English Bill: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
English Bill: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:611;Page:8327] 
10.  
Hon BILL ENGLISH (Leader of the Opposition) 
 to the  
Prime Minister 
: Noting her statements that she wanted full disclosure of all documents relating to GM-contaminated corn will she and her office and department release all such information and communications including emails memoranda and briefings received or prepared by her her office and her department since 11 July 2002; if not why not? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK (Prime Minister) 
: 
 I am not aware of any fresh requests for such information. However I do not see any reason they would not be complied with. 
Hon Bill English 
: Could the Prime Minister reassure the House that all documents were released and why would the House believe that reassurance when 184 documents were held back prior to the election even when she said on the Sky television leaders’ debate: “People got a full account. Not only a full account they are getting the whole bucket-load of documents landed. This is a Government that is accountable doesn’t cover things up.”? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: The member is asking for an assurance that he obviously does not want to get. The reality is that a lot of the documents in his list of 184 relate to after 11 July in any case. 
Hon Bill English 
: Can the House believe the assurance the Prime Minister has just given that all emails memoranda briefings and communications received or prepared by her her office or her department on “corngate” since 11 July 2002 will be understood by Dr Mark Prebble and that he will comply fully with the assurance and not hold back any documents according to phoney conventions? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: I would expect so. It is a mystery to me why the first instruction was not followed. 
Hon Ken Shirley 
: In view of the Prime Minister’s admission today that she now has new information surrounding the release of documentation is she prepared to accept an invitation from the select committee to attend the select committee to assist it with its inquiry? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: As I have made it clear if the threshold for a Prime Minister being summoned to a select committee is that low there would not be a policy issued before the Government where I would not be held accountable. 
Jeanette Fitzsimons 
: Noting the Prime Minister’s statements about full disclosure by the Government and the current lack of full disclosure by private companies does she believe it is adequate for the Government to rely for its evidence of safety testing of any kind on documents owned by those companies and passed on at their discretion? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: That is a matter for biosecurity officials. It is not something that I have the technical expertise to answer. 
Hon Bill English 
: Can the Prime Minister confirm that among the 184 documents withheld prior to the election 170 of which are dated 10 July or earlier are 32 individual communications from or to her personal adviser in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet on this matter; and can she confirm that those 32 communications were withheld precisely to make sure that no one found out how much she knew about what had been going on? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: No I cannot confirm any such thing. 
Hon Richard Prebble 
: Instead of telephoning news editors in the gallery yesterday and saying: “The Prime Minister is aggrieved they are telling lies about the Prime Minister” would not a popular and competent Prime Minister have apologised for telling the country that all documents had been released prior to the election and would not that popular and competent Prime Minister now front up to a select committee? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: I have not said to anyone in the gallery “I am aggrieved” because I am not aggrieved. I am absolutely confident of what my involvement was and it was so minimal that it would hardly register on the Richter scale of involvement in any issue. 
Rod Donald 
: Can we interpret Marian Hobbs’ earlier statement that there will not be genetically engineered crops in New Zealand for years coupled with her statement that she would call in the first application for any such release as a Clayton’s extension of the moratorium? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: No.