Mallard Trevor: General Debates 
Mallard Trevor: General Debates 
[Volume:619;Page:15250] 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD (Minister of Education) 
: 
 I deplore what Winston Peters is doing. What Winston Peters is doing is using this House to attack individuals in a way that he is not prepared to do outside. [ 
Interruption 
] This member has the lawyers’ bills to show that he does say outside what he says in the House. The point that must be made is I am pleased that we do not have a country in which the Minister of Police decides on prosecutions. That is a matter for the police and will always be. 
But the point I want to make is that it is good is it not to have a leader of an Opposition party who has a presence in the House—someone who fronts up to the House someone who makes comments to the House. 
Simon Power 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. Speakers’ rulings 23/7 and 24/1 specifically refer to the convention that reference to the absence of a member from the Chamber is out of order. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The member did not make that comment. He said “a presence in the House”. I thought he was referring to a member’s overall contribution. Certainly if he had mentioned whether that member was in the House at this moment that would have been out of order. But I did not take that comment to be out of order at all. 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: Is it not good to have the leader of an Opposition party who is a regular attender of the House—someone who makes a contribution in the House someone who is not afraid to ask questions of the Prime Minister? I do not know why Don Brash earns $5700 on average for each question he asks in this place when Winston Peters is doing his job for him. If I were Mr Peters I would put in for a pay rise. Maybe we have to get to the point where the Leader of the Opposition is appointed by a vote of Opposition parties because that way they might have an arrangement whereby they get someone who is prepared to do an honest day’s work—and that would be a change. 
Bill English is someone whose behaviour over the last 2 weeks has also been deplorable. He dumped on a school using material that he claimed was assessment material but that was not used in the final assessments. 
Katherine Rich 
: It said “assessment book”. 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: That member clearly does not understand; Bill English did. He took the word of a liar—someone who was facing competency procedures. He took stolen material and he brought it to this House. He indicated to the House that there was a problem when the problem had been long fixed. He knew it but for a cheap political point Bill English dragged Hauraki Plains College’s very good name—a good rural school with a wonderful reputation in its area and to which kids come from right around the region because of its quality—through the mud. Let me make it clear: the only person who did anything wrong was the teacher who was facing competency procedures. That is the person who stole the workbooks and that is the person who put students up for credits that they should not have got and he was acted on. He had been acted on long before Bill English came into the picture. So what happened? Bill English in order to make a cheap political point came to the House used the words of a liar and attempted to mislead everyone here. That is deplorable. I agree with what Sandra Goudie said at National’s caucus yesterday. 
Simon Power 
: Oh come on! 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: Oh come on! The whole of Bellamy’s is talking about what happened in the National Party caucus yesterday and if I were her I would have walked as she threatened to do. If National had a leader worth his salt the apology that Bill English has made privately to the school would be made public. If the National Party’s leader was worth anything we would see some leadership from the National Party and Bill English would apologise.