Mapp Wayne: General Debate 
Mapp Wayne: General Debate 
[Volume:633;Page:5221] 
Dr WAYNE MAPP (National—North Shore) 
: 
 The Government is facing a perfect storm and it is pretty clear that Ron Mark has been sucked into the centre of it. 
Ron Mark 
: I apologise to the most honourable member for interrupting his speech. I seek the leave of the House to table a photograph of a New Zealand police officer who was stabbed in the performance of his duty—a photograph of him lying in bed with his baby beside him. 
Document by leave laid on the Table of the House. 
Dr WAYNE MAPP 
: Mr Mark could have waited. He is being sucked into the vortex of the storm engulfing this Government. The Prime Minister keeps saying that the election spending issue is some kind of beltway issue that no one out in New Zealand actually cares or gives a toss about. Labour members keep asking themselves questions in the House and having Mr Mallard give extraneous points of order and they think that this will all go away. 
What do Labour members take New Zealanders for and what do they take the press gallery for? Do they think that we are fools? The answer is—absolutely no. If Labour members need some kind of a constant reminder of this then they only need to read today’s  
New Zealand Herald 
. What did the Prime Minister have to say about that? She said she does not read the  
New Zealand Herald 
 any more. Well who can possibly believe that? Do members know why she does not read the  
New Zealand Herald 
? It is because she has censors. 
Jill Pettis 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I am listening very carefully to what Dr Mapp is saying and he is completely misrepresenting what the Prime Minister said in the House during question time today. She said that that piece of information had not passed her desk that day. The member is completely misrepresenting that. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: That is a debating issue. 
Dr WAYNE MAPP 
: What an absurd point of order. It shows the desperation of Labour members that they have to use every little parliamentary device to try to avoid the truth. 
Well let me tell the member what the  
New Zealand Herald  
stated today: “If the parties cannot distinguish between bona fide information and blatant electioneering they should not be entrusted with funds for the former.” It also stated: “Now Labour has dredged up National material from the election before”—it was 2002 for heaven’s sake—“the rules were clarified.” What did the paper say about that? It stated: “It is all a bit desperate.” 
Sue Moroney 
: What law change was this? 
Dr WAYNE MAPP 
: Sue Moroney over there is desperate and dateless. If Labour members think they can fool the public by dredging up something from 2002 they are just dreaming. Actually Labour members were told by the Auditor-General and the Chief Electoral Officer last year—literally within weeks or months of the election—to be careful and to not use the money allocated for parliamentary purposes for electioneering. Labour members know the truth of that. 
Do people know what Labour members’ desperate refuge is at the moment? Those members say that the draft Auditor-General’s report is just that—a draft. They say it is not a final report so who could possibly believe it and they ask who would accept a draft report. Those members know the truth. They know that the train is coming down the track. They are standing on the tracks ready to be bowled by it. 
I tell those members over there one of whom is a Minister to get their cheque books out. They should write out that cheque because that is what the public expects. Frankly Ministers of the Crown should be writing out much bigger cheques than should new Labour members of Parliament who have just come in as hapless and hopeless as they are. The public has one demand for this Government—pay it back. Those members can do it. The public is saying that Labour should not use public money to pay the money back. The Government should not use some trickery or chicanery which it is likely to try to get up to to try to avoid its responsibilities. 
One of the things this Government always went to the public on was that it was responsible it listened to the public and it took action. I guess that is the sort of thing a new Government says before it is tired in office and before the arrogance has seeped in. That was almost a lifetime ago—it was 7 years ago and the arrogance has seeped in now has it not? It is no wonder that Marian Hobbs decided to decline to be in Cabinet. She said she did not want to have a bar of a Cabinet that would do that sort of thing. I say at least one thing to Marian— 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: The member will use the member’s full name. 
Dr WAYNE MAPP 
: Ms Marian Hobbs’ cheque will be smaller than that of the honourable Minister Nanaia Mahuta but in both cases those members have to do their duty which is to be honest with the public and to pay back the money. 
Labour members also thought they could duck and dive on the issue of Mr Field. I was frankly quite amazed given the Prime Minister’s disowning of Mr Field that we would have an honourable Minister of the Crown in this Chamber today defending him. Actually we have news for her. Mr Ingram said that the invoices cannot be believed. There is a police report and justice will be done.