The Labour Party caucus should be in no doubt that Opposition leader Phil Goff means what he says when he gave them two years to make their mark in their new portfolios or face replacement before the 2011 election.
Behind the smiling face lurks a long-time Labour Party MP who is obviously not reading or listening to the commentary that marks him down as an interim leader, filling a space for the party while others groom a replacement.
During the Christmas break, Mr Goff travelled to South Australia to talk to his long-time friend South Australia premier Mike Rann.
Mr Rann moved to New Zealand with his parents in 1962, leaving for Australia in 1977 after completing a political studies degree at the University of Auckland.
Mr Goff hoped to draw on the experience of Mr Rann, who was turfed out by voters but returned stronger than ever.
Asked by the Otago Daily Times what goals he wanted to achieve in the first six months of this year, Mr Goff put at the top of his list the desire to reconnect with the electorate in general.
He planned to visit much of New Zealand to talk about what Labour could do better in the future and was already tapping into family connections throughout the country asking relatives what they and their friends were talking about and listening to.
Often, those people were not avid news followers but were toiling away trying to make a living and support a family, he said.
The second goal was developing an effective caucus in opposition.
Labour had promised to support the National-led Government in areas where it saw benefits for the country as a whole, but would not hold back from opposing measures it saw as hurting New Zealand.
That would involve both performing strongly in the House but also out in the community because Mr Goff realised that not all New Zealanders were glued to question time each day to hear how effective an MP was in a debate.
Regeneration of the party structure was a goal and the first steps would start next week when the Labour caucus met in Auckland and invited the branch officials to a social function.
The policy development apparatus needed to be strong and his final aim was to put in a three-year plan to ensure Labour was re-elected as government of New Zealand.
He invited the ODT back in six months to review the progress made on those goals.
Labour is in a relatively strong position numerically for a party that was said to have been comprehensively beaten at the 2008 election.
It has a caucus of 43 and 13 of those MPs came into the House at the last election.
Former prime minister Helen Clark had been ruthless in her wish for rejuvenation and long-serving, often well thought of, MPs were pushed down the list.
Many lost their seats and their place in Parliament as National swept to victory in provincial New Zealand.
Remembering his disappointment at losing his seat in 1990, Mr Goff has tried to keep in touch with some of his former colleagues to provide some support but also to see if they have a further contribution to make to the rejuvenation of Labour under his watch.
When asked about the possibility of line-up changes, and whether he would pressure under-performing MPs - both electorate and list - to stand down at or before the next election, Mr Goff immediately leapt to the conclusion the question related to the futures of Miss Clark and former finance minister Michael Cullen.
Both were valued members of caucus, and he was happy for them to stay as long as they wanted, Mr Goff said.
However, the question was really about others like list MPs Rick Barker, who lost his seat in 2005 and failed to regain it in 2008, and Ashraf Choudhray and electorate MPs George Hawkins and Ross Robertson, who stubbornly stayed on when the push came.
Mr Goff said the caucus was singularly united in using the time in opposition to develop the plan to get back into office.
The Labour caucus had all to work for, especially the new MPs who could see a cabinet position in the future.
That was reflected in the determination with which they had tackled their responsibilities, he said.
