Bridges Simon: Urgent Debates — Hon John Banks—Ministerial ResignationText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeBridges Simon: Urgent Debates — Hon John Banks—Ministerial Resignation[Sitting date: 17 October 2013. Volume:694;Page:14025. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon SIMON BRIDGES (Minister of Energy and Resources): It is good to take a call in this and save the Hon Phil Goff—[Interruption]Moana Mackey:Texting in the classroom.Texting Anadarko.Hon SIMON BRIDGES: Well in fact it was Phil Goff’s call Ms Mackey. [Interruption] I do not think it was. I want to talk about John Banks who actually I think we know knew quite a lot about small businesses who started out in small business who grew a business and one thing is for sure who knew the effect as a Minister—and still does as a member of Parliament—of poor public policy on the vulnerable in the area of employment law.That is not something we can say for the Opposition in this House. We have seen some atrocious policy statements coming out of the Hon David Cunliffe the new leader of the Labour Party when it comes to these sorts of things. These policies actually make it very clear the Labour Party is not the party of workers. It is not the party of the vulnerable because if it was how could it raise the minimum wage to $15 a policy that would cost some 7000 jobs? “No more fire at will.” says Mr Cunliffe—that would cost 13000 jobs. Scrapping youth wages would cost 2000 jobs. Supporting the living wage campaign would cost potentially up to 26000 jobs.Well John Banks as Minister for Small Business knew that you cannot have frankly numbskull policies like that—policy by wishful thinking policy that hurts those you are most trying to help. That is why he supported as a Minister and continues to support as a member this good Government not lumping hundreds of millions of dollars—maybe billions of dollars—of costs on to the poor businesses that he represents and that this Government represents.We can also say about all of this that what is very important which seems to be lost in the speeches on the other side of the House is that here we have a case as TrevorMallard made quite clear the police did not see fit to prosecute. The police went through. There are two bases for the police: evidential sufficiency and public interest. I have not gone back and checked the papers and how it went at that time but clearly they decided on the basis of evidential sufficiency that there was no reason to prosecute. So we have a private prosecution. They are quite different as Trevor knows—Hon Trevor Mallard: Who?Hon SIMON BRIDGES: As Trevor Mallard knows sometimes these prosecutions are successful but they are quite different from a police one with the processes that go through that.Really my point simply is that in this House in this country we all have the right to be held innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. So to have the kinds of kangaroo court statements we have heard particularly from Metiria Turei—particularly nasty vitriolic comments from her—about what a disgrace it is and so on well I would have expected better from someone with a law degree actually; from someone like Metiria Turei. Because actually in this House we should uphold the fact that Mr Banks is innocent until proven guilty.He has however of course done the right thing. He has done the right thing because as soon as his case has been committed for trial he has decided that he does not want to be a distraction to the Government and he has stood down as a Minister. As I think Tony Ryall said he did it much quicker and with integrity unlike many of the numerous cases we could list from the other side of the House—one Taito Phillip Field for example.. It took months and months—actually years was it not? Was it not years Phil Goff that you took defending him? Saying that all he was guilty of doing—all he was guilty of doing—was looking out for his constituents?We on this side of the House follow good process. We look after workers actually—real workers. That is what John Banks was about as Minister for Small Business and what he is still about I think as a member of Parliament. I would much rather be supporting this Government any day of the week than that poor sorry lot over there who stood up for Taito Phillip Field for far far too long.