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: 30 January 2013. Volume:687;Page:7591. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
1. 
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS (Leader—NZ First) 
 to the  
Prime Minister 
: Does he stand by his statement that “the Government has actively supported the filming of the Hobbit movies in New Zealand because of the enormous economic benefits they are bringing to the country including the creation of around 3000 jobs”? 
Rt Hon JOHN KEY (Prime Minister) 
: 
 Mr Speaker before I begin can I wish you the best for your final question time. I am sure that in London you will look back with warm memories of these times. The answer to the member’s question is yes. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: How and when did he first learn of the 3000 jobs figure? 
Rt Hon JOHN KEY 
: I cannot give the member the exact date. I do not have it with me. I am advised by the business manager I think it is of Peter Jackson that that is broadly the number directly involved but of course there are many many other businesses and people who were employed as a result of the movies. I point out to the member that the  
Hobbit 
 production team alone booked 6750 domestic flights slept 93000 bed nights in hotels paid for 1800 rental cars and 1650 work vehicles and spent $9 million on construction and $1.5 million on food. [ 
Interruption 
] 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: How easily these toads are fooled. Why was there no Treasury report substantiating the 3000 jobs figure and verifying the economic benefits of his $67 million handout to Warner Bros? 
Rt Hon JOHN KEY 
: Because one was not required. I mean if the member is aware of the Large Budget Screen Production Grant Scheme he will know that it is paid as essentially a percentage of the qualifying expenditure. So by definition if these sums are paid to Warner Bros it is because that expenditure is undertaken in New Zealand. If by definition that expenditure was not undertaken in New Zealand of course we would not pay it and we would not get all of the economic activity. I might also point out to the member that if he wants to go and have a look for instance at Air New Zealand its website visitation was up 73 percent— 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Order! I appreciate the member’s concern. He asked a question but he did not ask for that information. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: My question asked why there was no Treasury report. It is pretty simple. I do not want to hear a long tirade about what did not happen. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Order! Well actually the Prime Minister did answer that. He said the reason why a report was not made is that it was not required. That is an answer. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. You are right. He answered the question and then he kept on going vituperating on nothing. That is my point. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I appreciate the member’s point that the Prime Minister’s answer was unnecessarily long when the question was a fairly simple question. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: Why was he prepared to give Warner Bros $67 million of taxpayers’ money yet he could not stump up an extra $6 million so KiwiRail wagons could be built in New Zealand instead of in China to save the Dunedin Hillside railway workshops jobs? 
Rt Hon JOHN KEY 
: Well they are different issues. In terms of Warner Bros that was part of the Large Budget Screen Production Grant Scheme and that was the scheme that essentially was repayment of expenditure here. As we have already pointed out there are around 3000 jobs directly on the 
 Hobbit 
 movies alone plus all of the other ancillary benefits. In terms of KiwiRail the long-term model did not actually support those jobs at Hillside. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: When he used the figure of 3000 jobs did he mean jobs for overseas actors casual work for a few weeks or serious jobs for New Zealanders and did he have reliable information as to the status of the jobs? 
Rt Hon JOHN KEY 
: There would of course have been a wide range of jobs. It is interesting to note actually that the screen industry in New Zealand supports over 2700 businesses. There were 15500 people employed and so there would be a range. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Order! The question was a pretty straightforward question. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: Is it not the case that the 3000 jobs were like the computer-generated armies in  
The Lord of the Rings 
: pure fantasy? 
Rt Hon JOHN KEY 
: No they were real jobs probably unlike the unreal caucus of New Zealand First which has had one of its members AWOL. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Point of order the—[ 
Interruption 
] Order! A point of order has been called. The Rt Hon Winston Peters. [ 
Interruption 
] Order! 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: Mr Speaker you would not like your last day in this job to be remembered for that sort of intemperate behaviour from the Prime Minister. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Order! [ 
Interruption 
] Members may recollect I am on my feet. The right honourable gentleman may reflect back on the question he asked and that it was always going to provoke a fairly strong answer.