed in the year to August 2025, there were 127,900 migrant departures, which is up 13% compared to the year prior, and down from a peak of 128,000 in the year to July.

Of the migrant departures, 73,900 were New Zealand citizens. Only 26,000 New Zealanders returned during the period, creating a net loss of 47,900.

Jamie Ensor is a senior political reporter in the NZ Herald press gallery team based at Parliament. He was previously a TV reporter and digital producer in the Newshub press gallery office. He was a finalist this year for Political Journalist of the Year at the Voyager Media Awards.