Ririnui Mita: General Debate 
Ririnui Mita: General Debate 
[Volume:639;Page:9848] 
Hon MITA RIRINUI (Minister of State) 
: 
 Kia ora Mr Assistant Speaker. I listened to Dr Mapp’s speech with absolute interest. It was actually quite a good speech. There was not a lot of accuracy but it was a good speech. As the saying goes never let the facts get in the way of a good story. That is the only way I can describe that contribution to the House today. The member described the speech of the previous speaker the Hon Clayton Cosgrove as “quite sinister”. Well I would describe his as quite cynical. However that is the nature of the debate we have had in the House this afternoon. 
I listened to the debate surrounding Liam Ashley’s tragic death and I acknowledge the Ombudsmen’s report and the rigorous debate that followed in the House this afternoon. A lot of the issues have been debated quite well and quite appropriately but I also want to join the leader of the United Future party in acknowledging the tragedy of Liam Ashley’s death and particularly the impact it has had on his family. Their subsequent response to the Ombudsmen’s report demonstrates their humility. They could have taken a much stronger position but they decided to maintain their dignity and to remain considerably silent given the circumstances. That is something this House needs to acknowledge this afternoon. On many occasions it happens that we get so wound up in a debate that we forget the people who have been affected by the tragedy. I put it on record this afternoon that I do acknowledge the tragic circumstances surrounding Liam Ashley’s death. 
There has also been a lot of debate around the polls and about John Key’s leadership. I have been in this House since 1999 and he is the fourth leader of the National Party since then. In every case the new leader has gone up in the polls but has also fallen in the polls not too long afterwards. It is interesting when one reads the papers to see the similarities in terms of popularity that John Key has with Don Brash. Don Brash who was the third leader of the National Party in my time was gone by lunchtime. But is it not also interesting to remember that although Don Brash is gone the Orewa I and Orewa II speeches are still with us? If we think that the National Party has softened its approach in terms of extremism particularly on race relations matters—or the lack of race relations—then we need to think again. 
Later on in this House we will continue the interrupted debate on Tony Ryall’s continued attempts to erase Maori and Pacific representation from the landscape of this country’s political environment. He is a person who has tried to do that on many occasions and who has made many public speeches about his views on Maori representation particularly at local government level and at central government level. He is the same person who has repeatedly attacked Maori attempts to improve the health statistics of their own communities. In fact he has also attacked attempts by mainstream organisations to achieve the same. To add insult to injury that person will also go out there and tell people that he is the friend of the Maori Party. I am sure the Maori Party does not agree with that. Why would it? But like the Hon Lianne Dalziel stated earlier on it is about power at all costs. That is what it is all about for some parties. 
Those members made it clear that they do not go to funerals no matter whose funeral it is. They say that if the Prime Minister of this country decides that she wants to make contact and join in the tragic parting and share her sympathies with constituents out there in the community at the very bottom of the community then that is a bad thing to do. Those members should wake up and get a life. Politics is not like that any more. If a Government wants to be caring and sharing then it has to take notice of what is happening out in those communities particularly in light of Liam Ashley’s case and the circumstances surrounding the tragedy for the Pacific Island family in Auckland. You Mr Assistant Speaker would probably be more in tune with those circumstances than I would be. 
When Opposition members in this House stand up and criticise the Prime Minister’s attempts to share in tragic circumstances and to provide support to those families what sort of description would we give to an Opposition party that carries on in such a way? I would give it this description—Don Brash is still here. The views that he promoted at Orewa in 2004 and again in 2005 are still here.