KEY POINTS:
National Party leader John Key is marking his first anniversary at the helm of the party by effectively re-launching himself - through a DVD which seeks to address worries that the public does not know what he stands for.
Mr Key, who arrived back from Antarctica late on Monday night, spent yesterday morning handing out his 13-minute DVD to media people before he headed south to meet voters in Darfield, Ashburton and Timaru.
It was exactly a year to the day since he took over the leadership ofthe National Party from Don Brash, and he has now embarked on a tourof 40 provincial towns up untilChristmas to meet as many people as he can.
While Mr Key and National continue to rate well in political polls, there has been a lingering feeling that the former currency-trading high flyer needs to be fleshed out more in voters' minds if he is to win them over for next year's ballot.
Mr Key said the DVD - which features him talking in a range of settings about his upbringing, his ambitions and his family - was designed to help people to understand what motivates him.
"It's ideally aimed at a person who has never met me, and whose own interaction so far would have been through a seven-second soundbite on the news," Mr Key said. "It's deliberately conversational and it's quite personal."
Mr Key said he felt his first year in charge of National had been successful, partly because he had tried to stick to his own plan and agenda rather than be derailed by others.
The leadership team of Mr Key and deputy Bill English - which had been the subject of doubts when the pair first came together - had worked well so far and the caucus was disciplined and united, he said.
Mr Key's profile has flagged somewhat since he burst onto the scene a year ago, but the release of his DVD and National's intention to put out more policy detail in the approaching election year could thrust him back into the spotlight.
He said the core focus of the push would be around the economy, education and law and order, with another broad theme of trying to build national confidence and ambition.
Australian voters opted for a change of Government at the weekend and while Mr Key is a known admirer of the ousted John Howard, he said there were some valuable lessons for his own party from that election.
"I think what it shows is that voters are willing to embrace change," he said. "I don't think they're looking for radical change, I think they're looking for a change in emphasis and they'll certainly get that from us."
Mr Key had not spoken to Mr Howard since his defeat, but hoped to do so this week.
The National leader said next year's election was "critical" not only for his party but also for the country, which was entering a period of opportunity as China and India grew quickly, but was also facing a war for its most talented people.
"I think the public is hungry for a change."
Party opts to pay full bill for DVD
The DVD that John Key hopes will help him win votes has been fully funded by the National Party, although it is keeping quiet about how much the production cost.
The 13-minute promotion was filmed over four months and tens of thousands of the DVDs are being produced.
Mr Key said the party had opted to pay for the DVD rather than use taxpayer money because National felt it was not something the public should be footing the bill for.
"Even though technically we think under the changing legislation you could have elected to fund it out of the parliamentary funds."
Under changing election finance rules the DVD would form part of National's limited spending in election year if it was distributed after January 1.
Wellington electoral law specialist Graeme Edgeler said the DVD was fine for distribution now, and it would not matter if people played it after January 1 as long as they had received it before then.
But if National continued to hand out the DVD after January 1, or left the video on its website - where it was posted yesterday - then the party would have to count some of the costs of its production or its hosting on the site in its election campaign costs.
