Henare Tau: Sittings of the House 
Henare Tau: Sittings of the House 
[Volume:628;Page:233] 
Hon TAU HENARE (National) 
: 
 First I congratulate you Mr Deputy Speaker on your position although personally I believe that you would have been a helluva great Speaker. 
Democracy in this country is absolutely under threat from this poor excuse for a Government. I have just made a quick calculation of all the bills before this House and found that the sitting programme has only 87 days to deal with 35 Government bills. The Government has not left enough time to deal with even half of those bills. Eighty-seven sitting days is a threat to democracy. Robert Mugabe would have been proud of the Clark-Peters Government for its lack of interest in democracy. We hear every day this Government go on about how it prides itself on the democratic process and on people being part of a Western democracy. This Helen Clark - Winston Peters Government is nothing more than the equivalent of a Robert Mugabe Government. It does not believe in democracy. It does not want a bar of democracy and I shall tell members why. 
It is because of the shonky deal that is being done with the sycophants who will jump into bed with Labour at any cost. We can all laugh about the words “baubles of power” but it was nothing more and nothing less than naked ambition. That is what it was. What do we have? Why does the Government want to meet for only 87 days? It is pretty obvious. 
Martin Gallagher 
: Which party are you from? 
Hon TAU HENARE 
: That member should pipe down; he is a has-been. He is gone. I say: “Ta-ta! See you later!”. 
 There are 87 days to protect the so-called leader of New Zealand First. Why do I say “so-called” leader? It is not a horrible jibe; it is because he will not actually be in the country to be the leader of New Zealand First. So we have to ask ourselves who will be the leader of New Zealand First. For obvious reasons it will not be Peter Brown. [ 
Interruption 
] Absolutely I was the deputy leader and I got out. I saw the writing on the wall and even within 87 days I thought to myself: “If I want to have a career if I want to look after myself and if I want my children to get a good education and get ahead in life I had better join the National Party.” The one lesson that I learnt from New Zealand First was to watch my back because those members will throw knives—they will throw the kitchen sink at a member. [ 
Interruption 
] I say to “Andre Agassi” that he should pipe down. 
This Government motion is nothing other than a threat to a Western democracy. Not since the days of World War II have we had fewer sitting days in the House. On average there are 106—[ 
Interruption 
] That is right and most of those members opposite were here during the Crimean War apart from my good whanaunga Shane Jones. He is most probably—and I am hard-pressed to say this—the beautiful light out of the darkness. 
There is a word—and I am not sure whether I am allowed to say it—[ 
Interruption 
] No it is not the one that starts with an “h”; it starts with a “d”. This Government is nothing more than a dictatorship that Stalin Mussolini or even Robert Mugabe would be proud of. It is a complete and utter threat to the democracy that this country has been brought up on. I say shame on the Government shame on Winston Peters shame on United Future—I was going to say United First. 
Hon Maurice Williamson 
: Who? 
Hon TAU HENARE 
: Exactly. Who cares? New Zealand First and the Labour Party have got into bed. I never thought I would see the day when Doug Woolerton got up and supported David Benson-Pope. 
Hon Maurice Williamson 
: He hasn’t done it yet. 
Hon TAU HENARE 
: He has done it. 
Hon Maurice Williamson 
: Well he doesn’t seem comfortable. 
Hon TAU HENARE 
: Peter Brown is absolutely comfortable knowing that his leader has the only bauble in town. They are all comfortable in that fact. I saw the leader of New Zealand First on the telly last night. He hopped out of a BMW 7 Series. That is what I call a bauble of power. [ 
Interruption 
] It was not red; it was silver. 
The irony of all of this is that when Governments are formed and democracies are loved and cherished by the citizens of a nation the citizens expect their Government to be under scrutiny for longer than 87 days. The rigours of question time have already taken their toll on the Government. How do I know this? All we have to do is look at the number of sitting days that it has planned for 2006. There are 365 days in a year and all it can do is meet for 87 days. It is no wonder New Zealand First wants to support the motion. It does not want to be here because every time it is here this great Opposition party will make sure that it asks the hard questions. 
As I said there is nothing more to this Government than its being an anti-democratic dictatorship. But I have heard it before. Several socialist speakers several communist speakers have always talked about the dictatorship of the proletariat. They have all talked about it at one stage of their union lives. Well ladies and gentleman that is what we have in this House. The Government does not care about the foreshore and seabed. It does not care about the United Nations coming down here to visit us. Eighty-seven days is not long enough for the Government to be under scrutiny. It shirks its responsibilities at its own peril. National members are here doing the job and making sure that this Government is put to the test every single day. 
Michael Cullen said that select committees are able to meet during adjournments. Well today the Maori Affairs Committee which is ruled by the Labour Party said: “Oh no guys and girls. We are not going to meet in the adjournment.” The only person who stood up for democracy was the person on his feet at the moment. It is recorded in the minutes that I said we should meet during the adjournment because I love democracy and I am a defender of democracy. That lot opposite are not defenders of what should be held close to somebody’s heart—that is democracy. 
Finally I say that National members are here and we are willing to do the job to make sure this country does not slip down that slippery slope.