Tamihere John: General Debates 
Tamihere John: General Debates 
[Volume:619;Page:15031] 
Hon JOHN TAMIHERE (Minister of Youth Affairs) 
: 
 I would like to endorse the comments made by the Hon Phil Goff. It is a sad day in Parliament when the National Party has to dust off one of the brat pack the Hon Nick Smith the member for Nelson who as he was correctly quoted in  
North and South 
 was 
“screwed” by his colleagues over there on the Opposition benches. Is it not an interesting day? 
I take a very serious view of the way that the Leader of Opposition conducts himself with regard to the upholding of the dignity the integrity and the credibility of our constitution. The Leader of the Opposition must uphold a constitutional entitlement that underpins a great institution called Parliament. What is that? What is one of the greatest obligations of a Leader of the Opposition? It is to front up to Parliament to come down into this House and to put his or her position. The Leader of the Opposition can oppose or propose things but he or she has to be here in order to do that. National members have to understand that the onus on the obligation of and the duty of the Leader of the Opposition Dr Don Brash is to come down into this Parliament and earn his money—earn his keep—by standing up for the constitutional entitlements of Kiwis out there who need to have a strong Opposition leader. 
What do we have? Don Brash does not even turn up in the House. 
Simon Power 
: Point of order— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The member does not need to raise a point of order. Reference must not be made to a member’s absence at all. This is coming off the Minister’s time. 
Hon JOHN TAMIHERE 
: The reality is that that is a fact. Moving on I point out that in terms of the constitutional requirement of a Leader of the Opposition Don Brash has just sunk that requirement. Around this very Chamber we see reminders of the great battles that Kiwis have fought in. We have to uphold that right and that entitlement but we have a Leader of the Opposition who will not do that. That is a constitutional outrage and the Kiwi heartland has to know about it. 
What is worse than failing to upholding that requirement is for the Leader of the Opposition to go off shore shrouded in the constitutional entitlement and right of his office and to go and bag his homeland. Kiwis understand that there is an institution here that the Leader of the Opposition has to use. Kiwis understand that they can come down into this House and have a go. Kiwis understand that. They will not accept a Leader of the Opposition shrouded in this constitutional entitlement going off shore and telling Aussie business people—one of our largest markets—and the Australian communities that we are a basket case that we are a banana republic and that we are no better than the Solomon Islanders the Papua New Guineans or anybody else. On every measure this country and this Government shape up. New Zealand stands up; it pulls its weight. It is in the top three of the OECD in terms of economic performance yet we have the Leader of the Opposition going off shore and laying a dagger into the heart of this heartland. Kiwis do not like that and the Opposition members know that. They cower and hide behind their very seats when the Leader of the Opposition walks into the House just as they do right now. 
More important not only is there a lack of leadership and a lack of capacity capability integrity and credibility about the constitutional shroud that must be upheld but when we look across the front bench of this Government we see it is dominant. To give an analogy on the Government’s front bench here we have the congregation of the bishops whereas over there on the Opposition’s front bench they are apprentice altar boys at best. When our front-bench members walk into this House on every capability that it takes to run each Government ministry they dominate. They dominate on policy on intellect and on engagement with our communities. When we look at the opposite side of the House we see it is no wonder that the National members are going down the gurgler in the polls. Where is their capability their competence and their policy? National has Simon Power on the front bench for goodness’ sake. Those members have no experience—nothing. National’s major finance spokesperson has not been here in the House any more than 24 months. How bad is that? Kiwis will start to question not only the lack of leadership in that particular party but also the lack of competence of that motley mob in the Opposition.