Dyson Ruth: General Debate 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Dyson Ruth: General Debate 
[Sitting date: 13 June 2012. Volume:680;Page:2937. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Hon RUTH DYSON (Labour—Port Hills) 
: 
 The member Jonathan Young who just resumed his seat mentioned that Labour is opposed to some of National’s policies and I have to say that is right. It is the only good thing it is the only correct thing it is the only sensible thing that he has said during his contribution to the general debate.  
I am pleased to confirm that Labour is opposed to mining in schedule 4 land of our national parks—land that has been put in schedule 4 of the Crown Minerals Act because it is so precious and so important. National wanted to mine it. Thousands of people up and down our country protested and National said: “Oops! We’ve done the wrong thing again.”  
I am also very pleased to confirm that we do not support sacking a worker in this country without the employer having any obligation at all under the law to tell the person why they have been sacked. That is all that is required actually under the current trial provisions in the employment relations legislation and what the National Government did was take away that small but very important obligation—what I think is a moral obligation—to tell a person why they are sacked. Just gone. The member for New Plymouth thinks that is a good thing. Well I think it is a bad thing. Not once did he mention any plan any strategy or any vision for New Zealand that the National Government has because it does not have one.  
You know sometimes on general debate day Opposition members say: “Oh well that is good. We have had a little mistake that a Minister has made a little policy gone wrong from the Government.” and the Opposition focuses its entire time in the general debate around that one single mistake one single policy that went wrong. Well where do we start? Where do we start this week? 
Kris Faafoi 
: An embarrassment of riches. 
Hon RUTH DYSON 
: Talk about an embarrassment of riches as my colleague Kris Faafoi has just said. This week is overwhelmingly bad for the Government. It has been described by the media as the worst week John Key as Prime Minister has ever had. It is incompetence dripping from the Government—incompetence rampant throughout the ranks of the National Government. No wonder its support partners have been nowhere around this week. They are hiding in every possible corner of the building.  
Of course we have got the ACC debacle. Well that is just going from bad to worse. It was bad enough frankly when Nick Smith was the Minister for ACC. It was bad enough watching him cut the entitlements of injured people because he wanted to narrow the scheme and then mislead New Zealand about the financial situation of the corporation which he later had to admit he had made up so that he could cut the entitlements of injured workers. People who were victims of sexual abuse had their support cut. People who were partially deaf because of the excessive noise in their workplace had their entitlement cut. Nick Smith made so many errors to the point finally of writing a letter of support to the corporation on ministerial letterhead about his close friend Bronwyn Pullar. He was its Minister and he wrote that letter of support. In the end he had to go.  
Well we thought that was bad enough but under Judith Collins—talk about things looking good under Nick Smith! It is just extraordinary what has happened and she as the Minister is washing her hands of all responsibility. I frankly find it hard to figure out why she accepts her salary every fortnight if the best effort she can make is to wash her hands of the responsibility. She got poor old John Judge up to her office. First of all she said she was going to back him then she thanked him and then she sacked him. Out—gone by lunchtime. Then it was the poor old chief executive Ralph Stewart. He has hardly been there 5 minutes—less than 6 months I understand. He has gone as well and this afternoon two more board members from ACC— 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: Rob Campbell walked. 
Hon RUTH DYSON 
: I am not going to make any comments about whether Mr Campbell should have been on the board in the first place; I think that is not great territory for me to go into. The Minister has lost her chairman her chief executive and two board members and she is saying: “Whoa not my fault.”  
Hon Member 
: Careless. 
Hon RUTH DYSON 
: To say that Judith Collins as Minister is careless would be a significant understatement. She is the Minister who as my colleague David Cunliffe has just pointed out in 2001 as chair of the Casino Control Authority did the first shonky deal with Skycity.