11. CLARE CURRAN (Labour—Dunedin South) Link to this
to the Minister for Communications and Information Technology
Is he satisfied that the process for awarding the ultra-fast broadband tender is appropriate; if so, why?
Hon STEVEN JOYCE (Minister for Communications and Information Technology) Link to this
Yes; because the Government and Crown Fibre Holdings have followed the utmost standards of probity. I note that the process involved Crown Fibre Holdings analysing and negotiating commercial offers before providing recommendations to shareholding Ministers, which is a process in many ways not dissimilar to that developed by the previous Government to approve bids to its Broadband Investment Fund, which were also signed off by Ministers. In order to be helpful, I also note that the Opposition has made a mistake on its blog. I am actually not a shareholding Minister in Crown Fibre Holdings; that honour belongs to my colleagues the Ministers English and Power.
Why does he believe there is no conflict of interest with Murray Milner, who carried out consultancy work for Chinese company Huawei Technologies, a potential bidder to supply services and equipment for the broadband roll-out, being at the same time a Crown Fibre Holdings board member who was approving decisions about the tendering process for services and equipment suppliers for that very same equipment and infrastructure?
Firstly, I point out to the member that Huawei Technologies is not a bidder in the process that the Crown Fibre Holdings board is considering. It is potentially a technology supplier to one or more of the bidders, but it is not actually involved in the bidding. In relation to Mr Milner and any of the other directors, I understand Crown Fibre Holdings has an interest register and a conflict of interest policy, which it adheres to.
Was he aware that Murray Milner carried out consultancy work for Huawei Technologies from June to October 2010 while holding a position on the board of Crown Fibre Holdings; if so, why does he still think there is no conflict of interest?
I was recently made aware that Mr Milner had done some work for Huawei Technologies, but the remainder of my answer is the same as the answer to the previous supplementary question.
Will Crown Fibre Holdings be providing coordination assistance and commercial and technical advice to the ultra-fast broadband selected partners when electing the equipment suppliers for passive infrastructure and layer 2 equipment for ultra-fast broadband; if so, why is Crown Fibre Holdings pushing for there to be common suppliers and for all subsequent respondents to use the same suppliers as stated in a document written on 14 October 2010, which was sent by Crown Fibre Holdings to three selected respondents?
That was quite a long question, and I am not quite sure which bit to focus on. Crown Fibre Holdings does have a very clear policy, as I said, regarding interest, and I cannot for the life of me think where the member is coming from on this. Crown Fibre Holdings has a clear interest register, and any conflicts are managed.
How does he reconcile his public statement about Huawei Technologies’ relationship with the Government that “It’s one step removed from government. They are not a bidder in their own right, they’re a technology partner. It’s not like there’s going to be any screwing the scrum in a particular way.” with John Key’s singling out the firm as a potential participant in the fibre scheme and the firm’s clearly bidding to be an equipment provider?
There are a couple of things. Firstly, it is not bidding with Crown Fibre Holdings at all, so the last part of the member’s question is completely incorrect, and, secondly, I think it is entirely right for the Prime Minister to point out that it could be a potential partner. A number of people could be potential partners. There is no harm in that.
Mr SPEAKERI seek leave to table a PowerPoint presentation by Murray Milner of Milner Consulting Ltd titled “UFB impact on New Zealand Transport Capability” delivered at Huawei Technologies’ ultra-fast broadband technology summit on 27 September 2010.
I seek leave to table a transcript of John Key’s interview with Guyon Espiner on Television New Zealand’s Q+ A programme.