Hughes Darren: General Debates 
Hughes Darren: General Debates 
[Volume:610;Page:7453] 
DARREN HUGHES (NZ Labour—Otaki) 
: 
 It is no wonder the member who has just returned to his seat was so derisory about participatory democracy seeing it has been so harsh and cruel to him over the years. He has put his name on a ballot paper so many times but very rarely had ticks put beside it. Normally other candidates have been elected. It is no wonder he wants to shut up other people. 
Hon Ken Shirley 
: How many elections have you stood in? 
DARREN HUGHES 
: I have stood in only one election and I got more votes in that election than that member got in all the elections he has ever run in and that is the way it will continue. 
First of all I want to acknowledge the addition to the Chamber of my friend Moana Mackey. It is fantastic to have as a Labour MP on this side of the House someone as talented and gifted as she is. I have been privileged to call her my friend over our years of involvement with Young Labour and I am now very proud to call her my colleague in the House of Representatives. I know she will make a big impact on this Parliament. 
It is great to be a member of a party that is adding members to its caucus not taking them away. One of the points of democracy is to try to build as many people around one with talent and skill to put ideas out to the country and to make a difference in New Zealand. The only thing that members on the other side of the House are good at doing is taking members away from their caucus. They are great at the game of subtraction when the game of parliamentary politics is addition. We add; they subtract. We win; they lose. That is the problem they face not just today but 1 year ago when they went to the people of this country and the National Party got the worst result of any major party in 100 years. 
We have had 1 year since that election and have we seen any turn-round in the ability and talent on that side of the House? No. Twelve months down the track there has been no improvement in the performance of Her Majesty’s loyal Opposition. They have gone backwards not forwards and that gives us time to focus on the achievements that we have been able to notch up on this side of the House. What are they? They are 1.7 million New Zealanders receiving access to primary health organisations and better health-care and 800 extra teachers in schools and classrooms next year because we are doing the work over here. Since we came to office 156500 extra New Zealanders are working in jobs around the economy. It is a fantastic record to be proud of in this Parliament. 
A year ago new members of this House travelled with Mr Speaker to Government House to see him sworn in. On that occasion after the Speaker had been given his credentials he asked for a very important right. He asked the Governor-General for the right of freedom of speech for members of this House. Nothing is more important than the right of members to stand on this floor and say whatever they like and advance the ideas and the causes they believe in. But what happens if one is Maurice Williamson? If one is Maurice Williamson it does not matter if that member has been here 17 years that member’s right to freedom of speech that people have fought for and that we sent our Speaker to Government House to demand has been withdrawn. 
It is all very well to pay money for big billboards that say “One standard of citizenship” but on behalf of Maurice Williamson I ask: why not one standard of membership in this Parliament? There should be one standard of membership in this Parliament when anybody can stand up and speak his or her mind when anybody can stand up and advance what he or she believes in without fear of retribution by people who cannot take the arguments that are being advanced by that member. 
 It is an absolute outrage that that member lost his freedom of speech. What was he trying to do? He was not trying to attack the National Party. He was trying to help the National Party. Maurice Williamson was trying to say: “How can I make the National Party better and bigger? How can I make sure the National Party wins general elections the point of having parties?”. That is what Maurice Williamson was trying to do. He said: “Let’s raise the bar of our performance. Let’s work together to do that.” Rather than front up to that challenge National Party members said: “No we can’t have somebody actually putting it to us like that. You go and you lose your freedom of speech.” It is just absolutely amazing. 
Maurice Williamson said: “How can the assistant tea boy be responsible when the captain and the first officer let the ship sink?”. One has to sheet the blame home squarely to the brat pack when it comes to that—that is the four so-called political geniuses who were elected in 1990 when National had 47 percent of the vote but under their political genius expertise and wisdom National Party members come to this Parliament with only 20 percent of the vote and they think they are brilliant. They sacked the man who said: “Let’s try and get our vote up to 30 percent by Christmas.” 
Those National Party members came in with 47 percent took over the reins of the party and now it has 27 percent. National Party members smugly sit along the front bench as though only they understand politics. They put up a billboard that stated: “One standard of citizenship” and tried to get on board with an issue that is dominating our minds at the moment. What happened? They went hard on the issue. They all tried to sing from the same song sheet and after getting all that media exposure they went down in the opinion polls. 
The more the National Party speaks out the worse it gets for it. Mr Peters got the support when it was moving in the opinion polls not the National Party. The National Party thinks it is so clever with regard to its campaign even though it simply does not work. When somebody points out that the campaign is not working and that it is not getting the votes and support the National Party says: “That’s very disloyal and would you mind leaving our caucus?”. It is an extraordinary thing.