Peters Winston: Taxation (Depreciation Payment Dates Alignment FBT and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill — Instruction to Committee In Committee 
Peters Winston: Taxation (Depreciation Payment Dates Alignment FBT and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill — Instruction to Committee In Committee 
[Volume:630;Page:2010] 
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS (Minister for Racing) 
: 
 The first thing one has to know when one is involved in the racing industry is that in the southern hemisphere the critical date is 1 August. That is the first thing every moron knows around the racetrack. But that is not the case for the National Party guys. 
Lindsay Tisch 
: I raise a point of order Madam Chairperson. The member implied that I was a moron. 
Hon Member 
: He didn’t. 
Lindsay Tisch 
: He did. He said that every moron knows that. That is unacceptable and I take offence at that comment. 
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS 
: Speaking to the point of order Madam Chairperson. I said that everyone knows that the southern hemisphere breeding year is from 1 August. Every moron around the racetrack knows that except for the National Party spokesperson. Those were my words almost to a word. 
The CHAIRPERSON (Ann Hartley) 
: However the member has taken offence at being included in the words. I ask the member to withdraw that remark. 
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS 
: I withdraw and apologise. National members are very sensitive are they not? Let me put it this way: every moron who has anything to do with racing except the National Party spokesperson knows that the breeding year is from 1 August. 
The second thing—[ 
Interruption 
] Probably I have more of an interest in horses than he has. 
Lindsay Tisch 
: I’ve got a horse. 
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS 
: What is its name? Does the member remember what it is called? It is probably by “Banality” out of “I’m Looking After Myself.” Those will be its breeding lines. The second thing is that people can change their accountancy year. In business they can change their accountancy year. 
The third thing is that one would not believe what happened in 2005. There was to be a big meeting about the racing industry at Te Rapa in the Waikato to be attended by 600 people. The day before it happened can members guess what happened? The National Party members jacked up a meeting at Trentham and got themselves in the  
Dominion Post 
 except that anybody who knew anything about racing knew that no race meeting was to be held at Trentham on that day. People wondered what was going on. What was happening was a jack-up in order to try to jump the announcement of every other party’s policy. I got up at the meeting at Te Rapa and asked: “Which one of you guys tried to jack up the meeting with the National Party with Mr Tisch and Don Brash?”. Those members I might add would not know one end of a horse from the other—and it shows. 
Lindsay Tisch 
: I raise a point of order Madam Chairperson. National is treating this debate very seriously. We want to support the racing industry. The Minister for Racing is making a farce out of it by talking about things he has no knowledge of. He is degrading the debate. We want to get down to the issues because we want to be able to support the racing industry for what it adds to the value of our economy and to New Zealand as a whole. But here in the Committee stage the Minister is talking about something that he could talk about in the third reading debate if he wants to— 
The CHAIRPERSON (Ann Hartley) 
: The member needs to come to the point of order. He has not made a point of order yet. 
Lindsay Tisch 
: The point of order quite clearly is that we should confine our comments to the clauses affected by Supplementary Order Paper 15 in the name of the Rt Hon Winston Peters which the Minister is referring to. Talking about other issues is not relevant. I have asked you to bring him back to the point so we can talk about the things that are important to racing. 
The CHAIRPERSON (Ann Hartley) 
: The member is quite right. However there has been a continual stream of interjections which the member has responded to. 
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS 
: Let me make it very clear— 
Dr the Hon Lockwood Smith 
: I raise a point of order Madam Chairperson— 
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS 
: This is deliberate. 
The CHAIRPERSON (Ann Hartley) 
: A point of order has been sought. The member will please be seated. 
Dr the Hon Lockwood Smith 
: I raise a point of order Madam Chairperson. It is totally out of order when I have raised a point of order to have the Minister on his feet saying: “This is deliberate.” You know that members must immediately resume their seats in silence when a member raises a point of order. The Minister cannot make those kinds of accusations. This Committee must see the Standing Orders being applied. 
I want you to rule on the relevance of what the Minister is talking about. You are correct that there have been interjections. When the Minister trails off from the bill and talks about what the National Party may or may not have done at some race meeting then of course there will be interjections. You have allowed the Minister to get miles away from the bill and I call on you to bring the Minister back to the clauses of the bill. 
Darren Hughes 
: The National members are deliberately breaking up the speech being made by the Minister for Racing. First of all in both the contributions the Minister has made the National Party interjected to ask him about the extent of the clauses that are being debated. Then when the Minister replied to that he was met with a barrage of interjections including interjections from the cross-benchers of the National Party in spite of an understanding that Ministers who speak from the cross benches are not to be interjected on by back-bench members who sit on the cross benches. A member over there shakes his head but if he looks the matter up he will find that is the case. Then when the Minister more than adequately replied to the points being made by the Opposition members they took a point of order and complained that he was not talking about the sorts of things they wanted him to talk about. I think it was a deliberate attempt to break up the Minister for Racing’s speech and I think those members should be called to order. 
Hon David Carter 
: I cannot let that point go by without pointing out to you Madam Chairperson that in fact questions have been raised of the Minister. The Minister in the chair is the Hon Peter Dunne and he has not taken the opportunity as yet to respond to them. The questions that are raised are addressed to the Minister who is in the chair during the Committee stage not to any other Minister who happens to be in the Chamber. 
The CHAIRPERSON (Ann Hartley) 
: On that point the member is absolutely right. Obviously the Minister in the chair is the Hon Peter Dunne. However the constant interjections have taken this debate down that track. I ask the Minister to continue and to speak to the amendments. 
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS 
: There is an old saying that when the cat is away the mice will play. Well the cat is back. What is happening here is that those members can dish it out but they cannot take it. They just will not take it. 
First of all Mr Tisch claimed that what was being announced last week and during the election campaign was National Party policy. That is demonstrably false. Let me ask this question: who did Sir Frank Hogan advertise for in the 2002 campaign in the Waikato? The National Party? 
Hon David Carter 
: Who’s that? 
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS 
: Oh listen to that! The member asks who Frank Hogan is. That man must be one of the most recognised esteemed racing personalities worldwide and the National Party asks who he is. Can members believe that? 
Hon David Carter 
: I raise a point of order Madam Chairperson. It may help the knowledgable Minister for Racing if I point out that it is not Frank Hogan; it is actually Sir Patrick Hogan. 
The CHAIRPERSON (Ann Hartley) 
: That is not a point of order either. 
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS 
: Well we all make mistakes but only temporary ones. The real point is this: who did Sir Patrick Hogan place those advertisements for in 2002 in the Waikato? The National Party? No. New Zealand First? Yes. In 2005 was it the National Party? No. Was it New Zealand First? Yes—as did Fair Tax. 
It is one thing to be able to con the ignorant but it is a somewhat harder thing to con people who have been in the industry for 20 30 or 40 years. They regard the National Party’s tutelage of the racing industry all the way back to John Falloon and beyond as an absolute betrayal of the industry. Those are the facts. The ignorant like Mr Carter from down in the South Island who probably has a couple of donkeys as well can laugh but those are the facts. Come 1 August the policy that I have referred to will be the law in this country. In practicality come the end of this week it will be the law in the legislative sense and we should not deny that. 
I want to say to those who are listening on drive time radio as they drive home tonight that if they are interested in the racing industry then they should hang on because help is on its way.