Hipkins ChrisCHRIS HIPKINS (Labour—Rimutaka): John Key gave the game away when he admitted a little too candidly a couple of weeks ago Better to win dirty than to lose clean." because that very much sums up this Government's modus operandi when it comes to the New Zealand public its attitude to democracy and its attitude to transparency. Those were his words: "Better to win dirty than to lose clean." That is very much the attitude of this National Government. It is no wonder that Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index ratings for New Zealand are plummeting when we have a Government that thinks it is better to win dirty than to lose clean. We already know—we already know—that this Government under John Key has overseen the development of the most sophisticated smear machine New Zealand politics has ever seen. The veil slipped before the last election when New Zealanders got a glimpse at the lengths the National Government will go to to discredit and to smear its opponents. If members of the public want to know why members of Parliament are so protective of their email communications there is a good example because we know the types of dirty tricks that the National Government got up to in the run-up to the last election and before that. There are significant issues at stake when it comes to the ability of members of Parliament to interact with journalists and members of the public unfiltered and I think that I am looking forward to the opportunity to get to the bottom of that. But there are bigger issues around transparency and democracy that concern this National Government because its modus operandi has been secretive—it has been to avoid public scrutiny at all costs. We had the Skycity deal—the dodgy Skycity deal. We had the Northland by-election bribes—although they were not particularly successful bribes of course because they lost. Then we have got the Prime Minister openly admitting that Government members do not take any notice of the Official Information Act. They comply with it only when it is convenient to the Government. This is a legal document. These National Government Ministers think they are above the law. They think that the Official Information Act should not apply to them that the public should not have the right to see what they are getting up to. Well the public does have a right to see what this Government is getting up to and Government members should stop ignoring the law and start complying with it. They should stop thinking that they are above the law that applies to everybody else and start complying with it the same as every other New Zealander does. The Open Government Partnership has said that it thinks that this Government pays lip service to the notions of transparency in New Zealand and I have to say I think it barely even does that. I think it barely even does that because this is one of the most secretive Governments we have seen. A classic example of the secretive nature of this Government is this: where is the information about the $4 million bribe that got paid to the Saudi businessman? Government members are not releasing any information to back that up. That is a disgraceful episode in New Zealand's international relations and they are not willing to release any information about it. I know that there are members on the other side of the House with high levels of integrity who must be wanting to climb under their benches when they hear information about the New Zealand Government paying bribes to people overseas. They must be absolutely humiliated and ashamed of the actions of their own Government when they hear those things. It is no wonder that Murray McCully will not release any information about it because it is a stain on the record of the New Zealand Government. It is a stain on New Zealand's reputation internationally and Murray McCully should front up and explain it and release all of the information about it. If there is a supposed legal claim let us see what it is because giving $4 million in a bribe simply is not the type of behaviour that New Zealanders should be able to expect from this Government. Increasingly what we are seeing from members of this Government is their ducking responsibility and pushing public servants out in the front line to defend their actions. That is not the way this system works. The buck stops with the Ministers who are the elected representatives and they should stop hiding behind their officials and ducking responsibility by refusing to release information by refusing to front up and justify their decisions and by continuing to operate. They are doing it even more secretively now than they did before—the most sophisticated smear machine that New Zealand politics has ever seen."