When Jenny Shipley was appointed health minister in the previous National government, she confidently told Parliament she would be judged on hospital waiting lists.

This was unwise, because the waiting lists didn't improve and she was indeed judged, loudly and often, by the Labour Party.

After just over a year in partnership with National, ACT is feeling the effect of living in the shadow of a major party.

During its first year in office, the Government managed to run its agenda without suffering any noticeable damage. When difficulties did arise, Prime Minister John Key found remedies and shrugged them off in that way he has of making problems appear insignificant.

On Tuesday in Parliament John Key will make the most important speech of his political career.

The prime minister's address, a set-piece event at the beginning of each parliamentary year, will outline the National-led government's agenda for 2010 and define its economic recovery programme.

For the many, not the few. Labour's new slogan has potential and it would be a good idea to keep it going. It gives party leader Phil Goff a wide range of opportunities, and he needs to take anything on offer during a crucial second year in opposition.

This year is the Government's second since taking office, and its actions over the next 12 months will influence the outcome of the 2011 election.

Well, there were some goodies under the Government's Christmas tree after all. Wellington got a $2 billion highway and some tunnels, for which Transport Minister Steven Joyce has been duly thanked.

Governments like to send us off to Christmas and summer breaks feeling good about life and the economy, with nothing much to gripe or worry about during the parliamentary recess which lasts through to early February.

Phil Goff has been around a long time. In Parliament for 28 years, a senior minister in the last two Labour governments and a caucus mover and shaker.

On Tuesday this week, if the Government gets what it wants, the bill that sets up a modified emissions trading scheme (ETS) will be back in Parliament under urgency.