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NZ Herald
January 10, 2003
Question time: Don Brash, National
Name: Don Brash
Party: National
Age: 62
Home: Moving to Glendowie,
Auckland.
Family: Second marriage, two adult
children, one 9-year-old.
1. How difficult has it been to adjust
to life as an MP?
In some respects quite easy, in that I had a general understanding of what
the parliamentary process was about. One of the main functions as a member of
Parliament is to explain policy, build a constituency and so on, and that was
a reasonably significant part of my role as Reserve Bank Governor. In that
sense it has been pretty straightforward. On the other hand, this place has
its own quite arcane rules and codes of behaviour which, I guess, take all of
us a little while to get used to. Being rebuked [by a whip] for not occupying
my full speaking time was a new experience for me.
2. How long is your working day?
It depends whether or not the House is in urgency. I worked hard at the
Reserve Bank but I usually got Sunday afternoons off. I find at the moment
I'm working just about seven days a week.
3. What is the most frustrating thing
about working at Parliament?
As as Opposition member you are very much aware of the fact that your
influence on Government policy is almost non-existent. I had assumed at
select committee level it might be a bit different. Maybe it will be in time.
Just to illustrate one frustration, shortly after the Minister of Finance
signed a policy targets agreement with Allan Bollard, he [Michael Cullen]
appeared before the finance and expenditure select committee for 30 minutes.
The chairman of the committee allocated more time to Opposition parties but
there are four Opposition parties. National got five minutes and I got part
of that five minutes. The minister, being a pro at this game, knows to answer
my question at great length. That's frustrating.
4. What have been the highs?
From a personal point of view I have been allocated the finance portfolio in
the National Party and I couldn't have asked for better. It is a portfolio
that has a bearing on most other policy areas. And my second high is related
to it. Bill English has asked me to assume responsibility for policy
co-ordination across the caucus. It's not a bad thing I'm in Opposition at
this time because I need to learn the parliamentary ropes. But to be in
Opposition and responsible for National Party finance policy and have a wider
policy co-ordination role is all my Christmases come at once.
5. And the lows?
There haven't been too many lows. I've had the good fortune to work with many
politicians over the years and, with almost no exception, I have respected
them for their intelligence and work output. So I don't naturally want to
abuse them but that's not the game. You're expected to abuse them and they're
expected to abuse you and that I find a bit distasteful.
6. What MP outside your party
impresses you and why?
I find that a tough question because there are several MPs who impress
me. But Rodney Hide on more than one occasion has shown considerable
integrity and courage in adopting a position which was different from those
of most of his colleagues. I don't mean Act colleagues; I mean parliamentary
colleagues. I've got a high regard for [Richard] Prebble. Few MPs handle
themselves better in the House - I'm talking about outside the National
Party, of course, where all 27 are brilliant. That goes without saying.
7. Do you support the bill to
decriminalise prostitution?
I haven't made a final decision on that but my present inclination is to
support the bill on the grounds that prostitution has been a feature of, to
the best of my knowledge, pretty well every society throughout time and I
think at this stage, and subject to further argument, this bill is likely to
protect those involved in the sex industry.
8. Do you have plans for a private
member's bill you would like to see passed?
Not yet. I've thought about various possibilities but I haven't, at this
point, plans to introduce one.
9. Do you have private health
insurance? If so why?
Yes, I do. I've had private health insurance for a long time. I want the
choice of having faster health care than is available in the public health
system under some circumstances. The public health system does a very good
job in urgent or life-threatening circumstances.
10. Name one of your heroes (current
party leaders not allowed).
Am I allowed two? Lee Kwan Yew [former Prime Minister of Singapore] is one.
He took a country which most people felt could not survive economically when
it first became independent from Malaysia
in the '60s ... to a position of considerable affluence and, at least in
economic terms, the envy of most of Asia.
Another is Nelson Mandela. Anyone who is imprisoned for 27 years and can
forgive his captors has to be a very remarkable person.
11. What book are you reading at present?
A City Possessed by Lynley Hood, the Peter Ellis story. It's a profoundly disturbing
book.
12. How are you unwinding over summer?
What I would normally do is spend two or three weeks pruning kiwifruit vines
on an orchard I have in Pukekohe. But I'll be moving from Wellington
to Auckland
in mid-January, which will cramp my style a bit. I'll be spending a few days
preparing for the three-day caucus in February. And I'm doing a small
consulting job for a bank in an Asian country.
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