Burton Mark: General Debates 
Burton Mark: General Debates 
[Volume:619;Page:14816] 
Hon MARK BURTON (Minister of Defence) 
: 
 I think the member misheard—it was the “scream team of finance”. We have had yet another desperate flip-flop. It has been only a year and we are into the third time around the clock for Dr Brash—that occasional visitor to our Chamber who to borrow from Evelyn Waugh stood twice for Parliament but so diffidently that his candidature passed almost unnoticed. Dr Brash rolled out his new-look wannabe Cabinet this week. To be fair I have to acknowledge that it is an innovative mix—a blend of the absurd and the inexplicable. It was only a matter of months ago that the so-called fresh new Brash team swept away the worn out young fogies of the English brat pack. With the blood barely dry on the floor those members are now back on National’s front bench with one exception. 
 Let us review that front bench. National has just seven slots these days. The first is the pristine No. 1 slot. It is the as new seldom occupied seat of the leader whose entire House leadership style seems to rest on the old adage that absence makes the heart grow fonder. To be fair we saw a new strategy today: it was a stunning impersonation of a still life. It was very good; it did not get Dr Brash into trouble because it did not do anything. The No. 2 slot is held by the loyal Maori affairs spokesperson and the most recent apprentice in the deputy leader’s role—although I say to Dr Brash that he should perhaps review an old videotape of a certain National Party conference before he leads his deputy down a stairwell. I think that is good advice to give to Dr Brash. He should check out those videotapes—there are a few aspirants to the leadership after all. 
I want to quickly move on to the No. 3 spot which is the most curious position of all. It is held by the House novice Mr Power. That gets really confusing because he is an absolute novice in the House. He has completely messed up in his role as defence spokesperson but has been—[ 
Interruption 
] I thank the member. Mr Power has completely messed up his job in defence yet he has now been appointed to the House organisational role of senior whip. I know there are a lot of incredulous observers of that but National says that it will raise his profile. Mr Power was the defence spokesperson and National says it will raise his profile by making him senior whip. 
The situation gets better because there are only two competent House managers on the Opposition side of the House. One is John Carter and the other—ominously for National—is Roger Sowry who is on his way. He has had it. Mr Carter has been promoted from the role of senior whip to defence spokesperson at No. 14 to raise his profile. So we have Mr Power on the front bench raising his profile by getting rid of the defence portfolio and becoming the chief whip and we have Mr Carter going down to No. 14 after 9 years of good service as senior whip in order to raise his profile. Both situations cannot be true can they? So what do we know? We know that John Carter has done a damn good job. He has given a great performance; he must be due for promotion. What does that say about Mr Power? All I can say is that Mr Power has taken the hit. All that is happening now is that we are waiting for the fall. I will quote John Armstrong again: “It is one thing to be humiliated by your opponents.”—we have done that—“It is another to be humiliated by your own leader.” That is precisely what Don Brash has done to poor old Simon Power. He is down and gone. 
National’s No. 4 slot is held by the social welfare spokesperson. That slot has no future because as we have heard from Annette King National is in fundamental conflict over its core policy. There have been stand-up scraps in caucus between Katherine Rich and Don “he who must be obeyed” Brash. That is it because in the barren wasteland of a talent pool called the National Party caucus what has poor old Don Brash had to do? He has had to bring back three of the four brat packers who still have blood on their backs and he has had to put them on to the front bench to plot against him. I tell Don Brash not to turn his back and not to go ahead of some people on the stairs. Any belated attempt to placate that bunch will be a waste of time. As the old saying observes the only infallible method of conciliating a tiger is to allow oneself to be devoured. I think Dr Brash is on the menu.