Key John: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Key John: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Sitting date: 27 March 2013. Volume:688;Page:8984. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Rt Hon JOHN KEY 
: His appointment was made by the State Services Commissioner but if the member is trying to make some other allegation then yes I knew Ian Fletcher. I went to school with his brother. His brother was way brighter than Grant Robertson— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Order! And that answer does not assist the order of the House. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. [ 
Interruption 
] 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Order! The point of order will be heard in silence. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: Six times yesterday you ruled against the Prime Minister—[ 
Interruption 
] 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Order! Would the member please make— 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: Six times yesterday you ruled against the Prime Minister for making comments that were out of order—at least. Earlier when the Rt Hon Winston Peters made an out of order comment he was required to withdraw. You have never done that to the Prime Minister and I just want to know whether it is going to be even both ways. 
Rt Hon JOHN KEY 
: I cannot be expected to withdraw that Grant Robertson is not as bright as Alistair Fletcher. He is not. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Order! [ 
Interruption 
] Order! [ 
Interruption 
] Order! The Prime Minister addressed the question and then added a remark that was not helpful to the order of the House. I moved immediately to stop him. I have now moved on. Does the member—[ 
Interruption 
] Order! Does the member have a further supplementary question? 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. Are you going to now deal with the— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Order! I have dealt with—[ 
Interruption 
] Order! 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: You did not deal with the Prime Minister— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Order! I have dealt with the matter. I have dealt— 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: You haven’t dealt with the point of order at all. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Order! The member will stand and withdraw that comment. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: I withdraw. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Thank you. 
Dr Russel Norman 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. You ruled that the Prime Minister’s comment was out of order. He then used the point of order process to repeat it clearly in breach of your ruling and trying to overturn your authority here. You must ask the Prime Minister to withdraw that comment because otherwise he is completely in breach of your ruling. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I accept that point. I ask the Prime Minister to withdraw that comment but I am not addressing any further the issue of his earlier answer. Would the Prime Minister withdraw? 
Rt Hon JOHN KEY 
: I withdraw. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Is it a fresh point of order? 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: It is. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Good. We will hear a fresh point of order. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: It is a suggestion that in future you listen to a point of order. You would have heard exactly the one that Russel Norman made. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I listen very intently to points of order. I listen—[ 
Interruption 
] Order! I remind members of the gallery that are here watching the proceedings of this Parliament. [ 
Interruption 
] Order! I listen very intently. I do not always hear the points of order accurately because of the level of background noise in this Chamber. Does the Prime Minister— 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. You saw fit earlier today to threaten not to allow any more questions from me today. The Prime Minister for the seventh time in 2 days repeated his offence. I heard no such threat from you in respect of his ability to take part in this House in terms of question time and I want to know why he did not receive a similar threat. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Because I would have thought it was extremely obvious to the member that if other members want to ask the Prime Minister any question they expect an answer. Has the member— 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: No. We are not doing further points of order on this. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: If it is a fresh point of order I will entertain it but if it is a continuation of the other then I will be asking the member to leave the Chamber. So if it is a fresh point of order— 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: Yes it is an absolutely fresh point of order. The point of order is whether you have rewritten the Standing Orders— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The member is now—[ 
Interruption 
] Order! 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: Sit down until I am finished. For goodness’ sake! 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The member will now leave the Chamber. The member will leave the Chamber. 
Hon Trevor Mallard withdrew from the Chamber. 
Chris Hipkins 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I wonder whether you could clarify for the House what the point of order Trevor Mallard was going to raise was because we have not heard it. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Well I had determined very quickly that it was a relitigation of the matters that have been raised. [ 
Interruption 
] I have so ruled. Does the member have further supplementary questions? 
Chris Hipkins 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Is it a fresh point of order? 
Chris Hipkins 
: It is a fresh point of order. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: If it is a fresh point of order I will entertain it. Otherwise I will deal with the— 
Chris Hipkins 
: I am now going to raise with you the point of order that Mr Mallard was going to raise which— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: No. That is now relitigating— 
Chris Hipkins 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The member will now leave the Chamber. 
Chris Hipkins withdrew from the Chamber. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: I seek leave for the Labour Party to be given a chance for its point of order in the name of Mr Mallard to be put. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Well I do not know whether it is appropriate for the member to seek leave on behalf of another party but to clear the matter up we will put the leave that the Rt Hon Winston Peters has sought. Is there any objection? There is. Has the member got further supplementary questions? 
Hon Lianne Dalziel 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I would like you to rule on the question of referring to members of the gallery in debate or in the House because that is what you did as Speaker. You referred to who was in the gallery. That is not something that we are allowed to do as members of the House because it is against the Standing Orders to refer to the gallery and that influencing behaviour in the House. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I appreciate that point that the member is making. She is quite right. It is not appropriate for members to refer to people in the gallery but the member might like to note my opening remarks at the start of Parliament when I specifically referred to people in the gallery and invited the House to greet them.