10. GRANT ROBERTSON (Labour—Wellington Central) Link to this
to the Prime Minister
Did he read all this year’s Budget papers relating to the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet?
Rt Hon JOHN KEYUnder which appropriation within Vote Prime Minister and Cabinet does the $300,000 contribution to the running costs for the waka on the Auckland waterfront sit?
The answer given by my spokesperson to the New Zealand Herald reporter who ran that story was incorrect, as the advice received by my office from officials was actually incorrect. The money was in fact new money, which was drawn from a 2010 between-Budgets contingency. It was not from the Vote Prime Minister and Cabinet, nor was it appropriated via Vote Prime Minister and Cabinet. The money was appropriated to Vote Māori Affairs as part of Te Puni Kōkiri’s March baseline update. The reporter who received the incorrect information has since been informed of the error.
Actually, the error was corrected the day after the story was run. As soon as the story was run, our office noticed that that would have been likely to be incorrect. We went back and rechecked with the officials, they apologised for the mistake they made, and we went back to the New Zealand Herald.
Can the Prime Minister confirm that this money has in no way come from the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet’s budget at any point in the past?
Mr SPEAKER