Peters Winston: General Debate 
Peters Winston: General Debate 
[Volume:641;Page:11141] 
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS (Leader—NZ First) 
: 
 Everyone knows that there is one party in the centre of politics in this country between the economic and social extremes of politics and that that party is New Zealand First. The first thing I want to say today is that certain commentators are predicting what will happen in 2008 and again they are demonstrating their ignorance of politics and of how the people of this country think. 
I have been in politics for a little while but I have never seen an Opposition front bench as weak as the one we have today. Tony Ryall was not a competent Minister. He was not and would not be one if he was ever given the job in 2008. Judith Collins was best described by Bill English as someone who had been promoted way above her ability. That is a fact. She has no experience whatsoever. Then we go to Bill English. Bill English cannot handle the pressure of politics; I know that because I was in Government with him. Neither as a former Minister of Health nor as a former Minister of Finance was he up to the job. The media can write all the puffery it likes and we can have all the pro-Treasury rubbish we like but Bill English simply was not up to dealing with the crisis in the economy in 1997 1998 and 1999. As for John Key well he is a nice enough guy—he has a nice smile—but he has no experience in his job whatsoever. Worse still he has no experience of recent developments economic and social in New Zealand. 
Then we go on to Gerry Brownlee Parliament’s heaviest lightweight and Katherine Rich. Again Katherine Rich is a nice person who looks good in a photograph but those people have no experience or capacity to be where they would be if they were ever chosen by the public—that is to be front-bench Ministers. We have proven failures as well as the ones I have just mentioned. Nick Smith is not capable of being a Minister again; every parliamentarian knows that. Then we have Maurice Williamson. Maurice is not a bad bloke but in terms of singing from the same hymn sheet he has never been in the choir—he has never been in the choir at all. You see it showed today. There the National members were last night and this morning all over TV about diplomatic appointments. They had the chance to come to this House and front up but they shrank from it. They cannot even take on the contest. So all the passionate drive and emotion that is required in politics in order for a party to be successful those members simply do not have. 
And those commentators out there who perpetually make fools of themselves will do so again in 2008. They just read their stupid silly polls. But those polls have not been right and they have not been right for a long long time—in fact for the last 20 years. So why does the public have to be so grossly and massively misinformed in the period between elections? 
The National Party today is about either blind opposition or “echo-politics”. Do members notice that—”echo-politics”? What is National’s immigration policy? It now claims to have the same immigration policy as New Zealand First even though it called us racist. When it comes to law and order and the gangs National has the same policy as New Zealand First. It is called an “echo-policy” when a party does not have one—except that National will not go the whole way. 
When it comes to questions of climate change all of a sudden National has done a somersault. On the question of why Australia has been comparatively much more successful than New Zealand I say that is because in the last 20 years it has followed different incremental policies from those we had. And the National Party has been substantially responsible for that. But what does it do now? National repeats the comparison that New Zealand First has been making whilst refusing to take responsibility for the economic policies that brought the situation about. That is simply “echo-politics”. 
In regard to the racing policy National’s is just a total steal. National went one day to our website stole the whole thing put up Lindsay Tisch and said: “Here is the National Party policy.” On the question of foreign policy and of making the Pacific the No. 1 issue in our foreign policy that policy is what McCully now speaks about. Where did he get it from? Well he did not get it from the National Party; he got it from “echo-politics”—that is from hearing the announcement of what New Zealand First thinks. The list goes on and on. 
But I say the reason why National will not make it in 2008—and every country needs a strong Opposition in Parliament—is that National does not have any integrity. The National members are raising the issue of electoral law and the financing of elections. Well what sort of party would have the temerity to rise in the House and make an issue of that when its background and record is to try to squash another party by banning it totally from advertising on radio and TV? There is Bill English and he and his colleagues were party to that—to filthy underhand politics—but he wants to be taken as being credible in 2008.