Cosgrove Clayton: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeCosgrove Clayton: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 16 April 2013. Volume:689;Page:9351. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]8.Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE (Labour) to theMinister for State Owned Enterprises: What responsibility if any does he take for Solid Energy’s precarious financial position?Hon TONY RYALL (Minister for State Owned Enterprises): Yes as answered in the House on 28 February I am the Minister responsible for exercising the powers of the shareholding Minister under the State-Owned Enterprises Act. The Act also lays out that the responsibility for the operational and financial performance of all State-owned enterprises including Solid Energy lies primarily with the boards of those companies although shareholders and the Government are ultimately held accountable by the House and the public. I am not responsible for the significant commercial risks faced by Government-owned businesses nor in the case of Solid Energy a 40 percent drop in world coal prices.Hon Clayton Cosgrove: Why did he not appoint a Crown observer to the board of Solid Energy given that Treasury advised him to do so in a briefing on 31 October which said: “the presence of the Crown observer has an important signalling effect continually reminding the company that its focus should be on moving to a sustainable position and minimising risks to the Crown.”?Hon TONY RYALL: Because at that time the Government had appointed a new chair and we were also about to have new board members appointed to Solid Energy.Hon Clayton Cosgrove: Does he stand by his statement toOne News last night that “all state owned enterprises need to be able to publicly justify their spending”; if so was the following spending justified: $1.8 million on overseas travel $1 million on nine communications staff $500000 on public relations and advertising and $200000 employing private investigators for security when Solid Energy already had a security firm to secure its sites?Hon TONY RYALL: I do believe that State-owned enterprises’ spending should be publicly justifiable just as Solid Energy had to justify why it was spending taxpayers’ money on paying security people to spy on groups when Labour was the Government.Hon Clayton Cosgrove: Has he questioned Solid Energy’s expenditure of $48000 employing lobbyists Saunders Unsworth to advise on “select committee protocol” for a 1-hour appearance before the Commerce Committee; if not does he consider it a good use of taxpayers’ money when the company executives could not even adhere to the simple committee protocol of answering basic questions?Hon TONY RYALL: I would have to say that spending $48000 if it were solely for the purpose of appearing before the select committee is an awful lot of money but what I think it does demonstrate is that there is for that member opposite hope after politics.Hon Clayton Cosgrove: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. My question began with “Has he questioned Solid Energy’s expenditure …”. “Has he questioned it?” was the question.Mr SPEAKER: OK and if the member would like to ask that question again I will listen carefully to the answer.Hon Clayton Cosgrove: Thank you. There might be hope for the Minister as well.Mr SPEAKER: Order! The member will simply ask his question again.Hon Clayton Cosgrove: Has he questioned Solid Energy’s expenditure of $48000 employing lobbyists Saunders Unsworth to advise on “select committee protocol” for a 1-hour appearance before the Commerce Committee; if not does he consider it a good use of taxpayers’ money when the company executives could not even adhere to the simple committee protocol of answering basic questions?Hon TONY RYALL: Yes.Hon Clayton Cosgrove: Why did the Minister take no action to rein in the extravagant expenditure of Solid Energy as the company’s financial position was rapidly deteriorating given that he requested and was receiving month-to-month monitoring reports on the company and if he believes he was right in taking no action could he please advise the House why he bothers taking his ministerial salary and what exactly his role is as the guardian of the taxpayers’ purse in respect of State-owned enterprises?Mr SPEAKER: There were a number of questions there; the Minister can answer any.Hon TONY RYALL: Ministers took very significant action as a result of the declining position for Solid Energy including putting the company on intensive monitoring. The chair has changed and the board has changed. What has not changed is the fact that this company had to deal with a collapse of 40 percent in the world coal price. Our Government did take action. It is a shame that that Government did not take action when it was allowing that company to spy on New Zealanders—Mr SPEAKER: Order!