1. Hon BILL ENGLISH (National—Clutha-Southland) Link to this
to the Prime Minister
Has she, the Prime Minister’s office or the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet received any written advice, briefing or opinion from the Companies Office or the Ministry of Economic Development in relation to the investigation into legal declarations by David Parker; if so, what were the dates and titles of all such communications?
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN (Deputy Prime Minister) Link to this
The only document that the Prime Minister is aware of that could be so classified, although at a stretch, is a print-off of an email from the Minister of Commerce’s press secretary to her press secretary on 27 March this year indicating that the Registrar of Companies had not completed the investigation, and briefly outlining the process to be followed. This was in response to media inquiries based on the belief that the investigation has been completed.
Can the Prime Minister see the difficulty presented to the public when the Ministry of Economic Development is answering questions from the media—the same ministry that was chief adviser to David Parker in his capacity as Minister of Energy?
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN Link to this
No. The Registrar of Companies operates independently within the ministry. As I said, the advice received was merely about process.
Has the Prime Minister seen any advice from the Companies Office, from her officials, or from Mr Parker arguing that Mr Parker may not be prosecuted because his partner Mr Hyslop lost his shareholder rights when he became bankrupt, and that a letter from the official assignee to Mr Parker led him to believe he could act in the way he did, and therefore he would not be prosecuted?
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN Link to this
As the Prime Minister said yesterday, Mr Parker has kept her informed of matters.
If the Prime Minister has been kept aware of matters, has she seen a copy of a letter from the official assignee, sent to David Parker in 1997?
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN Link to this
I am not aware whether a particular letter of a particular date has been seen. I am aware that Mr Parker has kept the Prime Minister informed.
Rt Hon Winston Peters Link to this
Has Mr English, who is raising these questions today, provided the Prime Minister with any evidence in the form of letters, from whatever official body, to back up the questions he is putting today; if not, does he wonder why not?
Rodney HideI raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. The “if not … why not” is clearly out of order, because the Minister cannot be asked why Bill English may have provided letters or material to the Prime Minister. That is completely out of order as a question.
Madam SPEAKERRt Hon Winston Peters Link to this
It has long been a tradition in this country that if members raise a question by way of supplementary question, they may not be required to produce evidence at the very start of those questions. But if the questions go on day in, day out, and they assert that documentary evidence—[ Interruption] There are three people interrupting my point of order.
A point of order is being taken. Mr Hide was heard in silence, and Mr Peters will be heard in silence. I ask members to remember that. But I ask Mr Peters to please be brief, because I am ready to rule.
Rt Hon Winston Peters Link to this
Madam Speaker, I do not want you to rule prematurely. It has been said in the past that if members wish to assert documentary evidence, they should produce it. This is about day seven of this argument—day two this week. I am asking the Minister whether Mr English has provided any documentary evidence to back up his line of questioning and, if not, whether he wonders why not.
Gerry BrownleeI raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. I would ask you to reflect very carefully on that. The member has asked Dr Cullen whether information has been provided to the Speaker to back up the question. Dr Cullen cannot possibly know that; nor is it appropriate that someone else answers for the Speaker in these matters.
I am sorry, I had not heard it was to the Speaker; I thought it was actually to the Prime Minister. But if there is any confusion I am sure we can clarify that now. The first part of the question was in order, because an opinion can be sought. The second part of the question was not in order.
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN Link to this
No evidence has been presented by Mr English to the Prime Minister on this matter.
Is the Prime Minister aware that a complaint about Mr Parker’s conduct as a lawyer has been laid with the Law Society, and that that complaint is sufficiently serious that if it were upheld Mr Parker could be struck off; and will she wait until that investigation is complete before considering whether Mr Parker should be restored to Cabinet?
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN Link to this
The Prime Minister is aware of a complaint laid by Mr Hyslop against Mr Parker, in the same way that she is aware of complaints laid by her present Deputy Prime Minister against Mr Hyslop in the past, over his actions in failing to fulfil his obligations to people who had bought property off him.
Rt Hon Winston Peters Link to this
On that score, has the Prime Minister been provided with any evidence whatsoever to back up either Mr Hyslop’s claims or those being endorsed by Mr English in this House again today?
Will the Prime Minister answer the question I asked before, which was: will she wait until the Law Society complaint has been dealt with—because it is a serious complaint—before considering whether Mr Parker will be restored to Cabinet?
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN Link to this
I have no information on that particular matter. It would be desirable, I think, to have some indication from the Law Society of how long any such inquiry may take.
Rt Hon Winston Peters Link to this
Given that the assertion by the questioner is that this is a serious complaint, has she seen any information or evidence from Mr English or Mr Hyslop to justify the description “a serious complaint”?
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN Link to this
No. I have seen no evidence to back up Mr Hyslop’s complaint, as reported initially in Investigate magazine.
Can the Prime Minister account for the fact that there now appears to be widespread knowledge of the Companies Office position in respect of Mr Parker’s declarations, as confirmed by the interview carried out by the Companies Office with Mr Hyslop yesterday?
Rt Hon Winston Peters Link to this
Can the Prime Minister confirm that any information of the Companies Office is available to anybody who bothers to make an inquiry; so, that being the case, is she surprised that she has not received any evidence or correspondence to back up this line of questioning?
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN Link to this
The Companies Office information is normally available within the public arena. The fact of the matter is that so far no evidence has been presented at all on some significant matters, including particularly the accusations made by Mr English.