Labour to move on

Phil Goff. Photo / Greg Bowker

We messed up, we've admitted it - and we're not going to apologise any more for it.

That will be the essence of Labour leader Phil Goff's message to his party's annual conference this morning.

It will, he hopes, be the last time he has to admit those mistakes.

The theme of his keynote speech is Labour's future and the importance of focusing on things that really matter to New Zealanders. Goff has had enough of talking about what went wrong in the lead-up to the party's ousting from government.

He will say there was a perception before last year's election that Labour had dropped the ball, that it was distracted and got its priorities wrong.

He will tell about 500 delegates that Labour must again be relevant to people in their daily lives, and he will set out his agenda for the next three years.

Although the party is in the early stages of policy development, Goff is putting jobs, the economy and giving children the best possible start in life at the top of his list.

He is also going to focus on what he thinks Labour is best at - health, education and social policy.

Goff will be speaking to a full house at the Rotorua Events Centre.

- NZPA