Brownlee Gerry: General Debate 
Brownlee Gerry: General Debate 
[Volume:631;Page:2918] 
GERRY BROWNLEE (Deputy Leader—National) 
: 
 When one’s political career is at its end when one’s reputation is in tatters and when one has nothing to look forward to one turns round and joins the Labour Party. Mr Peters very very cleverly came to the House yesterday with a pile of emails. He said they would destroy people. He made the erroneous connection between National and some Americans all the time knowing that his own campaign was run by an American called Mr John Edward Foote. 
Are members like me—a little bit uncertain about why New Zealand First did so poorly in the last campaign? Here is the reason: the American genius selected by Winston Peters to run his campaign had previous experience running the Williams Brothers shopping centre campaign the Cumbria County Council campaign the Moro Friends of the Library campaign and various training sessions including one called “Collins for Congress”—thank God it is not our own Collins! But the kicker—the big thing—that Mr Foote hangs his hat on is that he was once a fundraiser for Dan Quayle. This is the guy that Winston Peters chose to run his campaign. The only American bagman in the 2005 campaign was carrying the bag for Winston Peters. 
I say to Winston Peters that leaked emails go two ways. I have an email in front of me that was leaked out of a New Zealand First office today—at 2.41 p.m. actually. The writer states that he or she has seen Sky News has watched the leader of New Zealand First Winston Peters and has now come to the conclusion that Mr Peters is nothing more than a Labour Party stooge. The writer states that any further votes for New Zealand First will not come from the writer’s household. I am told that New Zealand First’s email system is clogged with those sorts of emails. 
Perhaps one of the worst aspects of yesterday’s so-called revelations by the leader of New Zealand First— 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. I do not usually do this—I would wait until the end of the speech—but I think the member should table the document right now and then we will see who is telling the truth. [ 
Interruption 
] 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Ann Hartley) 
: First of all points of order are heard in silence. The Speaker has warned the whole House this afternoon and many members could have been out then. No that was not a point of order. 
GERRY BROWNLEE 
: Perhaps one of the worst aspects of Mr Peters’ revelations yesterday was the fact that he attacked a gentleman called Julian Robertson. I invite members of Parliament on the other side of the House to tell us how many times they have enjoyed hospitality at various institutions owned by Mr Robertson. I would like them to tell us how many times they have been in helicopters owned by Mr Robertson. How many times has Darren Hughes been up to Kauri Cliffs? How many times has that whip signed the leave papers for Labour Party members to go snivelling up to Mr Robertson at Kauri Cliffs? I want them to own up to the fact that the only person who got a donation from Mr Robertson at the last election was Dover Samuels. He is the man who is happy to say that Mr Robertson has provided thousands of jobs in the north. 
Then we have the other issue. Recently at Te Papa there was an exhibition of paintings by Cézanne Picasso and other leading artists—paintings that New Zealanders would not ordinarily get the chance to see. Those paintings were on loan to Te Papa by the gentleman in question and his wife. It was a generous gift to the whole country and I want to know what the Minister for Arts Culture and Heritage the Rt Hon Helen Clark thinks about that attack. This is an attack by Mr Peters. It is a little bit like a mauling by a mouse when we think about it. He is a man at the end of his political career—this is a sad sad end to it. 
Tariana Turia 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. It is almost impossible to hear and I ask you to ask members of the House to allow those of us who want to listen to be able to hear. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Ann Hartley) 
: The member is quite right. The barracking is coming from my left. In courtesy to the members who do want to hear what the member is saying members on my left could tone it down a bit. 
GERRY BROWNLEE 
: I seek leave to start again. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Ann Hartley) 
: Leave is sought by the member to start his speech again. Is there any objection? There is objection. 
GERRY BROWNLEE 
: I return briefly to the comments made by my colleague Murray McCully who I think very very clearly and carefully put out the underlying problem that we are likely to face as a nation if our Minister of Foreign Affairs is going to continue along these lines. We know he has a bundle of papers. It has never bothered us—we could have set the police on him or undertaken all sorts of other investigations but we have been quite unworried by that. But what does worry us is that at a time when the New Zealand Parliament is for the greater part concerned about re-cementing our relationship with the United States Mr Peters is ripping it apart.