Address to Lower North Island Regional Conference

The General Election is at most 168 days away.

I am sure every Party president has said in election year that this is the most important General Election the Party has faced.  But the reality for the National Party is that, if ever there was an election that has to be won, and is there to be won, it is the 2005 election. 

Labour hasn't won three elections in a row for sixty years, and I’m not planning for it to happen on my watch.
We are ready.

All electorate candidates have now been selected. The Lower North Island Region boasts an outstanding line-up of candidates, ready to campaign primarily for the Party Vote:

• In Rangitikei Simon Power goes from strength to strength.  He has served the Party in a number of roles in recent years.  He is doing an excellent job as Chief Whip and is an effective hard-working constituency MP.
• In Whanganui Chester Burrows is our candidate again.  If there is any justice in the world, Chester will win Whanganui in 2005.  He has worked so hard for the Party and fought the good fight in tough years.  He deserves a big win this year.

• On the East Coast, we have the ‘Boys from the Bay’.  Craig Foss in Tukituki and Chris Tremain in Napier are a great team.  They are young, motivated and energetic candidates.  This is the first time Chris has stood, while Craig did a sterling job in the difficult 2002 election. We need representation in Hawkes Bay.

• In Wairarapa we have John Hayes who brings a wealth of experience to the Party.  A former High Commissioner to Papua New Guinea and Ambassador to Iran, John will be an impressive addition to the caucus team.

• In Palmerston North we have Malcolm Plimmer.  After running a very successful insurance business, he is devoting his time to politics.  This seat has, for too long, been in Labour hands.  I hope and expect Malcolm to carry on from where Dave Scott left on in 2002.  The margin is now very small indeed and the local MP deserves a good run for his money.

• The same applies in Otaki.  In Nathan Guy we have an outstanding candidate for the seat.  Nathan is a farmer and local councillor who would make a strong contribution to our caucus.

• In the Hutt seats we have Mike Leddy in Rimutaka, who fought so well in 2002, and Rosemarie Thomas in Hutt South, who stood for Eastern Hutt back in 1993.  They are up against two cabinet ministers.  I wish them all the best.

• In Mana we have Chris Finlayson who has held many positions in the Party over the last 20-odd years and is currently Chair of the Policy Consultation Committee.  Chris is a highly successful and well respected barrister. He will be campaigning hard in Mana for the Party Vote.

• In the Wellington seats, we have Nicola Young in Rongotai, Mark Blumsky in Wellington Central and Katrina Shanks in Ohariu-Belmont.  A public relations expert, a former mayor of Wellington and a professional accountant.  These are exactly the kinds of people who should appeal to Wellington City.  Just remember this, in 1996 National won the Party Vote in all those seats.  We can do it again and, with candidates of this calibre, I expect it to happen this year.

This region was bitterly disappointed when, after the last election, it was reduced to two MPs.  It wasn't that long ago that the Wellington region was the powerhouse of the National Party, providing the Party its leaders and deputy leader, as well as a regular supply of presidents. 

It is high time those golden days returned again.  I believe that can happen.

It is with great disappointment that I acknowledge Hon Roger Sowry’s decision to retire at the forth-coming General Election.  His contributions to the region and to the National Party have been substantial.  He is an outstanding MP and served as an excellent Deputy Leader.

Roger continues to work hard in assisting me with the Candidates’ College and supporting our new candidates in their campaigns.

Today I publicly acknowledge Roger and Shirley Sowry’s outstanding service and loyalty to the National Party.

The Party in this region is going to have to run a vigorous campaign to hold this Labour Government to account.  Just think about the seats I have mentioned in the last few minutes.  Most of them are held by senior Labour Ministers.

What have they achieved for this region?  Where are the critical roads?  Where are the much needed extra Police?  Where is the quality education system that all our children deserve?

Those Labour MPs have had every opportunity.  Hold them to account.  Ask the difficult questions.  Don't let up on them.

Some may say I have sounded like a broken record of late, in my emphasis on the Party Vote. I make no apology for that. 

I’m telling you now, you will hear me say it, and keep saying it, until everyone understands this critical point – under MMP the Party Vote is the single most important vote. 

It is the only vote that determines the outcome of the election.

It’s as simple as this – the party with the largest Party Vote has the largest number of seats in Parliament.  The party with the largest number of seats in Parliament then has the first opportunity to form a government.
Therefore, our campaign strategy is also very simple – to win the Party Vote in 2005.

Once we have achieved this goal, and once the voters have decided the outcome for all of the parties, we will work with those with similar philosophies and form a strong centre right government to lead this country.
Winning the Party Vote can only be achieved through the hard work of our caucus, our candidates and our people on the ground all working together as a team.

The time for talk is over; the time for action and urgency in every electorate is upon us.

National is prepared for the challenge.  Look what we have achieved in the last three years:

We have rebuilt our membership. Membership is approaching double what it was in 2002 and is about four times that of Labour’s today. In this region alone, membership has trebled.

We have rebuilt our funding base. We have worked hard to place our funding on a sound footing so we can fight a strong MMP campaign.

There is still more to do in both these areas – but we are well on our way.

We have taken the crucial step of redeveloping pride in our brand.

As a broad-spectrum liberal-conservative party, we have reconnected with our core supporters:

• Firstly, the agricultural and rural sector – here David Carter and his team have worked hard to develop policies that will back rural New Zealand and appeal to this critical sector of our economy, a sector which is a crucial part of National’s own heartland.

• Secondly, the business sector – small and medium sized businesses are the driving force of our economy but they are being stifled by red tape and over-regulation. National will cut the cost of doing business. A new brochure will shortly be released detailing our commitment to our friends in small and medium sized businesses. They are responsible for growing this country and we are right behind them.

• Families – National is family-friendly. The biggest issue facing New Zealand families right now is Labour’s NCEA disgrace exposed by Bill English. He is holding Labour to account on this and will continue to do so.
• Those over sixty – we have pledged that under National superannuation is secure, the Super Fund continues and the age of eligibility will not change.  Further, we have launched nationwide ‘SuperBlues’ groups which, through their initial success, are now are gaining momentum.

You and I both know that the National Party is truly national - we represent the broad cross-spectrum of New Zealand. 

We represent town and country; urban liberal and provincial conservative; single people and married couples – all bound together by a philosophy which emphasises freedom and individual responsibility. We have reconnected with real New Zealand.

You and I both know that Don Brash is the embodiment of that reconnection.

He understands the values of the Party and of New Zealanders.  In Don we have a unique opportunity to have a world-class statesman – a class act – as our next Prime Minister. 

He is a natural leader; a thoughtful and intelligent man who cares deeply about New Zealand’s future.
I am so looking forward to the day, a fortnight after the election, when Don Brash receives the seal of office from the Governor General.

We have brought together a fresh and innovative set of policies. 

Those policies emphasise freedom and individual responsibility.  They are not extremist.  They are sound, sensible policies that will ensure New Zealand has a strong economy into the future and a standard of living which compares favourably with that of Australia.

We understand the need for professional campaigning. 

Our Campaign Manager, Steven Joyce, and I have been to Australia to study the Liberal Party model.  We watched closely the closing stages of the last Australian election as our sister party scored a famous victory. 
We have studied similar developments in the United States with the Republican win in November 2004, and we are closely following the UK election.

We have brought together a well-resourced, central campaign team that is leading our campaign and is much further ahead in its planning that at this stage of the 1999 and 2002 campaigns.

We have also redeveloped strong links between the Caucus and the Party, which are working together as a single team to prepare, to plan and to execute the plan.

The culmination of this teamwork was the list selection decision, announced earlier this month, when the Party decided to commit to putting its hard-working MPs into the top 30 positions on the list for the first time under MMP.

The Party asks so much of its volunteers, but you are the passionate people who will turn the Lower North Island region blue on Election Day.  You did it in 1996.  Do it in 2005. Every National Party voter must be identified and brought out to vote on Election Day.

You are the ones who can be relied on, day in and day out, to door-knock, scrutineer, attend to special and overseas votes and, importantly, to motivate your friends and neighbours to vote National. And you do a fantastic job.

However, modern day politics means we need more of you.

Throughout this year’s round of regional conferences I will be running a nationwide Volunteer Drive for the National Party.

There are many jobs to be done and we need as many people as possible to do them.  It need not be a lifelong commitment – although for many of us here today it has been!

We all need new volunteers to help. To give a few hours here, and a few hours there, and to put in a big effort for us on Election Day.

In America and Australia we have seen a surge in voluntary political activism as emphasis returns to good old fashioned campaigning.  We need that in New Zealand.

Let’s encourage and welcome more helpers to the team.  There is a job for everyone who wants one – there cannot be too many volunteers.

You have seen the new Party website, on it we have a volunteer sign-up page, so please encourage everyone you know, and everyone they know, to use it to sign-up as a volunteer for the National Party for Campaign 2005.

I personally am so grateful to you all for all that you already do.  You are the heartbeat of this Party.

In this important year I ask for one colossal effort from you all in the period leading up to the election.
So, in this last but most important leg of the race:

•       keep up the great work
•       encourage others to get involved
•       be proud of the National brand and its talented candidates, and
•       together let us work for a historic victory on Election Day.

Thank you.