Maharey Steve: General Debates 
Maharey Steve: General Debates 
[Volume:613;Page:9718] 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY (Minister for Social Development and Employment) 
: 
 For those New Zealanders who are sitting at home wondering who that was let me say that Michael Laws who was a member of this House for a little while and a member of that party for a little while described Dr Don Brash who has just sat down as an inoffensive if elderly man lacking either constituency or charisma. 
Over the last little while watching the National Party has been like watching one of those awful television reality shows. In this case I think the title would be  
When Tories Go Bad 
. The change of leadership from the hapless Bill English to the equally hapless Dr Don Brash took the outer limit of haplessness up to stratospheric conditions. Do not take my word for it. Listen to someone who should know. Jane Clifton said: “… this is by a commanding margin the most bunglingly vandalously conducted leadership spill … ever seen. The coup’s result … has been dangerously compromised by the manner of its implementation. Could these plotters have made themselves and more important their party look more desperate unstable and indecisive if they’d been secret Labour Party operatives?”. That is what Jane Clifton said. 
We have to ask whether Don Brash is secure now that this hapless coup is over. We know from the inside that Bill English thought he had the vote—so much so he was over the road celebrating with his mob before the vote was taken. We know that at least some people changed their vote from what they said they would do. We are told that the vote was 14 to12 but no one can confirm that. We know that so much stabbing in the front ineptitude and stupidity has gone on that at least one member is now confined to his bed. We know that. 
What we see is not a planned coup. National simply panicked. But at least now we have somebody who is honest. He is honest and we know what the programme is. The programme is to scrap the unemployment benefit and minimum wage laws; make the unemployed stand outside post offices waiting for work; raise the age of entitlement to superannuation; sell assets; privatise health and education; and cut taxes for the rich. If one earns over $100000 one gets $81 a week from Don Brash. If one earns under $38000 one gets nothing from Dr Brash. At least that is honest. What are people saying about this? What are the reviews on this? These are the reviews. [ 
Interruption 
] 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The member knows that he must not interject while he on his feet and moving up and down the corridor. [ 
Interruption 
] Members are only taking away the Minister’s time. Please be seated. I let a lot of interjection go on because there was a bit of interjection in the first speech but not that amount. The number of interjections will now cease dramatically or else members will be leaving the Chamber. 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: What are the reviews of that performance? John Armstrong said: “There is a painful lesson for the National Party in the latest fracas over the leadership: if you promote show ponies”—I think he put the word “sick” in there—“from political nowhere straight on to the front bench you’re asking for trouble.” Brian Rudman said: “Brash brings with him a baggage of extremist economic policies that have been rejected by the mainstream political parties. It’s as though the mistakes and excesses of the past 20 years have passed him by unseen.” “He is”—states the  
Sunday News 
—“a pointy-headed ex-banker. He’s the kiss of death.” 
Those are not good reviews for the reality show so far. One would have to ask why they have done it. Why have the Tories gone bad? Yesterday Deborah Coddington referred to the fact that Don Brash and the ACT party as she put it will get the country moving. That is the clue. It is also reinforced by the words of Fran O’Sullivan who said: “The Welcome to Auckland party being hosted by a millionairess is another indication of Brash’s ACT party in drag.”