O'Rourke Denis: New Zealand Flag Referendums Amendment Bill — First Reading Second Reading In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeO'Rourke Denis: New Zealand Flag Referendums Amendment Bill — First Reading Second Reading In Committee[Sitting date: 23 September 2015. Volume:709;Page:6984. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]DENIS O’ROURKE (NZ First): New Zealand First is very proud to be the only party left that is willing to defend the current New Zealand flag in this whole process. We are actually pretty surprised to be in that position because I happen to know that there are members of the National Party who disagree with their own party on this. I could name some of them but I will have the grace not to do so on this occasion.I am very disappointed that both Labour and the Greens have chosen to support the Government on this bill albeit under a degree of protest when John Key himself has never actually had the guts to come to this House—Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! The member does not refer to a member in those terms using that unparliamentary language.Tracey Martin: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. Just to clarify what you are saying is that it was the words “had the guts” even though the Prime Minister has used them to the Leader of the Opposition in this House previously?Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: The member should not be speaking in that way. It does not add to the debate.DENIS O’ROURKE: I am happy to use a different word which I am sure will be acceptable. I will say that John Key has never had the courage to speak—Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Don’t say that either.DENIS O’ROURKE: I beg your pardon?Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: You should not be referring in that way either.DENIS O’ROURKE: Courage?Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Just move away from questions of intestinal fortitude courage guts and all those things. Stick to the debate.DENIS O’ROURKE: In that case I will simply say this: John Key has never taken part—Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: That’s well done. Thank you.DENIS O’ROURKE: —in a debate in this House on this flag debate. He has never taken part in this flag debate and he should have because he is the one in fact who is said to be leading the whole process.But New Zealand First is not alone in its opposition to this because 70 percent of the people in New Zealand actually agree with us. That has been shown in poll after poll. Those are scientific polls and so we humbly take on the role of defender of the current flag on their behalf.Some people have claimed a groundswell of support for the Red Peak monstrosity. In actual fact it is said that 50000 people took part in this petition but we happen to know—because people have actually emailed us and told us with one person saying that he had actually voted three times and he said that he knows many others who have done the same. So it really is not a groundswell; it is actually more of a molehill of support and that is the truth of that. The truth is that in that scientifically run poll fewer than 20 percent support any change to the flag at all and 70 percent are against it. That is the truth; that is the groundswell—that is not a molehill.John Key is embarrassed and he is running scared—scared of a low turnout in the first referendum which will be less than 25 percent I believe. He is scared that so few will vote that they will vote informally by saying: “Keep our flag.” or like me will stick a sticker on every one of those alternatives whether they be four or five and tick them but only them and not the alternatives—or by whatever means people will use to show their opposition. That is what the Government is running scared about in this whole mismanaged process. It will show that the second flag referendum will be a complete and utter waste of time and money.The process in the Act as it now is was in fact misconceived in not first asking anyone whether they wanted a referendum to change the flag at all. That is the fundamental fault. Now John Key agrees that he was wrong because he did not give himself the power in the original legislation to add more flags and that is ridiculous I believe. That is what I saw him say on TV this evening. He had originally put his faith in an expert panel to choose alternatives but now he disagrees with that panel and seeks in this bill to gerrymander his way out of the requirements of his own legislation. What a farce and what arrogance.As to the detail of the bill—what on earth is the rationale for suddenly adding another flag to the four chosen by the expert panel after of course much acclaimed public consultation? In fact there is no reason or rationale for it whatsoever. I have already mentioned the molehill of claimed public support for the horrible Red Peak flag in this so-called petition which is really just media-driven unscientific nonsense. We all know the truth. The fact is that John Key needs to save his backside and the Red Peak flag is his way of avoiding the electoral spanking and the political red backside that he so richly deserves.I suspect that John Key would have taken any excuse to add any old thing—any alternative—that he could find as a way of getting himself out of the hole that he has dug himself into. Of course he will be rubbing his hands in glee as Labour and the Greens fall into his political trap to support his gerrymandering bill despite their inadequate protests.So let us look at this peculiar alternative called Red Peak. It is angular gaudy and in no way representative of New Zealand or our culture. It is suitable as a road danger sign and it looks very much like a commercial logo. It is virtually the same as that of a Canadian commercial log-hauling company.More worrying is its similarity to the design of Nazi sentry boxes during the Second World War. Look at this photograph of a sentry box. This is actually a photograph taken from the Atlantic Wall Open Air Museum in Ostend Belgium and in it that is a Nazi sentry box. Look at it. Look at the design on the side of it. Look at the fact that it begins with a red peak with a white peak on top of that which is also identical to the Red Peak flag. Then there is a black peak on top of that also identical to the Red Peak flag. Only that little bit of blue in one corner is missing. There is an uncanny resemblance. The sad fact is that the Nazi colours were red white and black as the Red Peak flag is and those are the colours that dominate the Red Peak flag.Those who doubt have a look at this photograph because this is that same sentry box in full colour. The similarity is absolutely stunning—absolutely stunning. Let us look at that design that I have just shown you and the Red Peak side by side. Look at the similarity. Could it be much closer? It could not—it could not be much closer. That is how close the Red Peak design is to a Nazi sentry box design from the Second World War. I would like Gareth Hughes to have a good look at it but he does not want to because he does not want to know the truth. But people will make mischief of it.This picture of another design was obtained tonight from the internet. It is not by New Zealand First—not encouraged by New Zealand First—but by somebody already going on to the internet to say that. That is what people will do with that design because it has absolutely nothing to do with New Zealand’s culture or New Zealand’s people.We would be ridiculed overseas in exactly this sort of way if New Zealand were to adopt that kind of awful monstrosity of a design for the New Zealand flag. Imagine what the Aussies would say not to mention the Yanks. What about the British tabloids? They would have an absolute field day if we were to adopt a flag like that and I would not blame them.The national flag of New Zealand must engender respect for our country not provide a means of ridicule. New Zealand First rejects the original process which was back to front; this bill which is gerrymandering; and all of the alternatives which are utterly awful as New Zealand flags. But we would not have stood in the way had there been the genuine bottom-up referendum required by the New Zealand people with a proper process. This referendum is not that and this bill should be rejected for all of those reasons.