Peters WinstonRt Hon WINSTON PETERS (Deputy Prime Minister): As Elvis would say Thank you very much." What a tragedy—that in Mr English's valedictory speech he found he has a heart and that he actually cares for New Zealanders. But we want to begin Mr Speaker by wishing you the very best for Christmas and the new year all the parliamentary staff wherever they may work from Hansard all the way through to the cleaners the caterers security drivers—Hon Member: Speak clearly you old fool.Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: Speak clearly? Oh I say. Who said that? The doozy.Mr SPEAKER: It's a member who I would advise not to come back in this year.Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: To colleagues in New Zealand First inside and outside of Parliament we had a really tough year where the prospects were fantastic and then all of a sudden one day they changed and we were fighting for our political lives. Such is politics. But then after all the votes were counted and negotiations were completed our party in the end decided that the country needed to change course. So thank you for your efforts to make this country a better place.Now this is the season of goodwill—lest we forget. [Interruption] I would have thought that Mr Bridges would be the last guy to open his mouth today—the very last guy. Congratulations on being a father for the second time—Hon Member: Third time.Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: Oh third time. The rest of us were out campaigning too hard. We couldn't leave off for things like that.In the last election the National Party made countless promises. As the polls started to change they got desperate and nearly everything they promised was going to be financed by public-private partnerships. They had no idea about the Dunedin Hospital or Whangarei Boys High School or motorways everywhere. [Interruption] The man that just opened his mouth the fellow with the $11 billion hole was probably the biggest cause of National's demise.Hon Steven Joyce: Oh rubbish!Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: Oh not rubbish. There were shortages in the police of 1000. There were multimillion dollars of debt in the district health boards. Everywhere you looked there were shortages and they were making the claim that they were responsible good fiscal managers.Hon Member: We were.Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: Oh no they weren't. Oh no they weren't. They borrowed like there was no tomorrow and they tossed money around like an eight-armed octopus to their mates. They borrowed to have tax cuts and boy they're embittered now that they're not going to happen next April because we have better causes in the interests of equity and fairness to finance that desperately need our support right now.Could I just say—Hon Dr Nick Smith: Why don't you take it off the pensioners?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: No we're not taking it off the pensioners. Every pensioner out there knows that there's one Government this one that will look after them. Oh yes they do. I can tell you I get so much correspondence from people saying to me "Thank God you guys are back." Oh they do. They say it to me everywhere I go. They even want photographs and autographs and everything else. I say to them "Look we're just doing what should be done for the people of this country who we respect because they've created New Zealand the way it currently is."Can I just say that the defence budget for example was $20 billion over 20 years and not one cent ascribed in the last Budget.Hon Dr Nick Smith: Rubbish!Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: Oh yes it's rubbish. That's your specialty. It is rubbish. It appears as a fiscal risk. That is not budgeting. Sorry didn't put any money in. There was a blowout of $154 million on this latest frigate upgrade—$154 million. Did they tell anybody? Not a word. Not a mutter not a murmur—didn't say a thing about it. So they deserve to be where they are.Can I just say this: you know in foreign affairs it was chronically underfunded rundown aid underfunded and when it comes to the racing industry a report came out today that was a disgrace for a country like ours. Nine years of doing nothing and then emerges case after case of what looks like animal cruelty. They had four Ministers. Not one of them knew the back end of a horse. They knew what came out of it but they didn't know how to deal with the problem. It was a shocking report out today and we'll fix it up.They claim to be prudent managers but you know the ASB report out this week says the growth rate was falling to 2.6 the population growth is 2.2 and even this foreign-owned bank is pointing out just how pathetic National were as economic managers—just pathetic.Hon Steven Joyce: Give it up Winston. Nobody believes you.Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: No I'm not giving it up; I'm giving it over. Their only answer was to go into further and further overseas ownership and thank God that's stopped.A collapse of National's marketing spin leaves its leader hopelessly exposed. The very worst place to be today is on the front bench of the National Party. Oh yes. Oh I can hear the grindstone now. I can see the sparks from the knives being sharpened as we speak—[Interruption] You'd better stay and listen to this. It includes you—probably for the last time.Mr SPEAKER: Order! Order! I'm not going anywhere.Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: It would be very remiss of me as the Minister for Racing not to offer some odds on the likely leadership of the National Party. So can I start with the first one that Selwyn MP Amy Adams. She is playing such a long game that it will be all over before she starts. She's sitting at 30:1. Then we've got the favourite from Papakura Judith Collins. She's been playing a short game for a long time so I've got her odds at 5:1. Then you've got an outsider from Tāmaki Simon O'Connor the oldest young man in New Zealand politics. He's 50:1. Then you've got the $154 million deficit Coleman man from Northcote. He has in the past not got out of the gate—the district health board gates that is—so he's 100:1. Another outsider is Nick Smith the member for Nelson who at least has the virtue of perfectly embodying how old and tired National looks.Hon Dr Nick Smith: Twenty years younger than you mate.Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: I love having Nick Smith in this House because he makes me look young.That only leaves three pretenders. Steven Joyce—won't make it to the start. His form is terrible. He's the $11.7 billion fiscal hole. It was all fake news. The election campaign was worse for it and his leaders were diminished in their deceit for the country and he will instead follow General Omar Bradley's advice to turn in his tongue along with his suit and to mothball his opinions.That leaves just two. That leaves just two. George Eliot once said that there were men whose very presence imbues in others deep trust and reverence. The member for Tauranga is not such a man. He is most definitely not such a man. He is a one-lane bridge blocking a highway full of caucus ambition that will particularly run him down if he gets in their road. And you know who's in his road over there.Which leaves only one. Given how much the National Party leaves in the tank to the Chinese interests there's a real chance that National's Manchurian candidate Yang will steal the leadership odds. I've got him up 2:1 to be the next leader of the National Party. [Holds up newspaper] It's all there and the reason why and they won't respond. It's sad about that because a once great party called itself "National" when they understood.Hon Dr Nick Smith: Asian bashing is your specialty.Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: Oh no it's not. He who pays the piper calls the tune and we know what tune National's calling these days.Hon Amy Adams: Yeah and who calls your tune Winnie? Who's calling your tune?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: Well have a look at the electoral returns.Mr SPEAKER: Order! I am going to interrupt the member and make it clear that he's got to take particular care when he's coming close to making suggestions about the responses as a result of financing.Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: I was being asked a question Mr Speaker. If you have a look at the annual returns which you'll see very shortly you'll see for every dollar we spent on the campaign the National Party spent 10—spent 10 per vote. That's my answer Ms Adams. We don't get funded like the National Party and that's why we are the longest new surviving party since 1916. [Interruption] Aren't you proud of that? I am.I want to close—with all the shouting and attention they're all buoyed now—but I know deep in their hearts that being on the front bench there is the most dangerous place to be in New Zealand. We've got to be safe on our roads we've got to be safe in our beaches and on our land these holidays but the most dangerous place to be right now is the National Party front bench because over there they know they can't win ever with them. Thank you very much."