Foreign Affairs, Minister—Use of RNZAF Aircraft for Travel

Does he agree with his colleague’s remarks that the $75,000 costing is a Labour Party figure and bears no relation to reality, or will he acknowledge to the House that the costing is derived from New Zealand Defence Force figures?

The Minister indicated, in fact, that $75,000 was not actually far away from the price. Can I inform the House that the fuel cost for these aircraft was in fact approximately $61,000, and there are, of course, some additional maintenance costs.

I seek leave to table an Official Information Act answer requested by Chris Hipkins and delivered on 14 April 2010, which sets out the costings of all the aircraft of the RNZAF, and which makes that $75,000 very conservative.

Would the member mind just making clear where this document is from?

From the New Zealand Defence Force.

Leave is sought to table that document. Is there any objection? There is no objection.

Document, by leave, laid on the Table of the House.

Did he ask his colleague Murray McCully to consider an alternative to using the Boeing 757 to fly to Vanuatu; if so, what response did he receive?

Mallard Hon Trevor Mallard Link to this

As the Minister has said—on a number of occasions, in fact—he was able to provide services to other Pacific Island leaders. Actually, this is very similar to the use of the 757 by the previous Prime Minister, Helen Clark—

I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. This member has taken quite a lot of advice to draft tight questions, and this was a very tight question. This is not the flick at the end of an answer because the question has not yet been addressed. The member might need to repeat it to make it clear to you what it was. I am not sure that the Minister heard what it was, but he certainly has not started to address it yet.

I will allow the member to repeat his question so that the House can be absolutely certain.

Did he ask his colleague Murray McCully to consider an alternative to using the Boeing 757 to fly to Vanuatu; if so, what response did he receive?

It was very clear that this was the most efficient way to get to Vanuatu, and that was fully understood by me. It was not dissimilar to the situation when the previous Prime Minister—

The question asked whether the Minister asked his colleague whether he had considered an alternative. The Minister has direct responsibility for the Minister’s own actions, and it is within the capability of the Minister to answer that question. I think it is a reasonable question. So the question was repeated and asked whether the Minister asked his colleague whether he had considered alternative flight possibilities. That is a fair question and the House does deserve an answer.

As I indicated, the answer is clearly yes, because it was then explained to me why it was not appropriate. In fact, it was very similar to the previous Prime Minister’s use of the 757. Can I say that the previous Prime Minister, Helen Clark, used a 757 to go from Auckland to Apia, where she also took Pacific Island leaders and other Ministers on that Pacific Islands Forum trip. That is extremely similar to the current situation. Of course, Vanuatu does not have the regularity of air services that Samoa and Auckland do have.

From the Minister’s answer, was political blogger Cameron Slater correct yesterday when he wrote that Mr McCully turned up over 2 hours late for his departure—

Hodgson Hon Pete Hodgson Link to this

The Minister has absolutely no responsibility for what the blogger Cameron Slater may or may not say. That is totally irrelevant to the Minister. I will allow the member to reword his question, though, because I do not want to deprive him.

I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I respectfully suggest that if you were to judge the question after you have heard it, instead of hearing only the beginning of it, you might come to a different view.

I thank the member for his advice. I invite the honourable member to reword his question to make it very clearly within the Standing Orders.

Was political blogger Cameron Slater correct when he wrote that Mr McCully turned up over 2 hours late for his departure to Vanuatu—

The Minister is not responsible for whether the blogger Cameron Slater was correct. The member can ask opinions, but he cannot be that specific about it. He cannot ask whether someone for whom the Minister has no responsibility whatsoever is correct. But I will give the member another chance, because—[ Interruption] It is only reasonable. I am requiring him to come within the Standing Orders, and I do not want to deprive him of the question.

Is the—[ Interruption]

I am on my feet. The member will resume his seat. I want to hear this question, because I have to be able to judge whether it is within the Standing Orders.

Has the Minister seen reports that Cameron Slater has stated that Mr McCully was over 2 hours late for his flight to Vanuatu because of a heated exchange he had with the Minister of Defence?

All I can say in response to that is that Mr Cameron Slater is woefully misinformed—not that I actually normally read his blog, apparently unlike Mr Shearer.

Was the Minister aware when he authorised the flights, including the return flight from Vanuatu, that commercial flights at a fraction of the price were available, including flights that would have enabled Mr McCully to return to New Zealand in less than 6 hours for around $2,000 or $3,000?