Borrows Chester: General Debate 
Borrows Chester: General Debate 
[Volume:632;Page:3788] 
CHESTER BORROWS (National—Whanganui) 
: 
 Things have a real final-term look about them and it is obvious in the arrogance of the Labour Government. A week or so ago a single wire flicked over on to another one and put 700000 consumers into darkness. Two nights later of course another little substation got blown up in Remuera. But none of this is the Government’s responsibility; none of it at all! Labour has been 7 years in Government but none of this is its fault. Labour has been in Government for 12 of the last 22 years but none of this is its fault at all. 
Labour has the look of a final-term Government when its deputy leader loses it on the Government’s own TV channel tosses his toys and blames the media for identifying his meanness at Budget time. He is losing it. It is harder for Government members to laugh at his jokes. He is getting more tetchy every day. He is falling further and further from grace as it becomes more obvious to all the members on the other side of the House that there is an imperative for tax cuts. So he has been given the nudge that he should not bank on being back to deliver the Budget next year. 
We know that Labour is really on the way out when its members are scrapping over who is going to get the finance job. It is looking more and more like a third-term bun fight or fist fight when we are not too sure who the replacement is going to be. One choice is the guy who cannot tell an asset from a liability and another choice is a bloke who with a single slip of the tongue knocked $200 million off Telecom. The third choice is the guy who year on year writes false information that he files as a company return including time when he was an MP and including time when he was the Attorney-General. 
It is looking more and more like a third-term bun fight or fist fight when at question time a well-put inquiry to the Minister of Maori Affairs was met with an: “Oh look buddy this isn’t really the time or place for these sorts of questions.” A little pat on the head and “Run along sonny can’t you see I’m trying to sleep. Don’t ask questions like that come and see me later on. Just roll along.” It is absolute arrogance. 
We know that time is running out when the Prime Minister is so far from reality that when the most devastating snowstorm occurs with stock dying and people trapped in their homes without power and water for days and days her response is that she is very pleased with the snow. Things have a real final-term look to them. We are seeing the cracks. We are seeing the splits in the Teflon. We are seeing the exterior smudges on the airbrushing. 
The Government is in the cart. It is wondering where to look next for its next mate. On the other side of it we have its coalition partners who are trying very hard to balance the tension between keeping themselves relevant to the constituency they hold—where voters ticked their box last time—and maintaining a foot in the door of Government and having to flex their muscles from time to time to be able to distinguish between the two. It is really unusual to see the odd snipe coming from the nearly empty seats on the other side of the House as members throw rocks at the blokes they used to get along well with and throw bouquets to the blokes they used to throw the rocks at. 
John Carter 
: And that’s just on their own side. 
CHESTER BORROWS 
: Exactly. So they have to wake up and look at the roses or lie back and think of England; who knows what they will do in their own spare time. I say it is looking more and more like a final term Government. 
The Opposition does not—and never will—assume the result of the next election. But the Government has a very smelly look around credibility and integrity issues and people know it. People are asking questions of this Government more and more and are getting fewer and fewer answers. They are told to go away and not to bother the Government with their questions; the Government is in control and they are told to go along and get on with their own little jobs. I ask members to look at the microchipping debate. The Government knows it will not work. No one can give a single reason why microchipping will work. No one can even give a single answer as to why it will work. Nevertheless Government members are going to vote for it. More and more they are on their own. More and more guys are leaving the Government side and saying this is not going to fly it is not going to work. Mr Anderton himself stood up and said: “Hang on no. 3 beats no. 18 every time don’t you know?”. Well no. 18 beat no. 3.