It has been one year since Prime Minister John Key led National to a third term, a term Mr Key says is dedicated to delivering on four priorities to help build a stronger and more prosperous country.
Even with overwhelming support at the last election, Mr Key still finds himself reliant on support parties to push through with his party's agenda. And that is proving problematic at times.
The four priorities are: responsibly managing the Government's finances; building a more productive and competitive economy; delivering better public services; and rebuilding Christchurch.
These are admirable and, by and large, Mr Key can claim success so far. There will always be areas for improvement and the Government right now finds itself becoming increasingly criticised for the seeming lack of energy coming from the Treasury benches.
New Zealanders will soon know if the Government's books have been returned to surplus.
This was a major promise by Mr Key and Finance Minister Bill English when they first won power in 2008. Good advances have been made and for many months it appeared the books would easily return to surplus.
A few hiccups along the way meant Mr English started downplaying the prospect but suddenly, in the 11 months to May, there was a surprising surplus declared. Whether or not that can be sustained will be no big deal as the margin for error is too large to cause concern.
The Government has been a good steward of the economy. Tax cuts helped more people keep more of what they earned, the Working for Families payments continued and there has been plenty of help for most people wanting to get back to work.
Trade has been a major focus and talks on the Trans Pacific Partnership have been a priority despite being held in secret, against the wishes of many New Zealanders.
What the Government has not delivered on is regional growth as centres outside Auckland and Christchurch see funding cuts. Wellington has faced falling public service numbers, and Dunedin has faced reductions in publicly funded entities, such as New Zealand Post and Invermay.
The rebuilding of Christchurch continues apace, but for how long? Economists, and now the Reserve Bank, agree the rebuild has reached its peak. Commercial building will continue for years but evidence is emerging the housing rebuild has reached a plateau. Really? Anyone who has visited east Christchurch knows a different truth.
New Zealand is a better place for many since 2008. Many New Zealanders are more comfortable with lower levels of personal debt and through retaining more earnings.
The main issue which stands out is the lack of an alternative government. Labour appears not ready to govern; and it could be some time before it reaches that state of readiness.
There is a sense of staleness about some of National's front bench but there is a chance of renewal next year as some MPs starting thinking about another job. Labour has demonstrated it lacks the ability to grasp the opportunities and show it is a government in waiting.
There is no chance of renewal from Labour until it has more MPs, something another election can only provide. Even with the continual push from New Zealand First leader Winston Peters, the opportunity is Labour's to take or lose.
Until the Opposition parties provide more fire against Mr Key, he will remain hugely popular. However, being high in opinion polls does not mean he should avoid some of the major issues confronting the country.
Despite all of the Government's achievements, there are still areas of neglect and that means there is still plenty to do. Forget for a minute the problems of housing in Auckland and consider employment in regional areas.
The Government continues to invest heavily in health and education, yet areas such as Dunedin find themselves fighting to retain what services they already have.
There have been more than 49,000 jobs created in the nine months to June this year and yet unemployment stays unchanged. The average wage has gone up but some families still struggle to survive.
Mr Key: You made a good start when you first became Prime Minister. It is time to take a wider view of this country you represent and push hard to achieve your goals.
