Key John: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Key John: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:642;Page:11769] 
2.  
JOHN KEY (Leader of the Opposition) 
 to the  
Prime Minister 
: Does she have confidence in the Minister of Corrections; if so why? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK (Prime Minister) 
: 
 Yes; because he is a hard-working and conscientious Minister. 
John Key 
: Why did she refuse to accept Damien O’Connor’s resignation as Minister of Corrections? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: Because in the words of the member who has just asked the question “in isolation it wouldn’t be a hanging offence to be perfectly honest.” Those words were uttered by Mr Key on  
Breakfast 
 television this morning. 
John Key 
: Does she think that the track record of Damien O’Connor as Minister of Corrections a department that has seen a catalogue of errors resulting in the deaths of New Zealanders like Liam Ashley a situation where there have been massive cost over-runs in prisons where prison guards are on suspension for illegally bringing in contraband to prisons and where the priority of the Minister has been to spend money on landscaping not rehabilitation therefore warrants his removal as Minister? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: Any Government has with any Minister of Corrections a history of prison escapes riots offending while on bail and other undesirable behaviour. What we can also point to is a sharp reduction in prison escapes and serious prison assaults on staff and other prisoners. In other words quite a lot of good is happening in our prison system. 
Hon Phil Goff 
: Can the Prime Minister tell us how many National Ministers resigned when prison escapes were running at 166 a year under National when under Labour last year it was as low as 20 a year—166 at a peak under National 20 under Labour? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: As the member has indicated there has been a very sharp reduction in the number of prison escapes under the Labour Government. One does scratch one’s head to try to find examples of National Ministers who constantly made mistakes ever being pulled up or put to other duties. 
John Key 
: Will the Prime Minister therefore give New Zealanders an assurance today that Damien O’Connor will remain in his job as Minister of Corrections after the Cabinet reshuffle? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: No more than Mr English would give a guarantee of continued support for Mr Key. 
John Key 
: Is the truth of the situation that the Prime Minister has no confidence in Damien O’Connor as Minister of Corrections and that was why she was pretty quick to condemn him when she was at APEC but that the reality is that she does not want to sack him today because that would be to give another scalp to National—and when a Prime Minister has sacked as many Ministers as she has it starts getting embarrassing? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: I am proud as Prime Minister to have actually applied some standards which is something no National Prime Minister ever did. 
John Key 
: Does the Prime Minister feel as though she has been outmanoeuvred by Damien O’Connor who worked out when he was in the duty-free lounge at Hong Kong airport that the way to keep his job was to text to the Prime Minister that he intended to offer his resignation knowing that she could not possibly take his resignation in isolation and that the person who is now looking a fool is the Prime Minister? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: Obviously not. 
John Key 
: Does the Prime Minister agree— 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: Have another go John. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Can we just get on with the question and can we please keep the interjections to a minimum. 
John Key 
: Well maybe if Mr Mallard had gone on the rugby team they would not have had to include— 
Madam SPEAKER 
: That does not help Mr Key. 
John Key 
: He could have made the numbers up. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: The team did in fact win. 
John Key 
: The team won did it? Can I just check is that because Trevor was not there? 
Madam SPEAKER 
: OK; off we go. John Key supplementary question. 
John Key 
: Does the Prime Minister agree with the  
Dominion Post 
 editorial yesterday that said she leads “a government that has lost touch with public opinion.” and is “dying a death by a thousand cuts and the cuts are self-inflicted.”? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: I am proud to lead a Government that does not have someone on its front bench who thinks it is funny to make cracks about why people do not get fat in concentration camps.