Last year was a big one for us and for all the right reasons. We re-established our purpose, our direction and our vision. This is a challenge that all parties face (some more than others).  

Our challenge has always been to explain what our party stands for in a short, impact statement without it becoming a meaningless sound bite.  We’ve managed to do it this by engaging our members in surveys and discussion focus groups, and conversations. We got some criticism for this approach, but it’s how we want our party to work and we’ve proven it was worthwhile.

 In the final discussion, it fell into place, it fitted us perfectly:

We believe the role of government is to create an environment in which future generations of New Zealanders will have the opportunity to thrive, no matter who they are or where they come from.

Over the next few months, we’ll start to lock in an action plan. And just like the journey that got us here,  we will focus our efforts on how we get there, and we want our members to be involved. 

This aren’t just words – This is just the beginning, there will be more opportunities coming.

I hope you all have had a good Christmas and New Years and are enjoying time with family and friends. If you’re travelling, please do safely. We’ve got lots of work to do in 2016, so make sure you recharge those batteries!