Hague Kevin: Imprest Supply DebateText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeHague Kevin: Imprest Supply Debate[Sitting date: 06 August 2013. Volume:692;Page:12391. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Third ReadingKEVIN HAGUE (Green):Yes Mr Deputy Speaker I would love to seek it. Thank you very much. By my reckoning it was another two calls away.I have recently had a series of questions for written answer directed to all Cabinet Ministers asking them what meetings they have held with the organisation Crosby/Textor which we know of course is an organisation that in the UK has had a very close relationship with the UK Government lots of contact with UK Ministers and which also has been representing the tobacco industry. So it certainly seems a relevant question to ask here. I have not got all of the answers back yet but some of them have been of the form: “I have not met with Crosby/Textor.” and good on those Ministers. There are other Ministers who have responded: “I have not met Crosby/Textor in my ministerial capacity.” Of course that is technically a sound answer but it does beg the question does it not of what capacity they may have met Crosby/Textor in. Indeed one suspects that they may have met Crosby/Textor in their capacity as members of a political party that is desperate to retain power at any cost.I am interested of course in analysing the advice Crosby/Textor may have given on the basis of this Government’s actions. It seems like a simple plan. One part of the plan is to demonise and penalise those members of our society whom the Government believes its voters do not like. That is why we have seen the beneficiary bashing. That is why we have seen the rhetoric against workers and against unions. That is why we have seen the ongoing rhetoric about being tough on crime. That is actually where this Government comes from. It believes that its voters do not like those things and so that is what it talks about.Another strand of the strategy has got to be a bunch of measures aimed at advantaging National’s mates. That is why we have seen the weakening of worker protections the lowering of wages and the weakening of environmental protections. That is all about driving down the costs of business at the expense of our environment and at the expense of labour which of course is working people. That is why we have seen tax cuts for the rich. That is why we have seen some of the appalling cronyism in this last term of Government. One thinks for example of the appointment of Susan Devoy as Race Relations Commissioner without ostensibly having any qualifications whatsoever for that role. That is why we have seen this gross abuse of proper processaround the Skycity convention centre deal. That is why we have seen the appointment of Ian Fletcher—the Prime Minister’s childhood friend a person who was not even shortlisted for the role—as the head of the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB). That sort of cronyism is another part of this Government’s plan.Speaking of the GCSB we are in this House at the moment debating the Government Communications Security Bureau and Related Legislation Amendment Bill a bill that amongst other things greatly expands the role of the GCSB into economic areas and that is a chilling intrusion into the rights of New Zealanders. On all of the other issues besides the ones that are about demonising National’s opponents and advantaging its mates—areas like the economy health and education—National approaches those on the basis of political ideology.Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! Look I will just pause you here because I am working off a list that has another Green call further on. I am not sure whether this is the one you assumed—whether it is a 5-minute or a 10-minute call. Do you have another Green speaker?KEVIN HAGUE: Yes we do—10 minutes.Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Right then yours is a 5-minute call.KEVIN HAGUE: How long do I have?Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: 1 minute.KEVIN HAGUE: Thank you very much. So all other issues are approached purely from the point of political ideology and that is not in the interests of New Zealanders. Where has all the rhetoric gone about rebalancing the economy? Where is the rhetoric now about the underclass in New Zealand? We do not hear that any more. We ask ourselves the question who is this Government actually for? The answer is that this Government is for its mates. This is not a Government for New Zealanders. It is not a Government intended to advantage this country now or in the long term. Thank you.