King Annette: General Debate 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
King Annette: General Debate 
[Sitting date: 18 July 2012. Volume:681;Page:3636. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Hon ANNETTE KING (Labour—Rongotai) 
: 
 There was a politician who once said: “There are doctors who make you well and there are those who make you sick.” I think Dr Hutchison has just made a very interesting contribution and I thank him for the words that he said about our former security guard here in this Parliament. That was a very very good thought.  
But unfortunately the National Government led off the Wednesday general debate with the brains trust Anne Tolley who started by quoting Dr Seuss. Well I think she would be better off going back and reading  
Alice in Wonderland 
. There is a very appropriate saying that I could use at this point. The March Hare said: “I have an excellent idea. Let’s change the subject.” I say to the National Government: “How about changing the subject?”. The whole day has been spent talking about Labour. Look I know we are a fascinating party but how about after 4 years talking about some of the things that National is doing in Government?  
One of the advantages of being a backbencher sitting where I am is that I have had the opportunity to observe the behaviour of the Government benches. I have to tell you I have been watching very closely and listening very closely. Those members are becoming more bizarre by the day. As soon as they can get out of this place the Ministers scurry out the door their coats flapping their feet spinning because they are increasingly impatient about being held to account by the Speaker and by the Opposition in this Parliament. They are finding it a nuisance and it is all rather pesky being questioned by the Opposition.  
What is interesting to me is to watch the Prime Minister. He has changed very much since he has been in Government in the last 3 years. He has increasingly become very slap-happy in his answers and has increasingly become slapstick; he puts on a comic show for the public every day. When he cracks a joke he looks around at his party and every now and then he gets a lone clap from some hapless backbencher. Then he looks up to the press gallery. Are they admiring him? The Prime Minister is putting more heads down in National than ever before. Yet we have got Ministers who are busy being busy rushing here and rushing there.  
But the truth is that National is increasingly becoming a party that is divided on itself. You have got the insiders and you have got the outsiders; you have got the onsiders and the offsiders. And then you have got divided leadership. You see smouldering away there are the hopes and aspirations of Bill English who really thinks he ought to be the leader. Then you have got divided priorities: those who want social change and those who do not. Then you have got a divided Government—divided into these little parties that support the Government which are being sent off because they cannot agree with the Government.  
All the while the Prime Minister has been saying that everything is very stable. There are no worries. He has said that that they provide strong and stable government: “we’re working hard to take the country forward and deliver strong and stable government just as we did over the last three years.” Well I have to say we have a more unstable Government now than we have had in many many years. People are starting to notice it. The commentators are starting to notice it. They have started to notice that the Prime Minister has lost his touch; his ability that he had to pull those little parties towards him and hold them in a Government he is losing that touch. He is losing his touch with the public. I was interested to read in  
New Zealand Management 
 magazine very recently— 
New Zealand Management 
 magazine normally supports the National Party—“Key’s disinclination to share his vision suggests a lack of willingness to commit and reluctance to be honest about future intentions. That in turn suggests a leadership approach based on knowing what’s best and believing that what’s best is not for sharing.” That is what we are increasingly seeing from the Prime Minister.  
The Government is increasingly getting out of touch with the public as well. I tell members to read the latest Housing New Zealand Corporation newsletter which came out today. It is so out of date that it has provided a lovely little recipe for carrot and ginger soup for all its clients but no information as to how it can be contacted.