Hide Rodney: Adjournment — Sittings of the House 
Hide Rodney: Adjournment — Sittings of the House 
[Volume:636;Page:7227] 
RODNEY HIDE (Leader—ACT) 
: 
 May I Madam Speaker give my best wishes to you. I must admit that we got off to a rocky start you and I when you called the Serjeant-at-Arms to remove me. I understand that that had never been done in the history of the New Zealand Parliament; I am sure that I deserved it. I discovered later that if the Serjeant-at-Arms had touched me I would have been out of Parliament until the next election. So it was a near-run thing. I should apologise to the Serjeant-at-Arms in the spirit of Christmas because I actually turned to him and said: “Don’t touch me or you will regret it.” I did not say that loudly enough for the Speaker to hear—thank goodness. But we did get off to a rocky start Madam Speaker and I hope that I have worked to repair that relationship with you. 
In my time in Parliament I have never seen a Speaker more tested by the poor behaviour of the Labour and National Parties—[ 
Interruption 
]—and you can see Madam Speaker what I mean. I make the point—and National and Labour MPs should reflect on it over the Christmas break—that this is a sacred place that it is an important place for our democracy and for our country and that it does deserve some respect. So too do those members who are on their feet; so too does the Speaker. There is a limit to how much a Speaker can require discipline of members and of political parties. If political parties are not prepared to show the discipline required to have a serious debate then it is not possible for a Speaker to ensure that. So I hope that both the Labour and National Parties will go away and have a break reflect on the year and reflect on how they want to approach Parliament. 
I thank the ACT caucus. We could not have had a more united and determined caucus if we had tried—100 percent supportive and hard-working and nary a cross word or division in it. I also thank the ACT staff who have helped us enormously and in particular my secretary Sandy Grove who is a true trouper. 
I thank the good people of Epsom. They put their faith and trust in me and tried something different. I have worked hard to be the best member of Parliament the people of Epsom have ever had. I believe that that is the case and it is being recognised now in that electorate. 
I thank all our supporters and members of the ACT party who have stayed with us through what was a tough time. We now continue on our way and to grow. 
It has been a big year for the ACT party. We started off with just two MPs. I remember friendly colleagues of ours in the National Party saying that we were finished because we would not be able to get anywhere with just two MPs. Well Heather Roy and I have done our best to raise issues around New Zealand—not always through Parliament. I commend Heather an MP and a mother of five for taking up the challenge and joining our armed services making a contribution to New Zealand’s defence and understanding her portfolios from the sharp end—behind some very large guns. 
It is also the case that the ACT party has brought some very serious bills to this House—the No. 1 bill being that to cap increases in local Government rates and another bill still to be heard to deal with the unnecessary red tape that confronts New Zealand and wastes our resources. 
Heather Roy and I also travelled to Europe and particularly to Dublin and Berlin to see other proportional systems and particularly MMP in action and to find out how smaller parties campaign and operate in Parliaments. It was of great benefit to us. 
I should pay special thanks to Judith Collins—I am sorry; I know she is in Samoa this week—because I wandered into the House one question time and she came up to me and said: “Mr Hide the purpose is to get on TV for sure but to get on TV by what you are saying not by what you are showing.” I looked a bit nonplussed and she said: “Your fly is down.” I had walked into the House with my fly down and had quickly to adjust it. The only question I had for Judith Collins was how come she was the only one who noticed. I have not got a satisfactory answer to that question. 
After 10 years of MMP I think that this year has been when it has started to work for us. First of all we have worked with our colleagues in the Maori Party with whom we agree on much and disagree on some. Our relationship from which the ACT Party has learnt a great deal has been fantastic and I hope we have not been too much of a drag on the Maori Party. Also I have enjoyed working with United Future and indeed with the New Zealand First MPs. The pleasure for me this year has been to work with Keith Locke and the Green Party on stopping what was going to be an absolute monstrosity on Auckland’s waterfront. I enjoyed that most of all this year and I thank Keith for that. 
It has been a year in which the Government in its third term in office has tried to come up with a big idea but has failed miserably. First we had the stadium. That was going to be the big idea and we saw what happened to that. Second we have climate change and carbon neutrality and we are seeing what is happening to that. So next year we will see a Government that is floundering around for a big idea. 
We saw Helen Clark—for the first time really—lose touch with New Zealanders when she said that the pledge card was an issue that did not extend past the beltway when what we had was a political party upset and according to the Auditor-General the misspending of taxpayer funds. However I do not believe that the National Party covered itself in glory on the pledge card issue by essentially accusing Labour and all other political parties of being corrupt. I believe that that was a very very dark approach to politics here in New Zealand. We actually know what corruption is and I can tell the House that we do not have it in New Zealand. I do not see how the National Party can have to pay back $10000 and not be a little bit corrupt by its own statements. Indeed my experience in Parliament is that when people get up on their high horse they quickly become undone and we learnt from  
The Hollow Men 
 that the National Party was indeed breaking the rules— 
Hon Members 
: No! 
RODNEY HIDE 
: —they say “No!”—and paying a parliamentary staff member who was actively engaged in fund-raising. That is dead against the rules and I do not see how one can be on one’s high horse and actually have taxpayer-paid staff going around fund-raising for one’s election campaign. I suggest that we have an interest in us all—in all political parties—working together to sort out the rules of taxpayer funding and not having one party try to make hay at the expense of all the rest by pretending that somehow it is whiter than white. 
One fascinating thing that has happened in recent weeks is that Michael Cullen has got his mojo back. For 2 years Michael Cullen has just been going through the motions. He is a man who is an extraordinary parliamentarian but he was looking like he had lost interest in politics. I have to say that this last week he is back! I can see what has happened. First Trevor Mallard has gone from the picture after the stadium issue and secondly I know that Michael Cullen was very upset when the media reported that John Key had bested him over the Budget and in the election campaign and that it was Labour Party strategy to target Don Brash and to leave John Key alone. One could see Michael Cullen coiled up like a spring wanting to unleash the whole time. He is so pleased I can tell that he now has Mr Key there and I think that next year will be fascinating as we have this contest between them. 
The ACT party will have a big year next year with our bill. I should say this: I have had a meeting with John Key and I believe that John Key is a modern politician in New Zealand who actually understands—[ 
Interruption 
] Well we have Phil Heatley who never ever gets to speak on anything decent in the House and like a lot of people in the National Party would prefer not to even sit in his seat but instead yell right across the House in the adjournment debate when someone is actually trying to say some nice things about his leader—and that is precisely the trouble that we have in this Parliament.