Goff Phil: General Debate 
Goff Phil: General Debate 
[Volume:638;Page:8409] 
Hon PHIL GOFF (Minister of Defence) 
: 
 I move  
That the House take note of miscellaneous business 
. Last week we saw the Leader of the Opposition John Key yet again have to defend his own competency following his ill-judged attack on the Prime Minister’s trip to the United States. Yet again the media were left questioning his inexperience lack of depth and poor judgment. Mr Key’s claim that the trip to Washington was a foreign policy failure said Colin Espiner in the  
Press 
 was “wide of the mark. In fact it’s an embarrassing indictment of National’s own slippery grasp of foreign affairs.” 
 If members think that is bad enough let us listen to what Colin James one of the most respected political analysts in the media said. Those members laugh but that is a fact. “So what was John Key up to sniping at Helen Clark while she was in Washington? It read” he said “like petty domestic politics when the imperative was strategic foreign policy.” Strategic foreign policy from John Key! One would have to be joking. But Colin James went on to ask: “Was this another example of John Key sound biting himself out of the gravitas he would need as Prime Minister?”. Shallow—that is the judgment of the news media. “Was this a foreign policy failure? No.” said Audrey Young in the  
New Zealand Herald 
. “In fact it was a huge milestone in the relationship between New Zealand and the United States.” 
Once again John Key showed himself to fall well short of the mark when it came to leadership. Let us listen to it—petty shallow stupid prat poor grasp of the facts plain wrong. Those are not my words. That is the news media’s indictment of John Key’s failure to come up to the mark in foreign policy or in any other area. I would like to ask Mr McCully where the so-called panel of experts designed to keep John Key out of trouble was when it came to an area where he is known to be utterly ignorant. Was Mr McCully working under Bill English’s instruction to say John Key should be allowed to fall into the pit—because Bill English is sitting there with a quiet smile on his face as John Key once again fails to come up to the mark of leadership? 
I want to ask Mr Key this. A couple of weeks ago he was talking about bipartisanship and how our country should have its major parties working together in foreign affairs and trade. He said one thing; his actions were the opposite of that. I tell Mr Key there is one thing that New Zealanders really cannot stand and it is politicians bagging their own country on issues of foreign policy and trade. They do not like it at the best of times but when the comments are so obviously patently self-interested partisan and utterly inaccurate they treat such politicians with contempt. That is what we should show to Mr Key for shooting himself in the foot on this occasion. It shows that this National Opposition is not even up to the role of being in Opposition let alone ready to take on the responsibilities of Government. It wants the perks of power but it does not have the competency to do the job. 
It was interesting to hear a comment from a man who was sitting behind Mr Key as the plane was sitting on the runway at Waitangi. Mr Key was saying to Kevin Taylor who was sitting beside him as the Air Force plane was getting ready to go out: “Is that my plane Kevin?”. Kevin said: “Yes it is sir.” John said: “Well when I’m Prime Minister we’re going to have a much better one than that. We’re going to use it all the time.” That is what Mr Key wants from politics. I tell Mr Key that that is true. He knows he said it. He was overheard saying it in the company of other people. People in this country do not respect shallowness. They are disdainful of the back-flipping— 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. I know that the Leader of the Opposition is a relatively new member and I should point out to him that if in fact he wants to make a personal explanation on this matter he should make it immediately. Otherwise it goes into the record and is accepted as a fact. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Ann Hartley) 
: Please be seated; I will deal with this. That is not a point of order and the member will be seated. 
Hon Bill English 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. We would be happy to give Trevor Mallard leave to make a personal explanation for his disgraceful behaviour in the press gallery yesterday. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Ann Hartley) 
: That was not a point of order either. 
Hon PHIL GOFF 
: There are two things that the New Zealand electorate does not like. It does not like the inconsistency of people who flip-flop on every issue. John Key said that climate change was a hoax 12 months ago and suddenly it is the biggest problem facing New Zealand. The electorate hates double standards.