Nats descend on Christchurch
Hundreds of National Party members have descended on Christchurch for the party’s annual national conference.
The conference, the significant political and social fixture on the calendar of party members, will be held at the Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre, a postearthquake building that was conceived when the previous National Government held office. It opened its doors to the first conference in May.
It is Christopher Luxon’s first National conference as leader of the party. He has restored National’s fortunes in the polls, polling in the high 30s or early 40s in most public polls.
More than 650 party members are expected to attend the conference, which runs over today and tomorrow, and culminates in a keynote address by Luxon.
The conference turnout is higher than the party expected, given that the election is still more than a year away. Numerous sources said that the prospect of the party winning seems to have galvanised support.
As well, the settling of the party’s leadership struggles and an easing in Covid-19 restrictions have encouraged the strong turnout.
The conference itself runs in a similar manner to most conferences, with a mixture of keynote speeches, panel sessions and closed sessions for conducting party business, including the annual general meeting and a session on next year’s election campaign.
It will also mark long-term president Peter Goodfellow’s final address to the party. Goodfellow announced his intention to retire in June after 13 years as party president.
A new party president will be announced tomorrow morning.
Under National Party rules the new president will be elected by the board, not the membership-at-large.
Goodfellow was re-elected at the previous annual conference a year ago prompting former Speaker David Carter, who also ran for the position, to resign from the party board saying he had ‘‘zero confidence’’ in Goodfellow’s leadership.
In addition to speeches by Goodfellow, party finance spokesperson Nicola Willis (today) and Luxon (tomorrow), there will be various sessions on policies the party is working up, including the economy, law and order, mental health and regional New Zealand.
Willis’s speech is expected to be a sweeping economic address going back into the party’s history and laying out its first principles on economics.
National has been relentlessly pursuing the Government over the high inflation rate.
Various remits from party members and groups will also be heard.
Yesterday, the party ran its candidate college for prospective new candidates and the Young Nationals threw a fundraiser party in the evening. There is a busy informal calendar of social events that have popped up around the conference.