Power Simon: General Debate 
Power Simon: General Debate 
[Volume:631;Page:2927] 
SIMON POWER (National—Rangitikei) 
: 
 What we have seen from Labour in recent weeks is a reckless Government and reckless departments Ministers and ministries. They have been leaking like sieves. But it has been a big week for Mr Hughes’ friend David Cunliffe. No longer does he have to bleach his hair no longer does he have to bring a crutch down to the Chamber and no longer does he have to wear a 15-kilogram greenstone carving around his neck to get noticed. All he has to do is get his part of the Budget leaked and in doing so make the front page of every newspaper. My good colleague John Key referred to this Budget as the “David Cunliffe Budget”. That is what it is from this point on. We know that it will be Michael Cullen’s last Budget and David Cunliffe could not wait. No he could not wait until Michael Cullen was swiftly dispatched. Before Michael Cullen walks away David Cunliffe is up and moving and ready to make the job his. 
Then my colleague the Hon Nick Smith discovered that more ministries and departments are leaking like sieves regarding the building weathertightness announcement that will be in the Budget. We know that the Budget will be a miserable tiny Budget for Michael Cullen to deliver next week but two of his newest Ministers have stolen two of his reasonable bits of news. 
The interesting thing that we have to ask ourselves is what David Cunliffe and Clayton Cosgrove have in common. It is well known around the Chamber that they are close friends—very close friends—and it is interesting to those of us on this side of the House who monitor behaviour that the two of them are climbing up the scrap heap and competing for Dr Cullen’s job which will be vacant when he is despatched in the next few months. 
But it is the arrogance of this Government and its Prime Minister on the PlunketLine issue that was so brilliantly exposed by my colleague Tony Ryall. The Prime Minister has been caught out in a blitz of third-term arrogance by completely disregarding such an iconic organisation as Plunket. She is completely out of touch with all of the young mothers in New Zealand and those families who have waited on the end of the phone to get through to PlunketLine. This is obviously the beginning of the end. Petitions are being circulated around our electorates and Plunket representatives are visiting our offices. They have had a gutsful of this Prime Minister and they have had a gutsful of the arrogance of this Cabinet. The tide is turning on this Government. 
Those who know that are smelling the decay and are getting ready to leave. Jim Sutton and Paul Swain are starting to enjoy the general debate and seeing their colleagues being made fun of. They sit there with grins on their faces as does George Hawkins. He is grinning away there at the back and thoroughly enjoying things. Others are on the managed exit list—Russell Fairbrother Dianne Yates Jill Pettis and Dave Hereora. Who is Dave Hereora? Who knows at this rate he could be in Cabinet by the end of the week. Others are Marian Hobbs Dover Samuels Paul Swain and Martin Gallagher. 
Meanwhile according to the weekend’s  
New Zealand Herald  
Phil Goff sits in his caravan until 2 a.m. and waits. Phil Goff is playing the waiting game. He is the Prime Minister that New Zealand will never have. We on this side of the House have heard that in the first Labour caucus meeting after the election Rick Barker got on his feet—and Annette King knows that this is right—and said that the National Party with its new MPs was reinvigorated and looked like it was ready to go whereas the Labour Party had the same tired old group of people. We on this side of the House heard that there was a round of applause in the Labour caucus. [ 
Interruption 
] We know that is a fact. It is the first time it has happened to Rick Barker in 9 years. We know that was the case—it leaked over to this side of the House some time ago. 
Will it be Phil Goff versus Steve Maharey? Will it be Phil Goff versus Trevor Mallard? Will Parekura Horomia finally make the move—or any move at all for that matter? It has to be said that Annette King might just stay for Phil Goff but she certainly will not stay for Trevor Mallard or Steve Maharey. The left thinks it has it all sewn up but Phil Goff has the sausages and the tongs out. He knows what has to be done in order to secure the numbers. We know that Darren Hughes wanders around Otaki and says to the business people there that he is secretly on Phil Goff’s side that he is secretly in the Phil Goff pack that he is one of those in the right wing of the Labour Party and that the business people should not worry because that is where he will go when push comes to shove. 
This Government is in decay. It is on its way out. The vultures are circling the pretenders are moving and David Cunliffe no longer has to bleach his hair. 
The debate having concluded the motion lapsed.