Is ACT New Zealand left wing or right wing?

On economic organisation ACT New Zealand scores +09 on a scale from −10 (common ownership) to +10 (private property and markets). On social and cultural order it scores +01. A single left–right figure combines these and four further measurements that move independently, which is why the atlas reports six.

Is ACT New Zealand authoritarian?

On the organisation of power, which measures whether authority is dispersed among institutions that can stop each other or concentrated in a single centre, ACT New Zealand scores −05. Proposed a referendum to define the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi in statute, which drew the largest petition in the country's history.

Atlas / Organisations / ACT New Zealand

ACT New Zealand

1994– · New Zealand · Libertarian · Electoral party · coding confidence medium

+09ECmarket

+01CUtraditional

−05AUpluralist

−02SClocal

+03IDascriptive

−05CHlawful

Each axis runs from −10 to +10, with zero a genuine mixed or balanced position rather than an absence of opinion. A score describes a stated position and a governing record; it is not a judgement of merit. What each score means →

Core principles

Classical liberalism: individual rights, deregulation, and a single legal standard of citizenship against Treaty-based co-governance.

Economic model

Flat-tax ambitions, spending caps, deregulation of housing supply and firearms.

Organisation of powers

Proposed a referendum to define the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi in statute, which drew the largest petition in the country's history.

Reading note

Economically far right and socially permissive, and simultaneously the party most opposed to indigenous constitutional recognition — a combination that splits its coordinates.

Check a claim about ACT New Zealand. The interactive atlas measures the distance between any two organisations across all six axes and shows which ones carry the disagreement.

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The evidence for every score

All six cells are sourced. A rationale explains what the score is measuring and each artefact is something a third party can check without taking anyone's word for it.

EC · Economic organisation · scored +09

Coded +9: the most market-liberal party in the New Zealand parliament.

Programme textProgramme commitments to a two-rate flat tax, a cap on government spending and repeal of most housing regulation.

CU · Social and cultural order · scored +01

Coded +1: socially permissive with a conservative law-and-order posture.

Documented act or statuteSponsored the End of Life Choice Act passed by referendum in 2020, and liberalised firearms regulation.

AU · Organisation of power · scored −05

Coded −5: constitutional, seeking a referendum on Treaty principles.

Documented act or statuteThe Treaty Principles Bill was introduced and defeated at second reading in 2025.

SC · Scale of decision · scored −02

Coded −2: localism in planning with national standards elsewhere.

Programme textProgramme commitments to devolve housing consent and share GST with councils.

ID · Rule of membership · scored +03

Coded +3: a single legal standard of citizenship against Treaty-based co-governance.

Documented act or statuteThe Treaty Principles Bill would have defined the Treaty's principles in statute; it drew over 300,000 submissions, the most in New Zealand history, and was voted down.

CH · Method and tempo · scored −05

Coded −5: entirely parliamentary.

Documented act or statuteHas held seats continuously since 1996 under MMP.

Nearest organisations by measured distance

Straight-line separation across all six axes, out of a maximum of 49.0. Proximity means similarity of stated position, not endorsement and not resemblance in outcome.

Countries

New Zealand

Cite this page

Scores are revised on evidence, so a citation should carry the version it refers to. Version 4.3.1 is current; the revision log records every change.

McGrath, K. (2026). ACT New Zealand. The Political Atlas, version 4.2. https://thepoliticalatlas.com/organisations/actnz/ (accessed 2026-08-01).

Free to quote and reproduce with attribution. This is a synthesis rather than a peer-reviewed dataset — where an authoritative figure is needed, cite the Chapel Hill Expert Survey, the Manifesto Project or V-Dem.