National Party Conference: Q&A with Don Brash

On the eve of the National Party's annual conference in Christchurch, political correspondent John Armstrong questions Don Brash about his leadership and the conference's objectives in the post-election year.


Writing in the conference programme, you accuse the Labour-led Government of running out of energy and ideas. Will we be seeing some fresh ideas from National this weekend?

The first thing to say about the conference is that it will be a celebration of last year's very good outcome in the election. That said, it is important that having done that we do look forward to the next election. It is a mistake to think we are going to abandon the major policy themes we had at the last election. There will be a need to refocus some of those, but the basic themes, I think, are exactly the ones we will want to continue to be running.

What about tax? Do you accept that while National's advocacy of tax cuts will be just as strong through to the 2008 election, you may not be able to promise such big cuts in dollar terms as you could last year?

I have said a number of times in public that the precise details of our tax package will have to be modified for the circumstances in which we find ourselves. It is certainly too early to predict what precisely we will be doing. What I am most keen to achieve is a reduction in the effective marginal rate paid on additional income. The highest marginal tax rate is not the tax rate on income above $60,000. It's the rate that people on lower incomes face because of the Working for Families benefits. If their income from paid work rises, they get hit with high effective marginal tax rates, a combination of income tax and the abatement of Working for Families and accommodation supplement benefits. It is not surprising people are asking, "Why should I work harder?" when they are paying a tax rate of 80 or 90 per cent. There is no incentive.

In terms of energy, the prevailing view is that National has gone off the boil in recent weeks after hammering Labour in the early months of the year? What's happened? Why isn't National setting the political agenda any longer?

I would strongly contest that contention. I think we are setting the agenda in a whole range of areas. Bill English is doing a strong job in education, as is Tony Ryall in health, Judith Collins in welfare. Simon Power is doing a great job in law and order. John Key is doing a very good job in the finance portfolio. If you are asking where has Don Brash been in the past month, the answer basically is in the provinces.

You have been criticised for a lack of visibility in the national media. What are you doing about it?

As I have discovered, it is a challenge to both be out in the provinces and get coverage in the national media. It is always a risk, but I am pretty committed to maintaining a regular series of visits to the provinces. I think it is important we don't take the provinces for granted. Having said that, it is important that I do maintain a presence in the national media.

Some in the party see the conference as marking the transition point where National stops celebrating its recovery at last year's election and starts thinking how it is going to fight the next one? Do you agree?

I think there is a symbolic watershed point, that's right. I think the reality is the caucus has been working for some time on how we fight the next election. It is the intention of myself and the party president, Judy Kirk, to get the party focused on looking forward.

There is also a view that the conference marks another turning point when Don Brash can no longer live off the good will generated by last year's election result and has to lift his game?

The leader of any major party is only as good as his latest speech or the latest major poll and I accept that is the nature of the game. The reality is most polls are showing National ahead of Labour. Does that make me feel comfortable and complacent? Absolutely not. There is a long way to go until the next election. Does that make me feel like cutting my wrists? Absolutely not either.

Do you feel safe as leader? Or are you still in the job simply because your rivals cannot agree on who should succeed you?

I sense no mood in the caucus for change at all. People who have been in Parliament longer than me say they can't remember a time when the front bench was more unified and more committed to operating as a team.

Are you still keen on the job?

Absolutely. I have got a whole bunch of things which I wanted to get done when I first came to Parliament four years ago. I'm still as committed to doing those things as I was then.

The leadership story is the story that just refuses to go away, isn't it?

That is always true for Opposition leaders.

What are the key messages that you want voters to take from this weekend's conference?

That the National Party is not taking the next election for granted. That we have a lot of hard work to do both in policy and organisational terms. That we don't give any suggestion we are complacent. That's crucial.