Mr Key and the party are riding high in the polls and his presence will add extra confidence for delegates planning their campaign strategy.
Mr Key will attend a private party function tomorrow night and give his leader's address the next morning.
Delegates will finalise the regional list ranking for National's candidates. While deputy leader Bill English could be expected to head the listings, much interest will be on whether new Dunedin North candidate Mike Woodhouse receives a ranking high enough to enter Parliament on the list or whether that position goes to second-time Dunedin South candidate Conway Powell.
National voters can expect one of those men will enter Parliament after the next election to replace retiring three-term MP Katherine Rich.
One of the topics expected to attract much discussion during the closed campaign planning sessions is the Electoral Finance Act restric tions on how a political party can advertise during the year.
Regional councillor Craig Myles said many of the Act's restrictions were, at a practical level, causing the ‘‘party machinery to grind to a halt''
The Act specified parties were in election campaign mode from Janu ary 1 and that was causing difficulties for all parties.
Each party had to appoint a financial agent, and in every electorate in which a candidate was standing each party had to again appoint a financial agent.
Those agents were responsible for com pliance with the Act. The penalties for getting it wrong were not incon siderable, he said.
