"I think it was quite an exciting championship last year," Murphy said.
"I want it to be a tough championship.
"I want the series to grow, to have more competitors and to be more competitive. If you have one guy winning all the time it's boring."
Murphy, who has moved from Australia to New Zealand, is keen to make his mark on the domestic racing scene once again. Work begins this weekend at the circuit where he drove in the inaugural meeting late last year in the final round of the Australian GT championship.
"It's a challenging circuit, no question about it.
"It's got a lot of corners and if you make a mistake in any one of them it's going to hurt you a bit further down the track at the next corner.
"You've got to get it right for corner after corner, lap after lap. I enjoy driving it."
Some corners are based on famous ones overseas, including Sepang in Malaysia and Nurburgring in Germany.
Because of the way they lead into one another, drivers will have to be on their game to shape a passing move.
Highlands Park general manager Mike Sentch is rubbing his hands in anticipation. "We can't wait to see the drivers strive to master the complexities of the 4.1km Highlands circuit as they race this far south for the first time," he said.
For those on their first visit, practice will be essential to get to know the nuances of the long and demanding circuit.
Some of the Kiwi stars from the Aussie V8 Supercars series will not be competing.
Shane van Gisbergen got the call-up for the Daytona 24 Hours race with four other Kiwi hotshots - Brendon Hartley, Richie Stanaway, Earl Bamber and 2013 IndyCar champion Scott Dixon.
Rising V8 star Scott McLaughlin and his Supercheap Auto team have decided to withdraw.
Team manager Wayne McLaughlin said the main concern was the shortage of track time in terms of the cost.
"It is a huge expense for all of the V8 SuperTourer teams to not only prepare their cars so quickly after the last round, but also to get all the way to Cromwell," he said.
"So to only have two 12-lap races and a single 20-lap race meant it wasn't worth it for us.
"We would have liked to compete at Highlands, but it just doesn't make good business sense from our perspective to participate this time. And with only 12 cars confirmed out of 19, it simply wasn't worth the huge trip."
McLaughlin agrees with the decision and reiterates that this withdrawal won't apply to the whole season.
"I'm gutted that I won't be at the first round but understand where the team is coming from.
"I've heard good things about the track [Highlands] so hopefully I can go there soon to have a crack," he said.
This is the first of seven meetings in the V8 SuperTourers' championship. There'll be a 12-lap race today, 12 and 20-lappers tomorrow.
