Power Simon: General Debate 
Power Simon: General Debate 
[Volume:655;Page:4587] 
Hon SIMON POWER (Minister of Justice) 
: 
 I have found myself worrying in recent days. I have been worrying about the state of the Opposition. I have been worrying about the state of the Opposition because something does not seem to be working over there; something is not quite right. What is going on over there? Is the Hon Trevor Mallard the shadow Leader of the House or is Darren Hughes the shadow Leader of the House? I see that my old friend Darren Hughes has changed his hair to look like Steve Maharey but there is only so much one can do if one is Darren Hughes to look like Steve Maharey. 
I am very concerned about my colleague the Hon Clayton Cosgrove. What has happened to Clayton Cosgrove? For a while there he was leading the charge for the Opposition asking questions every day and beavering away on his research. In fact he asked 12 oral questions in the months of February and March but since then there has been a total of only three. What has happened is that Ruth Dyson and Maryan Street have been coming to the fore to ask questions during question time. I have a theory: the left in the Labour Party is striking back and putting the centre-right boys back in their place back where they belong. 
I want to know why it is that the Labour backbenchers always sit on the front bench when they ask questions. What is going on with the stability of the front bench of the Labour Party? Why has Phil Goff stopped asking all the questions about Richard Worth and sent the issue off to Pete Hodgson? What is Labour’s polling telling it about pursuing that particular inquiry and what it is doing for the Hon Phil Goff? Why is it that George Hawkins seems to be the most effective member of the Opposition at asking written questions and making Official Information Act requests? What are the rest of those folks over there doing? 
I am troubled. Where is Grant Robertson? He started with such a hiss and a roar—it was a promising start—then he was dragged down by the old guard which did not like how well he was doing in those early days. I want to know many cars Iain Lees-Galloway has hired without knowing whose name was on the contract. It is those sorts of questions that are troubling me. Is Rajen Prasad’s subzero profile a cunning bid to get reappointed to the Families Commission? What about the rumours about Annette King standing for the mayoralty in Wellington my friend Lianne Dalziel in Christchurch and Rick Barker in Waipukurau? Where are those rumours coming from and are they true or not? These things are worrying me. Is Ross Robertson finally coming into his own after getting only a third of the way through his career? Has Ashraf Choudhary finally made up his mind? These are things that plague members on this side of the House. 
Why is it that I have just asked more questions in this House than most Opposition members have in the last 7 months? I am worried that democracy will suffer from this lack of drive on the other side from its lack of coordination and from its state of confusion. On this side of the House we have a driven Prime Minister a united team in Cabinet and caucus and a raft of legislation and policy on the way. We inherited a bit of a debacle but we have got unions businesses and the Government together. We have delivered $3 billion in boosting health over 4 years. 
Members opposite should spend less time blogging and more time concentrating on their day jobs. They should spend less time twittering and more time concentrating on what is going on in the Chamber and how they can— 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: Hey! 
Hon SIMON POWER 
: That is exactly my point. The fundamental fact is that democracy in this country is suffering because members opposite cannot make up their own minds about who is leading the charge who is the Leader of the House who is in charge in the Chamber and who will be asking oral questions on a daily basis. 
Trouble is brewing. I can see that the members on the left in the Labour Party are starting to take control. My old nemesis the Hon Clayton Cosgrove has been sidelined for some strange reason. I am backing him to get his own back but members on the left in the Labour Party are after him. The information he used in his question today was a week old. What choice did he have when he has not had the chance to ask an oral question since basically the start of May? I have been troubled about the lack of application by Labour members to the task at hand. It is time they realised that democracy needs them to get their act together.