Cosgrove Clayton: General Debate 
Cosgrove Clayton: General Debate 
[Volume:639;Page:9272] 
Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE (Minister for Building and Construction) 
: 
 That was the deputy leader of the National Party the man who said today—[ 
Interruption 
] 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: Politics colleagues as we all know is the art of the possible. The possible we will explore today is good order. 
Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE 
: I take it that the clock starts now. That was the deputy leader of the National Party. He is the finance spokesperson and the so-called expert on numbers. The man who said that today the Government lost its majority demonstrated one thing—he has no idea about MMP because this has been a minority Government since being elected. Yet that was his speech. 
Darren Hughes 
: He’s pretty good on numbers! 
Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE 
: My colleague says he is great on numbers. Bill English is the man of course who blew apart the 2002 election. We remember those numbers. This is the man who did the numbers for himself miscounted and got knifed by Don Brash. And this is the man of course who then rekindled the numbers to put Don Brash out of his misery and install John Key. 
This is the deputy leader leading a front bench of mediocrity. To quote half an Australian saying he leads a conga line of contradictions. He talks about tax. Tomorrow we will see a Government deliver a consistent Budget of thought out consistent solid policies up against an Opposition that as we are in the mid-term in the race to the polls has decided that the best thing to do is to analyse the last result. Anything we did that was popular that National members were against they will adopt and they will forget about their own policies. That man that genius that ex-Treasury official talks about tax. 
Well let us look and see what Mr English said about tax. On 24 April 2007 he said on  
Morning Report 
: “And we would agree the last thing it”—that is the economy—“would need would be sweeping tax cuts.” That is what he said. Yet not a year before his leader paraded around the country wanting to drop $7.2 billion worth of tax cuts on the country and criticising us for the large surpluses. Then Mr English went on Mark Sainsbury’s  
Close Up 
 with me and said: “Well you don’t need to cut expenditure you just need to cut growth.” What does that mean? That man talks out of both sides of his mouth. 
Bill English says to one group that Government spending should be cut when every colleague on that side of the House has a list of spending promises that those members have rolled out. National members forget that Kiwi communities are not silly—they listen they read the newspapers they know. 
Tony Ryall says: “What we need are more places in medical schools.” There was a $350 million promise from John Key: “National will fund bulk funding by the way at the top rate in our schools.” John Hayes of course wants an increase in funding for private schools. Yet Bill English has the stupidity—[ 
Interruption 
] pipe down grandad; old “Cream Puff” in the corner there—to go on national television and try to con people. He said that the Government should cut expenditure when members of his party run around the country every day calling for masses of increases in expenditure. He said he will honour all our Government’s promises and then some. Then he will lump in his own and then he will cut tax. 
Bill English said that the gouge-out that National has admitted it will do on Working for Families will take around 80 bucks a week from families with kids. Then he said that he will put out a tax cut of course that will benefit those who are in the top 5 percent of income earners. Most of the people in this room are in that top 5 percent of income earners—they will get the money. 
I say that Bill English as deputy leader of the National Party does indeed lead a conga line of contradictions and a front bench and a party of mediocrity. But what is worse is that 18 months since the last election and still in Opposition the best he can do is to get up because one member has party-hopped. The best line he can come up with is to try to tell people—he assumes people are stupid—that the Government has lost its majority. 
This Government has been a minority Government and has governed in stable circumstances for over 7 years. That is how good he is and how mediocre he is and his problem is that he constantly contradicts and undermines his leader. He wants tight fiscal policy; John Key wants a loose one—and so do National members. I would ask Bill English to answer that.