Goff Phil: General Debate 
Goff Phil: General Debate 
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Hon PHIL GOFF (Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade) 
: 
 That speech was made by a representative of the party that made a headline today because its chief electoral strategist told its members that they will lose the election and that it is their own fault due to their disunity and lack of credibility. Gerry Brownlee just provided the House with the evidence of that lack of credibility. He talked about the poor economic record. This country has the highest growth rate in the OECD and the lowest unemployment rate in the OECD. 
Then he got on the crime rate bandwagon—as have several other members—when independent police statistics that have just come out show that the crime rate in this country has fallen by 22 percent. There are 700 fewer crimes a week under the Labour-led Government. We have the highest rate of police resolution—it was 36 percent and it is now 45 percent. Members of the Opposition like to say that people will not report crime when there has been a huge increase in the rate of crimes solved by police. 
Opposition members say that this Government is soft on law and order yet four prisons are being built. One opened yesterday. There are 1500 extra prison beds because this Government has taken the tough line on law and order that the National Party never had the guts to do when it was in Government. 
This Government passed sentencing legislation that has seen those people who are guilty of the worst murders in this country sentenced for up to 30 years before being eligible for parole. Under this Government in 1 year twice as many people were sentenced to preventive detention than had occurred in any other year in the history of this country. Those people who time and time again commit serious crimes are now being locked up indefinitely under preventive detention. That spokesperson never said anything about the fact that parole laws and bail laws have now been toughened which is why we have such a large number of people in our prison system. 
We have seen further evidence of this National Party not being fit even to be an Opposition party let alone make a claim to govern this country. We have seen those who have jumped the sinking ship—the rats swimming away from the sinking ship. We have seen Lynda—what is her name? 
Opposition Member 
: Scott. 
Hon PHIL GOFF 
: Scott—yes she is gone. Roger Sowry has gone. We have seen Katherine Rich distancing herself as fast as she can from the person who is going to lose the election and the National Party leadership and now we are seeing Murray McCully doing the same. We have seen ACT and the National Party—two parties that would have to come together to form a coalition—attacking each other viciously. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: No! 
Hon PHIL GOFF 
: Gerry Brownlee said in the newspaper this week that the ACT party has not achieved one new idea in 9 years. Of course the ACT members are counter-attacking. They cannot maintain even a semblance of unity in Opposition yet they claim that they could govern this country. This country saw enough of a National Government unable to govern because of instability. Jenny Shipley could not get on with New Zealand First— 
Rodney Hide 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. I am doing this to interrupt the Minister’s speech because I think he needs a spell. He is popping his blood vessels and is losing control. I think that if he just has 10 seconds sitting down it will be good for his health. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: The member will be seated. That was not a point of order and I warn the member on that—that was a deliberate interruption of a member’s speech. [ 
Interruption 
] If the member does that again he will be out because it was not a point of order. 
Hon PHIL GOFF 
: This week we have seen a further blunder by the National Party—a blunder in foreign policy. A judicial court separate from executive Government has made a decision that a person did not have enough evidence against him to be convicted. What did Don Brash say? He said that he would withdraw the ambassador. What a ridiculous thing to do. Does he not understand the separation of executive from judiciary? Does he not understand that the Indonesian Government with regard to the Bali bombers has imprisoned 30 people and has imposed maximum sentences as serious as the death penalty? 
That member who knows nothing about foreign policy blundered into the area once again. He blundered about the tsunami. When the tsunami occurred he had left New Zealand and had gone to lie on the beach at Hawaii for 10 days where he ignored the worst catastrophe in our part of the world for many many years. He came back and said that New Zealand was not doing enough. What a blunder! He is the same man who said in public that his party would maintain the nuclear-free policy and who said separately to American congressmen that the policy would be gone by lunchtime. It is no wonder that he has no credibility. It is no wonder that he is being abandoned by members of his own party. It is no wonder that Murray McCully is saying the National Opposition is doomed to failure.