New Zealand First names Ron Mark candidate, proposes Kiwi Kids Grant to boost birthrate

New Zealand First announced that former defence minister Ron Mark will stand as the party’s candidate in the Wairarapa electorate. Party leader Winston Peters used the event to unveil a new policy, the “Kiwi Kids Grant”, a universal, non‑means‑tested payment of NZ$5,000 per year for the first three years of each of a family’s first three children. The grant is intended to lower the cost barrier to child‑rearing and address what the party describes as a “massively declining birthrate”. Peters estimated the programme would cost about NZ$400 million by its third year.

Mark’s background includes service as a Member of Parliament, senior ministerial roles, mayor of Carterton and a career in the New Zealand Army, with recent humanitarian work in Ukraine. The party says the grant will support New Zealand’s demographic, cultural and economic future.