Hide Rodney: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Hide Rodney: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:610;Page:7823] 
4.  
RODNEY HIDE (ACT NZ) 
 to the  
Minister of Broadcasting 
: Did his predecessor the Hon Marian Hobbs receive any representation from Dr Brian Edwards advocating that New Zealand On Air fund a  
Larry King Live 
 meets  
Top of the Morning  
style television programme for himself and what funding did New Zealand On Air eventually provide to his programme  
Edwards At Large 
? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY (Minister of Broadcasting) 
: 
 There is no record of any such representation in either ministerial or departmental files. It has been brought to my attention this morning that Dr Edwards drafted a letter on 24 January 2000 to the Hon Marian Hobbs about a programme proposal he had put to Prime Television noting that Prime was not eligible for New Zealand On Air funding and his own view that this was an anomaly. There is no indication that the letter was ever signed or sent to the Hon Marian Hobbs. In 2003 New Zealand On Air allocated $190000 for 12 1-hour episodes of  
Edwards at Large. 
Rodney Hide 
: Can the Minister confirm that New Zealand On Air originally turned down funding for Dr Edwards’ show only subsequently to fund his show after the Hon Marian Hobbs had appointed Dr Edwards’ wife Judy Callingham to the New Zealand On Air board; and how are the public supposed to escape the inevitable conclusion that Judy Callingham’s New Zealand On Air board position— 
Hon Bill English 
: It gets worse and worse every day. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The Leader of the Opposition is not immune from what every other member must go through. I want him to stand withdraw and apologise for interjecting. 
Hon Bill English 
: I withdraw and apologise. 
Hon Roger Sowry 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. Whilst the Leader of the Opposition did interject there were also several Labour members who interjected on the question whilst it was being asked—I see Mr Hide nodding—and I wonder why we have a different set of rules for those Ministers. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: We have not—I did not hear any interjection. I heard a specific loud interjection from the Leader of the Opposition but I give a stricture to any member from now on that that is the final warning for the day. Perhaps Mr Hide could start his question again. 
Rodney Hide 
: Did New Zealand On Air originally turn down funding for Dr Edwards’ show only subsequently to fund his show after the Hon Marian Hobbs had appointed Dr Edwards’ wife Judy Callingham to the New Zealand On Air board; and how are the public supposed to escape the inevitable conclusion that Judy Callingham’s New Zealand On Air board position and New Zealand On Air funding for her and her husband’s Dr Brian Edwards’ new show is just payback for this Prime Minister’s and other Ministers’ media trainers? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: In February 2000 New Zealand On Air declined an application for a Brian Edwards programme on Prime on the basis that Prime was not a national broadcaster. I am informed that Judy Callingham’s conflict of interest in this matter when the application was made in June 2003 was recorded at the start of the meeting in June 2003 she absented herself received no documentation took no part in the decision and the decision was made in a proper reviewable fashion. 
H V Ross Robertson 
: What role if any does the Minister have in funding decisions by NZ On Air and in programming decisions by Television New Zealand? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: None. Section 42(2) of the Broadcasting Act 1989 prevents the Minister from giving NZ On Air a direction in respect of funding a particular programme or gathering or presentation of news and current affairs while section 28(1) of the Television New Zealand Act 2003 forbids Ministers from giving a direction to Television New Zealand in respect of a particular programme or programmes or the gathering or presentation of news and current affairs. In summary that is why people can have confidence and that is why that scumbag comment should be treated in the way it has been treated. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The member will stand withdraw and apologise for that last sentence. 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: I withdraw and apologise. 
Katherine Rich 
: So is the Minister absolutely sure that former Minister of Broadcasting Marian Hobbs did not receive a letter from Dr Brian Edwards seeking NZ On Air funding for his show from an “enlightened Government and Minister of Broadcasting” or is this just another case of another document going missing as we have seen in the immigration portfolio? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: The office of Marian Hobbs has no record of that letter. There is no evidence of a reply. There is no evidence of action taken because of that letter. There is nothing that shows that the Minister received that letter at all. In fact I understand that the letter Mr Duncan Garner has for example is an unsigned letter. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: I ask the Minister whether he understands that Larry King is someone who is intellectually competent capable and internationally respected whereas Dr Brian Edwards is a very nasty failed Labour Party candidate from 1972—when every other marginal seat had been won he lost in Miramar—and that he has spent his time slagging off Opposition MPs; and surely this is not appropriate in an outfit that is meant to be independently politically operated and run in the interests of the New Zealand taxpayers. [ 
Interruption 
] 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Who was the person who interjected at that point? The member will leave the Chamber. 
Hon John Tamihere withdrew from the Chamber. 
Rodney Hide 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I know that the Hon John Tamihere is quite pleased to have been kicked out and not have to answer any questions but we do have a question set down for that Minister. It is— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The member will please be seated. I once before made the observation as to whether a Minister who interjected when he should not have should be sent from the Chamber because I ordered him to do so and I was told quite specifically that one rule applied for everybody—and it does. The Minister should not have interjected and he copped the penalty. That is it. 
Hon Richard Prebble 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. We have an interesting dilemma. If you look through the Order Paper you will see that the toughest question set down today is question No. 6. It is to Mr Tamihere. It is about actual remarks that he made. The easiest way now for a Minister to say: “I was happy to answer questions in the House but I was sent out by the Speaker” is to interject. The proper penalty for Mr Tamihere might be to ask him to withdraw and apologise and maybe suspend him later. For you to decide to let him out of answering question No. 6 will mean that that Minister can go around the country and say to everybody that a third of the nation’s beaches are in private ownership and when he is asked a tough question about it all he has to do is interject and the Speaker will throw him out. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I think on reflection there is an important issue here. I will ask Mr Tamihere to return for his question. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: I will refresh the Minister’s mind and ask him this: does he not understand that Larry King is an internationally respected and capable interviewer whereas Dr Brian Edwards is a very nasty biased Labour-oriented media commentator who loses no time in slagging off Opposition members despite the fact that he was a miserable failure in 1972—when the Labour Party won every other marginal seat in that landslide he lost? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: I share the member’s admiration for Larry King but I give the following report of Brian Edwards’ programme: “I think that there have been some good things done like Brian Edwards whose politics I am diametrically opposed to but none the less he remains one of the best interviewers New Zealand has ever had.” So said Deborah Coddington and I agree. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I am not interested in Deborah Coddington’s comments. I am interested in his comments as a Minister. The day he can put up some sort of wishy-washy evidence from a very new “barely been here 5 seconds” member is simply not adequate. We want an answer from the Minister. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The member addressed the question perfectly adequately. 
Rodney Hide 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I am unclear. Is Mr Tamihere allowed in the Chamber until his question comes up? 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I have allowed Mr Tamihere back because people want him to answer his question. As soon as he has finished his question he will go again. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. You will see that questions Nos 6 and 10 are for Mr Tamihere. If he comes back for those two questions then that will be appropriate. In the meantime because he was a naughty boy he should be asked to go. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I ask members to be reasonable about this. Mr Tamihere had better not say a word between now and his two questions. We will keep him here for now. 
Rodney Hide 
: How does the Minister reply to complaints from within TVNZ that he and Marian Hobbs have turned State television into Labour Party television and that the only way—[ 
Interruption 
] 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The member can carry on. 
Rodney Hide 
: I will start again. When I get interrupted I lose my place. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I did not hear an interruption. 
Rodney Hide 
: Then you should come and sit down the back where we sit. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I have had enough today and I mean that. There will be silence when questions are asked and that goes for every single person in this House. The member will repeat his question. 
Rodney Hide 
: How does the Minister reply to complaints from within TVNZ that he and Marian Hobbs have turned State television into Labour Party television and that the only way now for New Zealanders to get unbiased news is to switch to John Campbell and TV3 who are prepared to put the tough questions to Government and to get fined by the Governor-General’s husband—who chairs the Broadcasting Standards Authority and is another Labour Government appointment—fordoing so? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: With contempt as the question deserves. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. You are the person who gets to decide whether a question is appropriate. You did not demur about the subject of that question. What gives this Minister the right to take an arrogant view and not answer and bring into question your ruling of this House? 
Mr SPEAKER 
: He addressed the question. He gave a description of how he regarded the question. That was what he was asked to do. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I bring this matter up now because it is the end of a question to which my point of order relates. During an earlier question the Leader of the Opposition certainly interjected somewhat loudly with the words: “It gets worse and worse.” and he was required to stand withdraw and apologise. That is fair enough. However during the course of that last question we heard a Minister who is given the courtesy of the floor of the House to answer accuse another member of being a scumbag in the accusation that was made yet gets only the same penalty applied to him. I want to restate that we are getting increasingly concerned that people on this side of the House cop it when you want to stamp authority on the House but there seems to be a much lesser standard for that side. A direct attack on a member has to be far worse than someone simply pointing out that a situation was getting into an appalling state. 
Hon Dr Michael Cullen 
: It is actually an Opposition tactic all the time to accuse you of bias in question time and elsewhere. [ 
Interruption 
] 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The member will now stand and leave the Chamber for interjecting on a point of order. He knows that that is out of order. He will please leave. 
Gerry Brownlee withdrew from the Chamber. 
Hon Dr Michael Cullen 
: That claim was certainly one of bias on your point and was factually incorrect. The Minister was ruled out of order and had to withdraw and apologise for the comment. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: That is perfectly correct.