Cosgrove Clayton: General Debate 
Cosgrove Clayton: General Debate 
[Volume:667;Page:14433] 
Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE (Labour—Waimakariri) 
: 
 If Mr Paul Henry did not know or did not have examples of what it means to be a New Zealander then there is something wrong with him given that in my view and in the view of certainly most people in this House there are 4.2 million examples in this country of what it means to be a New Zealander what it sounds like to be a New Zealander and what it looks like to be a New Zealander and they are called our community. 
I say that because as Annette King said we have not only in the last couple of weeks but in the last month seen two key and critical failures of leadership on behalf of the Prime Minister. The first was to not defend the Governor-General. That was a failure not just simply because he is the Governor-General but—and I suspect there would not be a member of this House who would not agree with me in saying this—because he represents of himself and his good lady wife Lady Susan the essence of New Zealand: a decent human being a decent Kiwi and a decent person. That was the first strike. The second strike which was some weeks before was to not hold a Minister in his Government Rodney Hide to a high standard that he himself promoted as early as November 2008 when he said: “I expect high standards from my Ministers. If they don’t meet the standards I set then obviously I will take action if necessary.” 
What were the series of excuses that the Prime Minister used to not stand up to not show leadership and to not reflect the feeling in the community which was one of anger emotion and revulsion in respect of Mr Henry? The first excuse was to quote him he was “jetlagged”. The second excuse was to say: “Well you know Paul. You never know where he’s going.” The third excuse was that the Prime Minister said: “Where there’s freedom of speech there is always those who will push the boundaries.” 
I say to the Prime Minister that he also has a thing called freedom of speech. He also has that great principle that we hold dear called freedom of speech but he chose not to use it. He zipped his lips and he used the fourth excuse which was to blame Television New Zealand 3 days later. He used his freedom of speech which he countenanced in Paul Henry 3 days later. 
I say to the Prime Minister that it was not Rick Ellis the chief executive of Television New Zealand sitting on the couch with Mr Henry being interviewed and it was not any of the executive team of Television New Zealand sitting on the couch with Paul Henry being interviewed so why does he blame them? Oh no that was an alibi as the giggle the smile and the wave occurred. It was in fact the Prime Minister sitting on the couch with his best mate and former Tory candidate Paul Henry. The Prime Minister showed no fortitude in articulating the emotion of New Zealanders in using his freedom of speech to rebuke Paul Henry to utterly reject what he was saying and to defend a symbol and a person who is a decent New Zealander. He giggled he waved and he chose not to use his freedom of speech. He used the excuse of jetlag and then he blamed Rick Ellis and Television New Zealand. Well I say again that it was not Mr Ellis sitting on the couch being interviewed who had the opportunity to rebuke Paul Henry. It was not Mr Ellis or his executive team who were elected Prime Minister of this land and have a responsibility to show leadership. 
I say to Government members that although they squawk and giggle and poke a bit of fun at Mr Carter at our expense—one can see the likeness of that coming through—there is a big issue. That issue is about freedom of speech it is about leadership it is about articulating the hurts and concerns of New Zealanders and it is about showing some guts; it is about showing some guts. 
In that respect I turn to the Hide fiasco. Mr Hide talked today about high principle. I could not believe my luck when Mr Hide talked about the Foreshore and Seabed Act and deals done behind closed doors. If there was ever a person who has been inconsistent on every principle that he has stood for whether it be perks David Garrett zero tolerance or name suppression it is that member. Mr Hide could not spell the word principle. He did the ultimate deal behind closed doors aided and abetted by Garth McVicar who knew about David Garrett. He was aided and abetted he knew about it but he did nothing. Where is the principle in that? I say that that is the other failure of Mr Key as Mr Hide hangs like a millstone around his neck. Where is the high standard he promoted in 2008 and where is Mr Key showing leadership in holding that Minister to account? He has zero points on Paul Henry and zero points on Mr Hide.