Brownlee GerryHon GERRY BROWNLEE (National—Ilam): I want to speak to the amendment in the name of the Hon Nick Smith which essentially deals with the parameters that might go round the interesting word in this bill: integrity". I can't speak about that without reflecting on the moments where past members of this House have made a decision about their future based on their integrity based on what they see as the core in the relationship between the people who elected them and their own views on things.The first member I want to talk about is someone who I've studied from an historic point of view because I certainly wasn't around at the time and that is John A Lee. He was a World War I hero. He lost an arm. He got the Distinguished Service Medal and was a stalwart a very strong stalwart for the Labour Party. But he was considered by some in the Labour Party to be too Marxist in his views. He clashed throughout his time in the Labour Party with Michael Joseph Savage. The two of them couldn't see eye to eye on anything. Ultimately he was suspended from the Labour Party and of course he set up the Democratic Labour Party after that.Now in that circumstance had this bill prevailed then the leader of the party who was incredibly popular and would have had no trouble amassing the 66 percent of votes or two-thirds of caucus votes required to back him could have had John A Lee drummed out of Parliament and a by-election created in his electorate.The same is true of Sir Leslie Munro who was a National Party member. He was a very distinguished gentleman. He had a diplomatic career that is well understood by many who follow United Nations politics for example. He came into this Parliament but clashed with Sir Keith Holyoake and clashed with Sir Jack Marshall and so he never made the ministerial rank but he never stopped having views that he thought represented the people who elected him in his electorate. He demonstrated his integrity and commitment to that set of principles throughout his career but had this bill prevailed then he as someone who was considered a troublemaker inside the National caucus someone who crossed the House actually and voted with the Government—it would have been between 1957 and 1960. Actually my apologies it was later than that. The National Party was in Government; he voted with the Opposition. He would have simply been put through this process and shuffled out the door.CHAIRPERSON (Adrian Rurawhe): Sorry to interrupt the member but would he like to in the last one and a half minutes relate those stories to the definition of "integrity".Hon GERRY BROWNLEE: Well perhaps if the member in the chair who is only a member of this House but for an hour sits in the chair presiding over it was prepared to listen he'd have heard me mention integrity on numerous occasions and provide examples of how past members have shown a great deal of integrity in respecting the will of their voters. And that's the problem here today: we know the jackboot's on; we know the Government wants the bill off the Table and out to the Parliament as quickly as possible so that they can appease Winston Peters. And they've got the whole system working for them. Better than any other demonstration we could have had it actually shows how little integrity is being shown by the Government and frankly the presiding officers in this particular debate. It is an utter disgrace that I should have even been questioned on that point of view.So I want to go one further. Then there's the case of Jim Anderton. Now Jim Anderton was a man whose politics I did not agree with but over my time in Parliament I came to respect him enormously. I think he is a great loss to our wider community. But he was a man who did not like Rogernomics. He did not like what the leadership of the Labour Party was doing and so he stood on his principles. He showed his integrity and he left the Labour Party."