King Colin: General Debate 
King Colin: General Debate 
[Volume:652;Page:1416] 
COLIN KING (National—Kaikoura) 
: 
 It is the sort of muddle-headed thinking shown by the previous speaker that sank Labour. The inability of the members on the opposite side of the House to actually read public opinion is why they were chucked out of the Treasury benches. I want to deal with their leader. Those of us who were in the House over the last 3 years saw the total dislocation of the Government members. We saw their inactivity their infighting and their disaccord. What reveals a lot about what is seen today is a report from the Auditor-General on the way that parole was managed. We know that it is quite a glaring indictment upon the Labour Government that during its watch New Zealand had such heinous things occurring. 
Who was the Minister in charge at that particular time in November 2007? It was Phil Goff. When one stops to think about it that is quite interesting. There is a general theme of ineptitude when one looks at Phil Goff’s actions over the last 3 years. Sure he was the Minister of Trade but he was also the Minister of Defence. When I stop and think about it I realise one of the enduring photos I have in my mind of Phil Goff was in the Christchurch  
Press 
—which never lies; it tells the truth. It was of Phil Goff walking away with two C-130J Hercules in the background. That has carried on today. When we go to Marlborough the enduring monument to Phil Goff as the Minister of Defence will be 14 Skyhawks put out to pasture fenced on pasture and wrapped up in white cladding. He was going to sell them for $120 million to $140 million. 
Chris Auchinvole 
: Did he sell them? 
COLIN KING 
: No he did not sell them. They have not sold. Now let us move on to Project Protector. The notion was a fantastic concept but where is Project Protector today? 
Chris Auchinvole 
: Where is it? 
COLIN KING 
: It is still languishing at Whangarei Harbour because parts of it cannot get its marine survey. It is not working. 
A consistent theme here is that the Leader of the Opposition does not deliver and that message will be coming through loud and clear already to the other would-be contenders be it Cunliffe or whomever else. They will be awaiting their time. As previous speakers on this side of the House have alluded to it is only a matter of time before there is a change over there. There will be discord and disjointedness as we have not seen before because Phil Goff’s track record is not great. Just after the Government changed we were looking to see what state of readiness the Boeing 757-200s were in. Where were they? They were both out of the country. One was undergoing major repairs and the other was unable to be sent to Asia to bring back New Zealanders. Such were the poor organisational structures under Phil Goff. I want to put that on the Table. I sympathise with the burden he has to carry. Not only was he part of a dysfunctional Government over the last 3 years but now with that track record he has to try to pull together a pretty ragged bunch. 
However on a more positive note I point out that this Government is doing a stunning job. This Government is in the real world. Its 100-day programme is fantastic. We will hear members on the other side of the House ranting in line with their silo-type thinking and saying that tax cuts benefit only the rich and go only to chief executive officers. I can inform those members that tax cuts are one of the best ways of leaving money in Marlborough and reinforcing the economies of the provinces and I say: “Hallelujah!” to that. I think that this Government under John Key with Bill English as the Minister of Finance is doing a stunning job. So does the public of New Zealand. The stimulus package of about $9 billion is equal to if not better than any other in the world. 
I would just like to conclude by mentioning the stunning effort of Anne Tolley and her ability to pick what needs to be done in education. In the very last days of the Labour Government we saw 3 years of inactivity where more than 20 percent of people left school unable to read and write. They did not have a very good experience. The Southern Cross Campus in Auckland is a decile 1 school. Anne Tolley has had the wisdom to inject $6 million into that school to help with hands-on skills.