Macindoe Tim: General Debate 
Macindoe Tim: General Debate 
[Volume:656;Page:5902] 
TIM MACINDOE (National—Hamilton West) 
: 
 The most forlorn and wishful words uttered in this Parliament in modern times came at question time this afternoon when the current Leader of the Opposition in one of his long-winded questions said: “There is no hope for the Prime Minister.” Already the Tui beer advertisers having salivated at the very prospect have started printing their latest billboards. 
The fascinating thing when Mr Goff makes such comments is watching his Opposition colleagues collectively sinking lower and lower in the benches opposite until we are left with just furrowed brows and shaking heads visible above the bench tops. It is no wonder their former colleague Dover Samuels is calling on the current Labour leaders to fall on their swords. It is surely better to have an honourable acceptance of the inevitable than to succumb to the knives that are being sharpened behind them. Or perhaps the Labour leaders should take their lead from the garrulous blogger from Rimutaka Mr Hipkins who admitted this week to his adoring readers in the Cayman Islands and Kazakhstan in 5000 breaths of fresh air that fair-minded Kiwis like what the National Government is doing and will not be turning their attention back to the Labour Party any time soon—certainly not while the fresh young team of Goff King Mallard and Hodgson are setting the pace. 
The member is spot on in his assessment though whether he finds his analysis personally career-enhancing will ultimately depend on which of the many pretenders to the throne is left standing when the looming battle in the Labour caucus room is over. As the  
New Zealand Herald 
’s political commentator John Armstrong wrote a few days ago it was an important political lesson for “the hapless Hipkins” that “even when the wheels are falling off the political vehicle in which they are travelling:” he needs to insist “that things are always going swimmingly well no matter how bleak and desperate the reality.” 
So what have Mr Armstrong’s media colleagues had to say about Labour’s problems lately? Bill Ralston wrote: “The problem is at the moment the Opposition is pursuing a scatter-gun approach attacking … the Government with a knee-jerk hostility. This largely falls on deaf ears”. Labour’s very good friend Mr Christopher Trotter laments: “What’s the matter with Labour? Why is it making so little impression on even its hard-core supporters? And can anyone explain why Labour’s strategists still believe it’s intelligent politics to have their MPs recorded singing songs on a bus in the Tory-blue heart of Taranaki?”. 
Television New Zealand’s Guyon Espiner picked up the theme when he noted: “It was probably a good thing Phil Goff wasn’t driving the bus”—to nowhere—“because right now he appears to have little sense of direction.” The problem is as John Armstrong concluded: “It took a while for Goff to work out that people were simply not listening to what he and Labour had to say.” Mr Espiner even recommends that Mr Goff should take a leaf out of the Prime Minister’s book. I ask members opposite to listen up. Mr Espiner suggested to Phil Goff: “Maybe Phil you should cuddle up to Key a little bit. See what happens.” That is excellent advice. 
Nine months into the new Government’s term a wonderful contrast is apparent. I am proud to be part of a Government that is united and determined and is tackling the issues that matter in these challenging times. The focus of the new Government is on easing the pain of the recession. It is on responding to New Zealanders’ concerns about law and order with a huge raft of measures being capably driven through by the Hon Simon Power the Hon Judith Collins and others. The focus is on increasing resources to the health sector and on redirecting efforts and funding to essential front-line services. We have committed to boosting education to fixing the school buildings that were falling down under Labour to dealing with special-needs funding and to boosting literacy and numeracy which will help New Zealanders to get ahead in life. 
We have been out and about listening to New Zealanders who hold a wide range of views on climate change and we have set a realistic—demanding but achievable—carbon emissions reduction target that is in line with our pre-election commitments. We have been enhancing our relationship with our Maori Party colleagues focusing on raising educational and training aspirations for Maori and facing up to their health challenges and the list goes on. We are getting on with the job and New Zealanders love it. What does Labour offer in response? It offers weak and divided leadership in the House and disingenuous tut-tutting outside it.