Peters Winston: General DebateText is incorporated into the Bound VolumePeters Winston: General Debate[Sitting date: 19 August 2015. Volume:707;Page:5947. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS (Leader—NZ First): In 2008 the new Government started off with so much promise. Mr Key had more hair Bill English was less grey and Gerry Brownlee was less well-rounded. Today 36 percent—36 percent—of the then National Party caucus is gone. In fact you could say that it would be safer to be a soldier on the Western Front in World War I than to be a National Party MP under John Key. So let us dispose of the first illusion which is that John Key is a manager. John Key is a manager in terms of politics in the same way that Genghis Khan was an organiser of diplomacy. History tradition and honour—you can flag it.Speaking of a flag what do we have for the massive $26 million as a minimum that is going towards a new flag? Forget about all the other changes that will have to be made. There are 40 designs many featuring an albino silver fern as though we are the only country in the world that has got a silver fern. The satirist John Oliver was lampooning it on US TV and so are the Australians. They say we are boring. They know that in 1902 we designed our present flag and they copied ours. Our response from New Zealand First is: “Listen if you want to be jingoistic go and get your own flag! Don’t try and steal ours.”What did Mr Key promise the New Zealanders on the sale of State assets? Well he said that they were going to go to mum and dad Kiwi investors. That was demonstrably false. He knew it was not true but he said it anyway. Then the Government started that fund the Future Investment Fund which was going to go towards hospitals and schools and roads—all the feel-good promises that people like Maurice Williamson were compelled to make even though very reluctantly. Then all of a sudden there is one Official Information Act request and out it comes. Hello! It is not using the money on New Zealand assets; it is committing over $700 million New Zealand dollars to a Chinese-led bank.Then of course you get the kind of commentariat who think this is all good. They cannot give us the earnings or likely dividends. No they cannot give us a thing. But Mr Key said it was fantastic because it would build infrastructure all over—Ron Mark: Asia.Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: Asia. Down in the Wairarapa; up in Northland; down the West Coast; in Gisborne; Poverty Bay; Hawke’s Bay—all are starving for infrastructure roads rural development funds and things like broadband super-fast broadband cell towers and single-lane bridges. But no no Mr Key—this patriot this patriot from Merrill Lynch—finds infrastructure investment in Asia more worthy. What a let-down.Chris Bishop: How’s that Northland office going?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: Then of course—how is the Northland office going? The Northland office is going the same way it was when you turned up at one of our campaigns in Kaipara. We took that poor lad Chris Bishop to the cleaners. We gave him a lesson in heartland politics. They were so embarrassed that they were skulking at the back door hiding behind the tea ladies and the tea ladies were trying to get away from them. They did not want to be contaminated. But instead of saying “Thank you Winston. Is that how it’s done?” no no he is still as arrogant. He is still not telling his next-door neighbour Sarah Dowie that she is gone next time and still not telling the next-door neighbour from Whangarei that he is gone next time. Oh believe me I tell you what: I know from the communications from National Party stalwarts that it is all over Rover. They know that there is one party that understands heartland New Zealand. It is in our name—it is New Zealand First.Let me ask you this question here: why on the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement did Mr Key not trust the New Zealand people? You see the United States knows that it will wait for the presidential elections the Canadians are saying that it will be after their election and the Malaysians say that they will go to their Parliament. Oh no but not Mr Key. Apparently it is adult to negotiate it that way and I have never seen a trade Minister so deflated as the Minister of Trade was today. You know he has been told: “Listen sunshine your arrogance is costing us votes so you’d better start being humble.” This is impossible for that sort of character but that was the weakest most un-emotive uncommitted speech he has ever made and yet he said fundamentally that we had this marvellous progress because of free-trade deals. Australia never had a free-trade deal with China for most of that time and yet exponentially its trade went up higher. Let us stop this bunkum from somebody who has been on the international trade-fest up against the wine bar for all these years and who thinks he knows better than the rest of us.I just want to close by saying this—