New Zealanders like to say we punch above our weight in the fields of sport or international affairs. It’s a very good description of how United Future is performing in relation to the Labour-led Government.

From the outset, we’ve known that for any small party closely associated with a bigger Government party, it is a difficult task to spell out our messages without being seen to cut across our larger goal of ensuring New Zealand has stable government.

Were we merely an opposition party, we could get much bigger and more frequent headlines by launching outrageous and usually irresponsible attacks on the government of the day. That would certainly keep us in the public eye, but would do little to deliver good government to New Zealand.

We are here for the long haul and that means doing the very hard detailed work that influences policy, influences Ministers of the Crown and ultimately leads to better legislation to enable our society to run effectively and intelligently.

For example, United Future is playing a critical role in reforming the Resource Management Act so that the anti-business, anti-growth policies of the Greens don’t damage New Zealand’s interests when we try to improve our transport and energy infrastructures.

This is not glamorous, headline-filling work, but it is absolutely essential for the progress of our country.

More widely, we are working hard at building up a party structure throughout the country that will be helpful in spreading our message. May I urge all our supporters to help this work by becoming involved, by promoting United Future policies in your workplace, your community groups and at home.

The next election is scheduled for late 2005. With your help, I’m confident it’ll be an even greater success for United Future New Zealand.

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