KEY POINTS:
The reconciliation between Sir Roger Douglas and Act Party leader Rodney Hide is complete, with Sir Roger announcing he will stand as a party candidate in an electorate seat at the next election.
Sir Roger, 70, a former Labour finance minister and Act Party founder, made the announcement to about 200 delegates at their annual conference in Auckland today.
Sir Roger's announcement was enthusiastically received by the delegates, who gave him a standing ovation at the end of his address.
Speaking to media later, Sir Roger said it had not been decided which seat he would contest.
Dubbing the Government as the "Growthbusters", Sir Roger in his speech said the country's growth had been sacrificed time and again at the "altar of political self-interest".
Sir Roger also took aim at the growing number of New Zealanders leaving the country for Australia and the disparity between income levels between the two countries.
"None of us can afford any longer to sit on the sidelines."
Sir Roger turned his back on the party when Mr Hide took the reins, saying it had moved from being a party of policy substance to a reactive headline hunter.
In recent weeks there has been talk of reconciliation, culminating with Mr Hide announcing Sir Roger had "committed his formidable skills and experience to the 2008 ACT campaign".
Sir Roger was finance minister under David Lange's Labour government and was famous for his deregulation of New Zealand's economy.
He fell out with Mr Lange over his dry economic policy, especially his desire for a flatter tax system and later left to form the Act Party with another former Labour minister, Richard Prebble.
Mr Hide will speak this afternoon.
- NZPA
