1. Dr DON BRASH (Leader of the Opposition) Link to this
to the Prime Minister
Does she have confidence in all her Ministers; if not, why not?
Is she satisfied that Mr Benson-Pope has not misled the House, the media, or the public by releasing the highly selective analysis of his police file, and refusing to reconcile conflicting statements about it; if so, is she concerned that public opinion and newspaper editorials continue to call for his resignation?
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN Link to this
That question raises issues that have already been dealt with in the House. The Government, of course, considers very carefully newspaper editorials, but does not always follow them slavishly.
Why has she continued to have confidence in her Minister of Education, Steve Maharey, given numerous claims from New Zealand Qualifications Authority markers that they are being forced secretly to re-mark National Certificate of Educational Achievement exams, and push students up to pass grades, in order to come up with results that the New Zealand Qualifications Authority finds politically palatable?
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN Link to this
Because the processes being followed are the standard processes outlined, including check marking, and no amount of repetition of a small number of complaints from Mr English will change the facts of the case.
Does she have confidence in the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Winston Peters, who, first, called the New Zealand Herald “treasonous” for daring to disagree with him—
Madam SPEAKER
Rt Hon Winston Peters Link to this
I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. I did not say anything other than that they were telling straight, bare lies, as they did again in this morning’s paper.
I am sorry but that is not a point of order. I will remind members once in this sitting, and for the last time, because more than one voice called out then, that when members are asking questions or raising points of order, they are to be heard in silence. That is the final warning.
Does she have confidence in the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Winston Peters, who first called the New Zealand Herald“treasonous” for daring to disagree with him—
Ron MarkI raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. Could you remind the member that the honourable member’s title is the Rt Hon Winston Peters, and that he should be addressed appropriately?
Does the Prime Minister have confidence in the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Rt Hon Winston Peters, who first called the New Zealand Herald “treasonous” for daring to disagree with him, and then, after quite specifically being told by the Prime Minister to get over it, continued to attack the political editor, stating that her comments in an article were “baseless, false, and without any merit whatsoever”; if so, why?
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN Link to this
Because if Ministers or, indeed, members were to have to resign because they described some comments in some media as baseless and false, not many of us would last more than about a day or two in this place.
Why does the Prime Minister have confidence in her Minister of Health, the Hon Pete Hodgson, who has demonstrated to this House several times in the past month that he does not have a grasp on the major public health issue, which is the looming avian flu epidemic?
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN Link to this
The member must have an extraordinarily excellent crystal ball if he knows what nobody else does, which is that we are actually going to have a flu pandemic. Possibly the Exclusive Brethren included it with his special issue of their election propaganda. However, unlike members opposite, the Minister of Health has not made the mistake of thinking Tamiflu is a vaccine that will prevent the avian flu from occurring.
Rt Hon Winston Peters Link to this
Does the Prime Minister think it is reasonable to express a significant degree of frustration at a columnist who claimed that there was virtually a bilateral meeting with Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, when it did not happen—and four witnesses told her it did not—and then, just yesterday, described a meeting—
Gerry BrownleeWould both members please sit down. The matter raised by the member in his supplementary question was out of order. The question must relate to the primary question.
Rt Hon Winston Peters Link to this
In relation to the primary question of confidence in one’s Ministers, does the Prime Minister regard it is a matter of significant frustration when a journalist knowingly reports information that did not happen, claiming it to be information because she is some sort of expert; describes a meeting that did not take place as being virtually an attempt to persuade some country on a trade issue; then states in yesterday’s paper that two things happened: first, an attempt to diffuse tensions, which did not happen at all, and, second, that I described myself as the “new boy on the block”, which I demonstrably, palpably, am not, as she would know if she looked at the Foreign Minister of Japan? It is that sort of nonsense that causes me to ask why she bothers to report.
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN Link to this
Although I accept that the member might look like the new boy on the block, in fact he is almost the same age as I am and certainly is not.
Does the Prime Minister continue to have confidence in the Minister of Finance, the Hon Dr Michael Cullen, whose big-spending Budgets have, according to the OECD, Treasury, and the Reserve Bank, helped to push up inflation in the economy, thereby contributing to nine successive interest rate increases since the beginning of last year?
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN Link to this
If the member reads Reserve Bank publications as carelessly as he has, obviously, read the latest one, I hate to think how carelessly he wrote the ones he was responsible for.
I seek leave to table the latest Monetary Policy Statement from the Reserve Bank, which highlights the nine successive increases in interest rates that have occurred since the beginning of last year, which have taken the official cash rate to its highest level on record.