John Banks wants Act and Nats to work together

John Banks

National and ACT had to work together, not fight each other, if they are to wrench power off Labour, former Auckland Mayor and potential ACT candidate John Banks said today.

Speaking immediately after ACT President Catherine Judd launched a stinging attack on National listing its failures in government and opposition, Mr Banks told the party faithful at their conference in Auckland that National and ACT needed to cooperate.

"I'm not going to come here today and bag the National Party. We need the National Party because we don't need Helen Clark. The enemy is on the other side of the house," the former National MP said.

"It's not about the politics of the centre-right or the centre-left, its about the politics of common ground and common sense."

Instead he bagged Labour:"Horomia Papakura (Parakura Horomia) would you put him in charge of your health and fitness? George Hawkins - would you have him looking after your home security systems? John Tamihere - would you lend him your cheque book? Trevor Mallard - would you have him teaching your kids or worse Judith Tizard as the next mayor of Auckland?"

Mr Banks said ACT was the only party that could keep National honest.

"I say that because a drift to the centre and the politics of 'me too' don't attract additional votes," he said referring to National back tracking on several policies it thinks would be unpopular.

"We need to get hungry and most of all we need to get working. There is today a sense of urgency as this Labour Government sleep walks to victory."

Mr Banks picked up on a theme of Ms Judd's speech that ACT needed to get better at selling itself and publicising its free market principles it believes in.

"I want to hear, I want to see up in lights what this party stands for and stands against."

In a recent speech ACT leader Rodney Hide pitched comments towards small business in New Zealand which Mr Banks also picked up on today. He repeatedly referred to the 250,000 people involved in small business and their struggle against red tape and high taxes.

"People who work in small business or for the owners of small businesses are the real Kiwi battlers... they don't like this interfering bossy-boots Government.

"Any government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have and this Government is taking from business people, the lifeblood of this economy, everything they have."

In a rousing and often funny speech -- for which he earned a standing ovation -- Mr Banks praised ACT founder Sir Roger Douglas who was in the audience and also Ms Judd and Mr Hide's leadership and the performance of ACT in Parliament.

"Pitch the policies, call the Government to account on the important issues, stay away from the peripheral, stay away from the bubble and squeak, concentrate on the principles Roger Douglas and Derek Quigley penned out so long ago and you've got to believe you can win," he advised the party.

Speaking to journalists, Mr Banks remained coy about whether he would stand for ACT but said polling done showed if he stood in Tamaki for ACT he would win -- he added he would not return to National.

Should he stand on the list Mr Banks said he would insist on being near the top but was enthusiastic of his support for Mr Hide. However when asked if he would like to be ACT leader sometime in the future he paused for a long while before saying: 'I now think I'd like to be the Prime Minister of New Zealand one day."

Ms Judd earlier told the conference the relationship between National and ACT was like that of a partner being battered and it was time "in the interests of our own self esteem - to get out".

"It's been quite a liberating experience - it's what a classical liberal party needs to do - to make our own case in our own right."

While Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word played in the background Ms Judd displayed a list of 30 areas where she said National had failed its supporters.

Criticism ranged from perceived failures while in Government such as the Resource Management ACT, NCEA, and abandoning privatisation after 1993. As the opposition Ms Judd criticised National for abandoning its review of the nuclear ships ban, for its weak tax policy, reversal of opposition to the superannuation fund, reversal of opposition to four weeks holiday and the decision to retain ownership of Kiwibank and TVNZ.

Ms Judd also talked down reports ACT wouldn't survive the election and lambasted Labour for its socialist direction.

- NZPA