6. Social Housing Minister—Staff Member's Release of Personal InformationPHIL TWYFORD (Labour—Te Atatū) to the Minister for Social HousingSocial Housing Minister—Staff Member's Release of Personal Information6. PHIL TWYFORD (Labour—Te Atatū) to the Minister for Social Housing: What time and date was she first aware that her staff member had released or was going to release information about a Police investigation into Te Puea Marae Chairman Hurimoana Dennis?Hon PAULA BENNETT (Minister for Social Housing): At just before 2 p.m. on Tuesday 14 June I was stopped on the bridge and asked questions about whether a staff member had leaked information about Mr Dennis to the media. After 2 p.m. I asked my staff to investigate whether there was anything in the allegations. I had two questions in the House and concentrated on them while leaving my senior staff to investigate. At approximately 3.20 p.m. yesterday one of my staff confirmed to me that they had spoken to a Television New Zealand journalist about it the week before.Phil Twyford: Why did her staff member want the journalist to know about the police investigation?Hon PAULA BENNETT: The staff member has informed me that she was talking to the journalist in light of a meeting that I had on Friday morning with Mr Dennis. She informed me that as an aside at the end she did discuss those issues with him as has been canvassed. She assures me that it was not the intention for it to be a smear campaign against Mr Dennis or the marae.Phil Twyford: Did she talk to her staff about the information that came up in the meeting with Hurimoana Dennis; if so why?Hon PAULA BENNETT: I had a full brief with three or four of my political staff members on the meeting that I had with Mr Dennis. Yes it did come up about the investigation.Phil Twyford: Why did she discuss the information about the police investigation with her staff?Hon PAULA BENNETT: It was just in the context of the whole meeting. I had gone through the meeting from start to finish and as a consequence of that that is why it was raised—in that context.Phil Twyford: Was the staff member who joined her for the meeting with Hurimoana Dennis at a Mount Eden cafe the same staff member who passed the information about the police investigation to the journalist?Hon PAULA BENNETT: I am unwilling to confirm or deny whether or not it was the same staff member because I think it might identify them and I do not think that is fair.Grant Robertson: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. [Interruption]Mr SPEAKER: A point of order has been raised and I need to hear it in silence.Grant Robertson: The Minister did not invoke a public interest clause there. Mr Twyford is not asking for the name of a person—simply whether or not the person who was in the meeting with Ms Bennett was the same person who spoke to a journalist. I do not see how that could identify a particular person one way or the other.Mr SPEAKER: I refer the member to Speaker's ruling 193/3 which talks about an issue of commercial sensitivity national security and privacy. In this case I think that test has been met.Phil Twyford: Will she take responsibility for the culture in her office that allowed a staff member to think it was OK to leak details of a police investigation to a private citizen?Hon PAULA BENNETT: There is not a culture. As I have said it is unacceptable and it should not have happened.