Mahuta Nanaia: General Debates 
Mahuta Nanaia: General Debates 
[Volume:611;Page:8545] 
NANAIA MAHUTA 
: 
 The truth hurts—just a little bit of the truth hurts. If there is a Minister of Immigration who can fix it it is Lianne Dalziel. She is a great Minister and represents one of many talented Ministers on our front bench. That is more than I can say for a lot of comments from members on the other side of the House. I am a bit concerned about the comments about the leadership void in the Opposition. It is not just a reflection on the Hon Bill English. In fact it is a reflection on the whole of the National Party and people on that side of the House should be concerned about that. The leadership void that has been created has given rise to a lot of questions from the media about who will be next and who will fill that void. Is it going to be Richard Worth? I see him sitting up in his chair. Is it going to be Wayne Mapp who is looking proudly over here? Is it going to be Simon Power who is pretending to be disengaged from it all but has a wry smile on his face? That is the type of talk that has arisen because of the leadership void on the other side of the House. 
This is no abstraction. When the deputy chair of the Pakuranga branch of the National Party says something like: “There is an 80 percent dissatisfaction level among the National Party’s financial members with the quality of the party’s message.” what does that say? What do we see? We see Maurice Williamson suspended. I think the National Party is floundering in terms of the talent it can generate for new policy development new ideas a vision and a way of going forward. What do we see from the National Party? We see the politics of fear being stirred up in our society. We see the politics of divisiveness being stirred up in our society. 
Today on members’ day when there is a general debate when we have a whole lot of issues to debate here in the House what did the Leader of the Opposition choose to speak about? The Hon Bill English brought up the issue of tractors. That is the niche he wants to fill. That is the niche that the National Party wants to attract into its new-look party. It is like watching a B-grade sitcom—“… so are the days of our lives.” 
National Party members should be very concerned about the image they are presenting to the public because it will keep them at their current polling rates. While we are talking about polling rates on 22 August this year the National Party mustered up a stunning 23 percent. Given its stance on the beaches-for-all campaign with regard to the foreshore and seabed could it claw back further support? No it polled a stunning 23 percent. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: Bill English got 7 percent. 
NANAIA MAHUTA 
: Even more than that as my colleague points out the Leader of the Opposition claimed only 7 percent. At a time when there is an issue that challenges us all as a nation what could the National Party do? It could muster only 23 percent as an Opposition. Who is the real Opposition? Those members should be very concerned about what they are presenting to their voters and to the niche market they are trying to fill. It is not going to work. Everyone in the House knows it and we should all be concerned because if that is the best they have to give then I cannot say too much about it. 
I recall the Hon Bill English being at a hui—the Maori Sports Awards at Ngaruawahia in 2001—and what did he say? He said: “Well you know we are in the Opposition we can say anything.” What kind of leadership is that? What kind of leadership does that present to the people of New Zealand on hard and difficult issues? 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: Who said that? 
NANAIA MAHUTA 
: The Hon Bill English said that. It is unbelievable. When there is leadership like that when there is a lack of direction and when there are people pressing in from behind wanting the leader’s seat National has nowhere to go and it should be concerned.