Dyson Ruth: General Debates 
Dyson Ruth: General Debates 
[Volume:613;Page:10155] 
Hon RUTH DYSON (Minister for ACC) 
: 
Can I begin by congratulating my fellow Cantabrian Gerry Brownlee on his very well-deserved further rise up the ladder and wish him well in his continued future on his way to the leadership of the National Party. It has been an extraordinarily long wait for Gerry. He has been pretty open about his ambitions and remains pretty open about his future ambitions— 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: Mr Brownlee; not Gerry. 
Hon RUTH DYSON 
: Sorry. Cantabrians are more familiar with each other. I was not meaning any disrespect to Mr Brownlee.  
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: I want to hear about it!  
Hon RUTH DYSON 
: Not that sort of familiarity thank you! What I cannot understand is why Mr Brownlee—in the end—accepted becoming deputy to someone to whom he has such a fundamental opposition. Mr Brownlee says of himself that he will always stand on principle; that he is not a populist politician. Clearly he is committed to the National Party and he is opposed to National moving in with ACT. That is exactly the opposite of where his leader wants to go. So how can this odd couple get anywhere in the future? How can they lead National out of total oblivion? How can those two present a credible policy face for the National Party? The answer is they cannot they will not they are a failure—as a couple.  
There is more to the problems of the National Party than the leadership. One can rearrange the deckchairs as often as one likes but in the end that ship will continue to go down. Even though I congratulate Mr Brownlee on his election I am sorry he made the mistake of moving in with someone whom he does not want to share that front-bench seat with. Because Don Brash has made it very clear that he wants to go with ACT—in fact Catherine Judd the current ACT president describes Don Brash as the ninth ACT MP.  
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: Who? 
Hon RUTH DYSON 
: Catherine Judd describes Don Brash as the ninth ACT MP. But Mr Brownlee has said of Mr Brash—his current leader—“If people in the National Party think we are going to increase the National vote by saying we are inextricably linked to ACT then they have got their heads that far into the sand all they can expect is their backside to be kicked in the next election.” How can one present a credible leadership team when that is the view of the deputy in relation to his leader’s wish to get close to ACT?  
Don Brash on the other hand said: “Many of us see National and ACT as natural coalition partners along with others who broadly agree on”—listen to the term and remember Ruth Richardson—“the fundamental issues facing our country and the need to address them.” Mr Brash said: “It is increasingly clear that if New Zealand is to have a Government that understands the peril our nation faces a constructive working relationship with National and ACT will need to be at its core.”  
Are Don Brash and Gerry Brownlee the answer to National’s problems? Well if they are the answer then I think the National Party has got the question wrong. Those two have been described by the Christchurch  
Press  
as “the least awful option in a caucus where genuine leadership potential appears as thin as the hair on Don Brash’s head.” Even in the  
Listener 
 that well-known columnist Jane Clifton described Don Brash as a “stalking horse until someone better comes along”. I am sure she is using very reliable sources and information in order to describe Don Brash as a stalking horse until someone better comes along; who has been described as the man who proves constantly in the House that he does not yet have the political toolset to do a job.  
I am also stunned at the way the National Party treated the most immediate former leader. Shane Ardern described it as a very decisive move from Don Brash; Shane Ardern the man who drives tractors said: “The controversy over the party’s deputy leadership”—and this is the most recent controversy over the party’s deputy leadership—“was dealt with in a very decisive and professional way.” Well if that was decisive and professional I would hate to see a shambles.