9 February 2000
Shipley goes to back of class
New Zealanders will find it ironic that the Leader of the Opposition is intending to issue report cards on the
government's performance, given the failure of Mrs Shipley and her party at the last general election to secure a pass
mark, Education Minister Trevor Mallard said today.
"Voters graded Mrs Shipley and the National Party at the election and gave them a D - a humiliating fail grade.
"Even now, nearly three months later, the significance and magnitude of this failure has not sunk in, as Mrs Shipley
continues her well-worn and unedifying head teacher routine.
"It is time that the National Party, as it contemplates many years in opposition, did a spot of remedial learning.
"The policies of Mrs Shipley's party were decisively rejected at the last election. A new government was voted in,
offering a real change of direction in social and economic policies.
"That's why Mrs Shipley's latest feeble efforts have earned her a D for effort, and an E for imagination," Trevor
Mallard said.
ENDS