Cullen Michael: General Debate 
Cullen Michael: General Debate 
[Volume:641;Page:10912] 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN (Deputy Prime Minister) 
: 
 That is what the death rattle from a hollow man sounds like—a man who Audrey Young said lied to her. He lied to her and now he runs from the House because he cannot take it. He cannot take criticism; he runs away. He lies and lies and he runs. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: There is far too much noise and barraging is not permitted in the Chamber. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I think it would be a good idea if the Deputy Prime Minister just swallowed a bit on the Standing Orders and recognised it is quite inappropriate for him to talk about not only the Prime Minister but also other members being out of the House at this time. 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: There used to be a convention of course that members stayed in the House to hear a response to their speech but that member could not take it and fled the Chamber. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: The member knows that each and every one of us at various times has to leave the Chamber for other pressing public business. 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: That man has had a bad few days. He entered the National Party conference to a song called “Clocks” by Coldplay. And what does that song actually say? 
Lights go out and I can’t be saved.  
Tides that I tried to swim against  
Brought me down upon my knees  
Oh I beg I beg and plead  
The song goes on to say: 
You are  
You are  
Confusion that never stops  
For once in his life Mr Key was honest—for once. That is the man who did not tell the truth about where he lived before the 2005 election and who lied about the electoral roll. He is a man who talks about housing affordability and owns six houses in New Zealand alone. He is a man who said in 2003 that the National Party would send troops to Iraq then said a few days ago that it would not have done. Then his staff said he was merely repeating the caucus line. Mr Key said in May this year that Dr Brash was not supporting the caucus line and that the caucus line was not to support going to Iraq. 
Mr Key is a man who says anything to anybody to try to please them. He has no notion of what the truth is. You see David Benson-Pope had to resign for making conflicting statements. Mr Key believes it is perfectly all right for him to make conflicting statements within one speech or one interview. His colleague Dr Smith was found by a judge to have lied to that judge and nothing happened to Dr Smith as a consequence of that. Audrey Young accused Mr Key of lying to her—and he did—over the joint trans-Tasman therapeutic goods agency just as he lied to me over that agency. He cannot tell the truth because he does not know what the truth is. 
Yesterday Mr Key sat in this House— 
Gerry Brownlee 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: Yes—I know what the member is going to say. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: No you do not so I will give it to you. When members of this House have in the past raised the issue of the Prime Minister lying over “paintergate” the Prime Minister lying about racing through the straights of Canterbury in the back of a speeding motorcar the Prime Minister lying about her knowledge of the release of GE corn the Prime Minister lying to Plunket over PlunketLine the Prime Minister lying and lying and lying— 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: Make the point. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: We have been told by the Speaker that that was unparliamentary and that such behaviour had to stop and we have accepted that. You yourself sir have said many times that honourable members should be treated as honourable members. Indeed the Prime Minister herself has repeated that and relied on that many times in the last couple of weeks as she dealt with the Benson-Pope issue. I know that Michael Cullen is upset; I know he is wound up. I know he is giving a speech based on his own venom—his own jealousy etc. But sir you have to— 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: The member is making a speech. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: —uphold the standards of Parliament and that line is unacceptable. 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: Speaking to the point of order I would remind you Mr Assistant Speaker that Mr Key used that word frequently during his speech. I deliberately did not take objection so that the Opposition will therefore get what comes back to it in that respect. I have chapter and verse for every one of the contradictions that Mr Key has engaged in. That man does not know what the truth is. He says whatever he will say to please anybody at any moment. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: I say to members that they can never allege that another member has lied. That is absolutely out of order. A member may challenge the validity or correctness of a member’s statement but must not accuse the member of lying. A member cannot accuse another member of having made a statement on any occasion whilst knowing it to be incorrect or untrue and cannot impute a deliberate untruth to another member. I am asking members to desist from doing that. We have here a situation that will lead to disorder and it is my job to keep the debate within the 402 Standing Orders that we have. I ask members to desist and continue with the debate. 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: I will desist. I will simply point out that Mr Key does not know what he says on one issue from one moment to the next. On the issue of climate change for example—the biggest issue facing the world at the present time—Mr Key said: “I firmly believe in climate change and always have.” and the previous year said: “This is a complete and utter hoax. I am suspicious of the notion of global warming.” He is a man who says one thing one day and another thing the next day because he wants to be loved wants to be liked and does not care what he says along the way. 
Of course when it is pointed out that Mr Key is unreliable does not know the facts and tells different things to different people he says: “This is a personal attack. I’m such a poor little National Party leader; please don’t pick on me any more. Those big nasty Labour Party bullies have been picking on me in the House all the way through yesterday and I need some protection from those big nasty nasty bullies on the other side of the House.” 
Who believes that this man can be a Prime Minister of New Zealand? Who believes that somebody who cannot even remember his position on the war in Iraq could possible be the Prime Minister of New Zealand? Mr Key cannot remember what his position on the Springbok Tour was. He cannot remember what his position was on global warming. He cannot remember almost anything. He cannot even remember where he lives for the purposes of the Electoral Act. He is not a man who inspires confidence. This man appeared on  
Morning Report­ 
 this morning smiling so nervously that he looked like a Cheshire cat with constipation waiting hopefully for some kind of pill to put him out of his misery and save him from the Labour Party. 
Mr Key knows that he has made disastrous errors in the last few days. He knows the honeymoon is over and he is now into relationship counselling in the National Party.