Goff Phil: General Debate 
Goff Phil: General Debate 
[Volume:641;Page:11136] 
Hon PHIL GOFF (Minister of Defence) 
: 
 The previous speaker Bill English deserves all the support he can get from his colleagues because we have just heard a speech from the man who was the least successful National Party leader in New Zealand’s history. He led National to its worst electoral result since the 1930s. Such is the poverty of leadership in the National Party that Bill English has been put back on the front bench next to John Key the man whose vote saw him lose the leadership the first time and the man whom Bill English deeply resents and wants to remove. That is the truth of it. 
Let us dissect what Bill English had to say. The first thing he had the temerity to raise was the question of troops being sent from Australia by Air New Zealand. The debate that has been happening in this Chamber I say to Mr English has been about the National Party’s desire to send New Zealand troops to Iraq which is what John Key would have done if he had been in a position to do so 3 years ago. 
Then Mr English talked about honesty. What about the honesty of Mr Key who said and is on record as saying he would have sent troops to Iraq but now denies that he would ever have done so? That is dishonest and that is misleading. All John Key had to do was to get up and say: “I got it wrong. My judgment was absolutely inappropriate. I apologise to New Zealand and I’ve changed my mind.” But he did not do that. Why did he not do that? It is because that did not fit into National Party members’ contrived spin about how they want to place themselves. We have an Opposition that demands the resignation of people for misleading the public when their own leader has been caught out being dishonest and was as recently as last Friday on record as saying he never would have sent troops to Iraq when clearly he said he would. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. There have been numerous occasions in this House over the last 4 years or so where the National Party Opposition has been pulled up for making a point about Helen Clark’s signing of a painting Helen Clark’s sitting in the back of a car going at enormous speeds across the plains of Canterbury— 
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: What is the point of order? 
Gerry Brownlee 
: The point is that on all those occasions the Prime Minister took a position that we thought was somewhat dishonest and we often referred to her as a liar only to be told that such a comment was unparliamentary. In that regard quite clearly and regardless of the fact that actions have been taken by the Government in this matter Mr Goff is quite out of order in his speech. We should have an apology for those— 
Hon Annette King 
: That’s because you can’t drive a car from the back seat. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: Mr Deputy Speaker is this a point of order or not? The shifty-looking Minister of State Services over there— 
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: No no—it might have been a point of order but you are fast drifting off it. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: The point is that we think Mr Goff should withdraw and apologise. 
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: All right. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I think it is probably a separate point of order afterwards because you did not pull up the member when he repeated some out of order statements himself as part of his point of order. Things would have been quite rightly ruled out of order previously. 
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: Thank you for that. Mr Goff did I hear you mention the word “liar” just before you sat down? 
Hon PHIL GOFF 
: Yes I did. I withdraw Mr Deputy Speaker. 
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: Could you withdraw and apologise. 
Hon PHIL GOFF 
: I apologise and withdraw Mr Deputy Speaker. 
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: Thank you. That takes care of that. 
Hon PHIL GOFF 
: John Key had the chance this afternoon to stand up in response to the question asked of him and to explain himself justify himself and excuse himself. He did not stand up and not one of his colleagues took a call to defend the integrity of John Key—not one. They know that what John Key said last Friday yet again is untrue and deliberately misleads the public. They know that. It is very clear. There are double standards from Opposition members who demand resignations from everybody else but do not apply those same standards of integrity and honesty to themselves. 
What John Key has demonstrated in the last couple of weeks is his inexperience his lack of judgment and the fact that he flip-flops. He is the man who said climate change was a hoax and the next minute he said we need to do more to resolve it. I do not object to a member changing his mind over time and gaining a bit of experience and a bit more judgment. But John Key did it again on climate change did he not? He said: “I’m in favour of doing things to stop climate change. I’m against global warming and always have been.” We know that is not true. He said it was a hoax and now he says he has always been against it. Twice he has been caught out not telling the truth and this man would have the country believe that he is fit to be Prime Minister! 
I think that one of the most important judgments made by this Labour Government was to keep New Zealand out of being entrapped in the war in Iraq. I am proud of the judgment that was shown then. John Key is now saying that now he knows the way the war has gone he would not have wanted to be there. We do not want a man with the judgment of hindsight. We want as Prime Minister a woman who made the right judgment at the time together with her Cabinet. We knew that it was not appropriate to send troops to Iraq. The fact that we did not do so is probably respected by our friends and allies who did but what they will not respect is John Key who gets up and says we should fight for the values we believe in and who is now saying that well actually National believed in those values but it was up to the other side to send troops and they would not have done it. I know that our friends and allies would despise that comment. That is a comment that shows a lack of courage of one’s convictions. It is one thing to be against the war but it is another thing to say one is in favour of it but somebody else should fight it. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: Point of order— 
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: Yes. A member may not imply any member or party lacks courage and I think you did Mr Goff—not quite directly but just withdraw the remark please. 
Hon PHIL GOFF 
: I withdraw Mr Deputy Speaker. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I know this is a very unusual thing to do with you in the chair Mr Deputy Speaker but on many occasions the phrase “courage of convictions” has been used in this House and to the best of my knowledge it has not been ruled out before. It is a phrase that members do use. It is a challenge to people to stand up for what they believe in and I ask if you are making that ruling that it not be done in a precedent-setting way. 
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: I am not making a ruling; I have made my ruling. But I thank the member for his comments. I have made my ruling. I did not like the remark so that action is finished. 
Hon PHIL GOFF 
: The New Zealand way is that when we believe in something we commit to it. New Zealand under a Labour-led Government believed in stopping terrorism in Afghanistan and we made that commitment. It is not the New Zealand way to say: “I believe in it. We should be there.” then to say: “But we’re not going to be there. Somebody’s going to fight it for us.” I go back to what I was saying. What I really object to is that John Key misled the country. There is no doubt about it. He has not apologised or withdrawn for doing that.