Swain Paul: General Debate 
Swain Paul: General Debate 
[Volume:628;Page:633] 
Hon PAUL SWAIN (Labour—Rimutaka) 
: 
 That was Tony Ryall whose speech was driven by a deep-seated bitterness because of having to spend 9 years in Opposition as a result of three elections. He thinks that the way back for the National Party is through character assassinations. My message to Mr Ryall is that he should look at Rodney Hide who has spent a number of years here making character assassinations and at the state of the ACT party in this Parliament. ACT is at 1.5 percent in the polls and falling. So my message to Mr Ryall is that he should stop being bitter and making character assassinations and start concentrating on policies and things that New Zealanders want to hear about. That is my advice to him. 
If we want to use the tennis analogy which is very popular at the moment then in the games between Labour and National the score is three sets to love. National has now lost three elections in a row. One could say it was understandable that it lost the first of the three because by that stage it was tired and worn out. Basically it had given it away. [ 
Interruption 
] Yes it was understandable. I have talked to a number of people in the National Opposition who said that they were basically quite relieved to lose in 1999 because they could flag it away and not have to worry any more about Cabinet papers. As for the second time National lost well that is just getting plain old careless. To lose two elections in a row is not understandable; it is just careless. But to lose a third time in 2005 is actually unforgivable for a lot of the members who are in the back benches now. Of course Don Brash said: “Well I expect to go because leaders who lose shouldn’t be given a second chance.” But he is back there and that is why he is so equivocal about the leadership. Members opposite can smell the blood because they know that he will not be around for too long. They know that the numbers are working. We know about the closed doors and the private meetings. Gerry Brownlee sits there quietly. He sees the opportunity coming. He will be one of those who are behind the closed doors. The thing about Don Brash is that he must go and he will go; it is now just a matter of time. 
One of the things that happened to the National Party this week was that it was taken off to the Electoral Commission by the police because of breaking election rules. The National Party said that it was just a simple mistake: “Was it GST inclusive or GST exclusive? It was just a little mistake.” This was from the former Governor of the Reserve Bank. GST inclusive and GST exclusive are important issues when it comes down to the national economy—and Don Brash wants to be the Prime Minister! “What is a bit of GST between friends?” asks Don Brash. “Who cares about it; it doesn’t really matter—GST inclusive GST exclusive.” This cannot be the attitude of a person who wants to be the Prime Minister. Cabinets spend a lot of time on Budgets and when they do they look carefully at GST inclusive and GST exclusive. It is not simply a mistake; it is just absolute incompetence and of course the Leader of the Opposition is known for that. 
Then there was the Exclusive Brethren’s association with that. How does the Exclusive Brethren Church whose members do not take part in elections read newspapers watch TV or use the Internet know about the detail of Labour’s health policy? That is what I want to know. Either the leaders of that church are not being straight with the general rank and file or their church is telling porkies. It cannot be both; it has to be one or the other. I say that that church has been found out. It has betrayed ordinary God-fearing New Zealanders by trying to deceive them and its members need to sit down and think about what they have done. 
National does not deserve to be in Government. It actually does not really deserve to be in Opposition. That is how hopeless its members are. They do not deserve to be in Opposition. As a result of what we have seen this week the  
Press 
 headline is: “Opposition squanders embarrassment of riches” and that newspaper is right.