2. Question No. 2—Prime MinisterHon PAULA BENNETT (National—Upper Harbour) to the Prime MinisterQuestion No. 2—Prime Minister2. Hon PAULA BENNETT (National—Upper Harbour) to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by all her Government's statements policies and actions?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS (Deputy Prime Minister) on behalf of the Prime Minister: On behalf of the Prime Minister yes.Hon Paula Bennett: Is reducing both the supply and demand of methamphetamine and other class A drugs a priority for the Government?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: On behalf of the Prime Minister yes.Hon Paula Bennett: Why then did Cabinet cancel $10 million a year that was going towards reducing the supply use and harm caused by meth in our communities?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: On behalf of the Prime Minister our priorities have been laid out clearly in front of the public and we're following them all including having the firepower in men and women on the front line in the police to do the job and 400 dedicated in particular to that purpose.Hon Paula Bennett: Did she read the Cabinet paper that rescinded the $10 million a year allocated by the previous National Government to reduce the supply use and harm caused by meth?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: On behalf of the Prime Minister yes but the question that was put to this Parliament by way of that questioner was that the Government has not prioritised any more the matter of defeating the meth trade and we have. Hon Paula Bennett: Why has her Government shelved the Methamphetamine Action Plan which reduced adult meth use rates in New Zealand by 50 percent?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: On behalf of the Prime Minister the fact is that the statement made by that member is not correct. That is why we are seeking alternative measures including having the front-line police firepower to do the job and 400 in particular dedicated to that purpose.Hon Paula Bennett: Is she aware that the Methamphetamine Action Plan did in fact work and it did half the rate of adult meth use as it was 2.1 percent in 2009 and was halved to 0.9 percent in 2015 according to the Tackling methamphetamine: Progress Report of October 2015 and has remained stable since then?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: On behalf of the Prime Minister that claim is the world's best kept secret. If on becoming the Government the meth trade was defeated why on earth would we devote so much time and so much money to get on top of it? And that is what the community has advised us to do.Hon Paula Bennett: So why was the Methamphetamine Action Plan which had a proven success rate at reducing the supply use and harm caused by meth in New Zealand dropped by her Government and we've recently seen it increasing in our communities?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: On behalf of the Prime Minister the claim that it was effective is simply not true and every answer that's been given to the subsequent question has been dedicated to saying that. If it was successful why was everybody out in the countryside including the police saying the thing was totally out of hand and we needed new forces? That's why we found 400 dedicated police to do the job.Hon Paula Bennett: I seek leave to table the Tackling methamphetamine: Progress Report of October 2015 which shows a 50 percent reduction over those six years.SPEAKER: It's not already been published?Hon Paula Bennett: Well actually it probably is published but the member says he hasn't seen it. SPEAKER: No no—Hon Paula Bennett: To be clear Mr Speaker we probably typed some words into the search bar and up it came and they think it—SPEAKER: Order! The member knows two things: one she should not attempt to table a document which is already published. She's an experienced member and she knows that well. Secondly by way of subsequent point of order she shouldn't trifle with the Chair. I think we might just sort of leave it at that for now.Hon Stuart Nash: To the acting Prime Minister has he seen reports over the last five years of the previous Government that police numbers actually dropped by seven and yet under the first 18 months of this Government we have trained nearly 1400 police to be sent out into our communities?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: On behalf of the Prime Minister I wish to confirm that that is a fact. But here's the real point: if the methamphetamine was being successfully attacked by the previous administration how come 500 kilograms appeared on a Ninety Mile Beach recall and it was discovered not by the then police because they didn't have the resources—no—but by a passer-by and that's why when we became the Government we decided to act.Hon Paula Bennett: Is she concerned that a clause in the Misuse of Drugs Amendment Bill alongside a reduction in funding for reducing harm caused by meth could lead to an increase in use and harm in our communities?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: On behalf of the Prime Minister and as confirmed by the Minister of Police we are setting out with the appropriate resources to get on top of this scourge in our country—make no bones about it. So I'd invite that member to reflect on the Ninety Mile Beach and other events where nothing was happening against what is being done now by the Government and the police in particular.Hon Paula Bennett: Does she believe that today's prosecution announcement will convince her Minister of Foreign Affairs that Russians were responsible for shooting down MH17?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: On behalf of the Prime Minister I can answer that the foreign Minister at the time expressed his serious desire to see the end of the inquiry in the Netherlands. That inquiry has now been completed and a prosecution is about to start. Now unlike some people in this House we wait to see the evidence be unveiled in court before we make up our opinion. But of course that is a party over there that when Theresa May was announcing the date of an inquiry with respect to Salisbury was shouting out that they had a guilty party already. If that was the case why did Theresa May announce an inquiry? Get some legal training.Hon Stuart Nash: Has she seen quotes from the eastern district police commander which state that The new gang focus unit that's been set up in eastern is purely a result of the new recruits that this Government has put out into our communities."?SPEAKER: No I'm going to interrupt that. The only link of that is police and the whole line of questioning has been—while it was a very general question I think the member has sort of got outside of it."