David Clark – Dunedin North

I’ve left this year’s annual conference buzzing.

Phil Goff’s keynote speech outlined a vision and path for New Zealand that would see a prosperous future for ALL New Zealanders.  He compared that to the creation of two New Zealands by the National Government: one struggling to afford enough to eat, and the other – where life is getting easier – enjoyed by a privileged few. 

Phil described how the big picture needs to be addressed to create a New Zealand we can all be proud of. 

As an aside, it is a real credit to the clear way he outlined his vision – that Phil’s section on reforming monetary policy was received by the crowd with genuine excitement.   I often find I’m in a minority when it comes to real unbounded enthusiasm for that kind of thing!

It’s not possible to do a complete round-up of what went on.  The Standard has a good crack at a short summary.  There were dozens of workshops, and, since they run parallel to one-another it’s not possible to get to them all.

Annette King’s speech was another conference highlight for me, but I’ll write more on that later.