10. Hon PETE HODGSON (Labour—Dunedin North) Link to this
to the Prime Minister
Why is it not in the public interest to tell New Zealanders whether, if he had travelled by car from Hamilton to Auckland as previously arranged, he would have arrived in time for his “security related meetings” on 11 December 2009?
Rt Hon JOHN KEY (Prime Minister) Link to this
It is my judgment that it is not in the public interest for me as Prime Minister to talk publicly about any of the details related to security-related meetings held on that date, and, from the best of my knowledge, that was the custom of the previous Prime Minister, as well.
Does the Prime Minister acknowledge that I am not seeking the subject of the meetings, the number of meetings, the venues of the meetings, the attendees at the meetings, or the duration of the meetings, but, rather, I am seeking to know only whether, if the kind helicopter pilot had not offered a lift direct to Auckland, the Prime Minister would have got there on time?
As I said earlier, it is my judgment that it is not in the public interest for me as Prime Minister to talk about security-related matters.
Does he stand by his statement that when the helicopter pilot asked him whether he wanted to go from Mount Pirongia to Hamilton, or Mount Pirongia to Auckland, “the pilot said to me it was about equal distance either way”?
I cannot remember whether the pilot said that, but I can certainly assure him that the pilot offered to take me to Auckland.
Why was the Vela brothers’ invoice that was generated on New Year’s Eve 2009 not approved by his office until 1 March 2010, but never date-stamped as having been ever received by his office on any date?
Is it within the bounds of possibility that around February 2010 someone dropped to the fact that the gift from the Vela brothers would have to go on his pecuniary interests register, and that to avoid awkward gibes from the Rt Hon Winston Peters, someone got a backdated invoice from the Vela brothers?