Mallard Trevor: Appropriation (2003/04 Estimates) Bill — Third Reading Imprest Supply Debate 
Mallard Trevor: Appropriation (2003/04 Estimates) Bill — Third Reading Imprest Supply Debate 
[Volume:610;Page:7684] 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD (Minister of Education) 
: 
 We heard interjections from the “agent for Monaco”. Who was responsible for Monaco’s commercial spy ring in New Zealand? It was that member over there. I do not see how he can sit in this House when he runs the commercial spies the industrial agents and so on. Someone on the other side of the House called Mr Worth is the agent for Monaco in New Zealand and he has the cheek to sit in this Parliament at the same time. What an embarrassment he is to his party! [ 
Interruption 
] He invited it—he interjected the very minute I stood up. I ask members what contribution he has made to New Zealand. He was the agent for Alinghi. That member ran the trust fund for Alinghi and has progressed since that time to running spy rings in New Zealand for the principality of Monaco. I do not know how that member manages to live with his conscience. 
Clayton Cosgrove 
: He doesn’t have one. 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: I suppose so; he is an old Tory. It is no great surprise. One of the things I contemplate when we come to the Appropriation (2003/04 Estimates) Bill is that I look at the alternatives— 
Richard Worth 
: Do you know about it? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: I did a helluva lot of work on it. To be fair I probably did not do it in quite the way my ministerial colleagues would have preferred—but we shall leave it at that point because we work together. I look over to the other side of the House and ask whether anyone there could possibly put a Budget together. 
John Key 
: Yes. 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: I just about believe that. We do feel sorry for John Key do we not? He agreed to Michelle Boag coming in to be the rising star and spokesperson on finance for the National Party. Then what happened? Bill English asked Don Brash to do the job as well. That was absolutely unfair. When that member was invited in to Parliament as the member was—I mean of course Mr Key the member for somewhere in west Auckland—by the president of the party to be a rising star in the finance area who went in front of him? It was Don Brash. I feel sorry for Mr Key. I think we all feel sorry for him. 
Jill Pettis 
: No! 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: People do not feel sorry for him? Who on the opposite side of the House would if in Government be trying to put together a Budget? We all know of course that it would be Richard Prebble. He is the only person. He is the person who Murray McCully says has more political skills than anyone on the front bench of the National Party. Also he actually said that Rodney Hide is better than anyone on the front bench of the National Party. I tell members that we do not run that tight a caucus discipline on our side but I would be looking for the Prime Minister’s ruck marks if I made a comment like that about my leader. 
Of course we are lucky that we have a great leader who deals daily to National to the point where today National members are too scared to ask the Prime Minister a question. In Opposition we used to itch for it when Jenny Shipley and Jim Bolger were Prime Minister. We thought: “What questions can we ask the Prime Minister today?” We wondered how we could hold him or her to account. But what do we have here? We have a National Party whose members do not even have the spine to ask the Prime Minister a question. Not one of them was prepared to front up today. 
We could go along National’s front bench and point out people like Gerry Brownlee—[ 
Interruption 
] Well he has stretched buttons at the moment. There is a lot of hot air over there. They do not ask me questions either and that is not fair because I quite like questions. As Minister of Education I think I should have my fair share of questions but unfortunately no one in the National Party— 
Richard Worth 
: There should be a question mark over you. 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: I would like there to be a question mark as a result of a bit of pressure from Parliament. But it needs an Opposition. As for Nick Smith I would like him to ask me a question. This is a relatively sad Opposition. 
Sitting suspended from 6 p.m. to 7.30 p.m. 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: As I left the House we were contemplating who other than John Key with 10 15 or 20 years’ experience could possibly put a Budget together. It is quite clear that the sad wrung-out dish mop Dr Brash could not possibly do it. He has given up already. He has been here a year and he has given up. Now he almost says he is sorry before he asks questions. 
Hon Dr Michael Cullen 
: He is a sort of Mary Batchelor of the National Party. 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: I think that is bit rough on Mary Batchelor and Danny Kaye for that matter as well. There is a little bit of talent left on the National Party side. There is Mr Power who is sort of threatening but I do not think he will ever make it in the financial area because it requires a bit more work than the gentleman rural member is prepared to do. Therefore what is obvious and sort of delightful and what people who are being polled this very night by UMR Insight will be saying is: “We really know that if the very very weak Leader of the Opposition was ever involved in Government again with ACT as the coalition partner Richard Prebble would be Treasurer.” Everyone knows that there is no way that someone as weak as Bill English would ever be able to stand up to someone like Richard Prebble. I wonder now how much longer anyone with any self-respect would stay in the job in the position Bill English is in. Every now and again—and it is very hard because he is a Tory—I start feeling sorry for him. Clearly he is someone who was promoted before his time. He is someone who had a whole pile of potential and never delivered and now he has a mutinous bunch around him and there is no sign at all of any policy direction. 
I ask members to look at the issue of the beaches. What a fundamental mistake he has made. He has ended up attacking his rich mates and their private beaches because he said there should be one rule for everybody—access to those beaches even if it has not been there in the past. I happen to agree with him. There are matters of property rights and things like that to work through but I never thought I would hear from a National Party leader about confiscating the rights of people who have private beaches. But he said it and I congratulate him— 
John Carter 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. We had this debate earlier on and Minister Tamihere made the same claim. It is just not correct. The member Wayne Mapp has given his word and the Leader of the Opposition would if he were here. Members are honourable members and their words are to be accepted. The Leader of the Opposition has never said that. The Minister should not be allowed to repeat it because it is not correct. 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: Speaking to the point of order Madam Deputy Speaker. I think you know and I know that Bill English may be able to come to the House and make such a claim but someone else cannot make it on his behalf. It is a matter for debate. 
John Carter 
: The fact is that the member cannot come into the House and make misleading statements. That is against the Standing Orders as well and the fact is that if he continues he could be before the Privileges Committee. 
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: No that is debatable. The member would have to come to the House himself to make a statement. 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: Let us just make it clear. We have someone who says there should be one standard for everybody and the absolute consistent point flowing from that is that his mates’ beaches have to be confiscated. We all know that. What we have is a sad little man running around looking for some policy thinking he can scratch a few itches. [ 
Interruption 
] I think it is disgraceful too. Bill English of all people is deciding that it is about time to kick a few brown people. I think it is outrageous. He thinks he can make progress on something that comes right up to the edge of being racist. 
John Carter 
: Oh! He’s worried about it if he’s talking about it. 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: Well I am—and do members know what? I thought he was better than that. I thought he had a conscience and I thought he cared. What is clear is that we now have a leader of the National Party who is a very sad case. He is now like a poor old wrung-out tea towel about to be cast aside as a wet little thing in the kitchen by the National Party. I say that it would be a much better thing for the country if those members just got on with it and did not keep him there. I do not really care whether it is Mr Power who goes or who holds on and loses the next election and whether John Key then comes in whether they go in as a team or whether they do the logical thing and go straight to John Key and cut out those who are sitting in the middle. I do not think it is that relevant for politics in New Zealand for the next 4 or 5 years but it is a very sad thing to watch.