Hon Christopher Finlayson

A few days ago the Prime Minister announced an agreement on the repeal of the Foreshore and Seabed Act. National and the Māori Party have worked very hard on this matter since 2008 to try to heal the wounds inflicted on New Zealand by that odious legislation.

One of the real pleasures for me since 2008 has been working on that issue with Tariana Turia and the Māori Party. Mrs Turia’s name will always be remembered in New Zealand for her principled and courageous stand on the foreshore and seabed. Being able to work with her to find a solution to this legislation has been the highlight of my time in this place. The Foreshore and Seabed Act is Helen Clark’s legacy to New Zealand; its repeal is Tariana Turia’s, and I have to say that Mrs Turia is by far the greater politician. As my colleagues have pointed out in speech after speech on the Budget, this Government has had to spend a huge amount of time and effort cleaning up the mess left by Ms Clark’s administration. In my arts portfolio I am dealing with an arts infrastructure that was neglected during Helen Clark’s term of office.

Grant Robertson: That’s absolute rubbish. You know that’s not true.

Hon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON: Her negligence is simply a disgrace. The Historic Places Trust had to defer significant maintenance and critical repairs on some of our most important and precious heritage sites because of underfunding over the last decade. This year, Old St Paul’s alone faced deferred maintenance costs of $1 million, I say to Mr Robertson from Wellington Central. The Film Archive was also neglected by Helen Clark. The National Government is addressing those issues. Budget 2010 allocated $3 million to the Historic Places Trust for urgent deferred maintenance. The Film Archive also received a grant of $2 million to help preserve our cultural heritage in film. We know from headlines over the last few days just how important the work of the Film Archive is. Unlike Helen Clark, I am not interested in using the arts to make myself look good. I am happy for my results to speak for themselves. In fact, I have even heard it said—the luvvies are saying—I am a more competent Minister than Helen.

Working on all those initiatives has been a most satisfying experience, yet there are some in this place who are interested only in muckraking. Of course, I refer to Mr Hodgson. That amateur sleuth, that putative star of “CSI Dunedin North”, is finally reaching the end of his long, winding paper trail to nowhere. He exemplifies the previous Government’s inability to learn from its own mistakes. The so-called master strategist’s strategies backfire time and time again. He has been hot on the trail of the Prime Minister and the H-Fee conspiracy since 2008, searching high and low for clues to follow, only to arrive at the end of his mediocre career at the next election still clueless. At the 2008 election he tried to make up some sort of investment scam involving the Prime Minister. He and Helen Clark ordered Mike Williams off to Australia to dig dirt. I cannot remember many of the details, because it did not turn out very well—so much for the master strategy! I notice he has gone very quiet after his most recent flop. I have heard his latest efforts backfired so badly that Phil Goff has told him it is time to go, so Labour can give some union functionary like Carol Beaumont or Darien Fenton a safe seat in Dunedin.

So Mr Hodgson is going, and Labour is losing the man I once heard described as Labour’s assassin. In Opposition he has applied himself to picking over the details of the Government’s arrangements with what he probably fancies is a surgical-like precision, but it only reminds the rest of us that he is a vet. The final paper trail led to a Labour strategy for his colleagues. Attack campaigns are most effective when leavened by humour. That is certainly not advice Labour members have ever followed, unless the constant string of smears was always intended as comic relief. But the joke has been on them time and time again. Mr Hodgson’s career sums up, for me, the difference between Labour and National. We are interested in politics, ideas, and making this country great; Labour is only interested in smear.