Power Simon: General Debates 
Power Simon: General Debates 
[Volume:619;Page:15037] 
SIMON POWER (National—Rangitikei) 
: 
 I have a very simple message to give those who are listening to the debate in the House today. Jim Anderton stood in this House and said that after the next election Helen Clark will enjoy her third term as Prime Minister of New Zealand. Let me put him straight: the only thing that Helen Clark will enjoy after the next election is being remembered as a small footnote in New Zealand’s history. No chapter will be written about Helen Clark. She does not deserve a chapter in New Zealand’s history because all that Helen Clark and her Government are interested in is inch-by-inch day-by-day political management. They have no political vision no vision for New Zealand and no economic foresight as to where this country is going. 
We looked at the Order Paper to see what sort of visionary legislation was being proposed by this Government. George Hawkins’ Police Amendment Bill (No 2) has been sitting on the Order Paper since debate on the second reading was interrupted on 27 November 2001. What has George Hawkins been doing for the last 3 years other than have his police officers issue speeding tickets? Actually he has been thinking up ways to fence paddling pools in New Zealand’s backyards. Instead of dealing with issues like gun control burglary and violent crime he has been saying to families: “Let’s fence some paddling pools.” As my colleague John Key rightly said why not just go straight to the chase and have a whole lot of bureaucrats run around New Zealand fencing puddles? We should just fence off all the puddles on the sidewalk and in the middle of the road because that is the next logical step for a small-minded Minister in a small-minded Cabinet that will only ever be a footnote in New Zealand’s history. So small-minded is this Government that it is unable even to organise Dianne Yates’ bill to restrict docking of dogs’ tails. That bill has to go under the line on the members’ bill order form because the Government is not capable of getting agreement on dog-tail docking. Instead it is concerned with fencing paddling pools. 
The Government’s current strategy is to do nothing have no vision keep its head down and micromanage every issue day by day. Ministers in this Government roll over at the first sign of controversy. Phil Goff was vowing to change the law to allow compensation payments made to inmates to go to their victims but that was not before Tony Ryall had raised the issue in Parliament. However immediately upon Tony Ryall raising the issue in Parliament all of a sudden Phil Goff the great justice visionary went into micromanagement political control. 
What will the Labour Party look like after the next election? For a start its members—what is left of them—will be sitting on this side of the House. Helen Clark will be a footnote. Mahara Okeroa will be gone. That seat will be won by Tariana Turia’s party. Dover Samuels will be gone. His seat will be won by Tariana Turia’s party at the next election. David Parker will be gone. He will be absolutely wiped off the face of the earth. Not only that; Jill Pettis is staring down the barrel of defeat in the Whanganui electorate. That is the word on the street and everybody in Wanganui knows that that seat will be gone. All those members will end up as footnotes under the footnote that is Helen Clark’s legacy. What the Government will do to try to save the day is begin the process of jacking up collective-bargaining agreements with its mates in the Post Primary Teachers Association (PPTA) so that $500 goes to every member of the PPTA.