Judith Collins says National can rebuild for 'easily winnable' election

National Party leader Judith Collins addresses the National Party annual conference at the Vodafone Events Centre in Manukau. Video / Dean Purcell

National leader Judith Collins unveiled seven big policy areas where she thinks Labour is failing and National can build its reputation for an "easily winnable" election in 2023.

Collins' prediction came with a caveat - the election was only winnable if National "focuses on the things that matter to New Zealand – to those Kiwis who deserve more".

The prediction came in Collins' keynote address at her party's conference in South Auckland, where she promised to build on her "demand the debate" campaign with seven more debates.

These would each focus on an area Collins identified after some consultation.

Collins listed the seven areas: lifting incomes, growing technology, getting houses built, a focus on the safety of New Zealanders, educating Kiwis to succeed globally, making communities safe and reversing the growth of gangs, and ensuring quality healthcare and mental healthcare.

"Labour is a party that is failing to deliver in almost every area that matters to New Zealand and New Zealanders.

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"They're rushing through changes and making announcements they didn't campaign on and without New Zealanders having their say," Collins said.

Each of those policy areas feed into Collins' "demand the debate" campaign. The speech called for a debate on "how do we lift incomes so New Zealanders can raise a family and get ahead?"

It went on to call for a debate on "how do we nurture a growing tech sector that creates ore and better paying jobs and competes on the world stage?"

And - with several calls to debate in between - the speech finished with a call to debate "how do we ensure we have a quality healthcare and mental health service that retains skilled medical professionals and treats Kiwis on time?"

Collins got a large applause from her audience when she attacked gangs. She said gangs should not be seen as "Rotary in leather" and joked that they were not making money from sausage sizzles.

She promised to reverse the growth of gangs.

Those policy areas will frame Collins' two-year journey to the election campaign in 2023 - a journey that could see her challenged for the party leadership before the election.

Collins said that "over the next two years we will engage with experts and the public and you, our members, to develop solutions".

Collins spent considerable time defending her demand the debate campaign, which had copped criticism for lacking focus.

Instead of focusing on the reaction to the campaign, Collins looked at how many people had seen the campaign's facebook videos and billboards.

"Our billboards have been seen almost 4.5 million times.

"Our Facebook posts have been seen by almost 1 million New Zealanders

"Our internet ads on media websites and google have had almost 2.7 million views. We've
sent out close to 1 million emails," Collins said.