Dunne Peter: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members 
Dunne Peter: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members 
[Volume:614;Page:10372] 
1.  
Hon PETER DUNNE (Leader—United Future) 
 to  
Steve Chadwick (Member in charge of Smoke-free Environments Amendment Bill) 
: Is she satisfied that the Smoke-free Environments Amendment Bill will not have unintended consequences if enacted; if not why not? 
STEVE CHADWICK (Member in charge of Smoke-free Environments Amendment Bill) 
: 
 No one can give an absolute assurance that unintended consequences will not occur as a result of any legislation. However I am satisfied that the purpose of the bill which is to provide for healthier working conditions for workers and the public will be achieved. 
Hon Peter Dunne 
: Bearing in mind the provisions of new section 23A(1)(ea) in the bill can the member give the House an unqualified assurance that wrapped and unwrapped cigars of such well-known brands as Schimmelpenninck and Van Hartog which exceed the requirement of 66 square centimetres in area for their packaging will continue to be able to be displayed; if she can give that assurance can she point to the section of the Act that provides it and if she cannot give that assurance can she explain why and where that is given authority also? 
STEVE CHADWICK 
: I refer the questioner to a response today from the Associate Minister of Health Damien O’Connor to Mr Tim Oakes in reference to this very question which states that he does not however believe that Mr Oakes’ concerns are well founded in terms of points of display for cigar products. 
Hon Peter Dunne 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. The member has quoted from what I believe is an official document. I think she is therefore obliged to table that document. She is referring to a letter from the Associate Minister to Mr Oakes which deals with the point. If she is quoting from that she should be obliged to table it. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: That applies when a Minister quotes from one. I refer the member to the Standing Order. 
Hon Peter Dunne 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. We are going to have a series of questions on this bill all of which relate to specific provisions of it. If we are to be able to proceed through this section of question time without disruption I submit to you that it would be in order for the member to answer the questions fully and properly because this is the one chance we will get given that the bill is about to enter its third reading. With regard to the question that I have just asked I know that the answer the member has given is disputed most strongly by the people to whom she has given it. Yet by not tabling the documentation referred to our ability to get to the heart of this matter which has significant implications for manufacturers in that regard is inhibited. So I submit that you should require the member to give full answers and where appropriate to table the appropriate documentation for all of us to examine. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: All I can say is that the member is not obliged to disclose her sources of information in answering questions. That is a specific comment made in the Standing Orders. Ministers are different from members in that regard. 
Hon Richard Prebble 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I am not disputing your ruling in any way; it is completely correct. However it would be helpful for you as Speaker to point out that although it is only Ministers who are obliged to do so it would certainly be very parliamentary especially for a chairperson of a committee who is answering questions and quoting from a document to table it. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: She is answering not as a chairperson but as the member in charge of the bill. The point made by the honourable member is an interesting one and could perhaps be discussed in the Standing Orders Committee. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. My point of order is that Mr Dunne asked for authority and I assume he meant authority within the legislation or the proposed bill in the first instance or any other authority if it was the converse. No attempt was made to give any authority in either respect but the member recited some comments from the Associate Minister. She has simply not answered the question at all. 
STEVE CHADWICK 
: I seek leave to table the document of 2 December 2003—a response to Mr Tim Oates the general manager of Stuart Alexander. 
Document by leave laid on the Table of the House. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Before I take supplementary questions I want to rule as I did on a previous occasion that I will allow two supplementary questions: one from the member who asked the substantive question and one other. I will try to spread that round the parties. 
Sue Kedgley 
: Is the member confident that as a result of the passage and implementation of the Smoke-free Environments Amendment Bill we will see a renaissance and not a collapse of the hospitality industry as customers revel in the new clean indoor environment of pubs and cafes? 
STEVE CHADWICK 
: Yes I feel confident that that is exactly what we will see.