New National Party leader Simon Bridges said the people of New Zealand had the right to get to know the party again. Photo / Mark Mitchell
National Party leader Simon Bridges says his party needs to evolve to win in 2020 but will not let go of its core values – and has defended the record high net immigration under National.
Bridges is speaking to Leighton Smith on Newstalk ZB in a one-hour special from 10am.
Asked about immigration levels, Bridges said it was assumed immigrants were causing the growth problems.
"I'm not saying it didn't have an effect on things."
However, he said New Zealand was growing anyway, and businesses all over New Zealand now needed workers.
"So I think you do need to keep immigration running."
He understood the issues for Auckland but said those in the regions could not have a source of workers cut off.
The Labour-NZ First government did "not have a hope in Hades" of delivering on its policies such as KiwiBuild without migrant workers, he said.
One of the biggest dilemmas Bridges, 41, faces is what to do with the plum finance spokesperson role, now held by Steven Joyce.
Joyce was the finance minister in the National government, and as a self-made millionaire businessman, he has a secure hold on the role.
However, Joyce was sought the leadership Bridges may want a new face in the position.
Asked if New Zealand was in for a "baby competition" after Bridges featured in media with his three young children, Bridges said, "judge me on my substance".
He said if National did not have the best ideas to win in 2020 it did not deserve to.
"What is true for a leader is New Zealanders do have a right to get to know us. In that regard, I have to do those things. I have no issue with that because people have that right."
However, he said come the next election "all of that stuff fades", and people would weigh up who was best placed to run the country.
Bridges said the current Government was "lazy in Opposition" and had delivered little more than slogans.
"They didn't do the work to have more than slogans, and now they're finding slogans are hard to do."
He promised "evolution, not revolution" saying although some argued nothing needed to change because of National's success over the past nine years, National had to present policies that were suited to the 2020s when the next election came.
He said PM Jacinda Ardern was well-intentioned, but her weakness was everything around her.
He said National's strength was its experience, including Joyce, Judith Collins and Gerry Brownlee.
The victim was backing away when he was hit with a blindside punch.