Key John: General Debate 
Key John: General Debate 
[Volume:641;Page:10911] 
JOHN KEY (Leader of the Opposition) 
: 
 I move  
That the House take note of miscellaneous business 
. It is official: panic has well and truly struck the Labour Party. There is no more pretence that things will come right no more pretence that there will be a bounce back no more suggestion that there will be a honeymoon and no more pretence that these are just short-term blues. Labour is dog-tucker and now it knows it. It has taken 9 months and Labour members have finally worked out they are all gone. I will come back to them in a moment. 
Does it not bring out those endearing and wonderful qualities in Labour members when they finally work out the truth? We know what those qualities are: viciousness nastiness ugliness vindictiveness—just the normal stuff that goes on in the Labour Party caucus on Tuesday mornings. You see Michael Cullen and Helen Clark stopped talking to each other about 9 months ago. You might remember when Helen Clark came back from overseas—from Malaysia—about 2 weeks ago. We asked her about David Benson-Pope and whether the case had been well handled. She got up looked at Michael Cullen and said: “No but I’m back now.” 
I have news for the Labour Party. If this is how seriously spooked they are when National is 14 points in front of them they are going to get ugly when we are 28 points in front of them that is all I can say. They will be running round like a bunch of sewer rats looking for a drainpipe because that is what they are. 
But I will tell you what is worse than all of this—it is that the New Zealand public do not care. They are so over Labour they do not care. What is even worse is that they do not expect anything different. [ 
Interruption 
] Mr Mallard I now know why there is an official duck-hunting season mate. We will get back to you in a minute. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. Of course I do not care about any comment about me but you should not be brought—[ 
Interruption 
] Are you going to deal with that Mr Assistant Speaker? 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: I just warn members that points of order are to be heard in silence and are to be terse and to the point. Any interjections in future will be getting a yellow card and the member will be leaving the Chamber. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: I of course do not mind at all about comments about myself—I can take it—but you should not be brought into the debate as he did on three occasions. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: The member is correct. I let it go but the member should not bring the Speaker into the debate. 
JOHN KEY 
: No one will be surprised that the country is over the Labour Party. Let us get a few facts right. These are people who stole $800000 to get here—OK? That is what the public know; Labour members stole $800000 to get here. And what have they done since they have been here? No Government in history has sacked so many Ministers for lying; one-fifth of its entire caucus has been sacked for lying. That is a fact. What is coming next? What is coming next is a Mugabe-type raid on the Electoral Act so that Labour can stay there. Labour members stole the money to get here they have done nothing when they have been here and now they are trying to change the rules so they can stay here. Well that will not work because people are sick of them. 
Let us think about some facts. Helen Clark has new standards for her Ministers now. You do not have to tell the truth— 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: Order! 
JOHN KEY 
: —if you are a Minister in this Government. Those Ministers do not have to tell the truth and they will not be held accountable even when the Prime Minister of New Zealand tells people they will. There is only one time when they will be accountable and that is when the Opposition asks the right question. That is a new standard—OK? It used to be that we would just expect to get an honest answer but that is out the window. 
How many Ministers are sitting over there who have not told the truth to this country? The Prime Minister has sacked one-fifth of them; how many of them are sitting there knowing they could have asked the question and they did not? None of us should be surprised that David Benson-Pope has gone. The inside word from the Labour Party—this is what they told me—is that 5 months ago she stopped having dinner with David Benson-Pope on a Monday night. That was gone. I will tell members what else is true. She has stopped having dinner with Rick Barker and she has stopped having dinner with Mark Burton. The Prime Minister has a strategy: she is going to sack every “B” in the caucus. Every “B” in the caucus is gone.