Peters Winston: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Peters Winston: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Sitting date: 09 May 2012. Volume:679;Page:2084. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
12. 
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS (Leader—NZ First) 
 to the  
Prime Minister 
: Does he still have confidence in the Minister for Social Development and the Associate Ministers for Social Development; if so why? 
Rt Hon JOHN KEY (Prime Minister) 
: 
 Yes; because they are hard-working New Zealanders delivering a brighter future for the country. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: How can he possibly have confidence in Associate Minister Tariana Turia after she publicly attacked and embarrassed in all media yesterday the Minister for Social Development and all of his Cabinet colleagues when she said amongst other things that “I think it’s insulting to tell anybody about how many tamariki they should have.”? 
Rt Hon JOHN KEY 
: The member should look very closely at the confidence and supply agreement between the National Party and the Maori Party which says quite clearly that the Maori Party is bound on confidence and supply only where it has a delegation. In the case of the Associate Minister she does not have a delegation in this area; therefore she is quite free to speak out. From memory that was pretty much the same relationship and the same rules that Winston Peters had when he led New Zealand First in a very similar relationship with the Labour Party. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: Given that he has just said that Mrs Turia is hard-working and engaged in building a brighter future—[ 
Interruption 
] 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Order! I apologise—[ 
Interruption 
] I am about to assist the right honourable gentleman. He does not need to add to that. The National backbenchers do not need to do that. How can I hear the supplementary question when that is going on? 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: Could I just restart because the member got me derailed there— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The member may restart. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: —by the breaking out of an eruption of applause. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Order! 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: Given that he has just said Mrs Turia is hard-working and engaged in building a brighter future—in other words a person of integrity—and following yesterday’s attack where she said that the answer to that policy which requires a vote is no has he sought any assurance from Mrs Turia that neither she nor her two colleagues will renege on her party’s confidence and supply agreement by voting against the Budget on which these figures are predicated presumably; if not why not? 
Rt Hon JOHN KEY 
: No; because I do not need to do that because I can rely on their word. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: Am I to understand that the Prime Minister has got an understanding with the Maori Party whereby its members can go out in front of the media and say no on such an incredible policy but then they will do the Government’s bidding when it comes to the vote; and does it concern him as a defender of whanau ora the brainchild of the Minister Tariana Turia that $5 million of Vote Social Development towards whanau ora including money on wasteful family reunions has seen these contracts cancelled by the Ministry of Social Development; if not why not? 
Rt Hon JOHN KEY 
: I have got to be honest. I am struggling to understand the question but I will try to navigate through it. If he is asking the question of whether I am concerned that the Minister for Social Development has taken the step of expecting value for money when it comes to taxpayer spending irrespective of which programme it goes on under her portfolio no I am actually quite relieved that she is such a guardian of taxpayers’ spending. That is what I expect from every Minister.