Woolerton R Doug: Urgent Debates — Tranz Rail Shares—Insider Trading 
Woolerton R Doug: Urgent Debates — Tranz Rail Shares—Insider Trading 
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R DOUG WOOLERTON (NZ First) 
: 
 This debate is about a time in New Zealand’s history when we were described by other people from countries around the world—and some pretty big countries at that—as the Wild West of the new-rightist regime that was sweeping the world at that stage. New Zealand with Roger Douglas and Ruth Richardson embraced all of the craziness of that time and allowed the sort of thing we are talking about here today to go absolutely unfettered and unchallenged. One man Winston Peters stood up against that and said that what was happening was not right and his colleagues in New Zealand First—all of whom are here today and others who were here at that time—stood shoulder to shoulder with him during those times. This is something we are passionate about; it is not an academic exercise for us. 
I am proud to follow in the debate the chairman of the Finance and Expenditure Committee of which I am a member because in that committee even today we see the remnants of that time in the people who sit around that table—people from the National Party side—who hark back saying that those were the days that set New Zealand up for the future we are heading into now. That is simply not the case. 
These people did not create wealth. They were robber barons. They took money from other people. They did not put money into the economy. They did nothing to support the economy or to add to it in any way shape or form. These people took from the economy. These people took from parents and from grandparents. They were people who should not be admired yet one of them is running around with a “Sir” in front of his name. What are these people doing now? They have taken other people from that period in New Zealand’s history overseas and they have designed tax avoidance schemes for them so that they can enjoy residency in several countries at once never spending long enough in each of those countries to pay their full amount of tax—or any at all for all I know. From far-distant shores they still have the audacity to comment on New Zealand on its politics and on the person in question who held them to account. Sadly—and this is the worst part—they are listened to. They should not be listened to and they should not in any way be respected in this country. 
I can tell members something that my leader will not tell them. It is that he was not welcome in a country that we share close bonds with—a protectorate of New Zealand. That country is the Cook Islands and our leader was not welcomed there during those days. The power and influence of these people spread so far—and I am being careful with my words—that they almost corrupted that small group of islands. Nowadays of course people have come to see the error of their ways. Now when my leader goes to the Cook Islands I am proud to say that he is treated as a friend as family and as a respected New Zealander. But that was not always the case. He had to look people in the eye and suffer a whole lot of opprobrium before we came to that point. So this is just not right. 
These people have gone about their business in a most unsatisfactory manner. They have stolen from people in this country and they have been proud of it. They have tried to say that they were at the cutting edge of what is now called the new economy. I think it is a sad indictment on this country that we allowed that to happen. I am told—and I hear Bill English say somewhat apologetically that the law is not always administered as it should be—that the Serious Fraud Office under Charles Sturt gave only 32 hours’ consideration to this case. By comparison—if you want a comparison Madam Assistant Speaker—he spent exactly twice that on public relations defending himself and his office throughout the ensuing days. 
 I think that people need to know that we saw in those days the selling off of railways to business friends in what are called sweetheart deals. We saw the propping up of the Bank of New Zealand which Fay and Richwhite owned at that point to the degree of $600 million - odd. It was broke before that. They were net beneficiaries of that deal as well. So it is not right to say that the Government did not have any role to play in this. It is clearly something that the Government of the day chose to overlook because it suited it to do so. The required pressure that Governments should bring to bear on matters that do not smell right was not brought to bear in the deals that went on in those days. 
It was appropriate for the previous speaker to talk about Mercury Island in the Bay of Islands because as my colleague Ron Mark has said to me it is absolutely de rigueur if you like for pirates to live on an island—and in this case a treasure island it may well be. When people speak of the $20 million that they have had to shell out to make things right I do not see that as a punishment. I see that as being these people buying their way out of yet another problem. They are buying their way out of a difficulty. This is what they did back in the days when these things went wrong and sadly they are still doing it today. We should not accept $20 million as repatriation from these people. We should thank them for the $20 million and say that it will go some way towards the court costs that we will bring to bear on them over whatever period it takes to bring them to justice. That is what would happen to a normal citizen. That is what would happen to me and that is what would happen to my family and friends yet these people again are able to buy themselves out of trouble and it just does not sit right with us. 
My colleagues and I know personally what it has cost our leader in cold hard cash. He is not a wealthy man; with his family upbringing skill and previous occupation he should be. Who has ever heard of a poor lawyer? Yet we have one here. That is because he has pursued cases like this one to his own detriment. 
We are thankful to have this short opportunity to speak about these issues but I do not think we should accept that this case rests easily with us. We should not accept that this case is at rest now because we will continue to pursue it in whatever ways we can. We say that if they were any other citizens they would not get away with a $20 million repatriation but they would still be pursued to make justice right. Thank you.