Brownlee Gerry: Adjournment — Sittings of the House 
Brownlee Gerry: Adjournment — Sittings of the House 
[Volume:651;Page:1022] 
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE (Leader of the House) 
: 
 That very cheery Christmas message was from the Hon “Phil-in” Goff who is in the last stages of his honeymoon as leader of the Labour Party. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I would have thought you would get to your feet yourself when members are addressed in that manner. Proper names are to be used. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I apologise to the Hon Trevor Mallard but I was distracted and I did not actually hear that. Now if the Hon Gerry Brownlee did improperly address another member I would ask him to correct that. 
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE 
: I did Mr Speaker. I apologise for that but I ask for some licence in a debate like this. [ 
Interruption 
] No I withdraw and apologise. There you are; how touchy Opposition members are about the future prospects of the Hon Phil Goff. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I am sure you are aware that members cannot refer to points of order that have been ruled on. You have ruled on a point of order it has been dealt with and the member cannot go back to it. 
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE 
: Speaking to the point of order. I was simply responding to the heckling I was getting from the other side of the House. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I say to the Hon Trevor Mallard that I think we can at times be a little too pedantic. His point is correct but I did not think the honourable member was being particularly disrespectful in his comment. I invite the Hon Gerry Brownlee to continue his speech. 
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE 
: The basic thread of Mr Goff’s message to the House this afternoon was that the Labour Party cannot believe that there was an event on 8 November that left them on the Opposition side of the House. He stands here attacking the Government today and mouthing some sort of Homer Simpson defence for his party’s own appalling performance. That defence essentially is: “I was not there. It did not happen. It can’t have been me.” The fact is that Labour members were there it was them and it was a Labour Government that got the boot on 8 November because New Zealanders did not like the sort of arrogance that Mr Goff so ably just displayed backed up by Mr Mallard who of course cannot stand the fact that even though the party has had a huge reshuffle he still sits on the second bench of the Labour Opposition. 
This week has been an interesting week insomuch as all that the Labour Opposition members have been able to do is to speak about why their policies were so good and how arrogant it was for National to dare to consider changing them. I can tell members that it will be a long 3 years for Labour members as the legacy they have left this country—the dreadful figures that have been documented—is dealt with by National. 
I want to talk about the comments Mr Goff made about KiwiSaver. Anyone listening to him would assume that the entire workforce of this country had somehow had something taken off it. Far from that being the case most members of the workforce in this country were not part of KiwiSaver under the Labour Government’s regime. But I tell members that in 3 years’ time most of the workforce in this country will be part of the KiwiSaver regime that National strongly strongly supports. 
I would like future Labour Party speakers in this debate to explain the huge gaping hole in accident compensation—the huge gaping hole that Labour just missed the huge gaping hole in the funding that somehow Labour did not see the nearly $4 billion of underfunding over the last few years that Labour apparently knew nothing of. That was the middle line of the Homer Simpson defence: “It did not happen.” Well it did happen it is real and Labour is responsible for it. 
I hope a Labour speaker this afternoon talks about the dreadful state of the deficits in our health boards. There is no comment. There is not a whisper. There is not a whimper. Labour members know what a terrible mess they have left inside those health boards. As we go through the weeks ahead picking apart the various programmes that the previous Government had in place I am sure we will discover more of those sorts of little snippets that will have a huge effect on the economy all the way through. 
This week we heard Mr Goff say that the National Government had destroyed the opportunity for New Zealand to have a more sustainable economy. This Government has introduced two bills in that respect: the Energy (Fuels Levies and References) Biofuel Obligation Repeal Bill and the Electricity (Renewable Preference) Repeal Bill which dealt with the thermal ban. Both of them were designed entirely to improve the carbon dioxide output figures for New Zealand. 
One of the interesting things is that the previous Labour Government presided over some of the biggest increases in carbon dioxide emissions for this country yet throughout that time it was telling New Zealanders that the Government had a sustainable message. There were massive increases over those 9 years. David Parker the previous Minister of Energy sits there smirking. He was the Minister responsible for renewable energy but thermal energy massively increased under his watch. Members opposite have an arrogant view that if one could trundle on to the world stage and talk about how good one is people will believe it. Well the record is very very poor indeed. 
I also join with other members of the House in offering congratulations to you again Mr Speaker and also to extend Christmas wishes to the long list of people that Mr Goff read out. That was the only good bit in his speech when he recognised all the many people around this Parliament who work to make the place run on an even keel. We thank all the staff who help us in our various capacities. As Mr Goff mentioned there is also a great need to thank our families back home because they make it possible for us all to be here. I say to the National new members who gave their maiden speeches this week that it was in political party terms one nil. I say it was well done guys; it was absolutely superb! Their contribution will be to the smooth running of government over the next few years and I am sure they will enjoy it. 
Hon Phil Goff 
: Tell us about your poor management of the House this past fortnight. 
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE 
: If the member wants to make those sorts of comments that is not adroit of him because the one thing I notice is that whatever this Government puts on the Table it manages to pass without any difficulty whatsoever. In the new year we will see whether my 100 percent record is interrupted in some way. This is also the time of year when the sorts of petty comments that come from the other side of the House need to be set aside. 
I make the following comments because there may not be another occasion for me to do so. I would like to— 
Hon Phil Goff 
: The deputy leader of the National Party isn’t going to maintain his position on the front bench in my view. 
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE 
: Is that right? Well Mr Goff all I can say is that if you are still here at this time next year— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Order! 
Hon Dr Michael Cullen 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. Unfortunately we are now not to use the term “you” in any circumstance apparently and I am afraid Mr Brownlee did just that. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The Hon Dr Cullen is absolutely right. The honourable member must not use “you are” in that sense. I ask the member to desist from that. 
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE 
: Thank you Mr Speaker; and I thank Dr Cullen too for his continued tutelage. I learn so much from him day by day. 
I was about to say that these occasions are not ones where we should rap our opponents over the knuckles and because there may be no other opportunity to do so I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the former Prime Minister Helen Clark and to acknowledge her former deputy Michael Cullen. Although we have these scraps across the Chamber and hold quite strong policy differences it is not unreasonable to acknowledge the considerable amount of work they have contributed to the running of this country over a period of years. I extend to both of them my sincere Christmas greetings and all the best for the New Year. 
It remains only for me to turn to the Clerk and say— 
Hon Darren Hughes 
: What about the rest of us? 
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE 
: Well Dazza I’m sure you have been a really good boy this year and on the 25th if you don’t get up too early— 
Hon Phil Goff 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I am sure you know what my point of order is. You heard that and I know that the Deputy Prime Minister would want you to pull the member up. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The member will desist. 
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE 
: I accept that Mr Speaker and I will put it this way. I say to the Hon Darren Hughes that I notice that he has been a very good fellow throughout the year and I am sure that on 25 December when he wakes up in the morning goes down and looks under the Christmas tree Father Christmas will have brought him— 
Hon Darren Hughes 
: You will have eaten all the chocolates! 
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE 
: That was good. I was simply going to say I am quite confident Father Christmas would have brought him another pair of long pants. 
I wish the Clerks all the best for the Christmas period. Their work in the House is very considerable as I know only too well as well as is that of the other agencies that help to run things. To you Mr Speaker I say: all the best and a very merry Christmas.