Pitched as a return to "one people, one law, one flag" and a "colourblind state" for all New Zealanders, where (in the party's framing) the public sector serves citizens on merit rather than on identity.

The Policy: NZ First Public Service Merit Policy — 2023 Election →

NZ First, and leader Winston Peters, campaign against what they call a left-wing "woke agenda" that they say has spread into government departments, schools and universities, the public service and sport. The party frames the issue as restoring meritocracy and national unity; critics frame it as importing a US-style "war on woke" and rolling back diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) protections. The descriptions below set out the party's stated position and the responses to it, and do not endorse any characterisation of any group.

What it does:

• Centres on the slogan "one people, one law, one flag" and opposition to what Peters calls the "woke agenda" — a contested, undefined term that supporters use to mean identity-based policy and critics say is a catch-all with no clear legal meaning.
• The concrete legislative vehicle is the removal of diversity and inclusion (DEI) duties from the Public Service Act 2020. NZ First introduced a member's bill in March 2025 (the Public Service (Repeal of Diversity and Inclusiveness Requirements) Amendment Bill) targeting sections 44, 73, 75 and 97 and Schedules 3 and 7 — the duties on the Public Service Commissioner and chief executives to build a workforce reflecting the community and to weigh diversity in appointments.
• Removing those DEI requirements was written into NZ First's coalition agreement with National, and was then carried by the Government's own Public Service Amendment Bill (introduced July 2025), which the Public Service Minister Judith Collins says reaffirms merit-based appointment.
• The changes apply across a workforce of about 64,500 full-time-equivalent staff (as at 31 March 2026) spread across 40 Public Service departments and agencies.
• Beyond the public service, the wider campaign (education, universities, sport, "men/women" definitions) is rhetorical: as at mid-2026 NZ First had announced no detailed legislation for those areas, and its separate member's bill to define "man" and "woman" in law was twice pulled from the ballot.

The result:

The DEI element has largely moved from slogan to statute. The Government's Public Service Amendment Bill — which absorbs much of what NZ First's member's bill sought — was reported back from the Governance and Administration Committee on 27 November 2025 and was at its committee stage in Parliament in early 2026. Supporters (Collins, ACT, and NZ First spokesperson Andy Foster) argue it returns the public service to "back to basics" and merit. Opponents — Labour's Camilla Belich and Ayesha Verrall, and the Public Service Association (national secretary Fleur Fitzsimons) — say the select committee heard no evidence of merit being overridden by diversity, that diversity and merit are not in conflict, and that the change strips long-term planning and pay-equity duties as well. When Peters and Labour's Chris Hipkins clashed over the issue, Hipkins called the claims "nonsense" and noted NZ First itself had voted for the 2020 Act; Maretha Smit of Diversity Works NZ said the provisions were about reducing unconscious bias, not displacing merit. The broader "anti-woke" agenda for schools, sport and gender definitions remains largely unlegislated.

The impacts to watch:

• Whether removing statutory DEI duties measurably changes who is hired or promoted across the public service, or is mainly symbolic.
• Legal exposure: the Ministry for Pacific Peoples and other agencies warned that moving diversity duties out of legislation could invite challenges under human rights and employment law.
• Whether the "woke" framing extends to concrete action in education, universities and sport, or stays rhetorical.