Henare Tau: Defence Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Henare Tau: Defence Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:678;Page:863] 
Hon TAU HENARE (National) 
: 
 Kia ora Mr Assistant Speaker Robertson. I also want to pay my respects to what I consider to be a No. 1 Defence Force not only here in New Zealand but around the world and our long long—if I can be so bold a warrior Defence Force. 
I will not speak too long. I think that the problem that we get into is there are too many so-called experts in the debate about what is needed for a Defence Force. 
Sue Moroney 
: Too many people who remember what National has always done. 
Hon TAU HENARE 
: That is a classic example of what I am talking about. The expert from down in the South Island—sorry Hamilton—has been all around the world and she knows everything! So we should just leave it to her. 
The fact is that this Government is committed to having a strong and effective Defence Force. It is a Government that wants to enhance that one-force approach. It is a Government that knows that the services have to work together and be responsible and accountable to their masters—I suppose their pay masters. Whoever is in Government whether it is them or us we rely on the Defence Force to do what I consider to be a very very good job. Ever since Johnny was a young boy in the militia days fighting in the new nation of New Zealand Defence Force personnel have borrowed have stolen and have begged for other materials from other people. I know that that will continue regardless of how much money we put aside for the equipment and how much money we put aside for the defence of this nation and our interests overseas. 
I have no qualms in commending the bill to the House. It is a new era. It is a new time and we must keep in step with the times. We must keep pace with the times. We can all laugh at Clayton Cosgrove talking about Les Patterson but the reality is that we can stand here and say that they did a bad job and we can sit here and hear them say that we did a bad job but at the end of the day the question is whether they will support this bill. If they do not support the bill then please come out with a figure—just a ballpark figure—of how much the spend— 
Hon Paula Bennett 
: You did say bald park. 
Hon TAU HENARE 
: The bald park? No the ballpark figure of how much the spend would be under a Labour Government. Everybody goes quiet. At the end of the day— 
Hon Phil Goff 
: It’s a case of priorities. 
Hon TAU HENARE 
: I have to say that if I was an alien and had come down to Earth and listened to the speech of the Hon Phil Goff I would think that with the great job they did they would be in Government. But it is not case. [ 
Interruption 
] Exactly. I would like to repeat the words of the Hon Phil Goff but I cannot. But that stuff does happen. 
Hon Phil Goff 
: It’s an old hippy saying. 
Hon TAU HENARE 
: I always thought it was—no. I have to say that we are the Government we took this process through under the Hon Wayne Mapp and now under my colleague the Hon Jonathan Coleman and it is about to get another airing in the Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade Committee so save your ammunition for then and make it count. Kia ora.