Ryall Tony: General Debate 
Ryall Tony: General Debate 
[Volume:671;Page:17760] 
Hon TONY RYALL (Minister of Health) 
: 
 Goodness me! What a lot of nonsense from the member opposite David Cunliffe. What I find more interesting is seeing who got to lead the general debate for the Opposition this week after weeks of speculation about leadership. David Parker had a half-page write-up in the  
New Zealand Herald  
at the weekend and there was one column for David Cunliffe on page 3—one paragraph—and a big half-page on that other chap from Wellington— 
Hon Paula Bennett 
: Grant Robertson. 
Hon TONY RYALL 
: There were three lines for David Cunliffe at the bottom of an article in the fourth section—the business section. What has been embarrassing for his leadership potential was his ridiculous call yesterday for Bill English to resign. David Cunliffe was pressured a bit and he then called for the whole Government to resign. Simon Mercep says David Cunliffe is a man who can cope under pressure! David Cunliffe got pushed on from calling for Bill English to resign to calling for the whole Government to resign. That indicates the real level of dysfunction in the Labour Party and how the members are managing the party’s own internal problems. 
We have seen it all before. I have lived it many times when I was in Opposition. I know exactly the dynamic that is going on in Labour now. As there are uninspired beat-ups on potential leadership candidates those who have seen themselves as the heir apparent for the last 2 years can see the poisoned chalice slipping further and further from their grip. That explains so much of Mr Cunliffe’s quite bizarre behaviour in the last while. 
It is not just Mr Cunliffe; Phil Goff joined in the story that the whole Government should resign and that we should have a snap election. Well “Make my day!” was the message from members on this side of the House. Phil Goff quickly reeled himself back in. 
On Monday night Labour launched its big campaign to stop asset sales in New Zealand. It was about 7 p.m. after the news cycle and hardly anyone was at the meeting. Labour wants to stop the asset sales. The reason people were not there is that Phil Goff and Annette King were in a Government that sold $9.5 billion of public assets. Phil Goff was first up to sell New Zealand Steel Petrocorp and the Health Computing Services in 1988. Then Annette King and Phil Goff while in Government sold DFC New Zealand. Do members remember that? Then Phil Goff and Annette King sold New Zealand Post. Do members remember when the Crown owned New Zealand Post over 20-something years ago? Well Phil Goff and Annette King sold it. Then they sold the Shipping Corporation of New Zealand and Air New Zealand. Then they sold huge amounts of Landcorp and goodness gracious they sold the Rural Bank. Phil Goff and Annette King then sold the Government Printing Office and the National Film Unit and then they sold State Insurance— 
Chris Tremain 
: What 51 percent or—? 
Hon TONY RYALL 
: No they sold the whole lot—$735 million. They sold the Tourist Hotel Corporation. Then Annette King and Phil Goff sold the New Zealand Liquid Fuel Investment and Maui Gas for $350 million. Then they sold Telecom. 
Phil Goff does not ever want this Government to sell a quarter of anything but he was happy to sell all of Telecom to majority foreign owners for $4.25 billion. Then only a few weeks before the election he was prepared to sell the forestry cutting rights for just short of a billion dollars. 
It is little wonder that no one can take that voice of the past seriously when he and his deputy were in a Government 20-something years ago that sold $9.5 billion worth of public assets. Labour members are grasping for any issue to try to cover up Labour’s lack of policy lack of cohesion and lack of commitment to dealing with the issues that really matter to New Zealanders. 
We have not seen anyone from the party opposite really focusing on what matters to New Zealanders which is getting the cost of running their businesses down and job creation.