Hague Kevin: Oral Questions — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeHague Kevin: Oral Questions — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 08 June 2016. Volume:714;Page:11784. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]8.KEVIN HAGUE (Green) to the Associate Minister of Health: Will he now use his power under section 32 of the Public Health and Disability Act 2000 to direct Capital and Coast District Health Board to initiate the transitional support plan for Ashley Peacock which recommends a pathway to a community placement immediately; if not why not?Hon Peseta SAM LOTU-IIGA (Associate Minister of Health): That member should know that what he has asked for is illegal and would breach both the New Zealand Public Health and Disability Act 2000 and the Crown Entities Act 2004. The legal advice that I have received confirms that as Minister I cannot issue directions to district health boards (DHB) requiring or compelling them to provide specific treatment to specified persons.Kevin Hague: Does the Minister accept the findings of the National Intellectual Disability Care Agency which found that Ashley’s seclusion environment is exacerbating his condition; if so why has he allowed Capital and Coast DHB to sit on the recommendations for his transition plan for months without even appointing a project manager for Ashley’s case?Hon Peseta SAM LOTU-IIGA: Like many New Zealanders I have sympathy for the parents of Mr Peacock. However I am informed that the district health board and the Ministry of Health are working alongside the family to provide for a transition plan for Mr Peacock to be placed into the community.Kevin Hague: How does the Minister reconcile his Government’s treatment of Ashley Peacock and his answers today with New Zealand’s last periodic report on the United Nations Convention against Torture which identified the irreversible psychological harms of long-term seclusion such as Ashley has endured?Hon Peseta SAM LOTU-IIGA: What I say to that member is that this case is complex. Mr Ashley clearly has a mental illness and he also has developmental disabilities. But what is paramount in this case is the safety of both Mr Peacock and those around him. And the transition plan that is being formulated by the parties that I referred to in the earlier answer—it is paramount that the safety of Mr Peacock is at the front of all these considerations.Kevin Hague: Given that Ashley has been predominantly held in effectively solitary confinement for more than 5 years now why is the Associate Minister ignoring the Human Rights Commission the Ombudsman and now the National Intellectual Disability Care Agency who have all recommended his transition out of seclusion without delay?Hon Peseta SAM LOTU-IIGA: I said in the first answer that that member was wrong and I will say in this answer that he is again wrong. He has not been held in solitary seclusion for that period of time. In 2014 for example he was held in seclusion for 68 hours. That ison average 1½ hours per week.Kevin Hague: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. In his answer to the primary question the Minister indicated that he had received legal advice and I ask that he table that advice.Mr SPEAKER: I am not sure the member can. If he was quoting—the member can certainly ask whether the Minister was quoting from a legal document at the time he gave an answer. Was the Minister doing that? Was the Minister quoting from a legal document as he gave his answer? He was not.Hon Peseta SAM LOTU-IIGA: I was quoting legal advice.Poto Williams: Why did he say “I’ve been given reassurances that [the health board] are working closely with the family on a solution.” when sources close to the family claim they have been excluded from meetings with Capital and Coast DHB management and senior officials?Hon Peseta SAM LOTU-IIGA: Again that member is wrong. The advice that I have been given is that they are working closely alongside the family for a transition plan for this individual. It is sad—it is very sad—that members opposite are using this case as a political football to advance their political interests.