Sittings of the House

I move, That the House do now adjourn until 2 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 February 2005, and that the sitting days in 2005 be as follows:

February 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, and 17;

March 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 17, 29, 30, and 31;

April 5, 6, 7, 12, 13, and 14;

May 3, 4, 5, 10, 11, 12, 17, 18, 19, and 31;

June 1, 2, 7, 8, 9, 14, 15, 16, 21, 22, and 23;

July 26, 27, and 28;

August 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, and 11.

I begin by thanking the people who are so important to this place, starting particularly with yourself, Mr Speaker, because if rumour has it true, this may well be the last occasion on which you preside over an adjournment debate within the New Zealand House of Representatives. Indeed, rumour may further suggest that you may be translated to another place, which, of course, in the place to which you are going, has another meaning to what it has in this House.

That will be capping an extraordinary career that stretches back to 1966, some 38 years in the New Zealand Parliament. You have been here longer than a number of the people in this place have been alive, though it is fair to say that some members opposite have never been alive at any stage during those 38 years.

You have contributed to this place more than the vast majority of people who have ever been here. Your generosity, your ability to understand Parliament, your ability to allow matters to flow yet to step in when you need to step in, and the way in which you know people’s problems, and deal with them—not just those in your own party, but those across the House—has been appreciated by many people over many years. It is an extraordinarily distinguished career.

I thank also, obviously, the Table Office staff, the messengers, the Hansard writers, the security staff, the ministerial and parliamentary staff, all my colleagues in Parliament, and our long-suffering families. In particular, I thank my Government colleagues.

It has been a great but testing year for the Government. We have passed an enormous amount of legislation—by no means a record number of Acts, but then, we have not passed a Statutes Amendment Bill recently, which is the usual way of getting the body count up rather cheaply in that regard. Of course, we passed the Income Tax Act, which is easily the largest single Act New Zealand has—although much shorter than some of its overseas equivalents, I might point out—along with Acts such as the various Acts arising from the Public Finance (State Sector Management) Bill. We have actually passed the largest number of pages in New Zealand’s legislative history, which may come as a surprise to many people, given that we have not sat very frequently under urgency, compared with the many occasions during the 1980s and early 1990s.

Regarding the economy, we have seen a year in which the New Zealand economy has continued to outperform and surprise with the strength of its growth. As a result, we have seen record low unemployment—the lowest for the last 18 years—at some 3.8 percent. The problem for National is that it does not know how to cope with that success. We have seen the Working for Families package, which will deliver an average of $100 per week into the pockets of families earning between $25,000 and $45,000 per year—those families that really struggle to make ends meet within New Zealand at the present time. It has been a great year for the Government.

I also thank some of the other parties in the House. I thank United Future, which has voted against the Government more often than the Greens have. It has differentiated itself on a whole range of issues. But between United Future, the Labour Party, and the Progressives, there is a form of civil union—if I can put it that way—whereby we are bound to each other by certain matters of agreement, and agree not to step outside that. Even when the Government rejected amendments on the Income Tax Act 2004, nevertheless United Future stood by its word and voted on an issue of confidence with the Government. That has contributed now to the most stable Government under MMP that we have seen.

💬 Opposition Members: Soft!

National members say: “Soft!” because they do not have a coalition partner in sight. That is National’s problem. The ACT party is disappearing off the face of the earth, and nobody else wants a bar of it. Mr Peters has not wanted a bar of National ever since Mr Carter, I think it was, was stupid enough to suggest certain matters about a lunch. Ever since then, negotiations between those two have never occurred.

I thank the Greens for their support on a large number of important measures. We relied upon their support to get those measures through Parliament. They have always been reliable to that extent.

I thank New Zealand First, which perhaps is a little bit more difficult, on occasion, to deal with. But on the foreshore and seabed issue, it put New Zealand’s interests first and assisted significantly in terms of the passage of the legislation, particularly in terms of some of the content. In that respect, I thank the House this week for correcting a minor drafting error in the Foreshore and Seabed Act with absolutely no debate at all, except for a small comment from Metiria Turei. It is nice that we have now handed back to local government the areas that run to reclamation, which we had unfortunately nationalised by mistake. The National Party did not pick that up at any stage of the debate on the aquaculture legislation.

My special big thanks goes to Dr Brash and his deputy, Gerry Brownlee. Both Government parties owe a huge debt of gratitude to Dr Brash and Mr Brownlee this year. There they sit, the Laurel and Hardy of New Zealand politics. Let us just look at them. All Dr Brash needs is the hat and they would be the perfect imitation of Laurel and Hardy. They behave pretty much the same way as they carried on. The National Party now faces the question—and we have seen it during the last 24 hours—of whether Bill English is on the comeback trail. He has made more serious, thoughtful speeches in this House within the last couple of weeks than Dr Brash has managed to make all year.

💬 Hon Roger Sowry: Rubbish!

His former deputy leader says: “Rubbish!”. That is what I call loyalty! He says that Mr English’s speeches are rubbish. No wonder Mr Sowry is retiring! I say to him that he will have to go quickly before he gets pushed out. That explains how Judy Keall beat him so easily in the past and why he will never face up against “Dazza” Hughes in the future.

I say to Mr English to remember John Howard. He has been the Australian Prime Minister for 8 years. He was the leader, he was tossed out, he came back into the Opposition, and he won government. I say to Mr English that there are examples there that he might care to think about over the coming few months.

💬 Hon Paul Swain: Lazarus.

I would not say Lazarus. I think he is missing the intermediate necessity in terms of Lazarus.

The second great question that I think is being asked is whether the National Party’s finance team, “Don” and “Key”, will come together. That is the big question facing the National Party in that respect. Indeed, will the National Party’s finance team, “Don” and “Key”, ever manage to agree on anything in terms of finance going forward?

Above all, what will Don Brash flip-flop on next? What else is left for him to flip-flop on? Could it be support for the Working for Families package? Could it be support for paid parental leave? That has to occur sometime. I suggest to Dr Brash that going into the election and saying that one will remove paid parental leave will not be a great winner. He came in here, flushed up, as the 10th member of the ACT party. He was going to put backbone into National. He was going to lead it back on the true, right road—in every sense of the word “right”. What has he done month after month over the last few months? He has crawled back to some kind of populist position whereby he has abandoned every principle he ever held previously as the Governor of the Reserve Bank.

Do members remember all those speeches he gave as the Governor of the Reserve Bank? He would abolish the unemployment benefit. We have not heard that one from Dr Brash for a wee while. He would basically abolish any kind of industrial relations law, at all. He would cut the top tax rate for the rich. Indeed, if one reads Dr Brash’s speeches, one sees that the tax rate for the rich would be less than the tax rate for the poor. That flat tax stuff from ACT was wimpy, woolly stuff! Dr Brash used to argue that we should not have that.

So the year that started with great promise is ending in whimpering failure. More and more, as the year has gone on, National has resembled—I say National; I will not get personal—a kind of eunuch with a bunch of flowers, if I can put it that way. It has a great approach, but no capacity to follow through when it comes to the crucial moment. That really has been how National has looked, right the way through the year. The bunch of flowers came out at Ōrewa. Everybody said: “What a lovely bunch of flowers you have, Dr Brash.” Then they started looking more closely and focusing on the core of Dr Brash. At the end of the day, they have presumed that he is not up to it when it comes to being the leader of the country. The flip-flops on nuclear, superannuation, 4-weeks’ holiday, and the civil union legislation have unfolded one by one over the last few weeks.

We wish Dr Brash a merry Christmas. He will sit there and think about whether that glint in the sun he can see is Mr Brownlee with a knife or Mr English with a knife. Or maybe it is the new young Lochinvar from the west, Mr Key, who was kind enough to name me politician of the year—which, I have to say, is a charming thing from one’s opponent in politics.

I have much pleasure in supporting the adjournment motion. I do so for two very good reasons. The first is that this has been an awful year for the Prime Minister and she needs a good break. Yes, the economy has been quite buoyant, but every independent commentator knows that the economy has been buoyant—[Interruption]

💬 Mr SPEAKER: Order! When I said: “Order!” I meant it. A reasonable amount of interjection is OK.

Yes, the economy has been quite buoyant, but every independent commentator knows that it has been buoyant not because of this Government, but despite it. It is because of the much deplored policies of the 1980s and 1990s, the strong commodity prices, the strong inflow of people following September 11, and the very low interest rates around the world. It is not because of the extra compliance costs imposed by the Holidays Act, the Employment Relations Law Reform Bill, the Government’s failure to fix the roading crisis, or the Government’s failure to fix the Resource Management Act.

What do we get for this buoyancy? The average, after-tax, real household income today is no higher than it was when this Government came into office. The real, after-tax income of a household, on average, is no higher now than it was 5 years ago. The gap between the average wage, after income tax, of the New Zealand worker and the average of the Australian worker was just over $5,000 in 1999, and is now almost $9,000 today. Even on the economy the Government has been an abject failure, despite the favourable external circumstances.

Helen Clark has had huge problems with her own Cabinet. Where, may I ask, is Lianne Dalziel—the Minister of Immigration, until she was caught telling something less than the total truth? Where is the Minister for Small Business, who accepted a $300,000 golden handshake after saying he would not accept it? Where is the Associate Minister of Māori Affairs, who resigned because of the dishonesty of this Government over the foreshore and seabed legislation? What about the Minister of Education, who had to be hauled back into line over school closures? What about the Minister of Police, who totally failed to discharge his responsibilities? Then of course there have been all those Government policy U-turns. [Interruption]

💬 Mr SPEAKER: There are interjections on both sides, and I am paying particular attention to the fact that members of both the Government and the Opposition were interjecting. I want to hear Dr Brash, and I want now for there to be fewer interjections.

Yes, we changed policy on a couple of issues, but we have always contended that at this time in our history we should be running a bigger than average fiscal surplus. The right thing to do with that fiscal surplus is to strengthen the economy with it and to retire debt, as every householder would, but we accept that most New Zealanders want a superannuation fund they can see. Only the Opposition can take the New Zealand Superannuation Fund off the political football field, and we have done that. We offered to older New Zealanders predictability and certainty. We have accepted that 4 weeks’ annual leave is now being written into collective agreements, but we want to give employees the choice and flexibility so that if they want to work an extra week and get paid for doing that, then they can have that choice.

But let me list some of the U-turns of the current Government. It did a U-turn on school closures, and another on the policy of funding based on need, not race. The Government said that did not exist; all policies, it said, were based on need, not race. Well, we have suddenly discovered that decile funding is not based on need; it is based on race. It was said that we did not need to fix the Resource Management Act, and the Government scrapped the amendment bill to that Act that National brought in, in 1999. But now it acknowledges that it needs to be reviewed. The Government wanted to decriminalise consensual sex for children as young as 12. [Interruption]

💬 Mr SPEAKER: I advise members that the time for Dr Brash’s speech is not being used up at this stage.

Mr Goff said, at one stage, that he could sell that to the public. The Government decided to abandon the Social Entrepreneur Fund, and to abandon the Community Employment Group. The Government started off with the concept of the public domain, as I recall, in relation to the seabed and foreshore, but all of a sudden it is Crown ownership.

Of course, all of those changes have been brought about because the Government suddenly realised that it will face a challenge next year. The changes are not about substance; they are about form. Let us take the policy of funding according to need, not race. What about those primary health organisations offering free taxi rides to Māori and Pacific Islanders, but only to poor, non-Māori? What about the special quotas for Māori at universities? And what about Crown ownership of the foreshore and seabed? There are so many qualifications, as to be meaningless. We know that secret deals are being done, and that Crown ownership means nothing—[Interruption]

💬 Mr SPEAKER: That is enough! I am not having interjections in the second person. That member will be going home early.

💬 Hon Bill English: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. Just as you indicated to the member that he would be going home early and then turned to this side of the House, the member muttered some very uncomplimentary remarks towards you. I ask that he withdraw and apologise.

💬 Mr SPEAKER: I was listening to the member, and he was not referring to me. If he had been, he would have been out.

The New Zealand public is increasingly fed up with the lack of vision from this Government, the suffocating political correctness, the nanny State mentality, the way in which Labour is increasingly driving more and more middle-income New Zealanders to be beneficiaries, and the way in which Labour’s failure to ease the tax burden on hard-working New Zealanders is putting more and more cash into the hands of the Government and the bureaucracy, and driving more and more New Zealanders into debt. Next year, New Zealanders will have a choice between a Government that is driving the country further into dependence, and a Government that will drive New Zealand towards independence and self-reliance. That is my first reason for supporting this motion. My second reason is that Helen Clark will need a good break before the toughest fight of her political career.

Mr Speaker, let me finish by thanking you for your hard work, both this year and for many years in the past. This has not always been an easy classroom to chair. I also give thanks to the Deputy Speaker and the Assistant Speakers, the police who have accompanied me around the country, my drivers, the Parliamentary Library staff and all the other staff who have assisted the National Party, and of course my parliamentary colleagues for their assistance throughout this year. Thank you very much indeed.

I say to the House that my contribution will not generate anywhere near as much laughter as the last contribution—principally because it will be based on facts and not largely on imagination. But the honourable member did get one thing right, and I warn the Government: it will have a very tough year next year, because the leader of New Zealand First will be back and in full cry. Government members can sit there, but Mr Peters will be here in full cry.

I begin by paying tribute to your good self, Mr Speaker. You might have noticed that we have, from time to time, made it a little tricky for you in that chair, but we do wish you well. We recognise you as the father of the House, and I think that that goes for everybody here. We think you have done an honourable job, and we recognise that you have gone overboard at times to be exceedingly fair. We know that you are going to embark on a new career, and I am sure that my New Zealand First colleagues will join me in saying that if you get the opportunity to go to the Dennis Compton Lounge in the Emirates Stadium, I am certain that if you need someone to accompany you, I could find someone to fill that position.

💬 Mr SPEAKER: Arsenal forever!

I also wish to thank the staff who work around this complex. They do a magnificent job. Believe it or not, MPs are not the easiest people to work for, and the messengers, security staff, administration staff, parliamentary staff, select committee staff, and Office of the Clerk staff service—if that is the correct word—our needs very, very well indeed. I think it is appropriate at this point in the year that we remember their efforts.

I must also thank New Zealand First’s office team. We are fortunate enough to have a team of very competent people. I do not wish to be boastful, but we have a team of very competent advisers, researchers, press staff, and secretaries.

💬 Rodney Hide: Name one.

I would be here all afternoon if I named them. I must also thank the many workers, both paid and non-paid, who work outside Parliament on behalf of New Zealand First. Without them we would not be here, and we would not get significantly bigger, come the next election, without their efforts.

I also wish to thank my parliamentary colleagues. They are an excellent bunch to work with. Many of them are first-term MPs, and I can honestly say that they have performed exceedingly well in this House. I do not want to say any more, because they will not get their heads outside the building; but they are a great bunch to work with.

This has been a somewhat unique year, principally because it was the 150th anniversary of Parliament. That is the very special year in the parliamentary calendar. That fact was recognised, but we probably could have done a little bit more to sell the celebration to the public. During the year we witnessed not one but several large protests on Parliament’s grounds—from the hīkoi on the seabed and foreshore through to the Enough is Enough march recently. We have had pretty much every world view presented to us, and I think the MPs have listened, to a very large extent, with an open mind, and have been very fair.

We have passed in the House over 100 pieces of legislation this year. That is quite a lot, and it represents a lot of hard work by many, many MPs.

💬 Rodney Hide: What about the poor people who have to live with them?

I say to Mr Hide that we have passed laws that ensure that the seabed and foreshore are in public hands and will remain there. I wish to thank the Labour Government in particular for working with New Zealand First on its idea to pursue that. We have passed laws that allow for civil unions, and I suspect that we will see a few of those after the next election. We have seen the resolution of the allocation of the Treaty of Waitangi fisheries assets after more than a decade, and New Zealand First in particular welcomes that.

I cannot let this occasion pass without a making comment on the Supreme Court. I have to say to the Labour members: “We told you so.” That is not a phrase I use very often, but we told the Government that there would be problems if it did not listen to us on the Supreme Court. The court has already demonstrated why its lack of experience on some issues makes it a perilous place as our final court of appeal. We have opened Pandora’s box, and now we will have to live with it.

Next year is election year, and it will be a dynamic year as far as New Zealand First is concerned. I have some words of caution for people on both sides of this Chamber. I say to my ACT friends—

💬 Rodney Hide: Name one!

I think I might have one. But, so that I get it right, I say to my ACT colleagues that they should not attack the Government’s social welfare policies too much next year, because, come September, they will need them. I say to United Future members that they should pay close attention to the national anthem, because if God does not save them, the worm sure will not. I have a message for National members. They have pinched one or two—or three or four or five—of our policies, but we will not divulge any more. They can watch the next election and pay careful attention.

That brings me to my final point. I am putting this Government on notice. Winston Peters will be back here in full cry. Our team will be refreshed and willing to go, and Government members will feel the pain. So I hope they have a happy Christmas, because they will have a darn hard new year.

Finally, on behalf of New Zealand First, I wish all members a merry Christmas. I promise them that it will be tough next year, so they should have a good break. I say to all New Zealanders, on behalf of our leader, in particular, and the parliamentary team, that I wish them a safe and happy Christmas. Let us hope that next year we can do better for them.

I rise on behalf of the ACT party to support this adjournment motion, and to thank heaven that the year in Parliament is ending, because, as my colleague Peter Brown from New Zealand First has just said, 100 pieces of legislation have been passed by this Parliament this year. Peter Brown said it was hard work passing them. Well, he should try being one of the people who is trying to live with the legislation that this Government has passed this year.

I would like to thank on behalf of the ACT party the hard-working business people in this country, who have had another year of being under unrelenting attack from the Government. Last year, it was estimated that the average medium-sized business in New Zealand was confronting an extra $43,000 in costs. One might ask where those costs came from. Actually, they came from the Government. The Government piled on another $43,000 worth of costs. [Interruption] I know that David Cunliffe has not done a thing in this House until now, the last minute, when he wants to have his say, but I say to David Cunliffe that he should think about that situation of business—$43,000 of extra costs.

It has got worse this year. On top of 30 new taxes, new levies, and excise duties, there has been the employment relations legislation and costly health and safety requirements, and now we have business attacked by the Holidays Act. There are more costs being borne by business. The Hon Dr Michael Cullen was asked in this House about all the taxes he had put up. He could list a few of them. Then he was asked to name one tax or levy he had dropped. He could not think of one. Well, I will tell him one that he did drop, and that was the tax rate on Māori authorities. He conveniently forgot the fact that under this Government there are now two tax rates, one if people are Māori and one if they are not. I think this House should wish a very merry Christmas to every small business in this country, because, my heavens, those businesses have been struggling under this Government.

And we should not forget every working Kiwi and household in this country, who actually pay our way. We should think about them. New Zealand householders continue on with good cheer when, as Michael Cullen admitted in this House last week, after 5 long years of Labour—[Interruption]—and I tell Mr Cunliffe to think of this—they are no better off in real terms. Michael Cullen said there was a 10.1 percent increase in net income. What was the inflation rate over that time? It was exactly 10.1 percent. Yet the average household is having to pay an extra $2,910 in tax. I know that David Cunliffe does not like to hear that, but it is true.

What is Michael Cullen’s response? He says they are getting a social wage. What have we learnt about the social wage? We have discovered that under Annette King the health waiting lists are longer than they have ever been in our history. That is the truth about the health waiting lists, under Labour. It pours in money at the top, and there are longer waiting lists. We have learnt this about Annette King: there are more people dying on our waiting lists than ever before in our history, and that is a direct response to this Labour Government’s policy.

💬 Hon Phil Goff: Ha, ha!

Phil Goff laughs; he thinks that people dying when on the waiting list, because of his Government’s ideology, is funny. I say to Mr Goff that the ACT party does not think that people dying when on the waiting list is anything to laugh about.

I would like to wish Michael Cullen a good Christmas, but he has had his present already from each and every taxpayer in New Zealand. This Government is awash with cash. I can see Michael Cullen sitting there like Scrooge this Christmas, swimming amongst that money—all paid for by hard-working New Zealanders who struggle to make ends meet.

To the Prime Minister I say: “Take it easy on the roads this summer. You don’t know what sort of maniac could be coming towards you, at what speed. So please, Prime Minister, slow down, take it easy, and be careful on the roads.”

I see that Mr Winston Peters has taken his holiday early. I understand that he really has not recovered from the fact that we now have in our Parliament not one Chinese member but two—one on each side of him. He has had to retreat to the hills early, because he is upset that there is an Asian takeover—not only of the country but of this Parliament as well.

I understand that Margaret Wilson has asked for her stocking to be filled with copies of the Standing Orders and Speakers’ Rulings, and that she will be spending the summer studying them.

I wish the Minister of Māori Affairs, Parekura Horomia, a good Christmas. As he said to me yesterday, it is only 59 sleeps for him until Christmas. For Parekura Horomia, there are 59 sleeps until Christmas.

I wish the Greens a happy Christmas, but I do not quite know how it will work. We have heard from the Greens that we are not allowed to eat strawberries this Christmas. We will have to have pavlova without strawberries, because every time we eat a strawberry we are making the ozone hole bigger. I say to the Green members that I hope they get the presents they want, but they must be pretty miserable presents, because I know that this year they want presents for New Zealanders to be smaller and unwrapped. I have to say that wishing that all New Zealanders have small presents that are not wrapped, and not too many of them, so as to save on wastage, does take the fun out of Christmas. Well, it might be a happy Christmas because Mike Ward said that he hopes people’s Christmas stockings are stuffed with vouchers promising special favours to indulge a fantasy or a passion, to love, or to picnic in the park. I have to say that is a kind wish, but I say to Sue Kedgley and to Jeanette Fitzsimons: “Please, no vouchers in my stocking!”.

I wish United Future party members a good Christmas. I hope it is a gay Christmas for them. I hope they have a gay time of it. [Interruption] No, I say to Mr Dunne that I want him to have a gay Christmas. I hope it is a very gay Christmas, and that he does not take down in disgust the fairy on top of the Christmas tree.

On behalf of the ACT party I say that it is good for us to end the year with a full complement of nine MPs, and to have Mr Kenneth Wang join us. I want to thank all the MPs on our side, and I particularly want to thank Richard Prebble, who has been a stalwart in this House and particularly good to me, as the new ACT leader.

I want to thank you, Mr Speaker. This is your 38th adjournment debate, and I understand that you are not going to have a 39th, so we wish you a very good Christmas and we will see you in the new year.

We want to thank all the messengers, the clerks, the staff of Bellamy’s, the library staff, and all the people who work in Parliament, especially the executive secretaries who work beyond the call of duty. I want to wish all the family members of MPs an especially good break. I sometimes think they suffer the most through the year. I especially want to thank the ACT team of staff, who this year have performed well beyond the call of duty. I wish everyone in this House and everyone in our Parliament a good Christmas and a safe Christmas.

The House has sent a very mixed message to New Zealanders this year. We have passed a number of measures that have shown New Zealand to be a tolerant and fair society—a number of measures of which I am proud: the Civil Union Bill, the Care of Children Bill, the employment relations legislation, and legislation relating to the decriminalisation of prostitution. Those pieces of legislation, which protect people who are not in the mainstream and are not in the majority, went through only because of the Green Party’s support and we are proud to have supported them. We are proud that New Zealand is a better place because of those pieces of legislation.

At the same time, we have damaged our reputation of being a fair and tolerant society, in a number of ways. We have driven a wedge between Māori and Pākehā because of the processes that were used to pass the Foreshore and Seabed Bill. We have kept an overseas-elected member of Parliament and scholar in prison for 2 years, with no charges, despite his having refugee status. The Greens welcomed the decision of the Supreme Court—created last year, with the help of our vote—to treat Mr Zaoui in a more decent and civilised manner. Parliament has introduced the Charities Bill, an attack on the voluntary sector, which threatens to shut down most of the voluntary sector by setting completely unreasonable expectations and by threats of complete impoverishment if that sector involves itself in advocacy.

I think the Government should take note of today’s judgment of the British law lords, who wrote: “The real threat to the life of the nation in the sense of people living with its tradition and laws and political values comes not from terrorism but from laws such as these.” With that in mind, we appeal to the Government not to proceed with bills and projected bills to toughen up the onerous security risk certificate procedure and the Terrorism Suppression Act, and proposals to give a Cabinet Minister, rather than a judge, the right to take away a New Zealander’s passport on national security grounds.

The Greens have had some highlights this year. Nandor Tanczos’ Clean Slate Bill, introduced some 5 years ago, and renamed and put in the name of the Minister, has now passed into law, thereby giving many people who committed some indiscretions years ago a new start in life with a clean slate. We are proud to have initiated that change, and we are proud that it has passed through Parliament, even though in a somewhat different form. We now have the ability to go into pubs and cafes, without coming out smelling dreadful. The smoke-free legislation was not a Green bill, but it passed only because of our vote. I particularly acknowledge Sue Kedgley’s hard work on the select committee and on the bill, and, of course, I also acknowledge Steve Chadwick, who introduced the bill. That is progress in terms of having a healthy atmosphere for people to breathe.

The year began for us with a big campaign to protect New Zealand’s largest braided river from proposals to take away 73 percent of its water for 60 kilometres. Project Aqua was in full cry a year ago, threatening the Waitaki River, and on 30 March, after more than 6,000 submissions from ordinary people on the resource consent said “Leave our river alone”, finally Project Aqua was withdrawn. I think that marks the end of the major “think big” projects that destroy rivers that are essential to the well-being of New Zealanders and of our wildlife.

We have watched the gradual implementation of the new transport strategy and Act. The Government took our advice, after 2½ years, to get back the rail track and it has put $200 million into repairing it and building it up. We welcome that decision. It is already starting to bear fruit. New lines are opening, and Fonterra is making a commitment to use it. Some logs are moving from road on to rail because of assistance from the new Transfund rules. We have seen a big increase in public transport use over the last few years, as well.

I want to end by extending my thanks and Christmas greetings to you, Mr Speaker, for your work through the years you have been in the Chair. I recognise that this will be your last Christmas in this particular job, and I wish you well for the holidays and for your new position. I also thank the Deputy Speaker and the Assistant Speakers. To all my parliamentary colleagues, I wish you a good Christmas and a good holiday. To the Green Party staff and volunteers, who are totally dedicated and have kept us going this year, to the select committee staff, the people from the library, the people from the Clerk’s Office, to all of those who feed us, clean our offices, deliver our mail, and look after our security, I wish all of you happy times with family and friends, rest and recreation, and time outdoors away from air conditioning and computers.

Finally, I want to remember those for whom Christmas is the most desperate and miserable time of the year—all of those for whom other people’s joyful families and high living make their own lack of family and their own poverty seem even more extreme. I recognise those women and children for whom Christmas means more violence and abuse because of the stress of the Christmas season and the abuse of alcohol. For them I wish that Christmas may treat them less harshly than usual and that we may all watch out for them.

I want to begin by placing on record what I consider to be a very severe constitutional outrage perpetrated by our new Supreme Court. It is appropriate that I do so now because this is the first occasion to raise this outrageous matter. The court, by ruling in the way that it did in restoring the ACT party to its full membership at the general election, has changed the speaking order in this House, which means that United Future and other parties now have to follow the Greens. The outrage of that is that because of the grimness of that message from a party better known as the “Groans”, most New Zealanders will have switched off the debate by now. That is an extraordinary assault on democracy perpetrated by our Supreme Court. This is supposed to be the time of happiness and goodwill. I think that by and large this debate has shown some of those traits in some degree of moderation. The last speech was the exception in that regard.

This is, Mr Speaker—and I do not like the phraseology that some have sombrely referred to—your last Christmas in this place. I think that has a degree of horrible permanence about it. I prefer to see it in the light that the Deputy Prime Minister did. This is the last Christmas you will have here before your translation to another place. In the context of where you are going, that translation may mean elevation to a Chamber not dissimilar to this, where the carpet is red rather than green. We on this side of the House applaud your contribution over 38 years. We applaud the way in which you have guided the affairs of this House as its Speaker since 1999, your friendship and your counsel to so many members at so many different times, and your astute taste when it comes to the finer things in life. We look forward not only to your very successful execution of your new duties in London, when they are eventually announced, but also to having the opportunity to call upon you and share with you in the facilities that will make it possible for you to carry out those duties to your usual and accustomed standard. New Zealand will be seen in a truly new light as a result of your translation to London, and maybe even the cricket team will improve accordingly and perform better next time it is at Lords.

This has been, as many have observed, an extraordinary year, and this has already been an extraordinary debate. The Government is criticised by the Opposition for changing policies. On the other hand, the Opposition says that its policy changes are all part of a refinement and a careful appreciation of what New Zealanders actually want, and are part of an ongoing policy development. New Zealanders are trying to find out where the balance lies between the two. The reality is that we are now in our most stable period of Government ever under MMP because we have a Government with a reliable support partner. When I hear Mr Brown say that we should wait for next year because New Zealand First is on the way, I think that those few New Zealanders who are listening to the debate will recoil in horror. What they are reminded of is Brava cafe, a 9-week coalition circus, a whole lot of irresponsible, incompetent, and idiotic members and Ministers, some of whom are foolish enough to show their presence in the House this afternoon, and then—

💬 Ron Mark: I wasn’t a Minister.

No, the member was not a Minister. He was not even good enough to aspire to that low level, and he will not be again. A member whose best achievement in life is to parade his kneecaps and his parliamentary rugby blazer emblem has little to be proud of.

💬 Ron Mark: The poodle of New Zealand politics.

Then he resorts to animal insults. Better a quip. The next time Mr Mark goes around the racetrack he should just remember that.

💬 Rodney Hide: And merry Christmas!

It is a very merry Christmas. I want to pay a tribute to Mr Mark. We are grateful at the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee for having the wisest military analyst and strategist since Montgomery serving amongst us.

What I was saying was that the warning from Mr Brown that New Zealand First is on the way back scares most New Zealanders. What they do not want to repeat is the worst period of Government under MMP, the shortest period of any administration under MMP to date, when New Zealand First was in the loop. That is the last thing New Zealanders want to go back to. It is no coincidence that the economic performance of the last couple of years, the growth that has occurred, and the fact that New Zealanders are feeling more positive about their future than ever before, occurs because they have a Government that is stable and reliable. There is no debate, as there was when Mr Mark and his cronies were in the loop, about when the plug would be pulled. That was a daily occurrence and eventually the prophecy came to be true.

I want to say on this occasion that we often forget many of the people who contribute to making this Parliament work effectively, and we should take time to acknowledge them and give them our thanks for the work they do: the messengers, the security staff, the catering staff, the library staff, our own research and political staff, all the people who do the routine things, the maintenance staff, the people who make this place run well. They are the people we ought to think of right now.

I pay a tribute to my own colleagues. Judy Turner is my new deputy leader, and I congratulate her on that move. I thank our whip, Gordon Copeland, for the work he has done, and all of my team for what has been an extraordinary year of effort. The select committees have worked well because of our intervention. Our presence in the House on many, many matters has been the difference, and we have ensured that this place operates smoothly and in the interests of good government.

I say to Dr Brash that I listened to his speech with some interest. I am sure he will acknowledge that if he is to become Prime Minister of New Zealand at some point in the future, he will need a stable and reliable partner. He needs to think about what his options are. Dr Brash will know what I mean. He is sensible enough to know, as are his colleagues who support him—Mr Brownlee, I see, smirks eerily—that, in fact, under this system of Government, we have developed good partnership arrangements. The important thing—[Interruption] The member talks about his own potential excitements. The ACT party’s obsession with political and other prostitution demonstrates why it has never been near a Government and never will be. That is because what a proportional system of Government requires—and this was the point that I was making to Dr Brash—is a centre party that can work reliably and constructively and can provide good Government to whichever of the major parties it is working for.

💬 Rodney Hide: Reliable doormat!

The member says “reliable doormat”, and others laugh at that. The reality is that if we listen to what New Zealanders say at election time—and they have said it ever since New Zealand First came on the scene—we hear that the last thing they like—

💬 Ron Mark: You’re hurting me.

I am not talking to that gentleman. He does not matter. [Interruption] I am happy to wish the member opposite a very happy Christmas. I am sure she will enjoy it.

The point I am making is that in this environment a stable, moderate, reliable centre party is what the country requires. New Zealanders do not like the notion of small parties holding Governments to ransom; they want to see them work constructively to achieve positive outcomes. The boorish heckling to my right demonstrates why those parties will not get the chance.

As Christmas approaches this year, I also express my best wishes to all those who will be suffering this Christmas—families who are divided, people with family members who are overseas serving in our armed forces or in other working environments, widows, the lonely, and people who have sad memories at this time. One group of people in particular who have sad memories—

💬 Hon Member: The National Party.

—apart from the National Party—are those who have lost loved ones in accidents at Christmas times past. I think it is important for us to think about those people as we go about having what I am sure will be a good celebration with family and friends.

This place can be rigorous. I want to end by wishing all members, from all sides, whatever divisions we have had during the year, a very happy Christmas, a peaceful New Year, and the best of luck in 2005.

It is now a few short days before we will be with our families and our friends for the summer holidays. We in the Progressive Party particularly want to thank our colleagues in the Labour Party for helping to provide a stable and effective coalition partnership. We have found them at all times to be reliable and thoughtful. We have resisted people wanting us to use the term “Progressive-led Government” in our brochures. We are insisting that they give it the proper name: the Labour-Progressive Government. We also want to thank United Future for being there for confidence and supply, making this minority Government—which was unfortunate enough to lose one of its members—a stable Government during this period.

I would like to thank my co-whips in the Labour Party. They have learnt a lot while I have been their co-whip, particularly my different phone numbers at different locations around the country.

This is a time to talk, read, and reflect for 4 long weeks. It is also a time to thank our lucky stars, and the sacrifice of the generations before us, for the robust, democratic, and vibrant society we enjoy living in. I chose this as my home many years ago—although I must report that the Minister of Internal Affairs did ask me, when he gave me my citizenship, whether I had checked that I had signed every part, and whether I could perhaps give him a look at it. I thank Mr Burton for advising me of that.

Each and every one of the eight parties represented here is a direct descendant of the Magna Carta and a child of the Glorious Revolution, whether 1688 or 1689 is put as the date of that revolution. Once the wheels of liberty and freedom start in motion, they are unstoppable. It is fair to say that all eight parties in Parliament have at one stage or another contributed to making New Zealand a better place over the past 12 months. We all carry on our shoulders the responsibilities of protecting the inalienable right to liberty, to freedom, to be protected, and to be secure on these shores. We have a robust system of law, and so it is that we have freedom and liberty. We have a proportional representation voting system that delivers a Parliament to reflect the diverse, dynamic society we are.

For the six parties that are not called Labour or National, mixed-member proportional representation offers us so-called third parties an opportunity never enjoyed before MMP to make a positive difference to the day-to-day government of our nation and the well-being of our people. The challenge before all of those who are third parties is to seize the opportunity and embrace the responsibility as best we can.

As I reflect on the past 12 months, I feel proud of the Progressive Party’s role in ushering through the process of the Budget 2004 round, programmes that are today offering meaningful, practical assistance where needed. The half a billion dollar growth and innovation package in Budget 2004 is deepening the ability of Kiwi companies to compete in the world economy as part of a creative, optimistic, and technologically advanced country. Budget 2004 allocated an additional $39 million to tackle the illegal methamphetamine trade and organised crime over the next 4 years. Progressive initiatives in the coalition Budget included policies aimed at reducing the demand for drugs. We have made provision to care for the victims of the drug peddlers, with nearly $15 million over 4 years on drug-related health initiatives, and $5.5 million over 4 years dedicated to supporting suicide prevention measures.

In practical terms, that means residential treatment services in the central region for those suffering from alcohol and other drug problems. It means funding for secondary prevention training, which is relevant to those working in the criminal justice system, budgetary advice, social services, and in primary health organisations.

Progressive sought funding for a pilot programme of alcohol and other drug clinicians at court. We also sought, and got, funding to provide independent evaluations of the 15 Community Action on Youth and Drugs sites established in the 2003 Budget round, because even the best programmes in the world need evaluation and auditing. The Progressive Party sought in the 2004 Budget a new discretionary fund to provide money for new projects to promote our campaign for safer, drug-free communities. We secured new funding to institute one-for-one exchange in the needle and syringe programme, and significantly boosted funding for the independent New Zealand Drug Foundation.

So it has been a busy 12 months. It has been a busy year for the Prime Minister, who I believe will create New Zealand history and become the first-ever Labour leader to win three general elections. A centre-left Government has had not even the remotest hope of winning a third consecutive election for three generations—not since 1943. It is a great tribute to Helen Clark that we are on the threshold of seeing history made next year.

The most unexpected highlight for me personally happened last week when the National Party endorsed a minimum 4 weeks’ annual leave for all workers. Minimum 4 weeks’ annual leave for working families, which just 2 years ago was but a hopeful vision outlined in a Progressive Party member’s bill, is now absolutely cemented in as a key piece of New Zealand’s cultural framework. I thank Labour, the Greens, New Zealand First, and now National for making that so.

Next year, I will be praying—to use that word advisedly—that fate again favours families and that my member’s bill on tackling alcohol-related harm is drawn from the lottery known as the members’ ballot process. I am a member who has changed his mind on the policy of setting the drinking age at 18. I have done so because of the evidence of public health experts. I would rather lose the votes of 18-year-olds—my own son amongst them—than see young people on morgue tables. I am told that even if my bill is plucked from the ballot next year, I should not hold my breath—alcohol-induced or otherwise—that the bill will ever get the support it needs to become law. But I cannot get it out of my mind that that was precisely what I was told when my member’s bill on 4 weeks’ leave was selected from the ballot on 7 November 2002, just 2 years ago.

There is a set of constitutional issues hanging over New Zealand. I have heard my colleagues speak on the question of judicial activism. I say with deep respect to Dr Michael Cullen that it is a mistake to say that the clash is between Parliament and the judiciary. I believe that the judiciary of this country has been interpreting the law faithfully and accurately. The clash is between those members of the executive who do not like the decision. That is very different from a clash with Parliament and the executive. I would ask that when we have a look at the constitutional review we make sure we look at the deepest and most sound principles of constitution-making in a democracy. Judicial activism is not a phrase that we can accurately use about our judiciary.

I said to my good friend Steve Maharey that I would give a speech he would like. He and I both have admiration for the Italian theorist and leader of the Italian working class, Antonio Gramsci. In 1924, Antonio Gramsci was sentenced by Mussolini’s prosecutors. The prosecutor asked him to shut down that great brain for 20 years. I believe that that is what we tried to do in this country to the Algerian MP Ahmed Zaoui. I ask members of Parliament to read the Refugee Status Appeals Authority decision during this holiday. I wish them a very, very merry Christmas in doing so.

Lastly, may I say that I also hope that when we come back to the new Parliament the new Speaker, following in your great footsteps, will be able to reflect on the fact that the opening of this Parliament should be an appropriate opening for all members of New Zealand’s public, whatever their religion, their culture, or their beliefs.

It did not take long before the Government caved in on the urgency motion. It was very tough to start with. Dr Cullen stood in the House a week ago and proclaimed the legislation that would be passed under the urgency motion. But United Future had said that it was too soft for that. It agreed to go only to 6 o’clock on Friday. So what happens? The lawyers wait again as the Lawyers and Conveyancers Bill is thrown to one side and the soft Labour Party caves in, ready to go home for a holiday that is not well deserved. But before making a contribution—

💬 Darren Hughes: You voted against the urgency motion.

That was a great interjection from “Farrah Fawcett” Hughes! I thank you, Mr Speaker, for your guidance. I thank the Assistant Speaker and Deputy Speakers, the Clerk of the House, the select committee staff, the messengers, the security team, the Bellamy’s staff, the travel office, and the Hansard staff. I thank the National leader’s office staff and researchers, my staff, and the Opposition whip’s office very much for their contribution this year.

But sitting across on the Government’s side of the House is a hopeless, old, tired, boring Government. Let us look at what could happen on Monday in the Cabinet reshuffle. The Hon Steve Maharey is obviously heading to be the next Minister of Youth Affairs so that he will finally understand the COOL IT programme. Trevor Mallard’s subtlety and intelligence will be welcomed as the next Attorney-General. Margaret Wilson was not a popular choice for Speaker, to be fair. Nevertheless, the taxi drivers around town in their discussion about that appointment will drive down the numbers that the Labour Party currently enjoys in its poll rankings.

Phil Goff will be the next Minister of Health, with particular responsibility for those who are hearing impaired. Mark Burton will be the next “Minister for the Terminally Misled and Disappointed”. He was promised the job, month after month, year after year after year, but he was pipped at the post and will now be the next “Minister for the Terminally Misled and Disappointed”.

Steve Chadwick will be the next caucus chair for the “Committee for Those Who Missed Out Again”. I invite Steve Chadwick to the Cheltenham Tavern, which is 20 kilometres out of Feilding, because I want her to be in the room—and I want to be with her—when she tells a shearer who has just shorn 300 sheep and is about to have his first pint with a roll-your-own that he cannot smoke. I want to be in the room when Steve Chadwick says that to the shepherd.

Does anybody remember Judith Tizard? The “Minister for Champagne Flutes”! What a mess this Government has been in. Steve Maharey has had a nightmare in tertiary education. Bill English has emerged triumphant in the tertiary education debate this year. George Hawkins is holding on by the skin of his teeth. He was completely duped by Tony Ryall from the start to the end of this year. Lianne Dalziel is gone. John Tamihere is gone. The Prime Minister was gone at 180 kilometres per hour through the Canterbury Plains. We will see whether she gives evidence in February. That will be the most interesting question of the new year.

But the highlight of the year for me was when David Cunliffe, who had not been in the media for 6 months, did what any good New Zealand man would do and bleached his hair. He arrived in the Chamber with bleached hair to get more media attention.

So this Government goes home at the end of this year, soft on the urgency motion, caving in at the first sign of pressure, with TVNZ in an absolute mess, resignations demanded, then not accepted, and the Prime Minister is nowhere to be seen on this issue or on the foreshore and seabed issue. Where was she, instead? She was doing an impersonation of Lady Diana outside the Taj Mahal, and what an extraordinary sight that was!

I just say to my friends in United Future that making amendments to drop tax rates, then voting for a bill that does the opposite, is not smart politics at all. In the end, that party will be starved of political oxygen for longer than 21 days. I say to Mr Adams that they are in big trouble.

National, on the other hand, has had a great year. Don Brash single-handedly rocked the political landscape of New Zealand with one speech. That is the Brash phenomenon. This caucus is united behind Dr Brash, and we will see him elected Prime Minister next year. This Government is old, tired, and boring. Its time is up. Merry Christmas to you all!

Fellow members of Parliament, as the second session of the forty-seventh Parliament comes to a close I wish to pay tribute to all the people who contribute to the efficient functioning of this House. I particularly want to say how proud I was to be here in the 150th year of our democracy. I want to pay special tribute to the work that was done by Michelle Janse, Beverley Cathcart, and others, in helping that to be such a wonderful occasion. I must acknowledge the support of my colleague and Deputy Speaker, Ann Hartley, and congratulate her on a very good year’s work. I also thank Assistant Speakers Clem Simich and Ross Robertson, both of whom have the respect and admiration of the House. As a team they have been very great to work with. I extend my profound thanks to Clerk of the House, Dave McGee QC. Mr McGee is widely respected internationally for his profound knowledge, and in my time as Speaker I have come to value very greatly his sound advice and support to me, personally, as well as his role in the efficient conduct of the House.

Thank you also to the Deputy Clerk of the House, Mary Harris, and to all members of the staff of the Clerk’s Office for their professional and administrative skills in servicing the Table of the House, compiling Hansard records, processing legislation, questions and petitions, and serving select committees.

I thank the general manager of Parliamentary Service, Joel George, in this, his first full year, for the excellent job that he has done, for his professional advice and effective administration of this essential area. To all the senior managers of the Parliamentary Service, members of the support staff, including members’ executive securities, support staff of the various parliamentary parties, staff of the Parliamentary Library—and I think the library staff this year have been extraordinarily good to work with—Chamber and gallery officers, security staff, building services staff, telephonists, travel office staff, and the reception and visitor services staff, I give my special thanks.

Thanks to Serjeant-at-Arms, Brent Smith, and to all those who work with him to uphold the traditions and propriety of the Chamber, and to welcome visitors to the parliamentary galleries. They are an essential part of the running of Parliament. Thank you to Chief Parliamentary Counsel, George Tanner, and his staff, for their role in processing legislation.

My thanks to all those who have worked to support the committees that I chair—the Business Committee, the Parliamentary Service Commission, the Standing Orders Committee, and the Officers of Parliament Committee. I would also like to thank the Controller and Auditor-General, Kevin Brady, and his staff for the highly professional services they provide, and thank you also to the Chief Ombudsman, John Belgrave, his fellow Ombudsman, Mel Smith, and their staff for the valuable role they play.

I wish also to acknowledge today the sterling contribution of Judge Anand Satyanand, who recently resigned his Ombudsman role. Thank you also to the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Dr Morgan Williams.

To the leaders of parties in this House, their deputies, the Leader of the House, Dr Michael Cullen—who does occasionally even cause me to have to stop and laugh—and the party whips, I give my thanks. I acknowledge the efforts of all members of Parliament. I am one of those who believes that during all the time I have been in Parliament, just about every member of Parliament does work enormously hard in the interests of his or her constituents—and with different views, but that is part of a democracy.

A special thankyou to the research services for their work on behalf of MPs in sometimes making the speeches that MPs give vaguely intelligent. I extend a personal thanks to my own staff, Sean Rota, Pam Reader, Roland Todd—who keeps count all the time for me—Bethney McLennan, and Nury Olivares, as well as to Helen Kennelly, from the Deputy Speaker’s Office, and Jill Forbes, from the Chamber and gallery staff, for additional support during the year. Thanks also to my electorate secretaries in west Auckland, Christine Schuster, Margaret Sutton, and Shibo Zhang, for their important efforts on behalf of constituents. I thank you all again for all your support and work throughout the year, and for the contribution you make, not just to this House, but also to New Zealand and its peoples.

I would like to thank the various leaders who have spoken today, and I thank them very much for the very kind comments they have made about me. As I draw this session of Parliament to a close and you go to join your friends and family for the coming break, I wish you all well until we meet here again in February 2005.

Motion agreed to.

The House adjourned at 5.03 p.m. (Friday)