Barker Rick: General Debate 
Barker Rick: General Debate 
[Volume:620;Page:15471] 
Hon RICK BARKER (Minister for Courts) 
: 
 That was a very rich speech coming from Tony Ryall. He gets up in this House and complains about the numbers of people who are locked up in prisons police cells and court cells and asks where those people will go when those cells are full. Well when the National Party announced its policy of having more prisons the first thing Tony Ryall did was to campaign that they not be in his electorate. That is the truth of it. “Anywhere but here.” says Tony Ryall. The speech he just made was the most shallow speech we have heard from the National Party. But that is not unusual. 
The first point that needs to be made is where is the leadership of the National Party. I want to know why Don Brash is not here taking the lead for the National Party in the Wednesday debate. Why was he not here today asking questions? 
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: The member knows he is not allowed to refer to the absence of members. He will desist. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. I ask you to clarify your ruling. I think the Minister might have made a mistake when he said that Don Brash was not “here” to take the lead but it is appropriate for him to say that he is not taking the lead in this debate. 
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: The member clearly made a reference to his not being here. 
Hon RICK BARKER 
: I stand corrected. The point is that Dr Don Brash is not leading the debate this afternoon for the National Party. Neither was he leading question time for the National Party. It is quite obvious that the leadership of the National Party is absent. It seems that the National Party leadership has pressed the mute button not the play button. 
Don Brash is a leader who does not understand leadership. The first point about leadership is loyalty. Every Kiwi understands the nature of loyalty—loyalty to family loyalty to friends loyalty to soccer teams. One thing Kiwis understand is that when we go overseas we are loyal to our country. We are proud Kiwis and to hear Don Brash in Australia bagging New Zealand to Australians is the worst insult of all. Had he gone to Russia or somewhere like that probably we would not have cared quite so much but the Aussies always try to put down their Kiwi cousins and the one place where Kiwis should not bag New Zealand is Australia. Don Brash does not understand about loyalty; that is quite obvious because he is not loyal to New Zealand. But also he does not understand other issues. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. I think that as much as the concept appeals to me the suggestion that the Leader of the Opposition is not loyal to New Zealand should be ruled out of order. Although none of his members will defend him I will. I think that remark should be ruled out of order. 
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: The member will withdraw that remark. 
Hon RICK BARKER 
: I withdraw. The second thing that is causing Mr Brash some concern is the fractious nature and the quality of his members. It was interesting to have a report from a business meeting in Auckland at which Mr Don Brash was speaking. He was asked whether he had any worries or concerns about the quality or the depth of the talent in his team. He said quite candidly “Yes.” but when he was kicked in the shins by his minder Richard Long he suddenly changed his point of view. Of course he has concerns about the quality of his team. Simon Power who was the National Party’s spokesperson on defence and who sometimes asks questions or makes comments in the House to the tune of “Yankee Doodle Dandy” had a glittering career until he said that New Zealand should follow the USA the UK or Australia without hesitation. He got dumped for it. He did not appreciate that New Zealanders support the notion of independence. We are a proud nation. We are a nation of proud independent Kiwis and we will not have our decisions made by other people. 
The person who was most happy about that was John Key—the emerging leader in the jostle. John Key will watch with great interest the demise of Bill English. Bill English is trying to come back again like a soufflé rising twice. He decided to have a go with a Winston Peters’ style of mini - wine box issue. He had all these secrets but unlike Winston Peters he did not hold on to them for as long. Sadly for him he had exactly the same result as Winston Peters did—there was nothing of merit in the box at all. He was completely wrong. It was embarrassing for Bill English and embarrassing for the rat pack but it was very comforting for Don Brash. However it confirms Don Brash’s problem: he does not have any talent. 
Hon Dr Nick Smith 
: But he read it. 
Hon RICK BARKER 
: We have this chip from the backseats now from the member for Nelson. In my view he has no credibility. He fronted up to court and what did it find? It did not accept his word. Nobody else in this House has that dubious distinction. 
The key issue here is leadership and Dr Don Brash simply does not have it. The National Party used to have a lot of strong leaders. It had Muldoon who always led from the front. Even Jim Bolger led from the front as did Jenny Shipley—but not Don Brash.