Graham Kennedy: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeGraham Kennedy: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 17 April 2014. Volume:698;Page:17442. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]7.Dr KENNEDY GRAHAM (Green) to thePrime Minister: Does he support or condemn the killing of a New Zealand citizen by a United States drone strike in Yemen last year?Hon STEVEN JOYCE (Minister for Economic Development) on behalf of thePrime Minister: The Prime Minister neither supports nor condemns the death of a New Zealander in a counter-terrorism operation in Yemen. There are two additional points Iwould like to make. There was no New Zealand involvement in or prior awareness of the operation and I would also point out that the New Zealander involved worked alongside known al-Qaeda operatives of his own free will.Dr Kennedy Graham: Just to be clear and explicit did any agency of the New Zealand Government provide information to the United States or its allies that could have assisted in the killing of the New Zealand citizen?Hon STEVEN JOYCE: The Prime Minister can confirm for the member that there was no New Zealand involvement in or prior awareness of this operation at all.Dr Kennedy Graham: Has the Prime Minister asked—and if not will he ask—the US Government whether the New Zealander was deliberately targeted or “collateral damage”?Hon STEVEN JOYCE: This was not an operation that New Zealand was involved in. We did not have any involvement in it or prior awareness of it. This is a matter for the United States not a matter for us.Dr Kennedy Graham: Has the US Government expressed any regret to the New Zealand Government regarding the killing of the New Zealander?Hon STEVEN JOYCE: I am not in a position to answer that question today.Dr Kennedy Graham: Is the Prime Minister aware that in a Pew ResearchCenter Global Attitudes Project survey 17 out of 20 countries showed a majority of people disapproving of US drone attacks including 59 percent in Germany and 63 percent in France?Hon STEVEN JOYCE: I am not aware of those specific numbers but it is important to point out to the member that of course all weapons are lethal and all conflict is dangerous. Generally most people would prefer that it did not take place; it is just a matter of the world in which we live in terms of some of the issues that are faced over time.Dr Kennedy Graham: Does the Prime Minister agree with the opinion advanced in a joint Stanford Law School - New York University School of Law legal publication that “Unchecked armed drone proliferation poses a threat to global stability…”?Hon STEVEN JOYCE: I think the member is in danger of inviting the Prime Minister to offer an opinion on this particular incident and I think that that is really a matter for those who carry out those drone strikes. I do not think any member in this House is in a position to form a view in terms of the level of appropriateness or otherwise of the incident because it has taken place right outside the purview of New Zealanders.Metiria Turei: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I wonder whether you noticed that members of the National backbench made inappropriate and quite gross jokes about the death of a New Zealand citizen while my colleague asked his question. I ask that they be asked to be silent. [Interruption]Mr SPEAKER: Order! I certainly did not hear any interjection that I would consider to be cast as a joke. This is a very serious matter and I accept that point. I think that if members are going to interject they need to be mindful of the seriousness of this situation.Hon Trevor Mallard: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I would invite you to look again at the tape of this especially during the point of order that Ms Turei took where there were interjections. While you were on your feet Mr Bennett constantly interjected; he was not reprimanded.Mr SPEAKER: Thank you very much to the Hon Trevor Mallard. I appreciate his invitation.Dr Kennedy Graham: Does the Prime Minister consider extrajudicial killings of New Zealanders on foreign soil to be legitimate and/or legal?Hon STEVEN JOYCE: I do not think that either the member or I is in a position to be able to characterise this particular incident in that way.Dr Kennedy Graham: Just by way of follow-up to that does he agree or disagree with the UN special rapporteur UK jurist BenEmmerson that “where no official conflict exists lethal action will rarely be lawful.”?Hon STEVEN JOYCE: I am not going to offer a view on that particular comment from that particular jurist but it is important that we realise that addressing the threat of global terrorism is a very important responsibility for Governments around the world. We are talking about the security of countries and the security of their citizens. We in this country have had New Zealanders killed in a number of overseas terrorist incidents. I think that offering an opinion in principle and seeking to apply it to a particular incident is a very difficult thing to do indeed and invites a level of judgment that I think the member needs to be careful about making.Dr Kennedy Graham: Does the Prime Minister agree with the UN special rapporteur who said that “The single greatest obstacle to an evaluation of … drone strikes is lack of transparency” and who does not accept that considerations of national security justify withholding all relevant data?Hon STEVEN JOYCE: I am not aware of those particular views but I think this is a matter for those countries that do carry out drone strikes from time to time and New Zealand is not one of them.Dr Kennedy Graham: If the Prime Minister believes that the US President should have the power to order New Zealanders to be executed through targeting or simply killed as collateral damage with no due process what power does he believe that the US President should not have?Hon STEVEN JOYCE: I go back to the initial answer and that is that the Prime Minister neither supports nor condemns the incident that led to the death of the New Zealander in a counter-terrorism operation in Yemen. I repeat for the member who seems to be seeking to conflate the New Zealand approach with the approach of the Americans that there was no New Zealand involvement in or prior awareness of that operation. Again I would point out that the New Zealander involved worked alongside known al-Qaeda operatives of his own free will and he did have known terrorist links.Dr Kennedy Graham: I seek leave of the House to table one document being the one I mentioned in one of the questions from the Pew ResearchCenter and the opinion poll headed “Drone strikes widely opposed”—Mr SPEAKER: Leave is sought to table that particular document. Is there any objection? There is no objection. It can be tabled.Document by leave laid on the Table of the House.