Joyce Steven: Urgent Debates — Hon John Banks—Ministerial ResignationText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeJoyce Steven: Urgent Debates — Hon John Banks—Ministerial Resignation[Sitting date: 17 October 2013. Volume:694;Page:14029. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon STEVEN JOYCE (Minister for Economic Development): Earth to Phil Goff. The Minister has resigned. The Prime Minister has upheld the standards. Earth to Phil Goff—who just popped a vein for the last 10 minutes trying to argue for something that has already happened. Oh dear Phil. The other thing that you should never do is if you live in glass houses you should not throw stones—you should not throw stones. I will take a lecture from the Labour Party when it apologises for its deliberate rorting of the electoral system in 2005 when it created an extra $900000 of electoral expenditure and it lied like a flatfish before it was able to go to an election. The Labour Government had to pass legislation to validate that appalling deliberate rort of the New Zealand electoral system which was authorised by Helen Clark with the toadies in her office like GrantRobertson. That is the appalling example—and Grant hates it—but it was a stain on his reputation before he even came to Parliament. It is the most appalling rubbish.We will also take a lecture from the Labour Party when it apologises for keeping Taito Phillip Field in the ministry for months and months and months. This is the guy who went to jail. Phil Goff a senior Minister in the Labour Government says “Nothing to see here—nothing to see here”. I will take a lecture from Phil Goff when he finally turns round and says that the Labour Party was wrong about Phillip Field. And I will also take a lecture from the Labour members when they stop acting like immigration advisers instead of like a Government when they actually do immigration advice and their Ministers pretend to be immigration consultants and they get this dodgy deal done and then they give the guy a citizenship ceremony in the Parliament. That is appalling and these guys talk about transparency. They talk about ethical standards. Well I am sorry that is the most appalling lapse of ethical standards that these guys have been involved with.So there you have a problem. You have the Labour members get up in this debate and start trying to lecture people about ethical standards. They try to lecture a Prime Minister who has accepted a Minister’s resignation as if he did not and yet they were the dodgy ones who for 9 years actually lowered the standards for ministerial conduct which the Prime Minister has then raised again. These guys are hypocritical and they are in glass houses throwing stones. I strongly suggest they stop because they look like the clowns they are. They look like the clowns they are.I could do a whole roll-call of Ministers—one two three four five six seven eight nine 10 11—12 Ministers during Labour’s time in Government who kicked the bucket one way or another. That is an appalling record. This Prime Minister has upheld the highest ethical standards and when Mr Banks knew that he was going to have to stand trial he went straight to the Prime Minister and said that he had to stand down. The Prime Minister accepted. So let us compare that with Taito Phillip Field. How does that go with the Taito Phillip Field test? [Interruption] I will say “Taito Phillip Field” all afternoon if you like Phil because that was the most embarrassing and pathetic example of prime ministerial accountability in New Zealand’s recent history. That was absolutely appalling.But let us forget the Labour Party because it is just wrapped up in all this rubbish. Let us talk about the Greens. Let us talk about the Greens because it was the Green Party that started this debate and with the greatest respect to it it really does need to start thinking about what it is about. The Green Party’ssanctimoniousness on this issue is appalling. If Green members genuinely want to stop the convention centre in Auckland and if they genuinely do not want the jobs then they should have the courage and conviction to go out and argue for the closing of the casino industry for the closing of the community gambling industry and for the closure of the Lotteries Commission. They do not do that because they know that that would be politically unacceptable. So they allow themselves to go out there and harrumph and carry on about an additional number of machines in the casino to build a big convention centre—something that by the way they forgot to do when Labour was in office—and they expect us to treat the Green Party as some sort of principled left-wing political party.Worse than that it does not like jobs. The reality is that it does not like jobs. This is what we get all the time from the Greens. They do not like jobs. The Labour Party does not like jobs. That is the problem. That is why you will not get back into Government apart from the obsession with the beltway that Grant Robertson and Phil Goff are wrapped up in. The reality is that the Labour Party will not get back into office next year because it is not about jobs and growth for New Zealanders. It is about making up stories about the Government and opposing jobs at every opportunity.What will be remembered about the bill that is behind this discussion today—what will be remembered about it—is that it will create 1000 jobs in construction. It will create 800 jobs once it is constructed. It will be an asset for Auckland. It will be an asset for New Zealand. It will be like theHobbit movies. It will be like the Resource Management Act changes that have helped to speed up development. It will be like oil and gas exploration the biggest summer in New Zealand for oil and gas exploration and all the jobs that go with that. It will be like all these other things that the Labour Party and the Greens have opposed.Increased irrigation—there we have the pro tem candidate for the Labour Party in Napier running around today saying he is against irrigation and against oil and gas so he is out. He will not be standing and if he is he will definitely not be winning the Napier electorate at the next election because actually New Zealanders are interested in jobs. They are interested in growth. They are not interested in Grant Robertson—we have actually established that. They are not interested in Phil Goff. They are not interested in the Greens running around the place setting up taxpayers’ money to do a stunt at Aotea Square in Auckland with cardboard boxes. They are interested in a Government that builds a brighter future for this country by ensuring opportunities for companies to invest and grow jobs and to succeed and for New Zealanders to succeed here and bring up their families here. That is what New Zealanders are interested in and they are also interested in a Prime Minister who has the highest ethical standards and who delivers on that on an ongoing basis.The Labour Party’s constant desire to pull the Government down into the mud that the Labour Party lives in is not working this time. It has not worked at any time and New Zealanders know that this Government is working for them. Thank you.The debate having concluded the motion lapsed.