Cunliffe David: General Debate 
Cunliffe David: General Debate 
[Volume:646;Page:15498] 
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE (Minister of Health) 
: 
 Gee the irony of that man impugning this Government on money issues will not be lost on Kiwis. He is the millionaire that Merrill built the son of the “Hollow Man” taking on the Government about transparency. Why does he not tell that to the millionaire brokers of the Waitemata Trust or the millionaire sponsors of the Exclusive Brethren? We believe in one person one vote; not one dollar one vote. We do not believe that elections should be bankrolled by big business which is why the Electoral Finance Act is in place. 
He is a bit peeved about that because he has millions to spend and he just cannot spend it. But he is not as peeved as “Brutus” English. Brutus has been working the issue for weeks and now John has pinched the lines. 
Hon Bill English 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. The member knows that that is out of order. He must address a member by his or her proper name. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: I refer to personal reflections Standing Order 166. The member will desist. 
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE 
: I withdraw. I thought he liked Shakespeare. In recent weeks the contrast between Labour and National could not have been greater. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. You cannot allow the member to trifle with the Chair like that. He was required to withdraw and apologise. That is it. 
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE 
: I was not. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: There should be an apology; the man is a walking apology 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: Thank you Mr Brownlee. I am the sole judge. I called the member and asked him to desist. 
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE 
: While Labour leads National bleeds. The press gallery knows that this Chamber sets the tone in New Zealand politics. One thing that has been clear to the media and to everybody else in the last few weeks is that this side of the House has been energised and positive— 
Hon Members 
: Where are they? 
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE 
:—and that that side looks like it has been hit by a truck. [ 
Interruption 
]  
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: I am sorry to interrupt the member. Members know that the practice of members engaging in a constant barrage of interjections amounts to heckling and is entirely intolerable in a debating chamber. We will have order. 
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE 
: The reason this Government is happy is that we have lots to be happy about—1 April; just think about it. There are the business tax cuts down to 30c KiwiSaver numbers are up and we have introduced a 15 percent research and development tax credit. We have raised the minimum wage to $12 an hour. Superannuation and the Working for Families rates have been adjusted. We are working for ordinary New Zealanders with good positive policy and people are asking: “Where is John Key? What is wrong with John Key? What is going wrong with that bloke?”. Could it be that the press has finally found a definition of “slippery”? Could it be the fact that he cannot take a position and hold it? Could it be that he has had a rough time on the financial markets lately? Who knows? Even Matthew Hooten who is no apologist for this Government says: “He seems not to be able to even answer fairly simple questions.” John Armstong says: “The party seems to have gone into suspended animation.” but even the twitching of Bill English’s fingers on the dagger cannot hide the fact that he is in trouble. He is looking very very down. 
He knows the honeymoon is over. He has been caught being slippery once too often. He said New Zealand was missing in action in Iraq and then he said National would not have sent troops there—just a slight difference. He said that climate change was a hoax and then later said he is a firm believer in it and always was. We know the typical pattern here. As was once said in a pub by a National Party staffer to one of ours he would be a great candidate if he would just learn to shut up. If he would just learn to stop at the briefing notes and not go past his prepared lines he would be a great candidate but he cannot help himself. He cannot stop himself from trying to please all the people all the time going one step too far and having to correct himself. But here is the integrity issue—he will then say he did not. 
At the end of the day that is why the public will not trust this Opposition and why they will keep trusting this Government which is rolling out positive policy as we did on 1 April as we did with splitting Telecom as we did with the Waitakere Ranges Heritage Area Bill and as we did by solving a lot of industrial relations issues. This Government is committed to ordinary New Zealanders and to making their lives better on a day-to-day basis. We are not even talking about what we have done; we are talking about what we will do. We are talking about the rash of new candidates coming through and the renewal that is going on in the Labour Party. This party is on a roll. The press gallery knows it. The National Party knows it. That is why John Key is looking as he does. He looks like he is depressed. He looks like he is on what others on his front bench are on. [ 
Interruption 
] On no—now he is awake. Maybe he was just exhausted after the last couple of minutes. But it goes on. He said that antinuclear legislation was bad news for economic growth but now National supports it.