Tirikatene Rino: General DebateText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeTirikatene Rino: General Debate[Sitting date: 04 September 2013. Volume:693;Page:13255. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]RINO TIRIKATENE (Labour—Te Tai Tonga): This Government is a two-trick pony. It has only two things to sell: they are assets and the hope that the Christchurch rebuild will stimulate our economy. This Government is a two-trick pony. I would line up our three thoroughbreds any day against that other side. They are doing a fantastic job.I would like to talk about a few things: Meridian Energy Mighty River Power andTīwai Point. Those names will go down in history as the disaster that sunk this Government. We have had some contributions this afternoon that have been absolutely dreadful. Hekia Parata tried to say that this Government is detail conscious and that it is accountable. It does not even know how much it is going to raise from the asset sale programme. It is just a best guess—$5 million to $7 million. It does not even know what it is going to raise. It does not know when it is going to sell. It does not know how it is going to sell it. It tries to put out discounts and carrots to the investing public. The public of New Zealand know that they do not want these asset sales. We already own these assets. The public of New Zealand know that they do not have the funds. There is only a 3 percent uptake from retail investors from the float. Do you think that Meridian Energy is going to achieve a wonderful bounce in the market? Absolutely not. It is the wrong time to be selling and New Zealanders are telling the Government that through their call for a referendum. Again that is just one trick from the two-trick pony that is an absolute disaster for this Government.I would like to move on to Mr Tau Henare a whanaunga of mine from up in the mightyNgāpuhiNgāti Hine. Mr Henare said some disgraceful things about lies being said on TV. John Key lies to New Zealand every single day. This Government lies to New Zealand every single day. Tau Henare was once a fine member of the Labourwhānau. He is old-school Labour. He has played every position. He has played every position in the backline. He has played in New Zealand First. He has played in Mauri Pacific—what was that one? And now he is playing in the National Party. All I can say to mywhanaunga is “Come back to mother ship Labour. Come back to mother ship Labour e hoa.”Chris Hipkins: No!RINO TIRIKATENE: No that is all right. I retract that. I definitely retract that. I do retract that.Then we had dear Miss Katrina Shanks—a very very nice lady—but she would have to go down as the main contender for New Zealand’s next worst politician. That was an absolutely dreadful contribution from her. We know that Miss Shanks is a star onYouTube. She is a star. She knows what being a contender is like. She actually topped Miss South Carolina with her absolutely intelligent debates and thoughtful and intellectually robust debates on information technology matters. That was a dreadful contribution. But she is a very nice lady. Again we will leave that as it is—Hon Trevor Mallard: I wouldn’t go that far.RINO TIRIKATENE: OK Mr Mallard maybe not that far. But getting back to my debate I go around my big electorate—it covers two-thirds of the land mass of Aotearoa—so I get to go around and I talk to a lot of people. The people whom I meet are scared because not a month goes by—especially when I have been down in Invercargill where we have seen a $30 million handout to RioTinto and to the aluminium smelter atTīwai Point down there. But what has that given the people of Southland? Sure it has given them a slight relief but there is uncertainty in the lives of those people because they do not know what is round the corner. RioTinto could come back in 2050 and it could play the Government in terms of this shocking deal that it has bought into. That is a shocking deal.I am going to go on to another matter because I am short of time. I want to pay tribute to the people of Christchurch the heart of Te Tai Tonga. This is a very significant day. It has been a real rough 3 years. I do think of all the resilientwhānau who have been working through these difficult times—many Māoriwhānau—especially those with a lot of housing difficulties and troubles. We are standing by them. I know that my colleagues are also doing a lot of work. I mihi to them on this day. Kia oratātou.