Bridges SimonHon SIMON BRIDGES (Leader of the Opposition): I move That the House take note of a matter of urgent public importance.Over the sorry Clare Curran saga we have seen some of the weakest leadership this Parliament has ever seen occur under Jacinda Ardern—some of the weakest leadership we have ever seen. It's been part and parcel—actually it's been more than that; it's been symbolic of a torrid an incompetent and a shambolic few days for the Prime Minister who's leading a Government of absolute amateurs—look no further than Willie Jackson who's not here actually. They are failing to get off the ground.Let's just go through the facts of what we've seen happen here with Clare Curran and the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister found out—what was it?—three Mondays ago we're told about her former flatmate now Minister in the Government and her meeting with Derek Handley. It took months and months and months to get to the point where the Prime Minister learnt and Clare Curran fessed up. Actually according to David Cormack—someone who writes his columns usually on me but for once has done a column on something else—it was only because the internal affairs department had said so.It took months and months and months for this meeting to come out and we're told that this was just an honest mistake—it's just an honest mistake what's happened here. Why then was it that the meeting with Derek Handley—wait for it; this is remarkable—was only a week after Clare Curran had been asked questions in this Parliament about the very same sort of thing: secret meetings she wasn't recording with Carol Hirschfeld? The very same issue the week before—secret meetings not declared—and we are led to believe that that's just an honest mistake. Well I say to this House that either it was intentional or if it wasn't it was a special form of stupid by that Minister. Either way Clare Curran should have been stripped of her warrant stripped of all ministerial responsibilities and no longer be in this Parliament as a Minister.Hon Scott Simpson: Make room for Paul Eagle.Hon SIMON BRIDGES: Paul Eagle's coming through; I think that's probably true.Hon Gerry Brownlee: Rino—Rino's a runner.Hon SIMON BRIDGES: Rino—I've heard that one too. But there's more to this than just the months and months that it took for this to come to the Prime Minister's attention in terms of the timings because when she found out—Prime Minister Ardern—about this on the Monday afternoon do you think she acted what on the Tuesday?Hon Members: No!Hon SIMON BRIDGES: Tuesday afternoon?Hon Members: No!Hon SIMON BRIDGES: Wednesday?Hon Members: No!Hon SIMON BRIDGES: Wednesday afternoon?Hon Members: No!Hon SIMON BRIDGES: Thursday morning?Hon Members: No!Hon SIMON BRIDGES: On Friday at 4 p.m. the Prime Minister put out the issue in relation to Clare Curran and told the public about it some four—what was it?—five days later. That's not only weak leadership; that's stupid and it is as cynical as it gets in this Parliament. And don't believe me; my good old friend David Cormack made it quite clear. He said it was very cynical and if he says that look I tell you it's at the top end of cynical.And why was it at 4 o'clock on a Friday? Well because the Prime Minister had come back and she wanted to have an announceable every day to show everyone how good things were going. We had some really significant announcements over that time. We had wheel-clamping from Kris Faafoi—wheel-clamping from Kris Faafoi. Well it worked for me—it got me into Cabinet. It had no public importance but it got me into Cabinet." so good luck to Kris Faafoi on that one. And we had our 153rd working group from the Prime Minister—an acknowledgment that they are failing business they are failing the economy and they are showing no leadership whatsoever in that area.They couldn't do the right thing until Friday afternoon at 4 o'clock. It was weak it was stupid and it was incredibly cynical. And it was too little too late—it was too little too late—because it could've been Tuesday it could've been Wednesday or it could've been Thursday. It could've been but it wasn't and it was too late too little actually because after the secret meeting with Carol Hirschfeld came the secret meeting—with exactly the same secretive formula—with Derek Handley. We all know the saying: you fool me once—not you Mr Speaker—shame on you; fool me twice shame on me.And yet Clare Curran still has her warrant. She still has her ministerial salary and her perks. I know what Helen Clark would've done in this situation.Hon Ruth Dyson: Oh no you don't.Hon SIMON BRIDGES: Well what would she have done Ruth Dyson? I know what she did to Ruth Dyson—it took about four minutes. Well I tell you what: Clare Curran would've been gone straight after Carol Hirschfeld. She would've been gone after that Astoria breakfast not by lunchtime actually and I know what John Key would've done in that situation—it would've been exactly the same. And yet Clare Curran—really as a symbol of the Prime Minister's lack of leadership—is still there on her ministerial salary and with those ministerial perks.And what about the substance of the meeting with Derek Handley? What do we know about it? Well firstly we know it was in relation to a position of Chief Technology Officer—a solution looking for a problem. An absolute waste of time—no need for it. No one is calling for it. The tech sector is saying they don't know why it's happening and as—look no necessary friend of the National Party but The Spinoff says in relation to this "Much of New Zealand's tech community has reacted with derision to a report entrepreneur Derek Handley is all-but-certain to soon be announced as New Zealand's first chief technology officer." It goes on to quote many in the tech sector: "It 'has the potential to become a major embarrassment for the government' said one while another referred to what they perceived as his 'poor industry reputation… (he) was presumably unvetted.' The storm was best captured by Nat Dudley:"—quote—" 'Literally everyone I know in tech an industry known for arguing over the stupidest [stuff] like which almost-identical JavaScript framework they're going to use is united in the idea that Handley would be a terrible pick for NZ CTO.' "Hon Amy Adams: He'll still get it though.Hon SIMON BRIDGES: And it goes on and it goes on. And we're hearing—you're right Amy Adams—that he is going to get it despite the appalling secretive process. This appointment Hon Amy Adams: It smacks of Steve Maharey.Hon SIMON BRIDGES: —leads to all manner of wider issues for the Government here. It's exactly right Amy Adams—it smacks of Steve Maharey. The arrogance of this Government that officials don't need to be involved in appointments and processes—secret meetings secret phones and secret email addresses not just in relation to Derek Handley but Steve Maharey.Actually we heard today in questioning that Mark Gosche was we're led to believe actually in the process of being appointed while Rabin Rabindran was still in the job. And the Prime Minister talks to us today—she has the audacity to talk to us today about natural justice. Well she should show Meka Whaitiri the same sort of natural justice she showed Rabin Rabindran—absolutely appalling.Hon Shane Jones: Bye-bye. Bye-bye Simon.Hon SIMON BRIDGES: And it's not just this person; it's many many others—well my friend over there says "Bye-bye". This is the guy that jumps up and down because he's at 2 percent in the polls and he knows it. Look at him—look at him.Despite the rhetoric of transformation of this being—what has the Prime Minister said?—the most transformative and the most open and transparent Government ever what have we got? Their Minister of quote "Open Government" has been sacked for her complete lack of transparency and openness in relation to all things—secret meetings secret mobile phones and secret emails.Hon Kris Faafoi: Easy tiger.Hon SIMON BRIDGES: And you know what we hear? Well let's see where it goes Kris Faafoi—let's see where it goes. This guy over here Chris Hipkins is vigorously writing—he's getting his clever lines out—but he knows what I'm saying is right. It's the kind of Government and secrecy Hillary Clinton would be proud of Chris Hipkins—that's what we're seeing here.And it's not just Carol Hirschfeld of course; it was Derek Handley as well. What did Tim Murphy New Zealand Herald editor to Newsroom editor as well say about the transparency of this Government—all hope all transformation all openness. He said "Labour's record of deletions or obstructions under the Official Information Act for example has been as bad or worse than" all previous Governments. Bryce Edwards a commentator has also made it quite clear on Clare Curran and the affair around this. It has led to a whiffy-ness on this Government Chris Hipkins—Brett Hudson: You can smell it from here.Hon SIMON BRIDGES: —a whiffy-ness that I can smell right here as I stand across from the member. A tarnishing effect on the Government—shame on Clare Curran who is still getting her ministerial salary and shame on Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern for her weak leadership for allowing it.Clare Curran is a symbol of exactly what is happening in this Government. It is weak it is incompetent and it is a shambolic Government. Rather than fairy dust breezing around the Government I think it's asbestos actually and it's breezing around the Cabinet table as we speak with the litany of fiascos because it's not—Chris Hipkins—just Clare Curran. It's not just that. Actually it's a Young Labour camp where zero accountability has been had for that. It's Shane Jones in open defiance because he knows actually what a fiasco yet another working group is on the real issues that small businesses are saying to me and if he's getting out and about they'll be saying to him as well. It's Winston Peters on refugees. It's Meka Whaitiri where it's very simple: all the Prime Minister needed to do was look that Minister in the eye and ask her what had happened. It doesn't take another working group another review and several weeks' process.I know what Helen Clark and I know what John Key would have done on that and on the incompetence that we're seeing from the likes of well many many Ministers but let's just pick on Willie Jackson this afternoon who says a few percentage points don't matter and went on The Nation with more fake news than Donald Trump has in two months. It was absolutely a shocker.Hon Kris Faafoi: There goes the US invite.Hon SIMON BRIDGES: Well on this side of the House Kris Faafoi—the wheel-clamping man who'll always be famous for that if nothing else—Hon Kris Faafoi: We'll clamp your car—clamp your Crown car then.Hon SIMON BRIDGES: Well you're focused on the big issues that's for sure! The Government really is!Well I say to those members on the other side of the House on this side we won't be weak. We'll be a strong and stable Government with high-growth policies that will get this country back on track. We'll provide the certainty that some 160 working groups and counting—one every couple of days of their tenure is going on. We're doing the work now whether it's on small and medium sized enterprises right at the moment or whether it's on other groups to give this country a real choice at the next election and to give it the leadership—not the weakness—that it deserves."