Mallard Trevor: Supplementary Estimates — Imprest Supply Debate 
Mallard Trevor: Supplementary Estimates — Imprest Supply Debate 
[Volume:632;Page:3701] 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD (Associate Minister of Finance) 
: 
 The time for that member’s speech has expired and whereas he was quite close to becoming National’s leader about 3 months ago as time goes on his leadership ambitions will slowly evaporate. That is true also for John Key. National has reached a gridlock. Bill English John Key Simon Power Gerry Brownlee and Don Brash are all holding 20 percent plus or minus a bit in terms of their support. National knows that Don Brash cannot do the job but that it cannot change its leader until it gets a majority for someone else. National cannot do that now so Bill English is propping up Don Brash John Key is now propping up Don Brash Simon Power is now propping up Don Brash and Gerry Brownlee is now propping up Don Brash. 
The problem with the arguments the previous speaker expounded is that he tried to play both sides of the street. When one is having an economic debate one just cannot do that. That is the member whose leader in a taxpayer-funded postcard—and I underline “taxpayer-funded” so that everyone knows the taxpayer paid for those postcards although about 3 or 4 weeks ago the National Party said it would never do anything like that—that we all got through the letterbox last week paid for by deliverers and paid for by the taxpayer committed the National Party to $2.2 billion a year worth of tax cuts. What did the previous speaker say today? He confirmed— 
Hon Bill English 
: Show us where it says $2.2 billion. 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: $2.2 billion. I am not saying the member said it. I am saying that the person who represents him sent out a postcard that confirmed the National Party’s intention as at the last election to give out $2.2 billion worth of tax cuts. But what did that member do? Today he started to list out the further spending that he wants. Is he consistent? Is he responsible? Did he learn anything while he was understudying Bill Birch? No he learnt almost nothing. 
One thing Bill English did not learn was Bill Birch’s approach to State-owned enterprise board chairs which was that the first question he asked a board chair was how much that person had given to the party at the last election. What an outrageous approach that was! It is not the approach that this Government takes. We also do not take the approach— 
Hon Bill English 
: That is the Labour Party. Ha ha! 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: I wonder whether Bill English has the spine to go outside the House and say that Jim Bolger donates money to the Labour Party that Paul East donates—well he might now; he has become more sensible. But would he say that Paul East a former Attorney-General donates money to the Labour Party? I would like him to run through the board chairs and other State-owned enterprise members and find people other than Mike Williams and possibly Stan Rodger who make donations to the Labour Party. I think he would have quite a lot of trouble in doing so. We believe in appointing competent people to boards just as we believe in appointing competent people in the House unlike the National Party which goes for the “Flash Harry’s” like John Key. National is now discovering it has a bit of a problem with him and I think the problem will become more obvious as time goes on. 
The National Party also goes for losers like Bill English. He lost worse than any National Party leader has ever lost before. But the trouble is that he is probably the best that National has. National has a terrible leadership dilemma. It has the old fellow who everyone knows cannot win and the person who thinks of himself as a Holyoake or a John Howard: someone who loses really really badly but then comes back and has quite a long reign— 
Darren Hughes 
: Like Dr Hewson. 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: Bill English has certainly been flashing around the place the figures on Howard and Holyoake and the fact that he thinks it is time for history to repeat itself. 
Hon Bill English 
: I have not. 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: He says he has not done that this week. Well I am sorry but it is early in the week; it is only Tuesday. I will give the member a chance to do it a bit more at some stage in the future. 
But I say to Bill English that when he is the leader he will have to get some control over the rest of his caucus. The National Party has someone called Borrows or “Burrow” as an MP apparently in Wanganui. He says there are not enough ambulances. 
Darren Hughes 
: Borrows. 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: Mr Borrows from Wanganui a National Party member apparently says National wants to give more money to the ambulance services. Then there is someone called Jo “Godhew”—or is it Goodhew? Some of these people I have never heard of. 
Darren Hughes 
: Goodhew. 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: There is one called Jo Goodhew who wants a massive increase in pay for home carers. I tell her that so do I but I think we have to get things in line as to their affordability. Just writing out cheques in the way she is proposing will not work. 
Here is one National member I have heard of: Gerry Brownlee and he wants more money for the Waitangi Tribunal and for Treaty settlements. He says it is not enough. I have also heard of this one: Maurice Williamson. He said today that the roading funding the extra $685 million announced as part of the Budget was not enough. There is another one: Jacqui Dean. Is she an MP? 
Darren Hughes 
: Yes she is an MP. 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: Jacqui Dean is not from around here; I presume she is from out of town somewhere. She wants an enormous— 
Anne Tolley 
: She won her seat. 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: She won her seat. That is something that is very special; it something that Don Brash has never done in his life regardless of all the attempts he has made. Anne Tolley was a member here once before and I think in the interim was appointed as a political crony to something or other. 
Anne Tolley 
: No I was not. 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: I am sure she was—a political hack. In her case “hack” would be a good description. She was appointed to something I am sure. Then we have Tony Ryall—and I compliment him on his recent developments—who says that a whole pile more money is needed for health. Bill English says a whole pile more money is needed for education and I would love to do that. I have the somewhat sad job of doing work on expenditure control. I have to work with my colleagues who have lots of very very good ideas and I have to tell them I am sorry but we cannot afford them this year because we have Budget parameters and we are going to stick within them—and we do that. 
Darren Hughes 
: Year after year. 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: Year after year for some particular projects—too often my own. Bill English wants to spend much more money on education. 
John Key is sort of like a day of the future past really. He was seen by many of us to have some real potential. He could have been a star then he opened himself up to the media and to the world. As a result of that people saw right through him. It is actually quite sad that someone who made so much money by playing the markets and pushing our dollar around and who is personally very very well off is as shallow as a bird bath. As soon as the light went on John Key as Lockwood Smith knows he was shown not to have the life experience or the political experience to do a job like that. So what is John Key doing? In order to try to boost his own numbers in caucus he is running around some of his old mates in the financial sector trying to get them to come into Parliament and be the bright young stars in order to give him the numbers. 
National is really a pretty sad party. It was once the grand old National Party. I know that it will have to do a bit of turnover especially off the current front bench but I hope it can recover. There are one or two bright ones further back. There is John Hayes from Wellington Central who appears to have some potential. I forget the name of the other one. I am certain that over a period of time the National members can renew themselves and do much better than they are doing.