King Annette: General DebateText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeKing Annette: General Debate[Sitting date: 10 April 2013. Volume:689;Page:9233. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon ANNETTE KING (Labour—Rongotai): I moveThat the House take note of miscellaneous business. That has been a very interesting debate on the Government Communications Security Bureau and what it shows us is that New Zealanders cannot trust this John Key - led National Government. We have seen confidence in this Government reach basement level over the last 2 or 3 weeks. In fact there has been a slow drip drip drip on the stone of confidence now for about the last year. It has reached basement bottom now and why? Because what we have from the National Government is a lot of very arrogant members who are very dismissive of any suggestions ideas or debates that do not suit their ideas. They are very evasive in their answers. In fact in this House I have seen the worst answering of parliamentary questions I have seen in decades and we have also seen diversions. Whenever an issue arises that they are not happy with they set up a diversion. They usually use Paula Bennett to pull out yet one more of her welfare reforms so that they can head off over there bashing up beneficiaries because that always gets a good headline. So what we have got is a Government that cannot be trusted. It would rather not front up to the issues; it would rather divert from them.I think the biggest diversion is the Prime Minister who heads off to China to get plenty of publicity knowing that at home there was a report into the Government Communications Security Bureau that showed he did nothing for 9 months—that he allowed illegal spying to continue on New Zealanders for 9 months. I think it was summed up by theDominion Postwith this headline that said “Illegal spying kept secret for months”—illegal spying kept secret for months. So he heads off to China and he leaves his hapless team here in New Zealand. Only somebody leaked the report. Well I have got a theory about this: Mr Key wanted the report to be leaked. He wanted it to be leaked because poor old Bill English is having to stand up in this House day after day facing a barrage of questions difficult questions that John Key does not want to face. He is hoping that when he gets back from China this might have all blown over and there will be another diversion created by the National Government. Well I can tell Mr Key that this is far too serious for him to think that this is going to go away becausewhat we need to have is an independent inquiry and review of the Government Communications Security Bureau and in my view the SIS and the roles that they play in New Zealand. We need that independent review not some idea that has come from John Key.What did he say on the television this morning? He said he is going to change the law. He said he is going to bring in legislation to allow the Government Communications Security Bureau to legally spy on New Zealanders. Well to begin with he is going to do that with no consultation with anyone in this House. He has not taken it to the very committee that has been set up for him to consult with. He just gets on television and says he is going to change the law and make illegal spying legal. That is not the way you deal with an issue like this. You do not go for the quick-fix fast-draw solution. You work through the issues carefully. Perhaps you might even use the legal brain of Chris Finlayson in this respect but you do not suddenly announce on television that you are going to change the law and the rest of us are all meant to trot along behind. That is not how it is going to be done and we are going to demand in this Parliament across the Opposition that there is a proper review of the Government Communications Security Bureau and the SIS—a proper look at the roles they play. I would be very concerned if we were to put together both those roles because the only countries that I know of that do that are those that have authoritarian Governments that have organisations like the KGB. We have separated out those two roles and we need to look very carefully before we make such changes.New Zealanders have every right to lose confidence in this Government. Illegal spying—what a mess! Then we have all the privacy breaches—Hon Dr Nick Smith: Under your watch.Hon ANNETTE KING: Nick Smith says it was on our watch. Let us deal with that. He is such a brain that he sat in the Opposition looked at the legislation that Labour brought in it went through a select committee and did he vote for it? Yes Nick Smith the brains trust of the National Party voted for it. It was all right then; suddenly it is not. New Zealanders have every right to be very suspicious of this Government.