Peters Winston: Adjournment — Sittings of the House 
Peters Winston: Adjournment — Sittings of the House 
[Volume:644;Page:14060] 
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS (Leader—NZ First) 
: 
 Madam Speaker before I get to the subject could I just extend my party’s appreciation to you the Deputy Speaker Clem Simich and Assistant Speakers Ann Hartley and Ross Robertson the outgoing Clerk of the House Dave McGee the new Clerk Mary Harris her staff in the Office of the Clerk the select committee personnel library staff the people at Bellamy’s the  
Hansard 
 writers the security and parliamentary travel staff the VIP Transport Service drivers my colleagues and our families and of course the messengers who keep this place going. 
I can recall when there was a woman called Shipley leading the National Party and they used to clap her. Then they had a man called Bill English leading the National Party very recently and they used to clap him. 
Ron Mark 
: They are the same people. 
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS 
: Oh the same people! Then they had a man called Don Brash leading the National Party and they started to clap him. That is three so when I hear the fourth person being clapped I do not get carried away or get too excited. Madam Speaker if you will give me some indulgence I wish to quote words from a song made popular by a group called Talking Heads: 
Well we know where we’re goin’  
But we don’t know where we’ve been 
And we know what we’re knowin’ 
But we can’t say what we’ve seen 
And we’re not little children 
And we know what we want 
And the future is certain 
Give us time to work it out. 
Who does that remind us of? I say that 2008 is going to be a year of disclosure and we believe it is time to work out what the National Party stands for. Democracies need alternative policies. It is the essence of a democracy because for the first time in the history of our parliamentary democracy there is a party that does not know where it is where it has been does not know where it is going and does not know what to do when it gets there. When the member came to the end of his speech he said: “Oh I’ll deal with that next year.” He got to the last half of his speech and he said he could have gone on for ever but he had not started on that part of the speech at that point in time.  
The National Party wants to be the Government but does not say why. What do those people stand for? Tell me one policy that it has come up with in the last year—just one policy. Tell me one policy that would make the world or New Zealand a better place—just one policy. I look at the National members and even they cannot answer me; even they cannot answer the question. I ask them to name one policy they have advocated in 2007 that will help anybody in our country. I cannot hear a word.  
Hon Member 
: Tax cuts. 
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS 
: Do not say tax cuts; what percent? They do not know. No one knows. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: You first. 
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS 
: Please do not tell me that getting rid of Don Brash counts. That is not a policy. That was a wise decision but it is not a policy. Firing Gerry Brownlee from the deputy leadership is not a policy. It is a sound move but it is not a policy. In fact it harmed his family so that is not a very constructive policy. So it should be a special project of this Parliament next year to find out what the National Party stands for and what it wants to do. It is time for questions to be asked and answers to be given. New Zealanders have a right to know. 
The National Party is like an octopus with tentacles spread throughout society and its institutions. Mind you it is not as big as it used to be; it once had under Holyoake 245000 members. Today it is just big business and cash. It has a very small party membership just big business and cash. But this week we learnt to our dismay that some of those individuals will place personal politics above everything. Some weeks ago we offered to donate some money to a children’s hospital. The background was fully explained over weeks. We went through all the details the reasons and everything else. The money was given and accepted in good faith and everyone was acting in good faith including the woman at Starship Children’s Health. And then out of the woodwork came a voice and name from the past—Mr Bryan Mogridge from the murky waters of the National Party and the Tourism Board. He made a unilateral decision to give the money back. Did he hold a board meeting with the Starship hospital board? No he did not. Members should ask themselves this question: he is a man who heads a board and apparently he does not know what the staff are doing over many many weeks. I would fire a man like that because it shouts incompetence. I would fire somebody like that who comes back from overseas and does not know what has been going on while he has been away. 
R Doug Woolerton 
: He’s a National Party man. 
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS 
: A National Party man oh yes. He is a good mate of Murray McCully. He had the audacity to challenge New Zealand First’s philanthropic views. Well let me tell the House about Mr Mogridge. He tried to keep an illegal payment of $200000 from the Tourism Board courtesy of his mate Murray McCully. 
Hon Members 
: Ah! 
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS 
: Ah yes! When I heard that name I thought: “That rings a bell. There is a certain smell about that name.” Then in a burst of generosity Mr Mogridge agreed to accept half that amount—$100000—but this payment had to be tax-free. 
Hon Members 
: Ah! 
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS 
: Ah yes! This Dale Carnegie of the hospital board kept it tax-free but that is not all. He wanted his legal bills $30000 paid as well. I am sorry but it sounds like Mr Mogridge should resign. It sounds like he has done his organisation in. It is a magnificent organisation but we remember him very very well. 
But how typical: he is overseas this donation is made the National Party contacts him and all of a sudden forget the poor children forget the halt and the lame and the maimed and the suffering and those kids who need operations to fix themselves up and all the research. They could not give a tinker’s damn as long as they could stop someone doing their duty because it might embarrass them. 
R Doug Woolerton 
: It’s the truth. 
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS 
: That is the truth all right. Just like that! New Zealand First has had a great year. 
Hon Maurice Williamson 
: Ha ha! 
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS 
: Oh yes we have. Up in Tauranga piles are going across the harbour; a new bridge is being built which is the envy of Christchurch Auckland and Wellington. It all happened because we said we would keep our word. I saw “Bob the Builder” try to take credit for that himself. All Bob can do is fight off a whole lot of nominees—young lawyers out of Auckland and everywhere—who want to take him on because they reckon he is hopeless. Thank God they have had a chance to work that out. Name one thing Bob has done other than sell his white-elephant stadium back to the council so it has to pay for it. It needed 35 nights to be full before it could be paid for and when he realised he could not fill it he flogged it back to the council. The poor ratepayers have to pick up this white elephant. 
Bob as in the film  
The Shawshank Redemption 
 even made himself seem magnanimous while he did it. I say: “Ha ha! Sorry Bob; I got the due diligence. Next year you’re going to find out exactly what you did.” The first thing we did of course was to keep our word. We built a bridge we got a better deal for superannuitants the minimum wage is being increased we brought in extra police to fight crime we poured another $400 million into elder care the racing industry is awash with optimism and ad excitement. It is all happening. Those members know that that is the truth. There is one more promise we have kept. The SuperGold card is taking off. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: 2.2 percent. 
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS 
: We will do in 1 year what it took 15 years to do in Queensland. I say to National that they can laugh now but let them wait for the 2008 Budget and cry later. We have also stemmed the flow of social engineering. We have done hundreds of things unlike Tau Henare opposite who has not done a darn thing all year. I bet he has not been to one clinic. 
Ron Mark 
: He welshed on Brian Connell. 
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS 
: Oh that is right. He has done one thing: he welshed on Brian Connell who was the one guy who stood up in the caucus and said: “Hey the leader is not a good man. He should go.” What happened? They fired Brian and kept the leader on. But eventually— 
R Doug Woolerton 
: They are having a rerun for MPs in Rakaia. 
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS 
: Yes just one thing before I sit down. I am glad that our disclosure in the House last week about Rakaia has seen the National Party forced to reopen the nominations so David Carter could not buy his way into the nomination in Rakaia. Just like that! I say to the National Party people in Rakaia who wrote to me: “Come on; come the next election pay it back in your second vote.” That is what transference is all about. 
I want to finish by saying to all my parliamentary colleagues good and bad loud and intellectual and even Tau Henare to have a happy Christmas and a good January 2008 because when they get back they will need to have had a decent holiday because there is a war on and it is called “the people’s interest versus your elitist ones”.