John Key to National MPs Filtering: ‘If You Can’t Stop Filtering, Leave the Party’

Former Prime Minister John Key sent a strong message to any national MP who continues to leak information against the party: “If you can’t stop filtering, leave the party.”

He spoke at the National AGM in Wellington this morning, where he, leader Judith Collins and President Peter Goodfellow addressed their supporters.

Collins spoke about the opportunities that await National and how he can take power in 2023.

Goodfellow, who is running for re-election as president tonight, however, attacked the media and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

But the biggest applause of the morning came after Key took aim at the national MPs who have leaked to the media.

“Here’s my very simple advice for those who like to filter the media: If you can’t stop filtering, here’s a hint: leave the party.”

“The public looks at him and says ‘for the love of God, if they can’t run their own party, how the hell are they going to run a country.’

He told MPs that it was okay to disagree and debate ideas, but said that should be done in private.

“We shouldn’t do it behind people’s backs.”

Speaking to the media after his speech, Key said the leak did play a game in National’s electoral defeat, although there were several factors.

“It was a difficult backdrop for National’s campaign, but we have to admit to our own mistakes.”

If you don’t do that, he said, ultimately, you don’t learn from them.

Now, he said National needs to unify and regain the support it lost in the election.

During the speech, he urged MPs and members to remember a number: 413,800.

That’s the number of people who voted for National in 2017, who switched to Labor in the October election.

Without them, Key says, National could be in opposition until 2029.

Going forward, he said it is very important that National has a “liberal, multicultural and open face.”

In his speech, he also warned the National Party faithful not to underestimate Ardern.

“Some people will tell you that eventually the public is going to get tired of Jacinda Ardern.”

But he said it was a mistake.

“It’s exactly what the Labor Party said about me for almost a decade.

“If we underestimate Jacinda and her advisers, we will be in the Opposition for a long time.”

Goodfellow, on the other hand, set a markedly different tone in his speech than the 500 people in attendance, who said the choice descended into a “celebrity leadership career in tough times.”

He said that a reasonable debate on contentious issues almost turns “traitorous.”

He praises Ardern for his clear communications in a crisis, but that’s where the goodwill ended.

He referred to the 1:00 pm press conferences, often led by Ardern, as “televangelist – like a gospel to the masses.”

“Democracy, for a time, gave way to a temporary tyranny.”

That was the reality in a “world of Jacindamania,” Goodfellow said.

He then addressed the media, calling some of the election coverage “contagious and baiting journalism.”

Speaking to the media after the speeches, Collins was not drawn to Goodfellow’s speech.
“I think the president gave an excellent speech, in which I think he contributed very well to the party’s AGM.”