Choosing Success

Speech to ACT Annual Conference; Waipuna Hotel, Mt Wellington, Auckland; 9:30am, Saturday March 15 2008 

There's an ancient piece of wisdom that, in essence, says: "Life is a series of crossroads. One path is signposted the 'Hard Road' and the other the 'Easy Road'. There is nothing of value to be had on the path marked 'Easy Road'."

The choice to routinely take the road less travelled (the Hard Road) is what defines winners - be they individuals, groups or countries. Take a moment to consider your own life, and look now at the people in this room. Contemplate what you have all achieved. You are part of the less than one percent of New Zealanders who care enough about the running of your country to belong to a political Party.

This morning you could be at brunch, spending time with your families, or in the garden - but, instead, you're here. By that choice, you helped create a Party that rose from nowhere to become a voice for good sense and principled politics. You've stuck to your choice, through good times and bad: you deliver pamphlets in the rain; sell raffles; host meetings; and much more, while others complain about the economy over a latte after the gym. Why? Because you believe - as do I - that the choices we make today determine the legacy we leave our children for tomorrow. We are the pilgrims on the road less travelled - we shall go always a little further.

Today I intend to describe three things. First, my vision for the New Zealand I wish to leave my children. Second, what I believe ACT must do to prepare itself to deliver choice this year for all Kiwis. Third, and finally, an outline of the change that I believe we need in New Zealand.

Those of you who have seen my "Power of 8" presentation over the past few months have already been introduced to many of these concepts, but I have added and refined them as each group gave me feedback. I thank you for helping to improve my work.

For as long as I can remember, political debate has been about what is right and what is wrong with a Party's policies or ideology. Too often, announcements are reactive to a particular event or issue - such as micro-chipping dogs after a little girl is badly mauled; or banning the sale of spraycans to under-18's to look like tagging is being taken seriously. There hasn't been much talk about where we're heading as a nation, or what the end state would look like. No-one has painted a vision for our country - but without vision how can we develop and put in place the policies that will move our country forward?

Today I intend to talk about choosing success - a successful New Zealand. The sort of New Zealand I want my children and grandchildren to inherit. That's why I came to politics.

Our vision isn't going to be achieved if we keep travelling the easy road. Some hard decisions need to be made. Our country doesn't just need a change of government; it needs a change of direction to achieve the vision of a free, prosperous and green New Zealand. To me this isn't a bad place to start.

We know there is much work to do in order for ACT to successfully fight this year's election. Let's be in no doubt about the facts: we're a small Party that needs more members and supporters. We're not the Party of the rich - as portrayed in the media - and the law has changed to make it even more difficult for donors to support us. We have only two MPs, as opposed to the nine we had as we entered the last election. The significant mood for change in this country means people are more likely to consolidate their vote with the National Party than ever before - expect to see plenty of talk of two ticks for them.

But we in ACT are not quitters. It is our role as leaders of the Party to set out the plan of battle in 08. Here is my view on the eight phases we should be focusing our efforts around.

1. Stimulate - we need to stimulate interest within the membership in both the electorate and the Party. It's the political equivalent of 'Ladies and Gentlemen, start your engines'
2. Regenerate - we need to recruit members; raise funds; build strong electorate committees; develop and train strong, impressive candidates. We will produce a detailed manifesto and a quality candidate list early this election year.
3. Activate - open the command posts for the campaign, establish campaign brands, refine internal systems and processes; get every electorate, every candidate - indeed, every member doing something every week through to the election. As you know - activity produces energy which, in turn, produces more activity.
4. Communicate with members - over this weekend, you will have the opportunity to hear about the work being done on branding. We have been fortunate to have been helped by some experts in this field. This year, we have to be better than ever at communicating with members and voters to ensure that every piece of material, every speech, every website or blog entry is consistent and on message. This is the start line for our public campaign in '08.
5. Resonate - by resonance I refer to the pure, pleasing sound that echoes and reverberates in a way that the listener finds pleasing and familiar. Think of a church bell - the ringing of which stops you, is pleasing to most ears and instantly creates an almost primal sense of meaning and understanding from deep within. We want our campaign messages to have exactly the same effect on voters and the media.
6. Captivate the voters - having broken through the 'noise of the election', we have to lock our messages in through to the ballot box. This means we must capture ground that is clearly only ACT ground, and our point of difference must be clear - a few simple messages repeated often in a variety of ways on subjects that mean much to voters, but which no other Party is courageous enough to copy.
7. Negotiate - success in 08 will see us forming part of the governing coalition. We must have declared well in advance what our bottom line policies are in return for ACT votes for supply and confidence. Many of you participated in that process during the recent member survey and I thank you for your help in that.
8. Perpetuate - any plan that isn't put into action is just a dream. We must ensure that our governing partners put our essential ideas into action. We must quickly grow our member base and demonstrate to our supporters that their faith in us is justified. In short, we must affirm our role in New Zealand politics in the voters' minds for the long term. We will do this through leading by example; by walking the talk. It means going back to the first of these points straight after the election and repeating this cycle - over and over again in an iterative process of building and growing our strength and relevance.

At its heart, a classical liberal Party is one that has fresh new ideas. We cannot afford to trot out the same old messages - no matter how much they might seem right to us - if they can be ignored as sounding vague or reactionary or tired. We can be true to our principles and new in our approach. TRUE and NEW is the mantra of a thriving liberal Party. By default, other parties become FALSE and OLD.

So what might this approach look like in Campaign 08?

There are many core ACT messages, like tax cuts, that have now become mainstream across the Parties. It's hard now, for example, to find a Party that isn't talking about tax cuts. To be heard, our messages must be fresh and new; challenging but achievable, and consistent with what the electorate is thinking and feeling.

Many New Zealanders' strongly held beliefs are being ignored by the major Parties. Remember the Margaret Robertson referendum on 99 MPs, and Norm Withers' referendum for tougher punishment for criminals? These are issues we would be foolish to ignore.

Instead of entering the lottery on tax cuts in a bidding war fashion, based on what money is currently available, I believe that we should be taking the debate back to basics. Any government should first identify what its core roles are and set the cost of running those efficiently as the basis for a tax rate. This what Sir Roger Douglas referred to as 'Unfinished Business'. This government - and many before it - have consistently become involved in activities they have no business being involved in and, as a consequence, have been forced to tax to a level required to support them.

Taxation is merely the enabler - the tool we use to determine how much we need to operate our household. Taxation is not a means in itself - it is the means to an end, the means to achieve our vision. When money leads the debate, values and priorities get left behind. This is no different to the way you and I budget for our households.

I believe that there are eight core roles of the State:
1. National Security: Keeping Kiwis Safe from both internal and external threats.
2. Education and Training: Nurturing and developing young kiwis
3. Infrastructure: Doing up our backyard.
4. Justice and law-making: Being a great referee on a level playing field.
5. Health and Social Services: Getting injured players back on the field quickly.
6. Superannuation: Respecting and protecting the old grey Kiwi
7. Environment: Being a smart green Kiwi.
8. Economy: Running a tight ship.

This leads me back to the referendum on smaller government. ACT has always said that less government is good government. I see the role of government as being only a limited range of core functions. Imagine a government of eight Ministers responsible for the eight core roles of State, plus a Prime Minister and Deputy forming a 10 percent management component of a Parliament of 100. Workload could easily be covered by better use of the Under-Secretary role, rather than the current practice of distributing largesse via meaningless and fragmented portfolios in and outside of Cabinet.

Each of the core roles described requires us to develop a comprehensive policy statement and a timeline for transition. We must show that we are a plausible 'revolutionary government in exile'. But the message for the ordinary voter will always be received on the personal radio station known as WII FM - What's In It For Me?

Here are a few thoughts of my own:
1. An enhanced, reserve-based force (Police, Defence, Emergency Services and the like) that would be developed through the implementation of Voluntary National Service - a scheme offering student loan write-back as a feature.
2. Let Parents Choose - equitable funding and transferability of education entitlements via education scholarships for all students
3. 'Grandfather' existing provisions for those over 55 and implement flexible, individualised savings. We could allow trade unions to be fund operators as they are in Australia - those with a financially powerful base pay a lot of attention to interest rates, market performance and productivity growth and working with employers rather than against them.
4. Overhaul the RMA to allow for the development and implementation of a National Infrastructure Plan to overcome New Zealand's current Infrastructure deficit.
5. Rodney's Regulatory Responsibility Bill will stop red tape by protecting private property rights, freedom to contract and subjecting all existing law to five yearly reviews. It will also mean all new bills will have to pass the test of "Is this needed? What will it achieve? And what will it cost?" before being passed into law.
6. Full integration of public and private health providers based on a basic insurance policy entitlement given to every Kiwi at birth and providing for surety of contract for private healthcare operators.
7. Propose an alternative to Kyoto protocol - a workable Smart Green replacement that current non-signatories could agree to.
8. Ensuring that the top tax rate of 39 cents - now affecting 15 percent of the population - is abolished

So, standing at the Election '08 crossroads now, which road should we take?


There are some political Parties that remind me of Alice in Wonderland when she met the Cheshire Cat.

"Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?" Alice asked.
The Cat replied: "That depends a good deal on where you want to get to."
"I don't know where," ' said Alice
"Then it doesn't matter which way you go," said the Cat.

In order to choose the right road, we first need to have a vision that points us in the right direction. ACT ideas and policies - the TRUE and NEW - help us along the path. Fortunately for New Zealand, ACT has a vision - and the plan of how to implement it. Choosing Success is the ACT way. Now, lets show the voters how to Choose Success too.