Carter David: General Debate 
Carter David: General Debate 
[Volume:634;Page:6094] 
Hon DAVID CARTER (National) 
: 
 There are not many occasions— 
Hon Ruth Dyson 
: I am sorry to interrupt the member. I indicated during my address that I would seek leave to table the list of actual injuries in order to correct the total misapprehension Tony Ryall created. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: Leave is sought. Is there any objection to that course of action being taken? There is. 
Hon DAVID CARTER 
: There are not many occasions in the general debate when I can actually agree with the comments made by the great Labour Party strategist Pete Hodgson. He said in his contribution that the Labour Party was united. I agree with that statement: the Labour Party is united in corruption. That is what most New Zealanders agree with. Over the Labour weekend I had people coming up to me at every function I attended— 
Jill Pettis 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. In points of order in the House over the last couple of weeks it has been ruled that members are not allowed to say that other members are corrupt. That member has just said that and I ask that he withdraw and apologise. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: I understand that the member was speaking about the Labour Party not the parliamentary party. There is a difference. 
Hon DAVID CARTER 
: The people who came up to me during Labour weekend were telling me that the Labour Party was without principle and was totally corrupt. Its members in Parliament rushed through retrospective legislation in this House over most of last week in a blatant attempt to hide the fact that they stole taxpayers’ money. They used their numbers in the House—their majority—supported by Winston Peters and New Zealand First and by Peter Dunne and United Future. The people of New Zealand know that that legislation was rushed through under urgency and that Labour was not prepared to go to a select committee. It was a desperate attempt to right the wrongs that were correctly pointed out by Kevin Brady the Auditor-General. 
 The worrying thing for the New Zealand public is that while the Government is so intent on covering up its mistakes and what occurred at the last election it is forgetting its basic function which is to govern. I was absolutely shocked this morning to observe a photograph on the front page of the Christchurch  
Press 
 that shows very graphically a young New Zealander lying beaten in the street in downtown Christchurch. I say to Parliament that it is a basic function of the New Zealand Police to protect that guy and to make sure that that sort of incident does not happen in Tuam Street in Christchurch. 
I sympathise with the police because I know they are busy. They are flat out investigating Taito Phillip Field who at this stage is home on gardening leave on full pay so that Helen Clark can keep his vote. But we are seeing story after story in the media. We have only to think of the Television One programme last Sunday night that suggested very grave corruption. Yet it does not suit Helen Clark to bring that matter to a finality. That person is showing himself to be unfit to be a member of the House of Representatives yet Helen Clark leaves him at home on full pay simply because she needs that vote. 
So I say to this House that the incident of the poor kid lying beaten and probably unconscious is totally unacceptable. That is the sort of function a Government should be looking after. Darren Hughes might be interested to know what Annette King Minister of Police said when approached about the problem. She said the growing problem had nothing to do with the Government or with police strategies. That is outrageous. People in New Zealand expect a Government to provide safety in our streets. They expect a Minister of Police to be responsible. When that poor kid lies beaten and unconscious in Tuam Street that is a responsibility of the police and their strategies. It is certainly a responsibility of the Hon Annette King Minister of Police; the buck stops with her. 
But we are seeing a Government that is forgetting about the basics of governing. Information given to the Education and Science Committee today shows that 30 percent of schools in New Zealand according to the Education Review Office are unable to tell their students how they are progressing. What schools are in that 30 percent? We are told that the public and the parents of New Zealand are not eligible to know that information. In other words parents in New Zealand with kids in the State sector genuinely do not know whether their kids are being provided with a satisfactory education by the State. That is another basic function of this Government that is not being done properly.