1. Hon Dr NICK SMITH (National—Nelson) Link to this
to the Chairperson of the Local Government and Environment Committee
Has the committee concluded its consideration of the 2006-07 financial review of the Ministry for the Environment; if not, why not?
MOANA MACKEY (Chairperson of the Local Government and Environment Committee) Link to this
No; if the member had bothered to turn up to last week’s meeting, he would know why.
Hon Dr Nick Smith Link to this
What explanation has she or the committee clerks received from the Ministry for the Environment for its failure to respond to the committee’s 14 questions on communications contracts involving Clare Curran and Erin Leigh, for which a response was required by 5 p.m. last Friday—or is the material so embarrassing that the Government intends to hold it until after the last question time, so it does not have to address those issues?
Madam SPEAKERThat moves out of process questions into substantive matters. So the chair has no responsibility for that; the committee does.
Rt Hon Winston PetersHon Dr Nick Smith Link to this
I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. My question was: “What explanation has she or the committee clerks received … ” under the agreement? A specific agreement was reached between the committee and the Ministry for the Environment that these answers would be provided by a particular date. The question was quite specific. It was about whether the committee clerk or the chair had received any explanation since that deadline had passed. Surely that is within the Standing Orders in terms of questions that are appropriate to go to chairs of select committees, noting that this is likely to be one of the last question times in the House this year.
Hon Dr Michael Cullen Link to this
Unfortunately, of course, the member went on and added a great deal more to the question, including asking something about the Government’s intention. The chair of the select committee has no responsibility for that.
No. If the question is confined to whether the committee has received a response, then that can be addressed, but nothing else.
As the member well knows, any correspondence that has been received by the committee is confidential to the committee until it is tabled. I invite the member to grace us with his presence on Thursday, so that we can discuss the matter.
Hon Dr Nick Smith Link to this
I seek leave to table the 14 questions from the committee and the email I have received from the committee clerk, stating that no response had been received.