Roche Denise: General Debate 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Roche Denise: General Debate 
[Sitting date: 01 August 2012. Volume:682;Page:4164. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
DENISE ROCHE (Green) 
: 
 Tena koe ki te Whare. Tena koutou katoa. I have got some concerns about this Key-Banks Government. I have got some worries about a Government that maintains its majority in the House by relying on a legal technicality. I have taken a really close look at the Local Electoral Act and it does say in subsection (2) of section 134 which deals with false returns that every candidate commits an offence if they file a false return unless they can prove that they “had no intention to mis-state or conceal the facts;” and that they “took all reasonable steps to ensure that the information was accurate.” Mr Banks—or Mr John “Fill my Banks” as he is known in some circles—physically took a cheque from Skycity and he also solicited two other cheques. He asked for them from Kim Dotcom and then he forgot. He forgot to mention it when his campaign helper filled out his return and he forgot it again when he signed his return saying it was a true and accurate record. It is the forgetting bit that means he did not have the intention to misstate or conceal the facts. That is the technicality. 
The problem with this type of technicality is that it is an entry into the moral low ground. It is a swampy place filled with dubious deeds and dodgy deals and it is probably a place where you would definitely need a cabbage boat. The Government entered into a pact with this man and Mr Banks is now shoring up this Government and its agendas—the Key-Banks Government. It is Mr Banks’ one vote that allowed the passage of asset sales legislation—the legislation that the majority of New Zealanders do not want. It passed by 61 votes to 60. This is a man with a memory problem who maintains the trust of this Government despite the fact that he is prepared to bend the rules and nearly break them but he is still rewarded for that by keeping his place as a poodle in this Government because it needs his vote. This man is a Minister. 
The Prime Minister has said that the law—the Local Electoral Act—is an ass. I thought the Government and the Prime Minister could create the law. We can blame the law or the Prime Minister could hold his Ministers to account and demand the type of ethical and moral behaviour that the New Zealand public deserve. This Government should sack Mr Banks. Every parent knows that bad behaviour should not be rewarded and that is what this Government is doing. The law is not the only thing that is an ass. 
As it happens this Government can do something about the law. Helpfully—and I tried to table it earlier—I have a bill in the ballot the Local Electoral (Finance) Amendment Bill which brings the rules on local government election spending and declarations about donations more into line with central government election finance rules. Among the purposes of this bill one of the purposes is to “(a) maintain public and political confidence in the administration of local body elections; and … (c) prevent the undue influence of wealth on electoral outcomes; and (d) provide greater transparency and accountability on the part of candidates and other persons engaged in election activities in order to minimise the perception of corruption;”. It will lower the amount that can be donated anonymously. That will certainly ensure that Mr Banks and his memory problems are a thing of the past. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: No it won’t. No it won’t. He told lies then; he’ll tell lies again. 
DENISE ROCHE 
: The Government needs to urgently adopt this bill and support its passage through the House and I am looking forward to your support too Mr Mallard. 
We need to up our game. No wonder the numbers of people turning out to vote in central government and local government elections are dropping. Mr Banks’ dubious actions cast aspersions on all politicians. We are all seen as untrustworthy. Certainly a Government—the Key-Banks Government—that relies on that one vote from Mr Banks to pass legislation is seen as untrustworthy too. You know my mum had a saying. She said that she never lied. She never lied but sometimes she would evade the truth.