1. Question No. 1—Prime MinisterHon PAULA BENNETT (Deputy Leader—National) to the Prime MinisterORAL QUESTIONSQUESTIONS TO MINISTERSQuestion No. 1—Prime Minister1. Hon PAULA BENNETT (Deputy Leader—National) to the Prime Minister: Does she have confidence in all of her Ministers?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS (Deputy Prime Minister) on behalf of the Prime Minister: Yes particularly the foreign Minister who has just come back from an extremely constructive dialogue with his American counterparts in Washington DC.Hon Paula Bennett: Does she have confidence in Grant Robertson to end the occupation at Ihumātao?SPEAKER: Order! Order! I think the member has to establish some ministerial responsibility.Hon Paula Bennett: Does she have confidence in the Minister of Finance who is negotiating on the Government's behalf to end the occupation of Ihumātao?SPEAKER: It was reported as being"—carry on.Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: On behalf of the Prime Minister that was reported as being—can I just use a quote here. This person is saying "The owner of that property is Fletcher Residential. They have indicated that they are happy to sit down and … talk with some of the Māori groups that are concerned. The member has made representations to me along those lines; I would be happy to facilitate that because I think there is the capacity on that site to come to a common-sense solution."—Nick Smith 18 February 2016 on the subject.Hon Paula Bennett: What mandate did she or Cabinet give Grant Robertson if any in relation to ending the occupation of Ihumātao?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: On behalf of the Prime Minister the Government's focus is on supporting a resolution that respects all parties including the Crown mana whenua—that's the Māori people—and Fletcher's and we are continuing to work on finding that resolution.Hon Paula Bennett: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I am just very keen on behalf of the public to know if a mandate was given by the Prime Minister or Cabinet if any.SPEAKER: And the Government and Cabinet are in New Zealand terms that can be used interchangeably. The Government is Cabinet or at least the ministry and I think that most of us understand that.Hon Paula Bennett: Did any paper go to Cabinet on the mandate for the negotiations around Ihumātao?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: On behalf of the Prime Minister to use the word "mandate" is totally erroneous.Hon Paula Bennett: What advice has her Government received regarding Treaty claims in relation to the Government loaning to Auckland Council to buy Ihumātao off Fletcher's?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: On behalf of the Prime Minister this sort of speculation is getting way ahead of even that member and I can say that until we are much further down the track in a common-sense discussion we have nothing further to report.Hon Paula Bennett: Does she have confidence that all her Ministers are acting within the spirit of the law at all times?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: On behalf of the Prime Minister the law is the law and it has no reservation or codicil such as "the spirit of". It's either the law or it's not; get some legal advice over there.SPEAKER: Order! Order! I'm not going to take that as an offer from the member but I think I am going to remind the Minister that he is acting for the Prime Minister. He is speaking as the Prime Minister.Hon Paula Bennett: Then why did she earlier this year make a statement that she felt that donations may have been outside the spirit of the law and does she consider that as part of her Cabinet members?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: Well can I say on behalf of the Prime Minister on this matter the Prime Minister has no responsibility.Hon Paula Bennett: Does she have confidence in her Deputy Prime Minister that he has acted at all times within the spirit of the law?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: On behalf of the Prime Minister I do—and I do too.Hon Paula Bennett: What does she think the spirit of the law is in relation to the Electoral Act 1993?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: On behalf of the Prime Minister again why is someone resorting to the phrase "the spirit of the law"? Is it because the allegations are going to fail and therefore they're trying to talk about perceptions? Next time that member is in a hospital seeking an operation try one that is about perceptions and not reality. [Interruption] I suppose you have Gerry already!Hon Paula Bennett: So does she believe it's appropriate for the Deputy Prime Minister to call journalists "psychos" for asking questions and doing their job?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: On behalf of the Prime Minister when a journalist asks about an application to the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) which was treated only by the independent PGF fund managers and never went to Ministers and where both Ministers declared a potential conflict of interest and the application did not succeed and failed one has to ask oneself what sort of mind is it that thinks that the Ministers are so useless that they failed to get the application approved in the first place. That's what a psycho looks like.Hon Paula Bennett: So does she believe calling journalists "psychos" and pointing out that other members have had operations fits in with her Government's ambition to be kinder and more caring?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: On behalf of the Prime Minister—and this is probably an independent comment—the Prime Minister is notorious for being fair-minded and reasonable.Hon Paula Bennett: So on the day that the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission Bill gets its first reading does she believe that calling journalists "psychos" promotes better or worse mental health outcomes?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: On behalf of the Prime Minister when a journalist alleges that two Ministers have acted improperly when one Minister knew nothing about any application and the application failed—it never even got to be in front of the Ministers—it's around about then that one can responsibly call for decent journalism and not allegations."