Maharey Steve: General Debate 
Maharey Steve: General Debate 
[Volume:641;Page:11133] 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY (Minister of Education) 
: 
 I move  
That the House take note of miscellaneous business 
. One of the things we all learn very quickly in politics is that we do not set out an agenda that raises the hopes of people and then spend our time not delivering on those promises. That is one of the things we learn very quickly in politics. 
When members on this side of the House came into power in 1999 we came into the ruins of the National Government of the 1990s. It was like coming into a smoking city after it had been run across by tanks after the Second World War. There were just little bits of National members poking up here and there as they waved their little white flags saying: “We have had enough! We have been here for 9 long years. Please liberate us from Government because we have raised hopes so often and we have failed to deliver so often that the people of New Zealand want to see us elected to Opposition.” Of course that is what they got for their wishes. 
On this side of the House over the last very short 8 years we have been focusing on saying what we will do and doing exactly what we say. We have a manifesto-driven Government. If anybody wants to know what Labour is doing he or she can just go to the manifesto and look and the next promise will roll off the production line. We are a party and we are a Government working with our outstanding coalition partner Mr Jim Anderton and working with the wonderful support of parties like United Future New Zealand First the Maori Party and the Green Party. The only party that does not do the right thing of course is the National Party as those members sit over there on the other side of the House. But we have worked our way through success during that time. 
The National Party likes to say that it is luck—8 years of luck. National had 9 years of no luck whatsoever so I guess if you want to stick with the lucky party you support something over here. During that time we have built up a record of economic success social progress and a sense of national identity where people are bursting with pride for their country. Even John Key came home to be part of all this. Even John Key came home to be part of the huge success of our nation. We are committed now to the sustainable development of this nation. 
In the National Party panic is setting in. National has had the honeymoon. You hear the nervous laughter coming through. Panic is setting in from the— 
Gerry Brownlee 
: Point of order— 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: Here we go Mr Brownlee—panic setting in. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. It is far from panic setting in. This is actually a reasonable speech for that Minister but unfortunately it is being ruined by the fact that he appears to have forgotten in all these many years he has spent in this place that it is inappropriate to bring you into the debate. He has done it on no fewer than six occasions in the last 4 minutes. 
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: Yes he has and for one of his experience I would not have expected it. 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: Mr Deputy Speaker I shock myself at times I know. 
The panic is settling in. As I look across to the front bench I can see the nervous shuffle going on and I can see the panic in what is being said. You know National members now cannot hold a story from one day to the next—talk about panic! Is it not amazing to watch Mr Key over there just about disappear into the leather every time the Iraq story is raised? He said one thing and then he said another. On the housing issue we have heard the same kind of thing. One day Mr Key said that first home buyers’ aspirations would be met and the next day he said there should be no development at Hobsonville. Members can look at the example of the therapeutics legislation. One day Mr Key said he has full support for the therapeutics bill the next day he said National would not support it and then he said: “If you give us a pen we will sign it.” 
National’s stance on the climate change story is an amazing kind of story. In the old days Mr Key said he absolutely did not believe in global warming and then we heard him on 6 November saying: “I firmly believe in climate change”— 
Hon Phil Goff 
: And always have! 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: —”and I always have believed in exactly that kind of thing.” He said that he did not want to change Working for Families then he did want to change it. He said of superannuation that he supported it then he said that he did not support it. On school zoning he said that he wanted it and then Katherine Rich said: “You don’t want it.” Then he said that he did want it and she said that that was morally reprehensible. Who is actually saying the same thing day after day in the National Party? 
I think that these questions have to be put to the National Party: what does National stand for? Will National members say anything to anybody? Do they say the things that they heard when they talked to the last person they met? Do they actually have anything to contribute? The chance to contribute comes today in this debate with a 5-minute speech. I challenge any of the National speakers to give us one idea—one concrete cost-able put-into-place idea that we can debate with them. [ 
Interruption 
] That will do. Mr English is eager to get up. David Carter over there is eager to rise but Gerry Brownlee is not so keen. I want to hear one cost-able real implement-able idea from the National Party today so that we know it stands for something.