9. Police—Appointment of Deputy Commissioner of PoliceCHRIS BISHOP (National—Hutt South) to the Minister of PolicePolice—Appointment of Deputy Commissioner of Police9. CHRIS BISHOP (National—Hutt South) to the Minister of Police: Does he stand by all his statements and actions regarding the appointment of Wally Haumaha to be Deputy Commissioner of Police?Hon ANDREW LITTLE (Acting Minister of Police): Yes in the context in which they were made and taken.Chris Bishop: Did the Rt Hon Winston Peters disclose to him during the appointment process of Mr Haumaha that he had once sought selection for the Rotorua electorate as a New Zealand First candidate?SPEAKER: Order! Order! I'm just considering the responsibility of the Minister for the actions of the Acting—I'll let him answer. It is very marginal.Hon ANDREW LITTLE: No.Chris Bishop: Why did Cabinet appoint the Hon Tracey Martin to initiate a Government inquiry into the process of the appointment around Mr Haumaha given she is a New Zealand First Party MP and Minister and someone with long and deep links to the New Zealand First Party?SPEAKER: I am just going to seek some advice from the Acting Prime Minister on this question. My understanding is that a Cabinet decision was not one that was made by the Minister of Police—can I seek some—Rt Hon Winston Peters: Mr Speaker that's correct.SPEAKER: So therefore there's not responsibility of the Minister of Police for that Cabinet decision. In fact you know any good process would have him not being involved in it.Chris Bishop: Why should the public have confidence in any inquiry led by the Hon Tracey Martin into the appointment of Mr Haumaha as Deputy Commissioner of Police when she is a New Zealand First Party MP and Minister?SPEAKER: No the member can resume his seat. The question is very clear about his statements and actions. The appointment by Cabinet of Tracey Martin to oversee from a Cabinet point of view an inquiry is not an action or a statement of the Minister of Police.Chris Bishop: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. The Minister of Police has made comments about the specific Cabinet inquiry that Cabinet has ordered into the appointment of Mr Haumaha. So surely that brings the inquiry into the bailiwick of—SPEAKER: And if there had been reference to that in the question then it might well have been allowed.Chris Bishop: Why has he expressed public support for the Cabinet inquiry led by the Hon Tracey Martin into the appointment of Mr Haumaha as Deputy Commissioner of Police when Tracey Martin is a New Zealand First MP and Minister?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: Cabinet decisions are a matter of Cabinet collective responsibility and as a Cabinet Minister I stand by them.Chris Bishop: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. The question was pretty specific. Why has he expressed—SPEAKER: Well the member couldn't get a more specific answer than you just got.Chris Bishop: Why is the Minister hiding behind the cloak of Cabinet collective responsibility in order to maintain the idea that the public should have confidence in an inquiry into a person with New Zealand First connections led by a New Zealand First Party Cabinet Minister?SPEAKER: The member got it wrong in the first phrase. That made the whole question out of order.