Hipkins Chris; Carter DavidCHRIS HIPKINS (Labour—Rimutaka): The scab has been ripped off and the pus is now spewing forward in the National Party. All of that naked ambition those divisions that they have been covering up for so long are now spewing forth into the public arena. The digs at each other the snide remarks the plotting in Copperfields the asides during select committee meetings—it has all started. All we know is—and I tell you what I have read this book before. I can tell the members opposite that it all gets worse from here. I can tell them with some certainty that their troubles are just beginning. It is all going to get worse from here. Whoever the next temporary leader of the National Party is the plotting will continue. All of those ambitions that have been uncovered in the last 48 hours are not simply going to go away. They all think they can do the top job better than the person sitting next to them and they are all out to get each other. It is absolutely clear.But of course we have got the retirement bench over there who clearly are no longer interested. They are checking out of the building.Hon Hekia Parata: I'm staying.CHRIS HIPKINS: Hekia Parata is thinking about staying. She is probably going to throw her hat in the ring. She would be the only person left on the front bench who has not. Of course we know that the National Party is absolutely ripped open. We saw that in question time today when Jonathan Coleman had a dig at Bill English about staying past his use-by date. It has already started—Jonathan Coleman talking about Bill English staying past his use-by date. Jonathan Coleman thinks of course that he is the young refreshed face of the National Party.Then of course we have got Judith Crusher" Collins whose career has been an absolute glowing success. She wants to lead the National Party into the next election. I say to Judith Collins that she has got my backing. There is no one else I would rather that we were running against at the next election than Judith Collins.But of course the National members at the end of the day are going to chicken out and settle for Bill English the caretaker Prime Minister the guy whom they will let have the job if he can hold their numbers up enough—if he can hold their numbers up enough to lead them into the next election. But of course if the numbers start going down we could see this happening again before the next election. This may not be the end of the matter for the National members as their numbers go into free fall because of course "Mr 21 Percent" is about to take over as the leader of the National Party. I have read that book before as well and that did not end very well for the National Party either. It is not going to like that one. It is not going to like that one one iota.But you can already see the plotting and the scheming. The more green leather we see over there the more we know that they have hurried away. They are in their little groups. They are plotting their numbers. They have got their spreadsheets out and they are desperately trying to figure out how they can advance their own interests at the expense of the interests of New Zealanders. Fundamentally that is what this is about.At a time when we have people who are homeless when our educational rankings are plummeting in the OECD the National members are focused on themselves and not on the challenges that face New Zealand. They are in the Government. They do not have that luxury and yet that is the luxury that they are taking. This week it is all about the National members talking to each other and not communicating to New Zealanders and not talking about the hopes and aspirations of New Zealanders. Instead they are busy fighting each other.So let us look at some of the things that we have seen in the last 24 hours. I was taken by this photo of John Key hanging out in the corridor desperate to avoid being seen with Judith Collins. Judith Collins was already in front of the media when John Key came to walk down to the House today. So desperate was John Key not to be seen with Judith Collins that he hung back in the corridor all on his lonesome. How things have changed.And then of course we have got the anonymous leaks from the National caucus. This is how it starts—with the anonymous leaks from the National caucus. But there is a huge mood for change on the backbench. I think that is Todd Barclay. Bill English did not back Todd Barclay down there in Clutha-Southland and Todd Barclay is getting his own back. He is getting his own back. He wants a mood for change.Another National backbencher another anonymous comment to the media: "Bill English shouldn't just be anointed." That was the other comment from a National backbencher. Of course they are not willing to put their names on record yet but the plotting and the scheming will continue. National members' troubles are all ahead of them. In the meantime they are not focused on the hopes and aspirations of New Zealanders; they are focused on their own ambitions and their own internal squabbling. They are not acting in the interests of the country and that is why there will be a change of Government next year.Mr SPEAKER: I call Todd Barclay.Hon Members: Confess confess."