9. Overseas Ownership of New Zealand Property—Exemption for Te Ārai DevelopmentHon AMY ADAMS (National—Selwyn) to the Associate Minister of FinanceOverseas Ownership of New Zealand Property—Exemption for Te Ārai Development9. Hon AMY ADAMS (National—Selwyn) to the Associate Minister of Finance: Does he believe all his conduct in respect of the proposed exemption for the Te Ārai property development from the Overseas Investment Amendment Bill meets the standards expected of a Minister?Hon DAVID PARKER (Associate Minister of Finance): Yes but I note for the benefit of the member that it is the Prime Minister who is responsible for that assessment.Hon Amy Adams: Did he just take Shane Jones and Kelvin Davis at their word or did he seek legal advice to back up the claim that not granting an exemption for the specific Te Ārai land would cause a Treaty of Waitangi grievance?Hon DAVID PARKER: My decision was informed both by my conversations with ministerial colleagues and the advice that I had from Treasury which was in itself informed by legal advice.Hon Amy Adams: Given that four of the Te Ārai lots listed in his proposed exemption appear to have no iwi ownership at all and a further lot is subject to a registered lease in favour of Mr Darby's interests for much longer than the exemption period why were these particular lots included in the exemption?Hon DAVID PARKER: For the reasons that I explained last week. I think as I acknowledged then that either the select committee or I could have looked at that further and indeed had the exemption been carried forward we could have done. I would note that in respect of the underlying proposition which I put to the House repeatedly last week we were concerned about the position of the iwi. I looked at the accounts for the year ended 31 March 2007 for Te Uri o Hau Settlement Trust and it records that the settlement trust advanced to their investment arm $20 million to facilitate the purchase of the Mangawhai land. It was intended to be repaid from the sale proceeds. Due to the loss in value—this was some time ago—of the underlying asset they've already suffered impairments of $14 million. Even after a $14 million impairment this remains the largest investment of that trust and we have sympathy for their position.Hon Amy Adams: I seek leave to table the certificates of title for lots two three and four on depositor plan 138522 and the certificate of title for lot two on depositor plan 478524 and the leasehold title for lot one on depositor plan 478524.SPEAKER: Is there any objection to those documents being tabled? There is objection.Rt Hon Winston Peters: With respect to alleged underworld influences is it a fact that Steven Joyce was backing the development that Sir John Key was lobbying for the development alongside Michelle Boag and that the Te Ārai submission was written by last year's National Party chief of staff Wayne Eagleson?Hon DAVID PARKER: Well I'm sure that the members of the House are aware that there was lobbying by the Rt Hon Sir John Key—I wasn't aware of that until last Tuesday night. There is a parliamentary record of the involvement of Steven Joyce and I wasn't aware and I'm not aware whether Mr Eagleson was involved.Hon Amy Adams: Does he consider that it meets the high standards required of Ministers to take a paper to Cabinet recommending an exemption of significant commercial value without first having verified the ownership of the land to be exempted with Treasury saying they didn't know who owned the land when they drafted the exemption?Hon DAVID PARKER: As I also said last week the exemption only applied to residential lots. The golf course the sand mine any lots over five hectares and any of the land that is already sensitive does not fall within the scope of the exemption and the member should know that because she was on the select committee.Hon Amy Adams: How was he made aware of Mr Kayne and Mr Darby's involvement in Te Ārai which he says occurred on 6 March?Hon DAVID PARKER: No I actually didn't. That 6 March date was a date that I picked in order to make a question in order last week. I think the time that I received detailed advice from Treasury on the Te Ārai submission was 19 March 2018 although by then I had also received submissions from Cabinet colleagues.Hon Amy Adams: So isn't it more likely that the reason he told the House in previous questions that the first time he became aware of Mr Darby's and Mr Kayne's involvement in Te Ārai on 6 March was because that was the day the New Zealand Herald published a story about Mr Kayne threatening to pull the plug on the development if he didn't receive an exemption?Hon DAVID PARKER: I wasn't aware of that article.