Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade

On Tuesday, I launched our discussion paper on foreign affairs, defence, and trade 'Focusing on our Core Strengths and Capabilities'. This has been put together by our Foreign Policy Team – Murray McCully, Wayne Mapp, Tim Groser and John Hayes – and lays out where National wants to take our policies over the next 10 years or so.

New Zealand is a small, isolated and trade-dependent country. We rely on consistent and effective foreign policy. After three decades of often-divisive debate, we now have a basis for enduring consensus. In my view, the foreign policy debates of the future won't be about where we are going as a country, but about the best way to get there.

Our foreign affairs policy should be based on a more independent assessment of our external environment, and should put a stronger focus on Asia and the South Pacific. National will make sure New Zealand's development assistance is more targeted and goal-driven.

In defence, there is agreement on the need for highly effective – if necessarily small – defence forces to help maintain security close to home in the Pacific and further afield. Defence expenditure should be driven by a White Paper process, assessing security needs and proposing solutions. We will not change New Zealand's antinuclear legislation.

In trade, there is already broad consensus on the importance of free and open trade, but National will put more emphasis on boosting our exports.

Historically, New Zealand has punched above its weight on the international stage. We will continue that tradition by keeping our country's best interests at the forefront of our thinking, and focusing on our core strengths and capabilities.

Download a copy of the discussion paper or a summary of proposals here .

Samoa

Before launching our discussion paper on foreign policy, I spent a few days in Samoa with National's Foreign Affairs spokesman, Murray McCully.

We met leaders in government, business, and the community, and learnt about their concerns and their views on Samoa's relationship with New Zealand. This broadened our understanding of the issues the South Pacific faces and helped build the relationships with Samoa that will be invaluable should National lead the next government.

Watch the highlights of my trip here.

Putting Patients First

Our public health system is in trouble. Hospitals are lurching from crisis to crisis. Emergency departments are treating patients on trolleys in corridors. The entire system is characterised by growing bureaucracy and endless waiting.

Despite increasing the annual health budget by $5 billion since coming to office, Labour has failed to deliver the extra operations, treatment, and care that patients rightly expect. Too much of your money is being wasted, and too few improvements are being made.

That's why, last week, I launched National's Health Discussion Paper  'Better, Sooner, More Convenient', which looks at how we can improve healthcare.

It examines what we need to do to reduce waiting times, improve quality and performance, and build a more trusted and motivated health workforce. And it puts forward a number of proposals to put patients at the centre of our public health system. These include:

- Moving more services closer to home. Some hospital services should be relocated to Integrated Family Health Centres. These will be one-stop shops with GPs, nurses, pharmacists, physios, podiatrists, dieticians and other health professionals providing a wider range of services for patients.

- Smarter use of the private sector. Public-private partnerships should be used to boost elective surgery availability and cut waiting times for patients.

- A new partnership with the health professions. Doctors, nurses, and other health professionals should be more involved in the operation of the public health system. Clinical networks should be established across regions to help treat patients.

- Smarter use of GPs. National wants GPs with special interests to be able to provide patients with a wider range of minor surgery in their clinics.

The discussion paper is not an exhaustive study of every issue in the sector, but looks at the key areas of poor performance and what we can do to fix them. It also seeks your feedback.

You can download a copy of the paper, a full list of our proposals, and a feedback form here. We look forward to your comments.

John Key MP
Leader of the National Party