National Party Leader John Key is due to meet Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and United States Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte when he visits North America next week.

"This visit to both countries is all about building long-term, durable relationships," says Mr Key.

"The United States and Canada are two of our most important bi-lateral relationships, and it is in the interests of all New Zealanders that the relationships are maintained and enhanced."

Mr Key leaves next Monday evening, and returns on Sunday July 1. He will be accompanied by National's Foreign Affairs spokesman Murray McCully, Trade spokesman Tim Groser, and a staff member.

He is due to meet State Department number two, Deputy Secretary Negroponte, on Tuesday, June 26 (local). He is also due to meet Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Christopher Hill, earlier that day.

In addition, Mr Key is due to meet White House Environmental Quality Council chairman James Connaughton, and Deputy US Trade Representative Karan Bhatia.

Mr Key will also visit Ottawa to meet Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. This is scheduled for Wednesday June 27 (local).

This is Mr Key's first official visit to the US and Canada as Leader of the Opposition. He visited Australia last December and met Australian Prime Minister John Howard and a number of other senior Ministers.

Other details of the visit are still subject to final confirmation. It is expected that Mr Key's itinerary will also include appointments at the Pentagon, National Security Council, and with a number of members of Congress.

National Party Leader John Key says a National-led Government will change the smacking law if the spirit of the compromise thrashed out with Labour is broken.

“We’re watching the developments.  National has maintained right the way through the process that we do not wish to see responsible parents criminalised. If that starts happening, a National Government would fix the law.

“The critical test of this legislation was always going to be the way it was administered.

“But I am confident the police will administer the law with the appropriate judgment and discretion required.  If, for whatever reason, that proves not to be the case, we’ll change it.

“The overwhelming majority of New Zealanders do not want to see good parents criminalised for an ‘inconsequential’ smack.  That’s what National signed up to, and that’s still the case.”

National's Leader John Key has announced his Party's commitment to putting trades and industry training back into the heart of New Zealand's school system, during a speech to the Employers and Manufacturers Association.

"Two of New Zealand's biggest challenges are a lack of adequately skilled workers to meet employer demands, and the wasted potential of thousands of young New Zealanders who are alienated from education.

"We can get more Kiwi kids interested in school, and achieving more while they're there, if we offer them something practical and something which might lead to a job they can be passionate about.

"Trades and industry training has been sidelined in too many schools and cut off from too many students.

"National is committed to helping schools overcome the funding and bureaucratic barriers that prevent so many students from accessing trades and industry-based education at school.

"We want all students, in all secondary schools, in all areas, to be able to take part in hands-on learning in a range of industries.

Mr Key announced a number of steps National will take to promote trades and industry training in schools:

· Fix the technology curriculum by ensuring it contains references to the need for students to make things, build things, and produce things.

· Tackle the technology teacher crisis by working with teachers and industry to increase the pool of people able to take trades and technology classes.

· Encourage business and industry to help provide schools with resources for trades training.

· Give schools more flexibility to offer their students trades and industry training outside their school gates, whether at other schools, local training providers or at Industry Training Organisation (ITO) approved workplaces.

· Promote innovation in school-based delivery of trades and industry training by funding select schools to run "Trades Academies".

· Piloting a school-based apprenticeships scheme similar to the one run successfully in Australia.

Mr Key called on industry to work with National to achieve this goal and said he was open to their ideas and confident of their support.