Hodgson Pete: General Debate 
Hodgson Pete: General Debate 
[Volume:627;Page:22051] 
Hon PETE HODGSON (Minister of Transport) 
: 
 I move  
That the House take note of miscellaneous business 
. The other person in the running for the position of Prime Minister of this land is a person with a very very unusual preparation for the bid. He wants the highest office in the land but he has not yet in his long life won an election—not once. He has never won an election. About a quarter of a century ago he managed to lose a blue ribbon seat whilst standing for National in Auckland. 
Clayton Cosgrove 
: Who to? 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: To Social Credit! Then 3 years later he did it again. He lost to the “funny money” party twice in 3 years in a blue ribbon seat in Auckland. That is an unbelievable electoral record. He was appointed to the top of the National Party list—that is how he got into Parliament. The only election he has won since he has been in Parliament was one in which there were 29 votes including his own— 
Darren Hughes 
: How many? 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: There were 29 votes which were cast behind closed doors. He won by mistake when the margin against him was considered too wide and a number of his colleagues changed their votes without telling one another. That is the totality of his electoral history and it ain’t going to get any better 53 days from now. 
It is not just his electoral history that creates some sort of world record—it is also his political views which are radical indeed. This is the man who said of nuclear legislation that if it were up to him it would be gone by lunchtime. This is the man who said that frankly he did not care who owns schools. This is the man who said about Iraq that he would have done what President Bush did. Those are startling and scary things to say. They are not mainstream viewpoints. Most New Zealanders want to keep their nuclear legislation. Most thought that this Government’s decision not to go to Iraq was the right one. Most New Zealanders want a State education system; they do care who owns schools. Those are unusual swirly eyed views; they are radical things to say. They are off the wall unsettling and very strange. They are scary stuff. 
We put those words on billboards on Friday and over the weekend we put the billboards in prominent places. Do members know what Dr Brash said? He said that that was a personal attack when all we did was use his words and put them on billboards. Did we misquote him? No. Did we quote him out of context? No. Might it be that Dr Brash somehow did not say those things? No. We simply took his words and put them on billboards and he said that it was a personal attack. If members want to know what a personal attack looks like they should go to the authorised biography of the man. There they will find the stories of the holey pyjamas. There they will find the stories about the corned beef and the peas. That is what a personal attack is. He scored an own goal in his authorised biography. 
The guy is easily rattled because he has always been the boss. He is easily rattled because he has never had a job interview. He is easily rattled because he has always been in control. He has always had his views agreed to and he is offended that these days his views are being challenged and even quoted. 
This is not a personal attack. It is a series of quotes that Dr Brash made before his Aussie minders got to him and started to shut him down. That is why his language has changed over recent months. That is why he now has more positions on nuclear ships than he received votes when he became the leader of National. That is where Dr Brash the flip-flopper came from. On every topic imaginable Dr Brash has as many different propositions as one can imagine—one for every day of the week one for every audience one for every poll rating and one for every mood. 
In fact today’s  
New Zealand Herald  
gave an interesting insight because it quoted more National Party board minutes from last December. It said: “The issue of perceived flip-flops has to be dealt with professionally and efficiently…”. The National Party council could smell the trouble back then in December. It knew that it was in difficulties. The minutes go on: “The portrayal of National and its leader as being indecisive has to be reversed…”. Those are the minutes from the bowels of the National Party. It knew that it was in trouble. Of course the important thing is that those flip-flops occurred because that guy was telling the truth then and is now not.