Cosgrove Clayton: New Zealand International Convention Centre Bill — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeCosgrove Clayton: New Zealand International Convention Centre Bill — First Reading[Sitting date: 11 July 2013. Volume:692;Page:11984. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE (Labour):Before I make my substantive comments in this speech I want to make a personal comment. The personal comment is that in respect of Skycity I attended a corporate box function—as is well known. I want to say to the House in all seriousness that it may come as a shock to some people here but like other members I have attended and received hospitality from Federated Farmers occasionally. I have received and attended hospitality from Sky TV occasionally and I have to say in seriousness I have been to the annual function of SaundersUnsworth at some times over the years although I suspect that the invitation may not come this year. I say in all seriousness that one engages with groups and entities as a member of this House and one makes judgments as to the rights and sometimes the wrongs of those engagements with entities and groups. I take responsibility for both the right judgments and—hopefully not that often—the wrong judgments. I take responsibility. But I say this: my vote is not for sale. My vote cannot be bought. My vote will never be bought. Isay with respect to the House that my comments I think are appropriate before I get to the New Zealand International Convention Centre Bill.The problem with this bill is the following. You can understand a private sector organisation like Skycity wanting to get the best deal it can under any legal circumstances. That is how businesses proceed in terms of maximising their profitability. The problem though is that even though John Key is a product of that same private sector where things are done differently and there are different processes—because there are commercial arrangements and private sector moneys involved—there is a big difference when you are dealing with public money with legislation and regulation and with taxpayers’ money and when you are charged as a Government and as a Prime Minister with working in the interests of all people. And though John Key in his private sector capacity may even in a legal sense have been able to expedite decisions without a lot of due process in a legal sense even without due process to get the deal done get it done fast and move it ahead the difficulty when you are a Prime Minister and when you are charged in Government with guarding the public purse and the public well-being is that you must have transparency you must have openness and you must observe proper due process especially in tender processes. You cannot express a preference for one group against another. You must leave key decisions to be delegated to officials to keep them out of the sticky fingers of politicians and avoid some of the challenges and allegations that Mr Grant Robertson has put to the Government. You must observe those public sector processes.The difficulty Mr Key has with this dodgy deal—and from the taxpayers’ point of view it is; you cannot blame the Skycity boys for having a crack and forgive the pun rolling the dice—is that he has failed to guard the well-being of the taxpayers. He has been criticised by the Auditor-General for a lack of due process even though in his own mind he keeps telling himself that he was totally vindicated—though the Skycity report says otherwise. He has done this and done the deal whether it be with the film industry at the cost of selling legislation or whether it be this in a dodgy non-transparent and underhand way. He has done it simply for political motives and political motivation. The Government may cry jobs and we are all in favour of jobs. It may cry that it wants to grow incomes for people and we are all in favour of that. But you have got to do it openly and you have got to do it fairly. It cannot be a dodgy deal done at midnight with high-level Government ministerial intervention that has been deemed inappropriate. I will oppose this legislation for those reasons. Mr Key has to learn that he is a Prime Minister. He is not in the private sector. He is not dealing with his own dough or company dough; he is dealing with taxpayers’ money and taxpayers’ welfare. There is such a thing as the public interest the taxpayer interest and he is charged with guarding that. This legislation and his conduct fail those critical tests.