My key commitments to you

If National is elected to lead the next Government, I personally guarantee that we will:

1. Strengthen the economy, increase after-tax incomes and ensure Kiwis can get ahead under their own steam by reducing personal taxes on 1 April 2009, 1 April 2010 and 1 April 2011.

2. Maintain and build New Zealand's asset base by increasing investment in infrastructure such as roads, broadband and public transport, and by not selling Kiwibank or any other state-owned company.

3. Ensure government spending is focused on frontline services such as health and education by capping the number of bureaucrats and putting real discipline around government spending.

4. Make our communities safer by ensuring the worst repeat violent offenders are not eligible for parole.

5. Confront failure in our school system by setting National Standards in literacy and numeracy, and requiring all pupils' progress to be assessed and the results reported to parents in plain English.

6. Tackle our health workforce crisis by introducing voluntary bonding for new doctors, nurses and midwives, and by boosting the number of funded medical student places by 200 over five years.

7. Give families financial certainty by continuing all Working for Families payments at current levels, keeping 20 hours ECE, and keeping caps on doctors' fees.

8. Give seniors financial certainty by keeping the age of eligibility of NZ Superannuation at 65 and steadily increasing the amount of Super paid each week as a result of our personal tax cuts.

9. Encourage people to save for their retirement, while making it fairer and more affordable for everyone in these tighter economic times, by retaining KiwiSaver, with contributions at the 2% plus 2% level.

10. Provide a safety net for those who are unable to work by passing a law to maintain and inflation-index all benefit payments, while encouraging those who can work to go back to work.

11. Encourage students to get rid of debt sooner by keeping interest-free student loans and offering a 10% bonus on early repayments.

For large versions of the Key Commitments card, click the smaller images below.