Hipkins Chris: General DebateText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeHipkins Chris: General Debate[Sitting date: 19 March 2014. Volume:697;Page:16811. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]CHRIS HIPKINS (Labour—Rimutaka):I say to Colin King who was talking about the Bluegreens Forum that when you mix blue and green like that you get a haughty shade of purple. I think there is no better colour to symbolise this National Government than that—no better colour to symbolise a Government that is beset by scandal and arrogance. Scandal and arrogance—there is no better example of that than Judith Collins and her behaviour in the last few weeks. Judith Collins will not admit that she made a mistake—not one but several mistakes. Judith Collins still will not apologise. She kind of gives this sort of Clayton’s apology: “Well I am sorry if people think I should be sorry.” But she is not ever going to front up and admit what she did was totally and utterly wrong. She is the pin-up for the type of arrogance that New Zealanders have come to expect from this National Government—an absolute pin-up for the type of arrogance the people have come to expect from this National Government.Then of course there is the incompetence that New Zealanders have come to expect from this National Government. Hekia Parata is the perfect pin-up for that. It takes a special kind of Minister to establish an inquiry into a scandal that does not actually look at the scandal. That is exactly what Hekia Parata did. She set up an inquiry to look into the scandal involving Te Kōhanga Reo National Trust and the taxpayer money given to it but it did not actually look at it. Let us remind ourselves why this inquiry was established in the first place. It became apparent that money was being spent on things like a Trelise Cooper dress a 21st birthday present a big farewell dinner and $1000 cash withdrawals being made out of ATM machines and somebody’s son graduated and the costs of that were borne by the taxpayer. This was the sort of scandal that this inquiry was established not to look at. The inquiry did not even look at those things. Hekia Parata and Pita Sharples then called a press conference in the dead of night to announce the results of this inquiry. And they wonder why it is that people think that this Government is not being upfront and is being arrogant and out of touch. Those are two classic examples.This is a Government that has one rule for itself and another rule for everybody else. It is a Government that is interested only in furthering the interests of its mates and those close to it. Look for example at the number of National Party donors who have been given honours under this Government. Tony Astle—60 grand to the National Party was enough to make him an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit. Chris Parkin gave $66000 to the National Party and that made him a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit. Sir Graeme Douglas—twenty-five grand gave him an insignia of the Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit. Sir William Gallagher—$42000 got him a knighthood. Lady Diana Isaac—$20000 made her an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit. [Interruption] Oh there is old “Maestro” Jonathan Coleman piping up at the perfect time of course because we know that Garth Barfoot gave him $5000 for his campaign and he got made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in exchange for that.This is a Government that is only too happy to promote the interests of its donors and its mates while New Zealanders out there who are struggling with higher power prices and who cannot afford to buy houses are completely overlooked by this National Government. It is very clear whose interests National is governing in. It is not in the interests of ordinary everyday New Zealanders who cannot afford to buy a house and who cannot afford to pay their power bills. This Government turns a complete blind eye to all of that while it focuses on furthering its own interests and the interests of its mates. This is a Government that is completely arrogant and completely out of touch. I would run through the list of appointments to boards and others of the National Party and all its mates former MPs the partners of MPs and the partners of former MPs but I have got only about 30 seconds left. That would take another 5-minute speech and I would probably still be only scratching the surface of the cronyism and the arrogance that has beset this National Government.New Zealanders deserve a Government that is focused on their needs on the interests of all everyday New Zealanders. That is what they will get after 20 September when they will have a Labour-led Government that is interested in dealing with the real issues affecting New Zealanders such as creating jobs making sure housing is affordable bringing down the exorbitant price of electricity that this Government is in complete denial about and making sure that our kids get the best education that they possibly can.