English Bill: General Debate 
English Bill: General Debate 
[Volume:635;Page:6714] 
Hon BILL ENGLISH (National—Clutha-Southland) 
: 
 I invite the House to imagine the conversation that occurred at the Labour Party campaign committee where its members first laid out their plan for finances and communication for the 2005 election year. I wonder whether the conversation went the way that Heather Simpson told the police it went. She said: “The pledge card is a normal part of our parliamentary communications. Of course it will be funded by the Parliamentary Service. It is nothing to do with the election campaign.” I do not think that is what was said. The fact that we do not have a verbatim email or transcript of the conversation does not mean there is any lack of doubt about what would actually have been said which would be along these lines: “If we fund the pledge card from the Parliamentary Service it will cough up half a million dollars that we don’t have to find ourselves and then we’ll be able to breach the election spending cap and what’s more use public money to do it.” We would be deeply cynical of any representation of that conversation. 
Imagine the conversation that went on before the election around the pledge of 20 hours free early childhood care. Steve Maharey has been telling early childhood sector audiences around the country: “It was a snappy election slogan and we knew we could never do it.” It is true; he cannot do it. He cannot give all 3 and 4-year-olds 20 hours free early childhood care. Any transcript or email of that conversation would of course look deeply cynical. 
I thought it was telling today that even Labour Party members laughed at the prospect that Dr Cullen would regard Nicky Hager as a credible enough person to talk to. Did members see the laughter? That is because Labour Party members know that Nicky Hager is a left-wing stirrer. This is what they have said about him. Helen Clark said: “My advice as a Minister from a long-time public servant is that Nicky Hager’s book is a work of fiction. I think it is clear the stories have no substance.” Then she said: “It is an outrage these conspiracy theories.” Here is Pete Hodgson talking about “corngate”: “This story is a beat-up of mammoth proportions.” And Trevor Mallard: “There is a wide variety of fiction available in New Zealand including Nicky Hager’s  
Seeds of Distrust 
.” 
Every time this man has written a book it has not lived up to the hype—every time. I can guarantee this one will not live up to the hype. This is a man who finds some dots and by the time he has joined a few of them he has a mountain. He joins the dots and creates a vast right-wing conspiracy out of what would honestly be the normal business of political parties dealing with the contending pressures of lobby groups public opinion media daily tactics and the strong desire to win an election. 
Everyone in this House knows that a transcription or description of any Labour Party meeting about anything to do with a campaign or in fact almost any decision at all would look to the public as juicy exciting cynical tricky— 
Hon Member 
: Tricky! 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: There is no doubt about that. Is it not rich to be lectured on principles by a party whose Prime Minister has been interviewed by the police more times than every other Prime Minister in the 20th century put together? Is it not a bit rich to be lectured by a party about principles against whom three prima facie cases have been determined by the police in the time it has been in Government? Is it not a bit rich to be lectured on principles by a party whose members set out at the last election deliberately to break the cap on election spending with the cynical calculation that they would get away with it?