Museums Aotearoa, the peak advocacy body for New Zealand’s public museums and galleries, has published an election pack mapping where party policy meets the sector. Dated October 2026, it is addressed to museum and gallery teams ahead of the general election on 7 November. It aims to help staff hold constructive conversations with candidates across the political spectrum. The pack says it will be updated as new policies are announced, and invites members to add observations.

Its core argument is that museums and galleries are cultural infrastructure: the spaces, services and structures through which culture is produced, shared and preserved. Museums Aotearoa says years of underinvestment have created “a nationwide cultural infrastructure deficit”. It says cultural infrastructure appears in many council long-term capital plans but is largely absent from national infrastructure pipelines. It proposes a funding model with three parts: local government, central government, and philanthropic, iwi and community partners, with no single source expected to carry the full cost. The pack cites 2021 figures. Museums and galleries were valued at $5.6 billion ($3.6 billion in collections across 45 million objects, $2 billion in buildings), received 17.5 million visits, employed 3,365 full-time equivalent staff and delivered education benefits equal to $24.6 million to students.

For each party, the report sets out their policies, as well as where Museums Aotearoa see possible alignment with that policy. It describes an intergenerational responsibility to invest in museums and galleries, and calls for a sustainable partnership between local and central government. Each page ends with a suggested question for candidates.

The pack is available to read here.

In summary:

• National:
  • The pack ties the party’s plan to share part of the International Visitor Levy with councils, as an alternative to a bed tax, to the sector’s tourism role. It argues museums and galleries are tourism assets that receive no Crown funding. It supports the Ministry of Education’s review of the Enriching Local Curriculum programme provided the sector is part of it, and asks that the proposed 4 per cent cap on rates increases account for the fact that much museum and gallery funding comes from ratepayers. Its question is how the party will sustain investment alongside councils.
• NZ First:
  • The pack points to the party’s stated interest in protecting regional heritage and in regional economic development. It presents museums and galleries as civic touchpoints that draw domestic and international visitors, citing military museums as an example. It asks how they will keep that role in the regions given the infrastructure deficit.
• ACT:
  • The pack welcomes the Local Tourism Dividend, a $1 payment to councils for every night a commercial guest stays, as recognition of stretched council budgets, and asks how the party will work with councils to direct more support to the sector. Separately, it notes that museums and galleries have no dedicated legislation, so should be consulted on ACT’s regulatory reform, including consolidating agencies, to avoid unintended effects on day-to-day operations.
• Labour:
  • The pack links three Labour policies to the sector. Expanding Apprenticeship Boost could open qualification pathways into museum and gallery work. The New Zealand Future Fund’s focus on productivity and local jobs could extend to the sector. The party’s emphasis on wellbeing during economic hardship fits museums’ role as community hubs. It asks how the party will invest in cultural infrastructure and the cultural workforce.
• Green Party:
  • The pack sees the arts, culture and heritage policy’s proposed network of art and heritage spaces as a way to rebuild the infrastructure it says has been run down. It also points to the policy’s support for Māori art forms and the 2026 manifesto’s call for long-term, stable funding. It asks how the party will secure strategic investment that preserves local histories and uplifts Māori voices.
• Te Pāti Māori:
  • The Toi Māori policy commits to investing in Toi Māori and creative industries, protecting Māori cultural rights and expressions, and backing Māori-led arts infrastructure. The pack sees overlap in training pathways into skilled sector roles, Māori-led presentation of taonga, and forward planning and shared investment in iwi-led whare taonga. It asks how museums and galleries will be supported so Māori histories and taonga are presented under Māori leadership.
• Opportunity:
  • The pack connects the party’s plan to lock the 30-year infrastructure plan into law to its own call for long-term investment. That plan puts maintenance ahead of new projects and gives councils grants and visitor levies so ratepayers don’t carry the load alone. It also points to the party’s position that the arts are an essential part of the economy rather than a discretionary extra. It asks how the party will address the cultural infrastructure deficit.