Prime Minister Helen Clark will today address more than 600 activists at the Labour Party conference in Wellington. Photo / Herald on Sunday
Prime Minister Helen Clark will tell delegates at the Labour Party's annual congress today why she believes she can win the next election, despite the party trailing National in the polls and the challenge of retaining power for a fourth term.
Helen Clark will give her keynote speech
in front of more than 600 activists who have gathered in Wellington Town Hall for three days of campaign planning sessions and policy development seminars.
She is not expected to announce any significant new policies - Labour is keeping those for the campaign - but she will explain some of the Government's pre-election plans.
Party president Mike Williams last night told delegates to get ready for "the toughest of elections" and reminded them how hard it was going to be to win a fourth term.
But he was upbeat about the party's chances, praising Helen Clark and Finance Minister Michael Cullen for laying "the bedrock for victory" with policies that had achieved a record low in unemployment, family tax credits that were helping more than 200,000 families and the "stunningly successful" KiwiSaver scheme.
Mr Williams, who is the party's campaign manager, did not give much away about election strategy but he said that in 2005 his focus on mobilising the party vote in "a few key areas" had raised it by 97,000 over the 2002 figure.
"We have a programme in place to extend that to all of New Zealand," he said.
"This is hard, clever work involving the largest force on the ground we have ever deployed," he told delegates.
"A particular target must be first time voters. Nearly 200,000 young people will enrol and vote for the first time in the 2008 general election - some of them were nine years old when we were first elected in 1999."
He said those new voters had no memory of the "shambles" of the last National government and it was up to Labour's activists to tell them about it.
- NZPA
