30 March . John Key's regular interview on Radio Dunedin with Neil Collins.  John talks about the caucus and the 'anti-smacking' Bill, National's prospects, polls and other things. [10:34]

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30 March. John Key's weekly interview on the Farming Show with Jamie MacKay. John talks through the National Party's position on the explosively controversial Bradford 'anti-smacking' Bill.

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Helen Clark's move to make Sue Bradford's anti-smacking bill a Government bill shows how out of touch the Prime Minister is with the majority of New Zealanders, says National Party Leader John Key. "The fact is that around 80% of New Zealanders in recent polls are opposed to the ban on smacking. "Why does Helen Clark think she can get away with arrogantly ramming this bill through Parliament in the face of such overwhelming public opposition? "Helen Clark has nothing but contempt for the views of the majority of New Zealand parents. "This tiring Labour Government demonstrates daily that it is increasingly out of touch and offside with the views of the majority of New Zealanders." For video of today's demonstration against the Bradford Bill, click here to watch NTV. Tweet

A survey of giving by Kiwis showing that while we are generous we lag behind some other comparable nations, illustrates the need for National's charity tax policy, says National Party Leader John Key. Figures from the Giving New Zealand report show that while Kiwis are more generous than Australians and Canadians, we lag behind British and Americans. "National's policy, which I announced last month, is designed to support private giving and would be a big boost to New Zealand's giving tradition," says Mr Key. "We want to reinforce that culture of giving through our tax policy." The policy will: • Remove the $1,890 cap on charitable donations. Donations of any amount, up to an individual's total net income, will be eligible for the 33.3% rebate. • Remove the 5% cap on the level of donations that can be deducted by companies and Maori Authorities, meaning they will be allowed to claim a deduction for any level of charitable donation. In addition, all businesses, not just publicly listed or just widely held companies, will be able to claim deductions. • Remove gift duty from donations to charitable organisations. "New Zealand's tax treatment of charitable giving is miserly compared to some other countries. "Our changes, costing around $60-$90 million a year in lost revenue, will mostly benefit New Zealand-focused charities, but the rebate will also apply, as it does now, to many overseas aid organisations. "National estimates that its policy will result in a big boost to donations to the charitable sector." Tweet

27 March 2007. John thanks website visitors for having joined in the conversation by leaving so many comments in the few days since the website launched and uses this videocast to respond to those who have expressed such passionate concern about the so-called 'anti-smacking' legislation proposed by Green MP Sue Bradford and backed by the Labour caucus. For more on this, and the proposed amendment by National MP Chester Borrows, click here and scroll to the bottom of the page.  You can also watch videocasts by Chester Borrows on his amendment on NTV and National's YouTube channel  [3.40]

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