Carter David: General Debate 
Carter David: General Debate 
[Volume:633;Page:5223] 
Hon DAVID CARTER (National) 
: 
 The first comments I want to make concern the rather stupid comments made about 10 minutes ago by the New Zealand First member Ron Mark when he stood up and modelled himself as a latter-day Martin Luther King and said he had a dream to be in Government. I take this opportunity to remind the member that he has been in Government twice. He was in Government between 1996 and 1998. He and his leader were so unstable that they could not sustain the pressure and they pulled out of that. And the member is in Government now supporting the corruption on the other side of the House. 
Martin Gallagher 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I would like you to reflect on and to rule on if you will whether it is appropriate for a member on the opposite side of the House to reflect on the stability—presumably mental or otherwise—of the Rt Hon Winston Peters or Mr Ron Mark. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: That is a frivolous point of order. The member’s time will start again. 
Hon DAVID CARTER 
: Thank you very much Mr Assistant Speaker. I was commenting on the comments made by Ron Mark who said he had a dream to be in Government. I was taking the opportunity to remind the House that he is in Government now supporting the corruption on the other side of the Chamber. 
Ron Mark can come into the House and talk about police resources and stab-proof jackets but he has the ability to make sure that contract is delivered on immediately. He has the ability to do so and if he cannot make progress then he should have the gumption to pull his vote from that Government and let the people of New Zealand decide how happy they are with the level of sleaze and corruption we are seeing at the moment. 
In the time I have been in this House we have never seen things so low. Helen Clark is up to her neck in the issue of whether the Labour Party used $446000 of taxpayers’ money to print a pledge card that went into the letterbox of every New Zealander. That broke the rules. That was stealing money from taxpayers. Helen Clark’s feeble attempts day after day to try to say she is not responsible for that and her attempt to blame Heather Simpson and today Trevor Mallard and everybody else but herself will not be accepted by the people of New Zealand. 
The people of New Zealand know better. A recent poll in the  
New Zealand Herald 
—a paper that today we learnt the Prime Minister of this country does not bother to read; yeah right!—stated that over 80 percent of New Zealanders surveyed say that Helen Clark and the Labour Party should pay back the money they stole from the taxpayers. They should pay back that $446000 and pay it back quick. That is what makes democracy work in this country. 
When Helen Clark came into this House as Prime Minister in 1999 she said she would restore public confidence in the political integrity of Parliament. That is what Helen Clark said. But what she is doing today is destroying the integrity of this Parliament and certainly destroying the integrity of every member of the Government including New Zealand First and MP Ron Mark. 
If members think that scandal is not enough then what about Taito Phillip Field? Where was he today at question time? When is he attending to his constituents in his electorate office? He is not there because Helen Clark has told him to go on painting leave. He is repainting the four houses that he had painted by exploiting Thai overstayers on the promise of giving them residency in this country. That is where Mr Taito Field is—slapping the paint on his four houses with his paintbrush. He is not here serving his constituents but he is collecting full pay. How appropriate is that? 
Helen Clark organised the Ingram report. It cost half a million dollars. She designed the terms of reference so that the real questions would never be answered. When the report was tabled in the House she said that was the end of the matter that it had been tidied up once and for all. Well where is Mr Field? If the matter has been tidied up once and for all why is he not working for his constituents? I have another question. If the matter has been tidied up once and for all why are the police investigating him? 
There are further questions to be asked about Mr Taito Phillip Field. I say that at this stage Helen Clark should demand the resignation of that member and go to the people of New Zealand with a by-election. That is what should happen—she should let the people of Mangere decide how happy they are to have that member who has exploited Thai nationals to have his four properties painted not to mention his house in Samoa. And the other question that needs to be asked while we are talking about the sleaze around this Government is about what role the former Associate Minister of Immigration Damien O’Connor played in approving the final residency status of those Thai nationals.