John Key's speech

Straight from the National Party website, here's John Key's speech to the National Party Conference this morning.

Doubtless National's "Blueprint for Change" will get thoroughly analysed in the media over the next few days, so I just want to focus on a couple of things, firstly, where Key outlines what he believes:

"At my first speech as leader nearly 20 months ago, I spoke of what drove me personally as an individual – the traits that I felt I could bring to the leadership of our great party. They are the same traits I know I can bring to the leadership of our country.

I want to talk a little about them today.

-I believe in hard work.
-I believe in education.
-I believe in a fair society.
-I believe in playing by the rules.
-I believe in the power of families.
-I believe in being pragmatic, and not being blinded by ideology.

Most of all, I believe that this country, that New Zealand, is capable of so much more.

This is a beautiful place with boundless opportunity. So I won't accept that the bottom third of the OECD for average income is where we rightfully belong.

I simply won't believe we have to put up with losing 80,000 of our people every year to other parts of the world.

I don't think it's good enough that Kiwi families are struggling to buy a house or pay their mortgage because of world-beating interest rates."

You'll get no argument on this from me. I believe that Key has spoken what many, many New Zealanders believe, and his comments will resonate strongly. And I guess his "pragmatism not ideology" comment is recognition of the "dead rats" he and National have swallowed - obviously, he believes, for the greater good. Then there was his conclusion:

"New Zealanders from one end of the country to the other are seeking a brighter future.

They are ready to shift responsibility to a new generation which can see beyond the walls of yesterday's political debates.

They want a government that can lead them out of these difficult economic times, into a brighter future. A Government that appeals to the best in each of us. A Government with a sense of the possible, a sense of how great we can be as individuals and as a country.

New Zealanders want reassurance and hope. And most of all, they want a government which won't be tired and distracted but which will be focused and determined on the issues that really matter. We are that party. We will lead that Government.

And we will lead a Government fuelled by the politics of aspiration, not the politics of envy. A Government for tomorrow, not the government of yesterday.

As we leave the conference today and filter back to our regions, remember that this year is our chance to move from an opposition that says, to a government that does. Our chance to change for the better the lives of many hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders.

This is our chance to stand up and be counted. Our chance to be strong. To show real leadership. To deliver on our vision.

This year is our year. Together let's go out and win that election"