Dear John,

Today is the anniversary of my election as National’s Leader. It’s an ideal opportunity to look ahead to the exciting coming year, to reflect on National’s progress over the past 12 months, and to thank you all for your ongoing support.

Looking ahead, all the energy, effort and enthusiasm of the party and caucus will of course go into contesting the general election, which is possibly less than a year away and, in my view, the election can’t come soon enough.

The Labour Government is costing New Zealanders dearly. The economic picture is a shambles with the Reserve Bank forecasting a recession, and Finance Minister Grant Robertson saying New Zealand is in a great position.

It can’t be both and New Zealanders doing their weekly shop at the supermarket, or facing re-fixing a mortgage, don’t need economists to tell them that Labour has lost control of the economy.

New Zealand needs National’s competent hand on the Government’s books to get the cost-of-living crisis under control, to bring back stability, provide tax relief and to increase New Zealand’s prosperity so everyone is better off.

On top of that, I know that many New Zealanders are worried by the sense of lawlessness that’s evident in the brazenness of crimes that are being committed daily.

I saw a report in the media last week of a shoplifter who was confronted by a supermarket manager and the offender said, “what are you going to do about it?” All too often, it seems, that’s the attitude of offenders – not that it’s their responsibility to obey the law and behave in a moral and ethical manner, but it’s someone else’s responsibility to stop them and if they don’t, the offenders will keep going.

It’s a disturbing attitude and it’s why I’ve talked so often about New Zealanders’ rights and responsibilities, and about ensuring there are consequences for people’s actions.

National has plans to tackle gangs, and youth crime. We will ban patches in public and give police new powers to stop gang members congregating and search for illegal weapons. We will also bring in tough new consequences for young offenders - because doing nothing is not helping those young people who need a circuit breaker.

My first anniversary as Leader is also an opportunity to review how far National has come in the past 12 months.

It’s been a big year and we’ve announced a lot of policies. We’ve also fought the Government every step of the way on Three Waters, and will keep going. We’ve made clear that a National Government won’t support co-governance for public services, and in government, we’d focus on supporting the frontline to get results in health and other services, not on reorganising the Wellington bureaucracy. We’ll set targets to get things done, and hold ourselves accountable.

For me, the past 12 months have been a whirlwind. I’ve been all over the country, to schools, pre-schools, farms, businesses, community groups, social providers, big firms, little firms and met thousands of New Zealanders - and more than a few reporters! There’s such a lot of heart and energy out there but, overwhelmingly, I feel that the country is going in the wrong direction under Labour.

There are just two weeks left of Parliament sitting this year so we’ll be flat-tack for a while yet, but Christmas celebrations are starting to fill my diary and soon we’ll all be turning our minds to a summer break after a huge year.

Thank you all for your support and encouragement in my first year as National’s Leader. It is a tremendous privilege to serve our great party in this role.

Christopher.