Barker Rick: Voting — Correction; General Debates 
Barker Rick: Voting — Correction; General Debates 
[Volume:608;Page:5697] 
Hon RICK BARKER (Minister of Customs) 
: 
 That was a speech that shows why Winston Peters is considered by many to be a de facto Leader of the Opposition. It also shows why Winston Peters will always remain in Opposition. Winston Peters was some time a member of a Government. He was a lamb in Government but he has become a lion in Opposition. All the issues that he has talked about today he had the opportunity as Treasurer to do something about but he did nothing. It will be very galling for Winston Peters to know that in respect of all the issues he identified this Government has done fantastically well. For example unemployment is at an all-time low in this country—an 18-year low. We have the highest level of apprenticeships and the highest record level of growth. Winston Peters talks tough on crime—but when during the time of his Government did we see someone sentenced to 33 years in jail? When did we see anybody sentenced to 27 years in jail? That has happened under this Government. Those penalties are the toughest penalties to be handed down in my lifetime. This Government is committed to building three more jails. Do we hear any support from the Opposition? Not on your nelly! The Opposition joins the legions of the opponents of the jails. This Government is tough on crime and tough on the causes of crime and we are going to get results. 
Winston Peters wants to move along the aisle to where Bill English sits because he wants to be the Leader of the Opposition and he has every chance—because what does Bill English stand for? He made some of the most extraordinary statements I have seen in all my life from a politician campaigning to be the Prime Minister. When I looked at his campaign I thought: “What’s that guy campaigning for?” This is a man who spent years in politics and still does not know what he is campaigning for. He leads a party that once had a proud record in building cohesiveness in our society. I admired Duncan MacIntyre. He could speak Maori. He was respected by Maori and he tried to make sure that New Zealand was a cohesive society. I did not agree with a lot of his politics but a lot of it was good. This National Party wants to create division in New Zealand with its attack on Maori. Bill English and other National members want to attack Maori seats. As Ranginui Walker said they want to get brownie points by attacking Maori. They want to destroy the history we have had—over 100 years of Maori seats. Everybody in New Zealand accepts them. But National wants to take the Maori seats away unilaterally. I say to the National Party that Maori should have the seats as long as Maori want them—and those were the words of the National Party in 1993. That is what Tony Ryall said. That is what all the National Party speakers said as well as the leader of the ACT party Richard Prebble. That is what they said. But now they want to beat up on Maori and Maori seats and they use the phrase “One state of citizenship” or “One citizenship’’ and that is code for “One nation”. 
The National Party flip-flops. I want to hear a clear statement from National about whether it will be running candidates for Maori seats in the next election—that is the challenge. Will there be rhetoric simply to get the votes? Are National members going to do that or will they listen to what Tau Henare says and not do that? Or will National do another flip-flop like it did with Iraq? The National Party had three positions on Iraq. We had a flip here a flop there and a flip somewhere else. National supported the Government in sending the SAS into Afghanistan then it wanted them to come home again then it said it was a mistake. Where does the National Party stand on the issue of Maori seats? We want to hear a definitive statement. Will the National Party be standing candidates in the Maori seats at the next election? We want to see whether that will be National’s stated policy. 
The Government deserves a strong Opposition. We need someone to hold this Government to account. But only part of the Opposition is working and that is Winston Peters and New Zealand First. The ACT party is here only part time; it has not cast nine votes all this year. It is here only part time. It is a part-time Opposition that we have from the ACT party and there are flip-flops in the National Party. Fran O’Sullivan wrote very poetically on 7 April when she wrote about Bill English. She wrote that the National leader Bill English is dead meat; left hanging far too long to ever again provide a tempting morsel.