Peters Winston: Address in ReplyText is incorporated into the Bound VolumePeters Winston: Address in Reply[Sitting date: 21 October 2014. Volume:701;Page:29. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS (Leader—NZ First):Could I first of all congratulate David Carter on resuming his office as Speaker of this House also the new Deputy Speaker the returning Assistant Speaker and the new Assistant Speaker in the person of yourself Mr Mallard and say what a surprise it is that this event has happened. I want to congratulate all the MPs who have been elected to this House—new and old—especially those from New Zealand First.We are deeply appreciative of the support we received from the electorate in 2014. In an early election campaign that was deliberately held over the stark inclement winter months our campaign clearly connected with the New Zealand public. That is because we argued for a comprehensive set of common-sense policies to improve life for all New Zealanders. The National Party with all its money and untold resources managed to grow its vote by only 72000. In contrast New Zealand First starved of all the privileges of Government incumbency and the millions being thrown behind National and the “Moon Party” increased its vote by about 61000. Had the election been held in November when it should have been held—and not around the bogus APEC agenda—then we would have done far better.In this Parliament as always we will demand of the Government clear and forthright answers to matters of public concern. We will do our duty and hold the Government to account. We are not going to tolerate the kind of obfuscation and straight-out deceit that the Government mounted for example over the Oravida scandal.Surely every parliamentarian understands now how Parliament was short-changed in endeavours to get to the truth in this matter. It was in the heat of the campaign that the Prime Minister was forced to act against one of his Ministers and not in the heat of Parliament seeking full disclosure. In short that is a shame on this Parliament and it goes to the heart of—or lack of substance in—our democracy. We are going to hold the Government to account because this is not a Government that truly represents the New Zealand people. Remember that over 800000 people did not vote. Although a million voted for the Government another million voted for other parties.This Government is deeply compromised by some very sordid political arrangements—for example propping up the ACT Party in Epsom; an unbelievable arrangement. Why we even got more votes in Epsom on the party vote than ACT did. Then National propped up United Future here in Wellington and brought back someone who was caught leaking State secrets. Remember what the Prime Minister said? He said: “I’d like to believe them but I can’t.” Well what has changed now? The Government propped him up put him back in as a Minister—in other words having absolute contempt for accountability in this Parliament including ministerial responsibility. Then to compound that National organised a fund-raiser for the Māori Party at an Auckland men’s club at $5000 a plate and said they were just trying to spread democracy—just trying to spread democracy. I can tell you that the Māori Party will not survive the next election. It showed in this last campaign how damaged they were by this association.Although the new swag of National MPs might pretend to be relaxed across there we wager that many of them will be having the jitters already. It is not because they are new but because they know how many exited the “blue” benches for a multitude of reasons in the last 3 years. MPs have been dropping like flies whilst John Key has been at the helm. In the last 3 years there were 17 alone—17 MPs alone. Some jumped others were nudged and some were given a big shove with tea party - like tactics within their electorate organisations like for example the seat of Kaikōura and like our poor friend Dr Hutchison one of the finest doctors to ever visit this House who was tea party - taped all the way out of Parliament. Why? Because there is a certain outcome that is expected of them.Hon Nicky Wagner: What happened to Andrew?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: What did we do to Andrew? We fired him. When you step out of line in New Zealand First and you make statements against the organisation that are totally untrue we do something about it. That is why we are back with a huge increase. I just want to say again that 17 MPs alone—the clean-out at the end of the 50th Parliament was delivered by the Prime Minister as “refreshing the team”. The media duly reported that he was doing the right thing—that one-third of the National caucus had gone. Noticeably absent from the commentary however was that the Prime Minister was shoring up his power base. Think of it. All the newbies nodding and agreeing—music to the Prime Minister’s ears. He makes a pretty ordinary speech and they all jump up and clap. Not one person thought it was an ordinary speech but they all got up and clapped. Amongst those falling on their swords—Hon Gerry Brownlee: What’s going to happen at the end of this speech?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: Now now Mr Brownlee. What is going to happen at the end of this speech is that you are going to hear a series of very good speeches 10 of them—Hon Gerry Brownlee: Running out of time.Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: No I am not running out of time; that member is. And he is running out of credibility. He is running out of credibility. He ran out of credibility a long time ago. Bluster will not cut it any longer. Bluster and bumpf will not cut it Mr Brownlee. What we want here is substance. What we want here is analysis. Among those falling on their swords or retiring gracefully were King Wilkinson Hayes Auchinvole Calder Heatley Henare Roy Ryall Tremain and Hutchison. Those who tripped up along the way and just had to go included the man who wanted to know: “Don’t you know who I am?”.Tracey Martin: No one remembers who he is.Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: Aaron Gilmore. And there was the one Claudette Hauiti who went out of here because she allowed the National Party to use another member over here to attack New Zealand First and we turned the attack back on them. Within a matter of weeks she was gone. So my advice to Mr Brownlee and his colleagues is: do not try it again in this term of Parliament 2014 to 2016. It might have some very damaging effects.We have 14 novices in the Government ranks and today we get told that they are going to be made deputy chairpeople of select committees. Got any experience? No. Got any ability? Not known about yet. But straight away—Mike Sabin: Got buckets of it.Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: Oh buckets have they? Well when are we going to see some of it? Because I have never seen it in the past. In fact when I was campaigning in Whangarei that member was not there. Oh he knew I was coming and they could not see him for dust and small pebbles. He was gone.Mike Sabin: Just a set-up.Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: He was gone. No it was not a set-up.Mike Sabin: It was.Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: Oh it was a set-up? Well I went all the way from Auckland to go to the Whangarei meeting. The people of Northland were coming out in their droves. The place was packed. Where was the local National Party candidate? He was not there. Unbelievable. For goodness’ sake. If you are going to have deputy chairpeople like that then we have got a recipe for a circus at the select committees.Now to the Speech from the Throne that we heard today: “As has been well signalled the Government will put a possible change of New Zealand’s flag to a public vote this term.” A public vote? What happened to the two referenda? The first was for an option and the second for the option of going against the existing flag. Well what happened to the two referenda if you are going to have a vote?Hon Gerry Brownlee: No that’s what’s going to happen.Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: Well you see a referendum is a vote. A referendum is people speaking. A referendum is a public expression of what people think. [Interruption] I know Gerry is going to find it very difficult to get his head around this concept of expanded democracy. I know Gerry is going to find that very difficult but it is two referenda that the Prime Minister promised.Compounding this confusion is the fact that this Government in its needless compromise with the Māori Party has already admitted a second flag Hone’s flag. Has everybody forgotten that? Well Hone might have gone but the flag is not—the so-called Māori flag that flies on the Auckland Harbour Bridge and Government buildings on Waitangi Day and national days. This flag was the result of Hone at the taxpayers’ expense holding 21 hui around the country at which the total attendance of Māori those are the indigenous people was fewer than 1000—Hon Member: Your people.Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: —no not my people—fewer than 1000. Māori supporters of New Zealand First are legion. In fact we got far more votes than the Māori Party. We got far more votes than the Māori Party and we are still the only party that ever took all the seats off the Labour Party. It will be 20 years before they can rectify that. So be very careful—that new member. I am pleased to see her here. Congratulations. But do not be led up the garden path. The smartest thing she did the other day was to vote for the New Zealand First member. That was a very smart move—a very smart move.How many flags do we need? Well apparently it is about branding for what National likes to call “New Zealand Inc.” There is no spark firing out there amongst the public for a new flag. Talking of Spark branding soaks up money. Telecom doled out $20 million to try to change its brand. How much will it cost for all the Government paraphernalia every soldier’s uniform every police uniform everything we have got to be changed because the Prime Minister wants to have—what? A legacy—of economic improvement? No. Of social change? No. Just a new flag. How barren is that? He even finished his speech on that today. He wants a new flag. Mind you it is not looking too flash because his original idea looks a bit like the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. He is not too keen on that any more.Then of course in the Speech from the Throne I read this: “… will complete the implementation of the Financial Markets Conduct Act and will progress legislation to strengthen competition laws”. Really? What happened to South Canterbury Finance? What happened in the trial just concluded last week? What happened when South Canterbury Finance went bust with $1.58 billion of payouts $800 million of which was never recovered from the taxpayer? Today the Government is talking about financial markets conduct and right under its nose in the last 3 years and in a trial that finished last week was this rip-off of the taxpayer.Mr Brownlee can perhaps explain what he was doing when he was asleep on the job behind the wheel. This is the man with all the financial knowledge of how markets work. But then again of course Gerry was a former director for a brief time of the Christchurch casino alternative. [Interruption] Oh yes he was. He did not last very long. The guy who set it up of course is in prison at Pāremoremo at the moment. Gerry was associating with crooks and they even put him on the job.Hon Gerry Brownlee: That’s not true.Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: Oh yes it is true. I have got the prospectus with your name all over it Mr Brownlee.Hon Gerry Brownlee: That’s right.Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: Oh it is true all right. And then today we had this extraordinary circumstance of your announcing that you are going to fix up financial markets conduct. Right under our noses people are screaming out: what happened to the Secretary to the Treasury who should have been in front of the court at the time—the man to whom the proposal was put? And whilst we are at it what was Bill English doing? Or that genius from Merrill Lynch the Prime Minister? How did we get ripped off for $800 million? And worse still of course when we sought an inquiry on that the Government stopped it because it knew like the old saying that all roads led back to the Government.It is going to be a long 3 years unless the Government can be persuaded to lead in the interests of all our people. We waited throughout the election—and indeed today—to hear of a vision a plan or an idea to restore our country’s former economic and social greatness and we recall just what happened back in July of 1984 with the change of Government.The new wet-behind-the-ears member for Epsom might think it is funny but he is there only because somebody else pulled down his own hoardings to give him a chance. Where is the man’s integrity? How can you be possibly talking about negotiating with the Government when you are a puppet when you are in its pocket and when it is actually finding the money to finance your operation here in this Parliament? Most of us could not stand such a consequence when it is—Hon Gerry Brownlee: Oh come on.Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: Oh no Gerry could—Gerry could. Oh I know that Gerry could but not one of my colleagues could stand such a fraudulent set-up. None of my colleagues could stand such hypocrisy and cant but I know that that member can because he went on TV and the only thing he made sense about when he went on his advertisements was to say the word “Hi” and after that everything was drivel. After that everything was drivel. In fact it was most amusing. I almost felt like going along to some of the Epsom meetings myself. They said it was the biggest joke you have ever seen. Unbelievable that someone could be in Parliament that way but it is no worse than say for example the member for Ōhariu. It is just a disgrace that MMP which is a very expanded form of democracy has been allowed to be abused and misused in this way. It is going to be a long 3 years.There is always a lot of talk from the Prime Minister. He reminds me of that fellow in that moss ad. You know the guy who comes on and says: “I just spray and walk away.”—“I just spray and walk away.” The Prime Minister was on about the Kiwi dollar. Do you remember what he said? “It should be US65c.” he said. That is a pretty serious thing to say when you believe in the independence of the Reserve Bank is it not? He said that it should be US65c. Where is it? Well it is close to US80c. Is he going to do anything about it? No. And out there in provincial New Zealand there are dairy farmers in their hundreds who are going to be heading off to their banks for some mercy. And the milk price is not going to stop where it has got to now; it is going to fall a whole lot further.Now then Mr Brownlee what does the Government intend to do?Hon Gerry Brownlee: Devalue and you get less for it.Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: Well then why would you say that the dollar should be at US65c? Why would you agree with the World Bank the IMF and everybody else that it is massively overvalued? And why would you say that it should be at US65c and then do nothing about it? It is “Mr Spray and Walk Away”. And what happened to the Budget surplus? Remember what we were told? At the last Budget in May we had a Budget surplus. What do you reckon it is now with the billions that are being lost in the dairy price? And the beef farmers should not get too cocky because it will not last long. It is cyclical.Ron Mark: Never does.Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: It never does and they will be back pleading for mercy very very shortly.There is never any real action to make a difference and all we have now is the stuttering start-up of the National Government’s third term propaganda machine. After a glimpse of the agenda released today for public consumption our first reaction is: “Well what is on their secret agenda?” because there was nothing there today—nothing for scrutiny for us to look at. What is really happening on the ninth floor? Who is plotting what with whom? Something is certainly happening out of sight because that today could not have been what the plan is for the next 3 years and we need to know what and why and how and when.Let us be clear about what leadership now means in our country. More than any other person in public life a Prime Minister should set the ethical climate of our politics. Rather than follow the dirty tricks of the wreckers who lurk on the dark fringes of politics he needs to lead through personal example a Government that protects the rights of all New Zealanders. Unfortunately the Prime Minister has already revealed that he dealt regularly with a blogger called “Whale Blubber” or some phrase like that. This blogger ran a dirty tricks campaign with like-minded National Party members National Party staff and a certain Minister he no longer calls “Hon”. What sort of inspirational leadership mixes with people who specialise in character assassination deception defamation and spreading malicious propaganda? Obviously the current leadership does and as someone once said you can judge people by the company they keep.With this in mind looking at this 3-year term fills us with foreboding. Why? Because what does this Government actually intend to do? In June before the election we were not going into a Middle East war. Within days after the election we now are. Foreign policy is becoming increasingly murky. Sure there is a safe seat on the UN Security Council but how can New Zealand help solve world problems with a Prime Minister who makes up foreign policy as he goes along? He claimed that the last meeting at which Tim Keating was at was not official—it was not official. The only person who thought that was the Prime Minister. Every international correspondent and everybody in Washington did but the Prime Minister did not. How can there be substance in our democracy if Parliament is used to rubber-stamp a decision to go to war?Hon Gerry Brownlee: Rubbish!Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: Oh I know it is rubbish—I know what the member’s specialty is. I know that rubbish is his speciality but let me say this. If it is good enough for the British and it is good enough for the Canadians to trust their parliaments why will this Government not trust this Parliament?Hon Gerry Brownlee: The Government said it will.Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: What insightful things does Gerry Brownlee know that the rest of us do not? I mean you have to spend more time on a woodwork lathe to gain more of an understanding of international affairs than he has currently got. Why will the member not trust Parliament? The British did with a conservative administration. The Canadians did with a conservative administration. Why can this National Government not? We are off to war.Hon Gerry Brownlee: No we’re not.Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: Oh yes we are. How can there be any substance when Parliament is not trusted? How can there be any depth in our democracy if Parliament is asked to give a blank cheque to law changes on the Security Intelligence Service and the Government Communications Security Bureau?Even before the special votes were counted post the election the Prime Minister started raising the spectre of people being beheaded—straight after the election before the special votes were even counted. These are the tactics of fear. They are used by dictators all over the world. And if people think that that is a harsh comment then why was this not urgent before the last Parliament ended? What did we not know in June that we know now? Well the answer is nothing new Mr Brownlee so why was the assurance given pre-election by the Prime Minister that we were not going to the Middle East? New Zealanders do not want a State run by the secret service. New Zealanders do not want the lousy excuse that if you are not doing anything wrong you have got nothing to worry about. What sort of democracy and system of laws puts that sort of argument up?Denis O’Rourke: The National Party does.Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: The National Party. You would never have heard of Holyoake or I dare say even Muldoon trying that trick on but that is the new National Party—no principles power at any price power for power’s sake. But when it comes to the substance of the quality of the democracy those members live in they do not give a damn.Take for example the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement. Why would we trust international corporates with this country’s sovereignty or indeed with the rights of Parliament? And why are congressmen in the United States entitled to know the terms but people in New Zealand are not? Why are members of Parliament in this country shut out? Indeed why is most of Cabinet shut out so that a little cabal within the Government is out there negotiating on behalf of this country deeming that it has the power to tie up Governments for decades against the rights of New Zealand’s Parliament to examine whether it is right or wrong? The interests of New Zealand people should come before such agreements are signed. And to say that you are going to bring it back to Parliament after you have signed off the document and that Parliament will rubber-stamp it with people like “Mr See-less” from Epsom is hardly any assurance at all.Is Peter Dunne going to make a stand for democracy? Of course not. Is the Māori Party going to step up and say: “This is not acceptable.” because the people who will be hammered worst are the Māori at the bottom of the economic and social heap? Are the Māori in the National Party themselves like the new member for Whangarei—or those other ones who have recently discovered their heritage just the other day. They have recently discovered their heritage just the other day. [Interruption] Oh yes I have known that. I read about those fellow members in that Government who did that. They came here not even knowing who their iwi was and went on a long genealogical search to try to give themselves further value. I know he is the head of the Maōri Party now. I congratulated him on winning. I am glad he won. I am glad he won because his opponent was even worse. His opponent was even more radical. I am glad he won but my point is: when is somebody over there put in there because of their genealogical background going to stand up for it? The member for Whangarei? Or the one from Tauranga? He discovered his genealogy after he got here. Or the one from out in Howick way—you know the friend with a double-barrelled name—Tracey Martin: Jami-Lee Ross.Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: That is right. You have got to commend people who do that but surely if you are going to say we have got all these people in our Parliament and therefore we have got a multi-ethnic background we would want to know when they are going to do something about it because going along with this neo-liberal far-right nonsense is not going to help the mass majority of New Zealanders and not the Māori people in particular. You can be sure of that.Go up to Whangarei and Moerewa—all around the North—and tell me how they are going on there because at the moment as an economist recently said Whangarei is dead. That is what he said. I saw it in the Northern Advocate. I did not see any protest from the new member of Parliament—not a word not a syllable not a sound not a murmur. When you get elected for a place like Whangarei you are not going to last long unless you start standing up for the people up north. But that is what the economist said—a leading economist from one of the banks. He said that the north is zombie town. Those are his very words. If I was the local member would you not be barrelling up and saying: “If there’s some truth in that I’m going to do something about it. I’m going to ensure that I go down and shake the place up. I’m going to put my rubber stamp away and I’m going to get out my microscope and start examining policy to see how Whangarei is going to be advantaged.” But no not a syllable not a sound.But back to the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Let me tell you that American corporations have gained tremendous control over the American political system and any assurances from that Government about our interests have to be taken with the greatest of suspicion. And my real question is how this will help heartland New Zealand where the people are continually being hit by businesses cutting back or closing down. Go down Port Road Whangarei or Wanganui or all around Hawke’s Bay or Gisborne and see how many businesses are closing down and so how little prospects lie there now for provincial New Zealand. It used to be and will be again the powerhouse of this economy but not with the policies this Government has been pursuing for the last 30 years.And remember this. When the Government started these policies it said that there would be so many jobs we would not have enough people—so many jobs we would not have enough people. Well just today we found out that we have hit new record levels of immigration: 45000 over the last 12 months. Where are they going to? Auckland and Auckland has got no chance now of solving its infrastructural problems or its housing crisis or anything else. But meanwhile the good people of Whangarei and Invercargill are going to pay with higher deposits and higher interest rates—four increases this year.So I want to hear from these new members over there what they are going to do in the next 3 years because they are not here just to keep the seats warm. That is a very fateful future if that is what you prospect for yourselves because in the last 3 years 17 went down that way. My advice to you ladies and gentlemen is not to waste your time here. When you go to caucus keep your ears open. Ask a few questions—not “Where’s Bellamy’s?” but “Where’s it all taking us as a country?”.We learn back home after the election that we have got a housing crisis. There was not one before the election but the election is hardly over and the Government has got such a housing crisis that the Prime Minister appointed not one but three housing Ministers—not one but three housing Ministers. What did you see on morning TV? Their special project in Auckland has built the magnificent figure of five—not a thousand or a hundred but just five—homes. The Prime Minister’s defence on morning TV on TV3 was: “Well it’s the Labour Party’s fault because they wouldn’t let us change the Resource Management Act.” Sorry the Government has had a majority for 6 years. Stop blaming everybody else for their fiscal incompetence.As for the issue of selling State houses did not Prime Minister Key say that after the Genesis Energy sale that was it? Did he not tell Bill English? And last week Mr English said that the money the Government had made from the selling of the housing stock was not going back into State houses. So there is $18.7 billion of housing potentially going to go into some other market.And as for the question of productivity what did the Productivity Commission say in 2012? Well it questioned the transparency and accountability of the allocation of hundreds of millions of dollars to community groups charitable trusts NGOs and Māori social housing providers. So it cannot be for that reason can it and yet that is what the Prime Minister is saying today.I think that the National Government is going to be in serious trouble on the question of housing because it has got a tiger by the tail and just to make sure it cannot win it is bringing in massive numbers of people—45000 alone in the last 12 months—most of whom are going to Auckland. Many have gone to Epsom already—many have gone to Epsom already.Hon Member: They’ll learn.Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: They will learn all right sooner or later. There is going to be a housing bubble that is going to burst and when that happens there will be an amazing change in how voters think.Mr Assistant Speaker Mallard congratulations yourself brother on your position and I give our assurance that whenever we can be cooperative we will be that we will be here to be proposing and opposing—opposing bad ideas and proposing and supporting good ideas.New Zealand First is on the cusp of something great. We know after the last campaign that in 2017 we intend to be utterly ready in every respect—we know that if we had had greater resources and the election had not been in the wintertime we would have done so much better. In fact the Government would look different from the way it looks now. So count yourself lucky. Congratulations but it is not going to happen one more time. In fact in 2017 with the work that we are going to do New Zealanders will have a chance to have a better economy and a better social future. After 30 years of this experiment it is surely time to fly the white flag and say: “It does not work.” We need a better economic and social strategy than that.