Hughes Darren: General Debates 
Hughes Darren: General Debates 
[Volume:606;Page:3581] 
DARREN HUGHES (NZ Labour—Otaki) 
: 
 It is very ironic hearing from someone like the Hon. Dr Lockwood Smith who had the audacity to talk in this House about the rhetoric of the Government. I know that Dr Smith has been in Parliament for a long time but I am old enough to remember that he went around New Zealand with a lot of rhetoric. He went around this country with a bit of paper with his signature on it saying he would resign if tertiary fees were not removed in this country. That is what Dr Smith did. He signed a campaign— 
Dr the Hon Lockwood Smith 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. Members in this House must be careful to tell the truth. In fact the document I signed said that Government-imposed fees would be removed. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: That is a debatable issue. 
DARREN HUGHES 
: That is being very— 
Dr the Hon Lockwood Smith 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. When a member of this House points out that something is factually incorrect and it involves him or her directly that is not a debatable matter. 
DARREN HUGHES 
: How about I say that when Dr Lockwood Smith became the Minister of Education in 1990 students paid $1250 in fees for their tertiary education? By the time he left that portfolio people were paying much much more for their education than he had promised at the time of the 1990 election. He might try to push the blame over to the universities and polytechs of the country and say it was their fault but he presided over rocketing student fees in this country. He has the cheek to come to Parliament today to talk about the rhetoric of the Labour Party on education and economic development in this country. His record shows exactly what he is like.  
Today in this House Labour and Progressive Coalition members have been focusing on the fact that yesterday in Parliament ACT cast only eight votes on the confidence motions on the Prime Minister’s statement. At the beginning of the year when Parliament starts and the Government talks about policy—as the Prime Minister did—one would have thought that when the time came to vote every party would want to be here to put on the record of the House its views in respect of confidence and the Government. Do members know what happened? ACT cast only eight of its nine votes even though the election sent it to Parliament with nine votes. The reason ACT will not tell us why the other vote was not counted is that there is $111000 at stake. When ACT came to Parliament it said it would be the perk-buster party that made sure that every dollar was accounted for yet it is prepared to sit in Parliament and collect $111000 while not casting one of its member’s votes. If I were that party I would be dialling 111 which is a very good number for that party because it is in trouble. There is an emergency in the ACT party but it keeps the cash to do that.  
Gerry Brownlee started off for the National Party. He told us that we might be looking at the beginning stages of what one might possibly call the terminal phase of the Government. That is almost as bad as Bill English saying that we are a three-term Government. Poor old Mr Brownlee did not quite have the courage of his convictions to say that Labour was on the way out. He said that we looked as though we might be starting a bad phase and I think that was an absolute disaster. 
However Gerry Brownlee deserves the job because on my way to Waitangi Day this year I read the  
New Zealand Herald 
 of the day before which stated that if invited to speak National Party leader Bill English planned to stand on Te Tii Marae at Waitangi and criticise his Ngapuhi hosts’ ban on non-Maori media staff. I thought to myself: “Mr English will stick it to the Ngapuhi because we are told that he is a man who is standing up for one standard of citizenship.” I was sitting on the plane and could not wait to arrive at Te Tii Marae with the Prime Minister to find out from the locals what had happened when the Leader of the Opposition got up. I ask Mr Donnelly what did he say? 
Hon Brian Donnelly 
: He was like a pussycat. 
DARREN HUGHES 
: He was like a pussycat on the marae—he said nothing. He started off with a very long mihi I am told which was very good on pronunciation. Bill English is a man who might be committed one might think to a bicultural New Zealand. He was very good at that phase but when he stopped his mihi he said something like: “Oh well thank you very much for having me here. It is a great privilege for us to be here. It is great to be a New Zealander. Tena koutou katoa.’’ and sat down. That was the great leadership stand from Bill English who had told the country how strong he would be on Maori. Yet he had been practising his te reo on the plane the whole way and he does not do that anywhere else around New Zealand. I bet National does not start its caucus meeting with a karakia. But when Bill English goes to Waitangi’s Te Tii Marae he says a beautiful mihi. Then when he speaks in English he says: “Thank you very much for having me. Is it time for the cup of tea?”. He was not going to take on Ngapuhi like he told the country he would do. Gerry Brownlee would. Gerry Brownlee wrote in the paper that he would make a stand on treaty issues and he is doing it in Parliament. I believe he is the man to take National forward and come a few weeks’ time I do not think we will see much more of Mr English.  
Can I speak in support of one of my constituents who is getting a very tough ride from members of the National Party at the moment? I refer to its deputy leader. I thought it absolutely shameful that after his incident on Sunday those members raced to the paper to say how outraged they were by it and to shed crocodile tears over it. It is outrageous that they cannot wait to sidle up to the media to tell them how unpopular he is in the caucus. It is terrible the way they are undermining the deputy leader of the National Party. I want no more unemployment in Otaki.