Pitched as making overseas aid face the same scrutiny as spending at home while the government is borrowing, and focusing it on New Zealand's national interests.

📋 ACT: New Zealand can't keep exporting taxpayers' money, October 2026 →

What it does

• Reduces foreign aid to 2017 levels, excluding support for Ukraine. ACT says this saves around $283 million a year, which The Spinoff calculated as a 28 percent cut.
• ACT says it would also cut what it calls low-priority MFAT spending, focus aid on New Zealand's national interests and make every programme prove its value to taxpayers.
• The Spinoff reported Pacific aid would be protected, with David Seymour saying "we should be looking after our friends in the Pacific".
• Counted in ACT's fiscal plan as one example within its savings from returning spending outside frontline services to 2017 levels, not as an extra saving on top.
• Announced by list candidate Paul Henry on 10 October 2026, the day before the fiscal plan was released.

The debate

Paul Henry questioned sending "millions of dollars overseas" while the country is in debt, and said aid "should face the same scrutiny as spending here at home". NZ First leader Winston Peters called the cuts "mindless" and "training wheel stuff". National, ACT's other coalition partner, is also campaigning on a 10 percent cut to foreign aid, with Pacific aid fully protected, to pay for more Pharmac medicines.