11. Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE (Labour—Waimakariri) Link to this
to the Minister of Broadcasting
Has TVNZ made any agreement to make a payment to Paul Henry on his resignation?
Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN (Minister of Broadcasting) Link to this
I am not aware of any of the terms under which Mr Henry was employed. Furthermore, it would be inappropriate for me to seek that information from Television New Zealand (TVNZ), as I would be contravening the Television New Zealand Act and the Crown Entities Act. If TVNZ were to reveal this information to me, it might be in danger of contravening the Privacy Act and the Employment Relations Act.
Mr SPEAKERBefore I call the member, I say that I struggled to hear the last part of that answer. I believe it was a serious question, and the level of interjection was just too high.
Hon Clayton Cosgrove Link to this
Is he saying he does not know, or is he saying he will not tell the House?
Hon Clayton Cosgrove Link to this
Does the Minister accept that TVNZ’s dividend to the Government and its value are his responsibility, and can he guarantee that these have not been reduced in any way by any payment to Mr Henry over and above the statutory minimum requirements?
Hon Clayton Cosgrove Link to this
Has he told TVNZ not to make a payment over and above the statutory minimum requirements; if not, why not?
Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN Link to this
No, I have not. I refer that member to the precedent set by his colleague Trevor Mallard in 2008, when Ralph Craven departed as Transpower boss. Trevor Mallard said at that stage that Ministers were not responsible for the work of chief executives and staff, or employment matters, and that they were operational and a matter for the chairman. So I tell the member to go and talk to Trevor Mallard; he knows the rules on this. We are following the same form.
Hon Trevor Mallard Link to this
I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. There is a big difference between being responsible and knowing.
I am on my feet. It is up to the person questioning the Minister. If he does not like the answer, he has further supplementary questions to dig in to that answer. It is not up to another member to, by way of point of order, interfere with it. The questioner has the opportunity, if the answer does not seem appropriate or of the quality the questioner expects, to dig into it with the next supplementary question.
Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN Link to this
I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I object to that member saying that I am telling lies. I am quoting directly—
Admittedly, there was some interjection when there should not have been when a point of order was being heard. I confess that I did not hear the member assert that the Minister was—
That was quite out of order, so I now ask the Hon Trevor Mallard to stand and withdraw and apologise. If he is admitting he said it, I ask him to withdraw and apologise.
Hon Simon PowerI raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. The member is required to say: “I withdraw and apologise.”, not: “I so do.”, or whatever phrase the member used.
I accept the point the member made. I took what the member said to be a genuine following of my instructions. What troubles me at times is when members get up and say: “I withdraw and apologise.” as if they do not mean it, at all. I thought the member indicated, in the way he said it, that he actually meant it. I let the issue pass; it was my judgment to let it pass. I apologise to the House if I erred there. I do not want to go back and take time to correct it now, because it was my judgment at that time that the member apologised. But I stress to the House that it should not be taken as a precedent.
Hon Clayton Cosgrove Link to this
What would be the circumstances under which a payment by TVNZ to a resigning presenter would not be acceptable, and is there conduct that would be serious enough to cause that Minister to intervene, offer an opinion, or even, pray tell, ask the chief executive officer for any information?
Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN Link to this
When we talk about what the circumstances would be, we are dealing in a hypothetical area, and I am not prepared to comment on that. But I note that when Steve Maharey was the Minister of Broadcasting and Ian Fraser left Television New Zealand, he was loathe to make any comment at all for exactly the same reasons that I have cited.
Hon Clayton Cosgrove Link to this
I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I asked the Minister under what circumstances he would, for instance, be prepared to intervene, in what circumstances he would be prepared to offer an opinion, or in what circumstances he might even ask a question of his chief executive officer to be informed of the information. None of that was addressed.
If the member listens to what the Minister said, he said that they are hypothetical questions that the member is asking. He is not prepared to answer—
Order! He said that he is not prepared to answer such a question; he can look only at an individual circumstance on its own merits. He cited previous Ministers who have taken a similar approach. I believe that that is answering the member’s question. As he said, he is not prepared to answer such a hypothetical question.