4. Hon PETE HODGSON (Labour—Dunedin North) Link to this
to the Minister of Internal Affairs
Can he confirm that he, as reported in the Dominion Post on 30 March 2009, spoke at a formal ceremony as Minister of Internal Affairs about the benefits of aviation training in New Zealand?
Hon Dr RICHARD WORTH (Minister of Internal Affairs) Link to this
No, I cannot confirm that. I did not speak as a Minister of any portfolio at any event or ceremony during my visit to India. I spoke at the ceremony, for approximately 5 minutes, as the chairman of the India Trade Group on the benefits of strengthening trade links, including those in agribusiness, between India and New Zealand. I need to say, with reference to a comment made by the Hon Phil Goff, that the India Trade Group is an incorporated society. It is like a business council. It is a not-for-profit organisation.
Did the Minister meet all of his own costs for travel, accommodation, and other requirements on the trip to India, where he promoted New Zealand Aviation?
Hon Dr RICHARD WORTH Link to this
The costs of the trip were borne by me. I did receive hospitality at a number of events. I can record what those events were: three social functions in Delhi, and, I think, two social functions in Chandigarh.
Did he receive airport facilitation from Ministerial Services, either when leaving New Zealand or on his return to Auckland; if he did, did his fellow shareholders in New Zealand Aviation at the time, as private individuals, also receive facilitation from Ministerial Services?
Hon Dr RICHARD WORTH Link to this
Yes, I did receive facilitation at airports. I am not certain whether it was at every airport. Some members of the India Trade Group also received similar facilitation, as members of that travelling team that I was chairing.
Were his fellow shareholders in New Zealand Aviation—those who received, as private individuals, ministerial facilitation at Auckland Airport—amongst those who contributed $1,000 per person towards his personal expenses; if so, just how much did the trip to India cost him, or might he have run it at a small but tidy profit?
Hon Dr RICHARD WORTH Link to this
I am completely unaware of what the member has just said in terms of support. It is right to say that the final costs of the trip have not been allocated. I am simply unaware of the truth of that statement. I do not believe it to be correct.
Does the Minister still receive any form of income from Simpson Grierson; if not, when did he last receive any income from Simpson Grierson?
Mr SPEAKERI am not sure that that question relates to the primary question about a trip and speaking as Minister of Internal Affairs overseas, or at least a report on 30 March. I do not see how the issue of whether the Minister has any income from Simpson Grierson is within the Standing Orders. I will give the member the opportunity to reword a question that does fall within the Standing Orders.
Why did the Minister inform the Southern Institute of Technology’s chief executive, Penny Simmonds, of his intention to withdraw from his directorship of New Zealand Aviation last September but did not do so until yesterday, after the public heat had been turned up?
Hon Dr RICHARD WORTH Link to this
I do not have a clear recollection of that issue, but for the benefit of the member I can explain the background to that issue. The brief background is that when those discussions took place with Penny Simmonds of the Southern Institute of Technology, there was a proposal that there would be a shareholding of the Southern Institute of Technology in New Zealand Aviation Ltd. That never came about, and the plan moved from there to a proposal that there would be a new joint-venture company set up of New Zealand Aviation Ltd and the Southern Institute of Technology. I understand that that joint-venture company has not been set up. It was never part of the plan that I would be a shareholder or director of that new company. I also need to say that New Zealand Aviation Ltd has never traded. It is a holding company, and its existence and my link with it were disclosed in the 2009 Register of Pecuniary Interests of Members of Parliament.
Did the Minister meet with New Zealand immigration officials in Delhi whilst he was in India; if so, did he meet them as a Minister of the Crown or as not a Minister of the Crown, and what was the nature of any representations he made?
Hon Dr RICHARD WORTH Link to this
My recollection of that is that when the India Trade Group delegation arrived in Delhi there was a briefing at the Indian High Commission—
Hon Trevor MallardHon Dr RICHARD WORTH Link to this
—the New Zealand High Commission in Delhi. My recollection is that there was an immigration official there. I have no recollection of exactly what was said, but I believe there was a briefing by her on immigration issues.
Hon Dr RICHARD WORTH Link to this
To the India Trade Group delegation. I believe I made no representations at all.
Hon Pete Hodgson: I seek leave to table a number of newspaper clippings, all of which are from India. The first is from TheTribune, which is the largest-selling daily paper in north India. The article quotes “New Zealand’s senior minister for internal affairs Richard Worth”.
Hon Pete Hodgson: I seek leave to table an article from the Indian Express, which quotes Mr Worth as saying that the cost of getting an airline pilot’s licence in New Zealand is around $70,000 and that that is a good deal.
Hon Pete Hodgson: I seek leave to table an article from an Indian newspaper known as UNP, which describes the New Zealand delegation as being “led by their Internal Affairs Minister Dr. Richard Worth OBE.”
Hon Pete Hodgson: I seek leave to table an article from The Times of India, which describes New Zealand internal affairs Minister, Richard Worth, as leading the delegation, and quotes Mr Worth as saying that “New Zealand is an ideal place for aviation training as it trains pilot to tackle the sudden change of weather.”