2. Hon PHIL GOFF (Leader of the Opposition) Link to this
to the Prime Minister
Does he stand by his claim that as Prime Minister he is committed to consulting with, and listening to, people prior to making decisions that impact on their lives?
Hon JOHN KEYDoes the Prime Minister understand why people like Ngāti Whātua spokesperson Ngarimu Blair has described his consultation as a masquerade, and the New Zealand Herald has accused the Prime Minister of ignoring due parliamentary process, when the Government arrogantly goes ahead and makes announcements as to its decisions when the people’s submissions to that select committee have not yet been considered and deliberated upon?
There is no hope for the Prime Minister. Would bodies like the Auckland Regional Council and the Kaipara District Council and the Rodney District Council today be expressing concerns about “major and secret changes” to the legislation, and “worst possible scenarios” if the consultation process had been adequate and if there were trust in the Government’s good faith in this matter?
The Government has gone through the select committee process on the matter. We are working through the decisions on boundaries, which were part of that select committee process.
How does the Prime Minister claim to be committed to consultation and to be listening to people on the Auckland City reform bill when, firstly, his announcements after the royal commission reported were made without any process of consultation; secondly, the legislation introduced was rammed through under urgency without any select committee process; and, thirdly, now with this so-called showcase of consultation, without referring to those submissions he has made decisions that even his Minister of Māori Affairs described today as a sham?
The Leader of the Opposition gets consultation confused with agreement. Just because some people advocate a position in a select committee does not mean the Government has to agree with it.
On another matter, while calling on the Labour Party to support the Government’s decision to send SAS troops to Afghanistan, why did he not, on any occasion, make any effort to consult with Labour or any Opposition party on the reasons why he made that decision, if he expected our support?
That is a bit rich! Why, as Prime Minister, did he not consult with any Opposition parties either before or after making the decision to cut out pre-funding of New Zealand superannuation, thus ending a period of consensus between political parties on superannuation that gave elderly people certainty in making plans for their retirement?
Two things: firstly, because we exercised the provisions that already existed in the law that the previous Labour Government passed; secondly, unlike the Leader of the Opposition, I do not currently live on Mars and presume that the country is not going through an economic recession in which some changes might be necessary.
John BoscawenIs the Prime Minister prepared to listen to the 87 percent of Kiwis who voted No in the referendum, and support my member’s bill?
Mr SPEAKERThe Speaker is on his feet. There will be silence. Could the honourable member be a little more courteous. I might advise the Prime Minister that the Speaker left primary school quite a while ago, sadly, with advancing years. He must not refer to the Speaker in answering the questions. I think we have heard enough of that answer.
Hon Rodney HideFirstly, the Government is listening to the 87 percent of New Zealanders. The way that we are doing that is that we asked both Child, Youth and Family and the police to look at the process that we are working through. In direct answer to the member’s question about whether National will be supporting the bill through to select committee, I say that is a decision I will be announcing at about 4 o’clock this afternoon.
Will the Prime Minister now commit to working constructively with Opposition parties in order to ensure that a credible emissions trading scheme is developed to protect our trade opportunities, to allow us to meet international obligations, and to ensure that we can give the forestry industry certainty to start planting trees and dealing with the problems surrounding climate change?
Unless I am missing something, the Government has been working constructively with the Opposition. It is true that the Leader of the Opposition has written a letter to me expressing come concerns about the direction in which the emissions trading scheme negotiations are going. Like all letters I get from the Leader of the Opposition, as expected, it was delivered to the media at the same time as it was delivered to me. It would be a little more useful, if the Leader of the Opposition wanted to have a constructive relationship with me, if he could learn to deal with me as a grown-up and not through the media.
Hon Heather RoyDoes the Prime Minister agree with the following statement, made by John Key in April 2007, which is backed by 87 percent of New Zealanders: “… if the reality is that no one is ever going to be prosecuted for lightly smacking their child, then don’t make it illegal. Don’t make it a crime. It’s poor law-making to write a very strict law and then trust the police and the courts not to enforce it strongly”; if not, what has changed?
Well, very simply, what has changed is that an amendment was put up. The amendment basically ensured, I believe, that the police had quite clear guidelines in the way the law would be administered, and at this point we have to say that the evidence strongly supports that the law is being administered the way the amendment was designed.
Hone HarawiraTēnā koe, Mr Speaker. Tēnā tātou katoa e te Whare. Does the Prime Minister stand by his speech from the throne when he promised to see Māori standing strong, economically independent, and fulfilling the complete promise of their potential, and how does he reconcile Cabinet’s recent failure to address the significant under-representation of Māori within local government with that earlier promise?
Yes, I do stand by that statement. It has been my view that an advisory participation committee is the best way of representing mana whenua. I draw the member’s attention to a huge number of gains that have been made in the very short time that National has been working with the Māori Party. Those gains have included a review of the foreshore and seabed legislation, an accelerated process of Treaty settlements, and substantial work being undertaken around Whānau Ora. They have included the policy that I announced this afternoon, which will see thousands and thousands of young Māori given the opportunity to participate in holiday programmes, and the like. Although I can fully understand the frustration of the Māori Party when it comes to the Auckland seats, what I do know is that we have achieved more in 9 months than Labour achieved in 9 long years.