Fairbrother Russell: General Debate 
Fairbrother Russell: General Debate 
[Volume:635;Page:6520] 
RUSSELL FAIRBROTHER (Labour) 
: 
 It is quite clear that the leaderless rabble across the Chamber have no policy and that is why the speeches of those members lack both consistency and factual accuracy. The last speaker Dr Coleman from the North Shore has not yet been to see the Minister for the Rugby World Cup to put in the bid for the North Shore and he has not let other people do so on his behalf— 
Dr Jonathan Coleman 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. It is Northcote. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: That is not a point of order; it is a debatable issue. 
RUSSELL FAIRBROTHER 
: I was speaking about the member for Northcote as well! 
Dr Wayne Mapp 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. How can it possibly be debatable whether a member is the member for North Shore or Northcote? Dr Coleman is the member for Northcote and I am the member for North Shore. That point is not debatable. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: I accept the member’s point. [ 
Interruption 
] I know that it is Wednesday. 
RUSSELL FAIRBROTHER 
: My difficulty of course is that that man has made absolutely no impression not only on me but on the Labour Party in the House—and on the Assistant Speaker quite clearly because the Assistant Speaker failed to pick up on the whereabouts of that very anonymous member. 
Let us look at the analysis of whether the Prime Minister hates rugby. Let us dwell upon that question for just a minute. The Prime Minister goes overseas. The Leader of the Opposition goes overseas. No one talks to him. He comes home early. The Prime Minister goes overseas on important world trade business and takes huge personal time out to go to the International Rugby Board meeting where her contribution secures the World Cup for New Zealand rugby. Her contribution was acknowledged by Jock Hobbs and the New Zealand Rugby Union. She showed the leadership that the last speaker can only envy—the leadership that he admires and the leadership that he wishes there was a touch of in the Opposition across the Chamber. If there were leadership across the Chamber and if the loyal Opposition had a leader to lead the charge that Opposition would also have some policy. But does the Opposition have policy? 
Hon Mahara Okeroa 
: No. 
RUSSELL FAIRBROTHER 
: We know that but the Opposition does not know it because we did not hear a “Yes” from the other side of the House. The Opposition admits to having no policy. This side of the House knows the answer—no. 
The member for Northcote is very quiet on the question of policy. “What is that?” he asks. The senior Opposition whip is very quiet on policy. “What is that?” he asks. “Who has to have policy around here? We are supposed to be the Opposition.” But to be in Opposition one needs to have a leader. So who are National’s leadership choices? Is it the millionaire who made his money from market trading and does not have any policy or plank to rely upon? Or is it the very right-wing Dr Brash who is so far to the right that only the member for Napier follows him faithfully like a puppy dog? 
The truth of course is that if we want to look at policy and contradictory behaviour we just need to go to a school in Napier. On Monday night this week William Colenso College in Napier said it all about Government policy. It had a prize-giving. William Colenso College is a decile 2 college which has students from year 7 to year 13 after a recent merger. It is a decile 2 college that could announce on that night that its National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) results were the equivalent of an average decile 7 school. That is an amazing announcement from a decile 2 school that cannot pick and choose its students. 
The significant thing about that of course was that the local National member was sitting on the stage when that announcement was made. He is the very man who went on record during the last election campaign as saying that we had to get away from NCEA. Did he demur? No he clapped because he saw policy in action. What he also acknowledged by his presence on that stage was the failure of the National Party’s bulk-funding approach. The modern William Colenso College was born out of the bulk-funding fiasco of 1999. A new board was voted in—led by a very capable man who is now an MP—and a new principal and William Colenso College now has the figures to speak highly of the Government’s policy in education. 
An echelon that went through primary school in the days of the National Government came to William Colenso College in 2002 and its average literacy rate was 8 percent—that was its norm. Eight percent of that class had a normal literacy rate; the rest were lower. That class—a large complement of students—graduated on Monday and they were at the top of their performance level. The National Party member for Napier sat there and clapped them because he acknowledged publicly the success of the Government’s policy in education.