Hon MURRAY McCULLY (National—East Coast Bays) Link to this
I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. As you will see, Madam Speaker, this question relates to the operation of the Security Intelligence Service, and, accordingly, it was lodged this morning addressed to the Minister in charge of the NZ Security Intelligence Service, the Prime Minister. During this morning my office was advised that the Prime Minister’s office had advised the Clerk’s Office that the Security Intelligence Service was not responsible for identifying terrorists, nor for stopping them from entering New Zealand.
Leaving aside the rather interesting question of what that leaves members of the Security Intelligence Service to do other than eat their lunch, it raises a serious problem for the Opposition. I want to refer you to Speakers’ rulings on page 138, and specifically to rulings 3, 4, and 5. Those rulings make it clear you are not obliged to accept the transfer of a question by a Minister, and the Speakers’ rulings make it clear that where the information that is the subject of the question is so substantially held by one Minister, your transfer of such a question would be an abuse. Speaker’s ruling 138/5 makes it clear that you do have the power to refuse to permit a transfer if the personal knowledge of the Minister who has transferred the question might be such that another Minister would have difficulty giving the appropriate answer.
I refer you to the fact that yesterday I asked a primary question and some supplementary questions about the operation of the Terrorism Suppression Act 2002, and clearly that was my intent with this question today. The designating authority under that Act is the Prime Minister and no one else. I put it to you that the Prime Minister, in such a position, would have knowledge within her grasp that no other Minister could be expected to have. Indeed, there is only one Minister we can hold responsible and accountable in this House for the operation of that legislation.
I make one other submission, which is that this involves a matter of national security. Members of the Opposition have to accept in such matters that there are some things we cannot know. We do accept that and we try to behave with restraint in that regard. I put it to you, Madam Speaker, that there is a reciprocal obligation on the part of the Prime Minister in this case, where there is information she can provide, to be forthcoming and candid in providing it. Can I suggest that transferring the question is hardly consistent with such an approach. I invite you, for all those reasons, Madam Speaker, to overrule the Prime Minister’s attempt to move this question to the Minister of Police.