King Annette: Adjournment — Sittings of the House 
King Annette: Adjournment — Sittings of the House 
[Volume:651;Page:1024] 
Hon ANNETTE KING (Deputy Leader—Labour) 
: 
 The year 2008 has been a roller-coaster ride for many New Zealanders and probably for many members of this House. Certainly it has been for Gerry Brownlee in the last 2 weeks; he has not known whether he is Arthur or Martha. But 2008 has seen many highs and many lows celebrations and sorrow and the funny and the sad. 
The year 2008 started with New Zealand mourning the death of Sir Ed Hillary the greatest New Zealander of our time. Although conquering Mount Everest is what he is remembered for by many people his achievements are much much more than that. In fact I believe he came to epitomise the values that New Zealand holds dear: courage compassion leadership and loyalty. His famous words “we knocked the bastard off.” are now part of the New Zealand vernacular. I also think they are part of our New Zealand psyche because all over the world when we go out and compete as a small nation we like to think that we too can knock the bastards off. 
Hon Gerry Brownlee 
: We did on 8 December. 
Hon ANNETTE KING 
: I can assure Gerry Brownlee that there is one more of them that Labour will conquer in 2 years 10 months and 5 days. 
There were a number of very sad deaths in 2008. I want to acknowledge the death of two New Zealand police officers who died while in the service of their country and also to acknowledge the tragic death of Superintendent Steve Fitzgerald one of New Zealand’s foremost road safety campaigners who was killed on his bike a few months ago. 
On a lighter note New Zealand had some wonderful achievements in sport. We got gold medals at the Olympics. The All Blacks are back on top where they ought to be. New Zealand is the world champion in rugby league. And we had the almost-win by Wellington in the Air New Zealand Cup. That comment was especially for Ruth Dyson. 
Barack Obama is the US President-Elect and he has brought hope that the war and the conflict in Iraq will be brought to an end. He has turned on the light in the US in relation to climate change just as the National-led Government in New Zealand turned the light off. 
But perhaps the greatest worry for New Zealanders in 2008 has been the deteriorating global economic situation. The reality is finally hitting home that this little country at the bottom of the world will not somehow or other avoid the fallout. And it is hitting home that the previous Labour-led Government left this country in a very strong position to get through the downturn. Those are not just the words of members of the Labour Party; those are the words of commentators and economists around New Zealand. Dr Cullen took the jibes and the sneers from John Key and Bill English when he applied fiscal prudence in this country when he reduced our debt when he invested in our infrastructure—in roads rail and public transport—when he invested in our schools and our hospitals and when he set New Zealanders on a road to saving. Helen Clark took the jibes and the sneers when she insisted that we invest in our social infrastructure in this country as well—when she insisted that we put in place policies that support our families. 
No amount of gilding the lily by the National Government about the shape of the economy now in New Zealand will wash because National went into the election campaign with its eyes wide open. In fact the  
New Zealand Herald’s  
Porkometer had National spending $2 billion more than the Labour Government had promised this year—$2 billion more. National members went in with their eyes wide open. 
On 8 November New Zealanders had the chance to choose a new Government and they have spoken. We have the new faces that so many people said we need but by Jove they are ageing fast. After 2 weeks in Parliament John Key has gone from being the Energizer Bunny to being Bugs Bunny. He is saying: “What’s up Bill? What’s up Bill?”. The bags under the eyes have appeared. The 5 o’clock shadow has become permanent. After just 2 weeks in the House the National members are starting to look like last week’s leftovers. I say to those who are watching today that they should tune in in 1 year’s time and have a look at what those members look like then. 
Labour members have promised New Zealand that we will keep the National Party in Government honest. National members promised the people of New Zealand a brighter future. We ask whom this brighter future is for. I do not believe that when the voters of New Zealand looked at those billboards up and down New Zealand proclaiming a brighter future they knew there was a caveat on it: a brighter future except if one is a KiwiSaver; a brighter future except if one is a worker; a brighter future except if one is a low-paid New Zealander; a brighter future except for the forestry industry; a brighter future except for anything made in New Zealand; a brighter future except if one is an innovative business; and a brighter future as long as it has nothing to do with addressing climate change. I think that a brighter future is fast becoming a dimmer dumber present under a National-led Government. 
We had National’s Speech from the Throne. It was to be the blueprint for the next 3 years. But where was the vision? There was no road map for the next 3 years. Do members know what it turned out to be? A pot-pourri of the political scabs that the National Party has been scratching for the last 2 years. We got a whole lot of political scabs that National has been scratching up and down New Zealand. That is what National members said was a vision. 
We were promised 100 days of action. What did we get? We have had 100 days of reaction. We have gone from going for growth to going going going gone. Up and down New Zealand hundreds of jobs have been lost after just 2 weeks of the House sitting under the National-led Government. Heaven help New Zealand! What will we have in 3 years? Let us have a look at where the jobs have gone. In 2 weeks this Government has got rid of jobs in forestry. In 2 weeks it has got rid of jobs in the biofuels industry. In 2 weeks it has got rid of jobs in insulating and retrofitting houses. After 2 weeks I make this prediction: National will destroy KiwiRail. I suspect that Bill English has already been to the board of KiwiRail and told it there is to be no more money no more borrowing. What does that mean? It means that KiwiRail in New Zealand is doomed to failure. Just 2 weeks is all it took to start destroying New Zealand. 
We have spent 2 weeks in this House passing legislation that is unnecessary. As Phil Goff said it was nothing but window dressing. It was flimflam and a whole lot of blatherskite. [ 
Interruption 
] And we are hearing a fair bit of it from that end of the House right now. I listened to speaker after speaker from the National Party promise New Zealanders that when the Bail Amendment Bill was passed we would see the end of violence on our streets—that we would not see another senseless murder of the likes that occurred this year in a dairy in South Auckland. I tell National members that it is our job to keep them honest. We will be watching everything that happens in New Zealand. The National Government has made those promises. It has led New Zealanders to believe that the actions it has taken in these 2 weeks mean that this Christmas New Zealand will be the safest place in the world—because it has passed an Act that does absolutely nothing. 
I conclude by joining Phil Goff in saying how much I have enjoyed working with so many people in Parliament this year including my own staff but also of course the many many people who serve us as members of Parliament. I make particular mention of the press gallery. When in Government we say that we love to hate them but in Opposition we hate to miss them! So I do want to mention the press gallery. Finally I want to say a big thankyou to two very important people in the Labour Party Helen Clark and Michael Cullen. We say thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the wonderful work and the service you have given New Zealand over the last 3 years and before.