Labour calling people corrupt
Helen Clark claims that calling her Government corrupt is somehow the lowest of the low, something no decent Opposition should ever do. This is of course self serving pap as people will recall her MPs accusing Jenny Shipley of taking bribes to give the tourism board contract to Saatchis and Mallard’s constant allegations that National sells policies.
She justifies her attack on Don Brash by saying the use of the word “corruption” against Labour was “intolerable and had no place in a Western democracy”.
But anyway I thought I would take a very quick look through Hansard in the late 90s. And in a few minutes alone I find these. Perhaps a journalist might want to quote some of these back at Helen the next time she pretends to be outraged.:
CLARK: There is, I believe, jolly close to corruption in the Fire Service Commission over the role played by the chair of the commission
MALLARD: Today we had the stench that is surrounding this rotten Government. We had Mr McCully and the revelations about the behaviour of one of the senior officers of this Parliament. That approach will taint the Prime Minister, and while she may have had a sweet summer, what we will see in the end is a collapse because of her own inability to run a Government that is seen to be clear of the greed, the graft, and the corruption that New Zealanders think surround this place.
Mr Mallard was yelling across the House: “Pack of crooks.”
TREVOR MALLARD: It is absolutely outrageous. It is the sort of corruption that we would expect in countries like Indonesia. We would not expect that level of corruption in any OECD country.
Trevor Mallard: Why does she stand by her Minister after he issued a threat in an attempt to obtain funding for an application, outside guidelines and precedents, for a group that involved two very close relatives, and does she accept that in most democracies such action would be regarded as corrupt?
TREVOR MALLARD: I am making an allegation of corruption
MALLARD: There is only one way the Minister could have studied those balance sheets and that is through his role as Minister of Tourism. If a public official anywhere else in the world took advantage of his public position to obtain documentation that was not made available publicly, then attempted to take advantage of that for his personal and private benefit, it would be insider trading or corruption.
And finally we have two hypocrisy awards for Labour:
Hon. TREVOR MALLARD (Minister of Education): I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I want to make it quite clear that it has often been ruled in this House that linking actions of members to corporate donations to a party, and suggesting quite directly that people are acting as a result of those donations, is out of order.
Yes that is Trevor in 2000 saying it is wrong to link actions of MPs to corproate donations. What hypocrisy considering he has explicitly made such allegations on multiple occassions recently.
I put it to the House that the Prime Minister has been central to the development of a strategy that sees the National Party freeloading off public money devoted not to the promotion of New Zealand but to the attempt to resurrect a failed, dying Government.
And the supreme award goes to this statement accusing Shipley’s Government of freeloading off public money!!!