1. Hon PHIL GOFF (Leader of the Opposition) Link to this
to the Prime Minister
What assurances, if any, has he received from all his Ministers that they have declared all of their pecuniary interests on becoming Ministers; if so, when?
Hon JOHN KEY (Prime Minister) Link to this
As members of Parliament, Ministers are required by the Standing Orders to disclose certain assets and interests in the Register of Pecuniary Interests of Members of Parliament. Ministers who were members of Parliament before their appointment have therefore publicly declared their pecuniary interests. The declarations for the year to January 2009 were to be lodged by 2 March, and will be published by the registrar in due course.
Did Dr Worth, while speaking in India as a Minister and promoting aviation training in New Zealand, in which he had personal commercial interests, meet all of the conflict of interest requirements set out in the Cabinet Manual; if not, in which respect did he fall short of the required standards?
As I said yesterday, I think it was unwise for Dr Worth not to have resigned from the New Zealand Aviation company when he embarked on that trip to India. That left him open to a perception of conflict of interest. I do not believe that there was a real conflict of interest for Dr Worth, or that he set out to make pecuniary gain; nevertheless, he opened himself up to the perception of one.
Why did the Prime Minister, in the Dominion Post, in the morning say that he had absolutely no problem with Dr Worth’s trip, yet in the afternoon say that he had given Dr Worth “a bollocking” for his behaviour?
Firstly, the Dominion Post is not published in the morning and in the afternoon; those articles were published on different days. I was simply asked a different question on Friday from the one I was asked on Monday.
Did the New Zealand taxpayer in any way subsidise this private business junket run by a member of the Prime Minister’s Executive Council?
Not to the best of my knowledge. I have a copy with me of the letter sent to me by Dr Worth, which I released yesterday, and in it he made it clear that the expenses for his trip would be met by him personally.
Can the Prime Minister then confirm the accuracy of Dr Worth’s statement that he paid for his own flight to India and costs, and does he therefore accept that no other body or interests contributed in any way towards the cost of that trip?
To the best of my knowledge, I understand that Dr Worth was facilitated when he left, through Visits and Ceremonial Office, but I do not think that that would create cost.
Why did Dr Worth and Mr Groser continue to hold directorships within New Zealand Aviation and the India Trade Group several months into their ministerial appointments, and for how long was the Prime Minister aware of that?
Firstly, in relation to both Ministers, they rightfully sought Cabinet advice on whether there was a conflict of interest. In the case of Mr Groser, after he raised the issue with the Cabinet Office it was indicated that it probably would be best if he resigned, and he took the opportunity to do so. I am advised that he informally resigned from New Zealand Aviation in late December or in January; he formally resigned on 23 January 2009. In the case of Dr Worth, there was not perceived to be a conflict of interest, because there was no conflict with the ministerial warrants that he held. Of course, once he went on a trip to India, that, in my view, created a perception of a conflict of interest. I will say that the India Trade Group, for all of that, is a worthy organisation and one that seeks to build links between New Zealand and India. It is so worthy, in fact, that when I looked at the honorary advisers, I saw that one of them, lo and behold, is the Hon Phil Goff, Leader of the Opposition.
Can the Prime Minister confirm that the various people who are honorary advisers to the organisation have, in fact, absolutely no pecuniary interest in it, and that therefore his throwaway line at the end was just a pathetic attempt to take the focus away from the major conflicts of interest suffered by his Ministers?
Why did it take Mr Groser several months to resign from directorships that were an apparent conflict of interest, when it took Richard Worth only 2 hours yesterday morning to do that?
In the case of Mr Groser, as I said, he verbally indicated that he would be resigning, soon after he had raised the matter with the Cabinet Office. He was, and is, a very busy Minister of Trade. Amongst other things, since becoming Minister he has been to Peru for days, he has been to Poland, he has been to Davos, in Switzerland, and he has been to India. In fact, he has hardly ever been in New Zealand, but in amongst all of that he did spend 2 weeks on the conservation estate. The feedback we have had internationally is that Mr Groser is a very hard-working Minister of Trade, unlike the previous Minister of Trade.
Have, therefore, both Dr Worth and Mr Groser met the high standards that the Prime Minister says he expects from his Ministers; if not, was he just talking tough when he said “One strike and you’re out.”?
Well, yes, they have both met the standards. I just point out to the Leader of the Opposition that he might like to talk tough down here in Parliament this afternoon, but when he was asked on Morning Report this morning: “Have you any proof that within the 3 months Mr Groser did anything that was a conflict of interest, or compromise that in any way?”, he said “No, no. I’m not alleging that against Tim Groser. I cannot argue that. That was not the case.” By the way, on the same Morning Report item this morning Mr Goff said that for any breach of the Cabinet Manual someone should be gone. You see, Phil Goff wants to sack people for a perception of conflict of interest, but when there was one with Taito Phillip Field, and when there was one with Winston Peters, as a senior member of Cabinet he sat back and did nothing.