Battle lines drawn: NZ's Pacific candidates clash as voters demand swift action on cost of living

Six Pacific candidates vying for votes in next month’s general election traded sharp blows over who is to blame for rising power bills, supermarket prices and stagnant wages.

The PMN Pacific Vote 2026 Debate this week exposed deep ideological divides over how to protect struggling families across New Zealand.

The debate, hosted by William Terite of Pacific Mornings, featured National's Angee Nicholas, Labour's Jenny Salesa, Green Party MP Teanau Tuiono, ACT's Henrietta Devoe, NZ First's Alfred Ngaro and The Opportunity Party's Romeo Tevaga.

With a PMN News-Horizon Research survey confirming 90 per cent of Pacific voters will cast their ballots based on the cost of living, Terite opened by laying out the reality facing households choosing between essentials before payday.

Ngaro moved quickly to lay the blame at the feet of the previous government. Pointing to net core Crown debt at $187 billion and $11 billion spent each year on interest, he argued Labour’s six-year term left Aotearoa broke.

"So can I just say to our viewers, we're barely paying the bills," Ngaro said. He singled out KiwiBuild, Auckland light rail and fees-free university study as examples of Labour waste, saying: "So we're bearing the brunt of it."

Tuiono wasted no time pointing out that NZ First shared power with Labour for three of those six years. "So it wasn't all Jenny's fault. Winston had some problems there as well."

Salesa said families in South Auckland report their living costs are more than $6000 higher than three years ago.

Tuiono warned that the ongoing financial pain is driving families out of Aotearoa. "More and more of our people are jumping on the plane and going over to Australia."

From the left: NZ First's Alfred Ngaro, moderator William Terite and Labour's Jenny Salesa. Photo/PMN News

He said the coalition balanced its Budget by scrapping 33 pay equity claims while funding a $12 billion defence package for Javelin missiles and Seahawk helicopters.

When challenged on National’s solution to lift family incomes, Nicholas pointed to tax relief and curbing inflation.

"We believe that you should be able to keep more of what you earn."

Nicholas acknowledged the severe squeeze from petrol, rents and mortgages but said lower inflation and economic growth would generate 220,000 jobs over four years without adding new taxes.

Outlining alternative solutions, Salesa promised Labour would deliver a $4 an hour pay rise for 65,000 care and support workers, many of them Pacific women, in the party’s first 100 days, adding about $160 a week to family budgets.

From left: Labour's Jenny Salesa, ACT's Henrietta Devoe and Green MP Teanau Tuiono, who warned that the ongoing financial pain is driving families out of Aotearoa. Photo/PMN News

Ngaro countered that NZ First leader Vaovasamanaia Winston Peters wants to "go big or go home" by breaking up the power company generator-retailers, restructuring fuel markets and busting the supermarket duopoly.

"New Zealand First is the only one that's talking about breaking the structure so we can make things more affordable," Ngaro said.

Opportunity’s Tevaga similarly highlighted market reform as a line in the sand, saying that “bringing prices down is one of The Opportunity Party's bottom lines” through stronger Commerce Commission powers and renewable energy expansion.

Tuiono argued the Greens would tackle living costs by ensuring apprentices get proper wages rather than below the minimum training allowances.

"Those things will bring down the cost of living and will make sure that people really do have that ability to put food on the table."

From left: Opportunity’s Romeo Tevaga, National's Angee Nicholas and NZ First's Alfred Ngaro. Photo/PMN News

Defending the coalition’s fiscal record, ACT’s Devoe emphasised $14 billion in budget savings, saying taxpayers are paying $24.8 million a day just on debt interest

"I know that everybody's doing it hard, but where did it come from?"

Advance voting opens on Monday, 26 October ahead of election day on Saturday, 7 November. For more on the upcoming general election, visit vote.nz