Williamson Maurice: General Debate 
Williamson Maurice: General Debate 
[Volume:647;Page:15944] 
Hon MAURICE WILLIAMSON (National—Pakuranga) 
: 
 Today I want to concentrate on only one thing and that is the performance of the Minister the Hon David Cunliffe. I want to concentrate on him for a number of reasons the first of which is that he already has form. I say that because as members will have witnessed he is the Minister who week after week in this House got up and defended over and over again the actions of the honourable Taito Phillip Field. David Cunliffe said that nothing was going on and that the Opposition was making something out of nothing. Taito Phillip Field according to the Prime Minister—this is the better one—was guilty only of trying to help his constituents. 
OK; so David Cunliffe has form. We know that from the very fact that Taito Phillip Field is now gone from the Labour Party. He is sitting in the courts in Auckland facing charges of corruption and of perverting the course of justice. David Cunliffe has to answer as to how come the weak lily-livered report that the Government had done—which was done specifically to hide everything in that case—got it off the hook except that finally the police moved. 
Let us move on to this particular case. The case of Mary Anne Thompson getting her family and so on approved for immigration dates back to 2005 so it has been running for a long time. The head of the Department of Labour James Buwalda had an investigation done by David Oughton. 
Here is the first question I want to raise. Has there ever been a Minister in the history of this Parliament who after being told by his or her chief executive: “I have a major issue at the department. I am bringing in an external investigator to investigate corruption.” did not take any further action? I can tell members that every Minister I have ever known including some Ministers on that side of the House would have immediately briefed the Prime Minister and the Minister of State Services if he or she had had that put to them by the chief executive and would have said: “I will let you know the moment we get the findings on this independent investigation.” That is what any Minister would do. One would not leave oneself exposed. One would want to make sure that everybody knew. 
The Prime Minister prides herself on running a no-surprises campaign. That is what she says. Well if I was a Minister—and in David Cunliffe’s case back then a very junior Minister—I would be protecting the old backside. I would be saying: “This is what I have heard from my department and an investigation is going on.” 
The final report was presented in July of 2007 and David Cunliffe was the Minister of Immigration for another 6 months. No one can tell me—I simply will not believe it and neither will New Zealanders—that for another 6 months he sat on the findings of that report said nothing did nothing and told nobody anything. He already has form. We know that and he has proved it yet again. As my colleague Dr the Hon Lockwood Smith said if it had not been for the tenacity of Television New Zealand journalists digging and digging trying under the Official Information Act but being declined—[ 
Interruption 
] No the department would not release it under the Official Information Act. 
Finally the Ombudsman forced the department’s hand to release the report and when did it release it? Now here is the interest of transparency: it was released on the Thursday night before Easter as Parliament was lifting for 3 weeks and everyone was gone. Does anyone believe that? Seriously again does anyone believe that a report done in July of last year had to be waited for kept and released on the Thursday night before a 3-week adjournment and the Easter break? I do not and I do not think any fair-minded New Zealander does. 
What New Zealanders know is that the Minister sat on this report he tried to hide it he was exposed and he used the argument that he had been transparent and up front. “Oh yes you have!” I say to the Minister. The Minister has been up front since Television New Zealand outed him. The Minister had no choice once Television New Zealand got the Ombudsman’s ruling and it was found out that the Minister knew about the report had kept it and had even handed it on to another Minister who had had it since December and did nothing. Oh finally! 
Then the Government came to the last of the lamest of excuses: it said it is an employment issue. If someone is stealing the coffee or taking ballpoint pens home then those are employment issues; this is about corruption. It goes to the heart of proper Government and those Ministers did nothing. They should go.