Key John: General Debate 
Key John: General Debate 
[Volume:629;Page:1816] 
JOHN KEY (National—Helensville) 
: 
 What an interesting afternoon it has been in Parliament. We have had the Labour Party dispatch three women—Annette King Ruth Dyson and Lianne Dalziel—to do a hatchet job on my colleague Judith Collins. That was their job. That was the message from the ninth floor. Not one of those speeches asked whether Judith Collins had asked the wrong questions of David Benson-Pope. Not one of those speeches from that side of the House mentioned whether Judith Collins’ questions were not worthy of asking. Not one of those members asked the question whether for the last 12 months David Benson-Pope has done everything he possibly could to obfuscate to not answer the questions or to not front up. Not one of those members mentioned whether it was a little odd that David Benson-Pope thought it was more important to have lunch with John Cleese the “Minister of Funny Walks” than it was to come down to the House and front up to the allegations. Not one of those speeches had anything to do with that. 
What they said was that Judith Collins’ questions in the House had hurt David Benson-Pope. They did not say that the questions were wrong that they were not worthy of an answer or that they had taken too long to be answered; they said that they had hurt. That is interesting because it comes on the back of a week when we have had Michael Cullen—and he was in the House when those speeches were being given—cuddling his “dirt file” and making accusations and innuendo about the National front bench that he cannot substantiate. When Audrey Young put the hard question to him before caucus yesterday and asked him to put up or shut up he did not have an answer for that. He said she should just pick up the latest copy of  
North and South 
 and have a look at me cuddling Molly the dog: “I want you to remember that. Don’t have me cuddling the ‘dirt file’; I’m happy to throw you the accusations.” 
Well if Michael Cullen and the Labour Party want to get into whether the House is brought into disrepute in debating the issues then I say to him “Bring it on.” I encourage any member of the House to go back over the last 4 years and look at every single press release that Michael Cullen has issued in the finance area. Every one of them attacks me personally. They do not debate the issues. They do not ask whether they are right or wrong. There is a reason that Patricia Herbert left Michael Cullen’s office. She refused to keep writing the dirt that Michael Cullen wanted her to write so he hired Mike Jaspers—a guy I went to school with; we were mates—and told him: “Mike you’re junior round here now and you’ll write the things I want you to write.” So if Michael Cullen and Labour want to have a new standard in the House then I say “Good on you!” but they should start with the Deputy Prime Minister and stop all the muckraking that they do on that side. 
While they are at it they should apologise to Jenny Shipley for the way they treated her. They should apologise to Tuku Morgan. And they should apologise for all of the other things that they have done in the House. Personal attacks are an art form that started with the Labour Party. Trevor Mallard Michael Cullen Phil Goff Steve Maharey Clayton Cosgrove and all the rest of them lead the pack and they do not like it when it gets dished up back at them. They do not like it. Well this is the time for them to get a taste of their own medicine. 
As my colleague the Hon Nick Smith said when one does not have good ideas one starts a review. In the finance area Michael Cullen has never had a good idea. That is why he is reviewing the whole thing. He is reviewing the money coming in—the tax system. He is reviewing the money going out—with the razor gang. He is even reviewing the money that is rolling around and sloshing around in the system with monetary policy. He is reviewing every part of the finance system. In a few years’ time what will be reviewed will be the Government’s performance and I think that we will find a very different answer. 
Let us look at the business tax review. Members may recall the Budget in 2005.