Ryall Tony: Urgent Debates — Hon John Banks—Ministerial ResignationText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeRyall Tony: Urgent Debates — Hon John Banks—Ministerial Resignation[Sitting date: 17 October 2013. Volume:694;Page:14021. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon TONY RYALL (Minister of Health): New Zealanders listening to and watching that contribution from the former deputy leader of the Labour Party will sit there unbelieving that they are being lectured on ethics in government by the Labour Party. It is unbelievable to be lectured on ethics by the Labour Party. Do the names Taito Phillip Field David Benson-Pope Ruth Dyson and Lianne Dalziel mean anything to that party opposite? Does the fact that the Labour Government was propped up by a party that was before the Privileges Committee for not telling the truth on electoral donations not ring with that party opposite? That party should not be lecturing anybody in this country on ethics or on doing the right thing because that is the party that took $850000 of taxpayers’ money illegally spent it and then wanted Parliament to retrospectively validate its taking of public money—$850000. It stuck its hands in the taxpayers’ pocket and secretly pulled out $850000 and it was David Henry whoexposed it. It did everything it could to hide it. I am not going to be lectured on ethics by those people opposite.The fact is that Mr Banks has done the right thing. Mr Banks has done the right and proper thing. He indicated to the Prime Minister’s office last week that if he was to go to trial then he would resign his position as a Minister. But as he is still there his resignation makes no difference to the stability of the National Government and that is because this Government still enjoys very broad public support after 5 years in office during very very difficult economic times. In fact New Zealanders know that this country is on the up because this Government has focused on what really matters to New Zealanders and that is jobs and opportunities for our people.The latest ANZ consumer confidence poll which I have just read about in the last hour or so says that New Zealand consumer confidence is really picking up and New Zealanders are feeling better off about the future since January 2008 which was before the global financial crisis. So the whole trend in this country is that things are getting better. There are more opportunities. There are more jobs. Mrs Bennett was talking about fewer people on benefits today and so that is why this Government enjoys the broad support of New Zealanders and the confidence of this Parliament. The Government is determined to continue focusing on what really matters and that is what this agenda and this Government is all about.We have got a huge effort going in to giving the productive sector in this country the boost and the confidence that it needs against the headwinds of the higher New Zealand currency. Every day in this Parliament we see our Ministers talking about the efforts that this Government is making on the international trade front to provide opportunities for our exporters and for young New Zealanders. We see the Government every day talking about the work it is doing in resource management in order to give business a boost and remove red tape with a greater focus on those things. We have seen the Minister of Energy and Resources talking about the huge opportunities for New Zealand in the whole minerals and petroleum exploration area which are all-important for New Zealand.So the Government remains very focused on the work that it is doing. It enjoys the broad support of the New Zealand public. It enjoys the support of the Parliament supported by parties that have a right to be in this Parliament and parties that support the agenda that this Government has. That is why the parties opposite can debate whatever they want to but in the end because we have a Government that is focused on what matters—growing the economy jobs and opportunities Better Public Services the rebuild in Christchurch and investing in infrastructure in New Zealand—that is why this Government maintains such strong support across the New Zealand community.