Hodgson Pete: General Debate 
Hodgson Pete: General Debate 
[Volume:643;Page:13291] 
Hon PETE HODGSON (Minister for Economic Development) 
: 
 I move  
That the House take note of miscellaneous business 
. One year ago this week Mr John Key ascended to the ranks of the leadership of the National Party and 1 year on that man’s star has started to wane. One year on the guy has peaked and we need to understand why that is. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: The member will please be seated. I am sorry to interrupt the member. I know that there was a lot of applause but I cannot hear the member speak. 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: Let me start again. 
Hon Dr Michael Cullen 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I assume that the speech will start again from the beginning and that the time will start from the time the noise from the Opposition ceases. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: That is a decision I will have to make. 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: One year ago John Key became the leader of the National Party and 1 year on his star has already peaked. Let me explain why. You see when he became— 
Hon Dr Michael Cullen 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I raised the point before and I repeat it again. I assume now that the speech begins again and that the speech will start from the time that the Opposition ceases to make noise. This is of course a members’ day so the Government is quite relaxed about how long this takes. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: I thank the member. Point of order Gerry Brownlee. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: I was not seeking a point of order; I sought the call. The member had sat down I sought the call and I have been given it. So I am delighted. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: No. I was under the impression that the member was raising a point of order with reference to Dr Cullen’s point of order. I just say to members that the practice of engaging in a constant barrage of interjections amounts to heckling and that it is entirely intolerable in the debating chamber. 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: Mr Speaker— 
Gerry Brownlee 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I would ask you to reflect on the way you have just ruled. What happened here was that Pete Hodgson the Labour Party strategist stood to congratulate John Key on the fact that he became the leader of the National Party 1 year ago. The member’s claim that this was a great occasion was robustly responded to by members on this side of the House who were very very delighted to hear it. If Mr Assistant Speaker you are to rule against spontaneous applause for smart statements or clever statements made by the Government then I think that would be a very very backwards step for the House to take. Mind you I would have to say that it would be a very unusual occasion for the Labour Government. 
Hon Dr Michael Cullen 
: I think that emphasises the importance of people not making lots of noise so that they can listen because of course Mr Hodgson said no such thing. He merely pointed out that 1 year ago Mr Key became the leader. [ 
Interruption 
] I think I will perhaps begin my point of order again. Mr Hodgson was not making a point in praise. He comes to bury Mr Key not to praise him. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: I say to members that the Chamber is a place of listening and debate. I think we will all prosper if we show some courtesy. I have been quite tolerant. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I ask you to think about what actually happened there. Mr Hodgson sat down and his situation has been retrieved only by the fact that you recognised Dr Cullen. Other than that I should rightfully have the floor to speak in that spot. 
Hon Dr Michael Cullen 
: It has not become the habit in this House although it should that when a member raises a point of order and the Speaker calls that member the member who was previously speaking sits down. It is common for members opposite to remain standing while other people are seeking a point of order. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: Thank you and I was on my feet as well. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: I think you did not hear Mr Assistant Speaker but there is a member at the back sitting next to the member for Tauranga who was seeking your attention by way of a point of order earlier on. I am not sure of his name; it is that member there. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: A point of order Mr Burrows? 
Chester Borrows 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I want to give the Leader of the House the opportunity to explain what appears to be a misrepresentation to the House. He initially raised a point of order saying that he could not hear what the Hon Pete Hodgson was saying. On a subsequent point of order he stood up and proposed that he had heard what the honourable member had said which was different from what Mr Brownlee had related to the House. So some clarification is due and I offer him the opportunity to do that. 
Hon Dr Michael Cullen 
: Of course what I said emphasises the importance of people listening because Mr Brownlee clearly had not heard what Mr Hodgson had said. I am afraid the member got that wrong. Again presumably with the amount of noise going on in the rear of the House he could not hear either. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: I could not hear either. I am now going to try to start the general debate again. I call the Hon Pete Hodgson. 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: A year ago this week John Key became the leader of the National Party and this week—[ 
Interruption 
] 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: We have had our fun. 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: —1 year on it is already clear that his star has peaked and has begun to wane. Here is why. The public have been waiting for the next step. They have had the grin they have had the nice little remarks and they have been waiting for some substance to emerge beneath the style. They have been looking forward to some gravitas. They have been looking forward to some new thinking. They have been looking forward to a little bit of philosophy—they have been looking forward really to anything at all. What they have had is plenty of front but no body. They have had a guy who has been good for a laugh but is no good when the pressure goes on. They have had a guy who is good at one-liners but cannot stand analysis. They have had a man who is hollow who is shallow and who as my colleague from Rimutaka would say is all hat and no horse. John Key is all hat and no horse. 
Three months ago Mr Key’s deputy leader Bill English summed him up—he did not even mean to. In an interview Bill English said that he Bill English was the stayer and John Key was the sprinter. Bill English said he did the hard yards and John Key moved flitted and bounced from cloud to cloud. That of course sums up John Key in a nutshell. That guy cannot be held down to any position to any philosophy or to anything he said in history. He just bounces from cloud to cloud and a year on the public of New Zealand are starting to realise that that will not do. If Mr Key wants to put in his nomination for the prime ministership of this land he must be subject to some testing as to what he believes—if indeed he believes anything at all. 
Let us look at what John Key said on his very first outing 1 year ago in November 2006. Here is a quote from John Key the leader of the New Zealand National Party. Listen to this it is stirring. He said: “My mission is to raise people’s sights to be fearless and to be imaginative in policies.” Since then he has had two formal policy launches. One of them was on international affairs. John Key advised a surprised nation—and indeed globe—that the Iraq war was over. The other one was the 60-page think-piece on health that forgot to tell us that doctors’ fees would go back up again under National. So you see 1 year on there have been two fearless policies. One was on foreign relations and said there was no war in Iraq and one was on health and said that doctors’ fees would go up not down. 
There was another instance in that same speech 1 year ago. It was Mr Key’s very first outing. He was in friendly territory; he was talking to the National Party on the North Shore. Again this man is worth listening to. He said: “Let me be also clear that I make no excuses for saying those policies of National’s will be harvested from wherever.” Now let us have a look at where he got them from. He said in respect of the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC): “We will introduce competition.” So his first policy subsequent to that speech was to privatise ACC. Next he said that flexible labour markets are the way to go. That says he is back to the Employment Contracts Act way of thinking. 
Then there was what he said on education. Do members remember that? He said there were plenty of opportunities to have the private sector playing a bigger role. Now not even Don Brash went that far. Don Brash said he did not care who owned the schools. John Key says he wants the private sector to own the schools. This guy will get his policies from wherever except that so far he has reached into one well only and that is where the National Party used to get its policies from. So you see so far we do not have too much from John Key. But then we have a recent quote from John Key that is really interesting and pertinent to today’s undertakings in the House. John Key said: “Let’s confront the reality that Nicky Hager was right.”