New Zealand First leader Winston Peters addresses the party’s conference in Dunedin yesterday. Photo: Gregor RIchardson.

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters wants to eschew the role of king maker after the next election.

He wants to win, rule and have other parties knocking on his door asking for political benevolence.

In a speech to close the NZ First conference in Dunedin yesterday, Mr Peters told about 300 delegates, supporters and members of the public it was their time to set the agenda for the country rather than having it forced upon them.

He urged supporters not to let their guard down and to be ultra-cautious as the country moved closer to an election, which Mr Peters said could be called early.

Forces would be working against NZ First to deny the party an audience in the electorates.In the passionate speech to an enthusiastic audience, the NZ First leader said the preparedness of the party was moving faster than ever before, more people were wanting to be candidates and the quality of people putting their names forward had lifted.

"Be ultra-cautious and ultra-careful. These people [the other parties and media] won’t want us to have a decent run at the election. But the wonderful thing on our side now is new technology.

"There will be no filtering out. We will speak to people directly and they will speak back to us."

In the typical NZ First way, neither the party nor Mr Peters elaborated on the way new technology would be used to circumvent media and commentators but it was a message the audience lapped up.

The party’s slogan "It’s Time" seems likely to be extensively used as Mr Peters continues his punishing schedule of speaking engagements around the country.

His fellow MPs knew how many more colleagues they needed beside them after the next election and he urged members and supporters to continue spreading the word about the party.

"We must succeed. There are hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders depending on us to change the country’s economic and social direction."

The loudest cheer for Mr Peters came when he announced the party’s housing policy.

A NZ First government would buy the land on which to build affordable housing in New Zealand.

It would build sufficient state rental housing to bring it back to parity with 35 years ago and the party would finance first-home buyers.

The Dunedin Centre rocked with applause, cheers and the stamping of feet when he said NZ First would cut demand by stopping overseas ownership.

He harked back to a policy phrase used by a former National Party prime minister the late Sir Keith Holyoake of a "property-owning democracy", which Sir Keith — known as "Kiwi Keith" used in 1959 to spell out National’s core belief.

Mr Peters said the current National Party had abandoned that principle and was more interested in selling off state assets and property to foreign owners.

NZ First would also recruit and train 1800 frontline police within the first three years of taking office to cut back on crime, he said.

Mr Peters asked people to not judge the party on statements but on its record of when it was last in government and secured the recruitment of 1000 frontline police.

Prime Minister John Key came in for special attention by Mr Peters.

He described him as "Mr Blokey Key" with "Keydarshian policies" which were made up of photo opportunities, a bit of something else and sheer "blokeyness".

And he took aim at TV One’s Q+A programme for alleged bias in running a programme about immigration with Immigration Michael Woodhouse, from Dunedin, without inviting anyone from NZ First to front.

In response, Q+A said it set up an interview with Mr Peters on Thursday and he cancelled and said he was not available on Friday.

But that did not stop Mr Peters putting the government-owned enterprise on notice for the future.As the election moves closer, NZ First would portray itself as the party for middle New Zealand and the "Kiwi battler".

The party would not side with National and its "losers" or the agreement on the left between Labour and the Greens which he predicted would end on the night of the next election.

"We’re doing this all by ourselves."