McCully Murray: General Debate 
McCully Murray: General Debate 
[Volume:632;Page:4218] 
Hon MURRAY McCULLY (National—East Coast Bays) 
: 
 I had the opportunity before coming to the House this afternoon to view a tape of today’s midday news. It carried the interesting spectacle of the Minister of Foreign Affairs from New Zealand who seemed to have been unable to contain himself in a meeting with Senator John McCain in Washington. I say briefly to the House that I am disappointed that our Minister of Foreign Affairs has seen the continuation of a feud with the New Zealand media as more important than the pursuit of New Zealand’s interests in terms of a better trade and defence relationship with the United States—indeed more important than a better relationship with the man who may well be the next US president. I remind the Prime Minister today that that is the price she has paid—but it is also the price she is inflicting on other New Zealanders—for the deal she has done to hold her Government in office and herself in the Prime Ministership in offering the very important post of Minister of Foreign Affairs to a man who is clearly not up to the job. 
Hon Dr Michael Cullen 
: You wouldn’t have done it would you? 
Hon MURRAY McCULLY 
: Well I say to the Deputy Prime Minister that if he thinks it is amusing that the Minister of Foreign Affairs has insulted one of the most important men in America—a man who is actually singing New Zealand’s praises and singing the praises of a relationship with New Zealand—then he is not fit to be Deputy Prime Minister either and he knows it. 
Hon Dr Michael Cullen 
: No he didn’t. 
Hon MURRAY McCULLY 
: He did insult Senator McCain. If Mr Cullen looks at the tape he will see as anyone can see that it was simply an inability of Mr Peters to rise to the challenge of representing New Zealand in a situation where Senator McCain was trying to improve the relationship but Mr Peters was overcome by his desire to get into the gutter with members of the New Zealand news media. 
I say just briefly on the matter of the report from Mr Ingram received by the House yesterday that New Zealanders do not know how lucky they are to have a Parliament a public service and ministries that are generally free of corruption. I think if we were put alongside virtually any nation in the world even alongside our near neighbour Australia we could be said to enjoy a freedom from undue influence and corruption that is the envy of any country in the world. As somebody who has been in this House now for over 18 years and who had the privilege of being a Minister for 8 years I tell the House that we should put a very high premium on the freedom from the taint of corruption that this country has. The allegations that were made some months ago against Mr Field were serious allegations and I do not intend to traverse them in the House today but I simply say by way of summary that the allegations suggested that he profited from the misery of his constituents and that he received a personal benefit from assisting those constituents. I carry no grudge against Mr Field; I quite like him actually. I have never had an angry exchange with him and I very much hope that the allegations made against him were not well based. But I tell the Prime Minister today that she has done this House a disservice by not being prepared to look in where Mr Ingram identified as the next likely place for inquiry and by not giving somebody the opportunity to ask witnesses who would have been able to tell the House definitively whether the allegations against Mr Field were correct. 
That leaves every member of this House potentially under a cloud. If the Prime Minister of New Zealand is prepared to accept allegations such as those hanging over a member of Parliament with no resolution then that is a stain—as John Armstrong said in the  
New Zealand Herald 
 this morning—not just on this Government but on the reputation of every member of Parliament. I know that the leader of the National Party Dr Brash has lodged a complaint on a matter of privilege which I know I am not allowed to refer to and I hope that that is the vehicle if no other vehicle is going to be chosen by the Prime Minister for this matter to be put to rest once and for all.