King Annette: General Debate 
King Annette: General Debate 
[Volume:629;Page:1806] 
Hon ANNETTE KING (Minister of State Services) 
: 
 I move  
That the House take note of miscellaneous business 
. It is 21 years since I was first elected to this Parliament and most of that time I have been very proud to work here. I am proud to be the member of Parliament representing the people of Rongotai and to have the privilege to serve as a Cabinet Minister in this Government. I have debated hard I have interjected with the best I have received my share of insults and I have handed out a fair few myself. I have laughed and I have cried in this Parliament and I know that this is no place for the shy and retiring. 
But I am deeply saddened by the political theatre that has played out in this Chamber over the past few months against David Benson-Pope. I am saddened I have to say that the cheerleader of that personal nasty and vindictive attack is Judith Collins a woman with a husband and child. She stated in the  
Sunday Star-Times 
 last week that “women … can be the fiercest defenders of the weak and vulnerable” and that she wanted to “help women and children”. I am saddened because in pursuit of column inches in the media and in justification for her elevation in the National Party over someone like Georgina te Heuheu she has been prepared to expose David Benson-Pope’s wife and children to unjustified personal abuse and public attention. She has laughed and celebrated as she has made her despicable comments of “pervert” and “dirty old man” and she has not cared about the impact on his wife and his children. 
Judith Collins 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. I take exception to being labelled as someone who has used the term “dirty old man”. I think that that member should be asked to withdraw and apologise. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: If the member says that she has never used that term then her word must be accepted. I ask the member to withdraw that. 
Hon ANNETTE KING 
: I accept the member’s word. That member called David Benson-Pope in this House a “pervert”. 
Judith Collins 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. The Minister who has been in this House for 21 years was asked by you to withdraw. She did not. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: I thought she had. Would she please do it again. 
Hon ANNETTE KING 
: I withdraw and the member does not like this and she is not going to like this because—[ 
Interruption 
] 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Would the Minister please withdraw clearly. 
Hon ANNETTE KING 
: I withdraw. The member is not going to like this because I am going to tell her she was prepared to call David Benson-Pope a pervert not caring about the impact on his wife and children. Those are comments that New Zealanders know are not true and all the while David Benson-Pope was expected to stay calm and aloof from the maelstrom that was swirling around his family and as damage was being inflicted on the people he loves. 
I know what it is like to have one’s family under the scrutiny of the media and the public and I tell this House that it hurts like hell. One wants to protect one’s family and stop the pain the embarrassment and the attention they are getting but one is not able to. I say to Judith Collins that I sincerely hope her child is never subjected to the sort of unjustified attention that David Benson-Pope’s family has had to endure because of her action. Unfortunately she has set a new benchmark for our families in the future. She has said by her action that it does not matter who is destroyed or who is pulled down or damaged as long as the end justifies the means. 
At the end of the day this whole sorry saga has been about leadership. A decent and strong leader would have said: “Debate the issues not the individual; focus on the policy and not the person.” But when put to the test of leadership Dr Brash failed. He decided that he too would wallow in the mire of personal invective. The result is that he is a weak-looking leader and there is a fair dose of hypocrisy swirling around his comments. 
I am really sad that Bill English a man who has always previously defended the need to protect our families from the slings and arrows of this place was dragged into the mud-slinging as well. I believe the behaviour— 
Hon Bill English 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. At no stage did I mention David Benson-Pope’s family. In fact at no stage did Judith Collins ever mention David Benson-Pope’s family. I take objection to the member saying I was drawn into mud-slinging when I just asked questions in this House. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: I thank the member. That is a debatable point and he will have an opportunity to reply. 
Hon ANNETTE KING 
: The behaviour of Judith Collins Don Brash and Bill English over this affair has damaged them personally. Members can just ask the public. I believe it has damaged this Parliament and it has damaged innocent New Zealanders. To David’s wife and two children I apologise on behalf of this House. To the teachers the children and the parents of Bayfield High School who have had to withstand unprecedented and unnecessary media scrutiny—27 parliamentary questions about their school talkback chatter and TV cameras—I apologise on behalf of this House. To the thousands of New Zealanders who have watched some of our elected representatives turn this place into the Colosseum rather than a debating chamber I apologise. 
On 12 March Judith Collins said she was going to carry on her attacks. On 14 March she said her campaign was over. She knows it was wrong National knows it was wrong and it has to stop. 
Rodney Hide 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. While the Minister is on her feet and apologising maybe she would like to apologise to Tukoroirangi Morgan and his family Peter Doone and his family— 
Madam SPEAKER 
: The member knows that that is not a point of order.