New Zealand Herald (Free subscription) | yesterday
After a tough weekend in which he was politically outflanked by Labour, National leader John Key received an excellence award yesterday - and he didn't even have to do much to get it. Mr Key flew to Gisborne to join his education...
New Zealand Herald (Free subscription) | 10/12/2008
National made "change" a strong theme of its election campaign opening, but had no new policy on the day to lure voters. Party faithful gathered at Auckland's SkyCity Convention Centre yesterday afternoon for two hours of entertainment...
New Zealand Herald (Free subscription) | 10/11/2008
National leader John Key spelt out his party's key policies and its credentials for managing a troubled economy at the launch of its formal election campaign today. About 700 party faithful filled a conference room of Auckland's...
New Zealand Herald (Free subscription) | 10/12/2008
Welcome to my first blog of the election campaign, courtesy of the Herald. Over the next four weeks I will give you a glimpse at how National's campaign is going as I travel up and down the country. Last week, amid some gloomy...
New Zealand Herald (Free subscription) | 10/10/2008
The see-saw nature of election campaigns is all about testing how would-be prime ministers withstand pressure. And, right now, the pressure is really piling on John Key big-time. Following a less than ecstatic reception for National's...
New Zealand Herald (Free subscription) | 10/12/2008
If actions speak louder than words, Labour was the winner on Day One of the official election campaign - game, set and match. In the fight over which of the two major parties is best at running the economy, Labour scored a significant...
New Zealand Herald (Free subscription) | 10/10/2008
In the two years since John Key took over from Don Brash as National's leader and dragged his party much closer to the centre of the political spectrum, there have been frequent complaints that National's brand has become little more...
New Zealand Herald (Free subscription) | 10/08/2008
National leader John Key says workers unhappy with the proposed cut in savings with the KiwiSaver minimum from 4 per cent to 2 per cent could simply put their tax cut under National straight into their KiwiSaver accounts. He made...
New Zealand Herald (Free subscription) | 10/07/2008
If John Key's demeanour and language seemed to have more than a slight touch of the prime ministerial yesterday, it was all deliberate on National's part. Cometh the crisis, cometh the man was the sub-text of the four-page statement...
New Zealand Herald (Free subscription) | 10/07/2008
John Key and Bill English now have a compelling opportunity to boldly face the international financial crisis head-on, jettison their wimpy me-too policies and announce an economic circuit-breaker if they dare. They have re-cast...
New Zealand Herald (Free subscription) | 10/08/2008
Editorial: Fiscal crisis is Key's first test 4:00AM Thursday Oct 09, 2008 Related NZHerald links: Your ViewsWhat do you think of National's proposed tax and KiwiSaver changes? There has been a striking contrast in the response of the two main parties to the disturbing news that after 14 years of budget surpluses the Treasury now calculates the public accounts are set for a decade of deficits.An announcement...
Kiwiblog (Free subscription) | 10/07/2008
NZPA reports: The National Party’s newly-announced ‘life means life’ policy for repeat violent criminals won loud approval in Tauranga today. Party leader John Key got rousing applause when he talked about National’s plans to get tough on crime in an open-air lunch-time address which attracted a crowd of about 300. The gathering was reminiscent of the signature rallies [...]
New Zealand Herald (Free subscription) | 10/08/2008
The door banged shut in Labour's face following Monday's mind-numbingly pessimistic economic forecasts. Labour can thank National's underwhelming tax package for reopening it at least slightly. In what is still to some degree a...
New Zealand Herald (Free subscription) | 10/06/2008
National leader John Key expects to announce a programme of tax cuts tomorrow despite the Treasury's pre-election report that shows the economic forecasts to be worse than the most pessimistic predictions. Budget deficits of billions...
New Zealand Herald (Free subscription) | yesterday
National's new ten-point plan to raise children's literacy and numeracy skills is being criticised as too light on detail. The plan - dubbed a "crusade" at its launch yesterday by National leader John Key - would boost funding...
