Peters Winston: Oral Questions — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumePeters Winston: Oral Questions — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 17 November 2015. Volume:710;Page:8162. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]4.Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS (Leader—NZ First) to the Minister of Finance: Does he stand by all his statements?Hon BILL ENGLISH (Minister of Finance): Yes.Rt Hon Winston Peters: As the Minister of Finance can he comment on this astute observation about the Overseas Investment Office “They are under-resourced in my opinion.” and what is he going to do about it?Hon BILL ENGLISH: I am not sure who made that statement but many people could have and they are probably right. The Government is in the process of looking at an increase in fees paid by overseas investor applicants in order to improve the resources of the Overseas Investment Office.Rt Hon Winston Peters: How can increasingly concerned Silver Fern Farms shareholders trust the Overseas Investment Office to forensically examine this latest deal when that same keen observer added “So when people say the Overseas Investment Office approves nearly everything put in front of it that’s true.” and what is he doing about it?Hon BILL ENGLISH: The Silver Fern Farms shareholders can rely on the same process as anyone else involved in these transactions and that is that the Overseas Investment Office has to apply the law a law brought into this House actually by that member. If they believe that the law is not applied they can do what a number of other parties have done and that is take the Overseas Investment Office to court and get the courts to tell us whether it did its job properly.Rt Hon Winston Peters: If that same person who happens to be the Prime Minister says the Overseas Investment Office is under-resourced and that it approves nearly everything put in front of it and the Minister of Finance is ultimately responsible for its funding is he not alarmed that lawyers Harmos Horton Lusk formed the company that became Silver Fern Farms Beef Ltd a full year before proposals were put to shareholders; if not why not?Hon BILL ENGLISH: I think I would characterise the connection between those ideas as looseness of association. The Overseas Investment Office has the task of looking into all the commercial arrangements around any application that is made to it and I am sure if there is anything nefarious in this one it will uncover it.Rt Hon Winston Peters: I seek leave to table a document showing the Minister has contradicted what Mr Key told the Chinese—Mr SPEAKER: Order! We do not need it further described. I need the source of the document and the date of the document.Rt Hon Winston Peters: It is a publication Rural News not widely available to members.Mr SPEAKER: Rural News—[Interruption]—Order! Rural News is very easily sourced by members.Grant Robertson: Which of his statements is correct: last week when he said that the economy is “going through another softer patch for the obvious reason of lower dairy prices.” or a few months ago when he said that dairy is a smaller part of the economy than most people think and that the overall performance of the economy depends on how the rest of the export sector does? Which is it?Hon BILL ENGLISH: Of course both things are right. As I pointed out in answer to an earlier question tourism is now our largest export and growing quite fast and the dairy sector is around 7 percent of GDP so there is no doubt the drop in dairy prices has had a negative impact on the economy. The success of tourism and ICT will have a positive impact on the economy.Rt Hon Winston Peters: Why would he rise in this House and say that I am responsible for this legislation which is demonstrably false and why would the Prime Minister claim that he cannot change the law because New Zealand First will not support the tightening of the Overseas Investment Act when not one person from the National Party has ever approached us on this issue? Why make—Mr SPEAKER: Order! The question has been asked.Hon BILL ENGLISH: They must have made the mistake of going to the Northland office of New Zealand First. The member has never been happy with the fact that the current Overseas Investment Act was written under his sponsorship. We are enforcing—Rt Hon Winston Peters: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. That is the second time that Minister has made that claim. I am not going to do the normal thing and call him what he is but the fact is that he should answer the question and not tell falsities.Mr SPEAKER: The Minister is responsible for his answer. He is answering it. If he is misleading the House then there is—Rt Hon Winston Peters: Well he’s not allowed to lie.Mr SPEAKER: Order! Then there is an appropriate means by which that can be addressed subsequent to the answer given. Does the Minister have anything further to add?