Norman Russel: Oral Questions — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeNorman Russel: Oral Questions — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 29 October 2014. Volume:701;Page:347. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]11.Dr RUSSEL NORMAN (Co-Leader—Green)to the Prime Minister: Did Jason Ede report to the Prime Minister’s chief of staff Wayne Eagleson while employed as a Senior Ministerial Advisor in the office of the Prime Minister; if not to whom did he report?Rt Hon JOHN KEY (Prime Minister):Yes.Dr Russel Norman: Did he or his chief of staff give approval to his employee Jason Ede to access the Labour Party’s private database without permission an action that Mr Ede took in May 2011 while on the staff of the Prime Minister?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: No but I would point out to the House that Jason Ede accessed parts of the Labour Party website that were publicly available.Dr Russel Norman: Is the Prime Minister saying that if he left the door open to his Parnell home and someone walked in wandered around and took some stuff without his permission that would not be stealing?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: If the member wants to talk about stealing let us talk about Nicky Hager and where he got his emails from.Dr Russel Norman: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. [Interruption]Mr SPEAKER: Order! [Interruption] Order! A point of order has been raised.Dr Russel Norman: The Prime Minister has not attempted to address the question which was directly relevant to his previous answer by making an analogy between the breaking into of the Labour Party website and going into the Prime Minister’s house. He has not addressed the question at all.Mr SPEAKER: I think on this occasion in my opinion the member has not helped his own point of order by talking of an analogy. The Prime Minister then in his answer used yet another analogy which was that it was similar in some ways according to the Prime Minister to entering into a house uninvited. I will allow the member an additional supplementary question.Dr Russel Norman: Is he—Hon Christopher Finlayson: This is why James should be the leader.Dr Russel Norman: Chris is such a lovely man is he not?Mr SPEAKER: Order! Could we just have some silence from my right to get through question time.Dr Russel Norman: Is the Prime Minister satisfied that his office upheld the highest ethical standards when his employee Jason Ede accessed the Labour Party’s private database without permission?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: In answer to the first part of the question yes.Dr Russel Norman: When did he or his chief of staff become aware that Jason Ede while employed on the Prime Minister’s staff in his office had accessed the Labour Party’s private database without permission from the Labour Party?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: My chief of staff became aware of the fact that Mr Ede had gone into the part of the Labour website that it had failed to properly secure that its members apologised to their supporters for this and that the database was publicly available some time after that event occurred.Dr Russel Norman: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. You were slightly distracted at the end of the Prime Minister’s answer and the date was not very clear from the end of his answer. I wonder whether you can tell us on what date he had found out because I could not hear from over here.Mr SPEAKER: The Prime Minister did not give a specific date and you would hardly expect him to have that information in the House.Dr Russel Norman: Is the Prime Minister now saying that it is acceptable behaviour for ministerial staff to go into private databases—which they have no right to go into; they have not gained permission to go into them—take the data from those databases and share it with attack bloggers like Slater? Is that now acceptable ethical behaviour for ministerial staff?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: What I am saying is that that part of the website was publicly available for people to go into. What I am also saying to the House is that no I do not agree with Nicky Hager being part of an action to steal emails. I do not agree with people coming to the National Party cocktail party and secretly taping our people. No I do not agree with people secretly taping other activities undertaken by us. I think the member actually should pick up a mirror and have a bit of a look.