Simpson ScottHon SCOTT SIMPSON (National—Coromandel): That was a speech from a new member who has much to learn about this place and his role in it. Sitting on this side of the House there isn't a need for him to feel sorry for us one little bit because we do sit in those select committees and we are seeing the lack of work and the lack of focus and the lack of legislation—and the lack of ambition quite frankly—that's coming from this new Government.This is a new Government that came to office towards the end of last year brimming with hope and with confidence and with the skippy bright step of a new and exciting opportunity. Who would have thought that here we would be only a few short months later and the wheels would have come so comprehensively off so early in this Government's administration?So over the last week or two we've seen as my colleague the Hon Louise Upston has indicated a Government that's gone from being confident and from being upbeat to being well and truly on the back foot. Most of it has been as a result of self-inflicted wounds. This is the sort of behaviour that occurs to a Government usually after several terms in office. It's a highly unusual thing to see in our democracy a Government come to pieces so quickly and in such a comprehensive way.Over the last few days we've had a very significant resignation from a high-ranking executive in the State broadcaster Radio New Zealand's administration. She's had to fall on her sword because of a—well actually an error of judgment of the highest order by a new junior Minister who should have known better. But in the full flush of excitement early on in her administration having just recently been sworn in she was eager and keen to go and prove herself to her mates in the flash coffee houses of Wellington and there the problem really arose. So the rest of that is now history—well it's history for that Radio New Zealand executive; it's not yet I suspect history for the current Minister who may well have to find a seat on the backbench along with that backbench MP who just sat down prior to me rising.I want to raise the issue of the new Associate Minister for the Environment and her role in the tawdry sordid little affair that involves the early and unexpected resignation of the Environmental Protection Authority's (EPA's) Chief Scientist Dr Jacqueline Rowarth. We know from the release of official information correspondence of emails and a variety of information that's become available that the Minister involved herself in matters that she clearly should not have done. That too was actually as a result of naive exuberance and enthusiasm very early on in her time in her ministry.Just a month or so after having been sworn in at the very first meeting with the EPA's chief executive the matter of Dr Jacqueline Rowarth's employment was raised and discussed in a way that was entirely inappropriate for a Minister of the Crown to involve herself in. Then we find later that there have been emails sent from the Minister's office at the Minister's request to the chief executive of the EPA critical of the chief scientist. One can only assume that that was done in order to facilitate and to make easy the exit of the chief scientist from the employment of the EPA.Then further we find that on 15 December after that first initial meeting with the chief executive the chief executive himself replied to the Minister's office with an email that says yes he'd seen the article. It says I had seen it"—the grammar is appalling by the way—"and are happy to update Minister privately on discussion with Jacqueline." Happy to update the Minister privately on discussion with Jacqueline—that can only be a coded message that there were further conversations between the Minister and the Minister now has very serious questions to answer about her role in the early exit of the Chief Science Advisor. Those questions will be relentless and she will at some point have to address them as will the chief executive."