3. Question No. 3—Prime MinisterRt Hon CHRIS HIPKINS (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime MinisterQuestion No. 3—Prime Minister3. Rt Hon CHRIS HIPKINS (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by all his statements and actions?Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON (Prime Minister): Yes and particularly given it's back-to-school week we actually stand by all of our actions as I said yesterday on education. Sadly this has been a former Government that left us with 55 percent of our kids not going to school regularly. We want to call on all parents to make sure they get their kids to school this week so we can teach them the basics—an hour of maths reading and writing starting this year; a mobile phones ban; and an expert panel reviewing primary and intermediate school curriculum.Rt Hon Chris Hipkins: How can Mark Mitchell have been confused yesterday—Rt Hon Winston Peters: We'll give him an hour's maths too.SPEAKER: Sorry don't speak while someone's asking a question. So please start again the Rt Hon Chris Hipkins.Rt Hon Chris Hipkins: How can Mark Mitchell have been confused yesterday when he said on Monday: Realistically 500 new staff over the next three years is what we're aiming for."; he said on Tuesday "The Government's policy is to deliver 500 additional officers over the term of this Government which is three years."; and claimed previously that there had been a meeting in December of the three governing parties where they agreed to change the target from two years to three years?Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON: There is no ambiguity around the target. We're going to have 500 additional police in two years and the Minister clarified that in his statement just before. Rt Hon Chris Hipkins: So was there a meeting in December amongst the three governing parties in which changing the target from two years to three years was discussed?Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON: No.Rt Hon Chris Hipkins: Does he stand by his answer yesterday that he's not aware of the Government requesting advice on freezing tobacco excise given Casey Costello's answer to question No. 9 yesterday that she had requested that advice? Rt Hon Winston Peters: Point of order. That is deliberate misinformation by Mr Hipkins. That was clarified in points of order yesterday and he's back today having ignored that seeking to assert a falsity the second time around.Rt Hon Chris Hipkins: Point of order Mr Speaker. I'd encourage you to go and review the Hansard of the answer that was given yesterday where the Minister did answer to the question: "Yes." The word "yes" was the very first part of her answer to the question that was asked by my colleague Dr Verrall.SPEAKER: Well I will review it and so we'll set it aside now. You have another supplementary?Rt Hon Chris Hipkins: No no—I haven't had an answer to that one yet.SPEAKER: Well we're setting it aside because I'm reviewing it. You can't have it both ways. [Interruption] Ask the question again.Rt Hon Chris Hipkins: I'll ask the question again. Does he stand by his answer yesterday that he was not aware of the Government requesting advice on freezing tobacco excise given Casey Costello's answer to question No. 9 yesterday that she had requested the advice?Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON: I was asked if the Minister had sought advice I answered that I was not aware that she had which was the case. Rt Hon Chris Hipkins: Does he stand by his statement that Casey Costello "would have given a bunch of different party policy documents to her officials."?Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON: That is what I subsequently have understood since question time yesterday. Her office has clarified her approach and that's what I articulated this morning in media.Rt Hon Chris Hipkins: Can he assure this House that no person affiliated with the tobacco industry was involved in developing or writing those party policy documents that were given to officials?SPEAKER: He has no responsibility—sorry Prime Minister?Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON: I'm not responsible for other parties.Rt Hon Chris Hipkins: A point of order Mr Speaker.SPEAKER: You haven't heard from me yet. Just to be clear the Prime Minister does not have responsibility in this House for party policy documents.Rt Hon Chris Hipkins: Point of order Mr Speaker. If a Minister gives party policy documents to officials then the Prime Minister is absolutely responsible to that. Documents given by Ministers to officials they are effectively instructions from Ministers to their officials. The Prime Minister and Ministers are absolutely responsible for that.SPEAKER: In that context the member is right. Point of order the Rt Hon Winston Peters.Rt Hon Winston Peters: No it's a supplementary question.SPEAKER: Oh it's a supplementary question? [Interruption] Wait on wait on. Sorry. Please resume your seat. So we're just getting a little bit mixed up here. There has been a question answered. It's clarified that there is some aspect for the Prime Minister to answer and that question should be answered before we have a further supplementary.Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON: Sorry can he repeat the question?SPEAKER: Yep—third time.Rt Hon Chris Hipkins: Can he assure this House that no person affiliated with the tobacco industry was involved in developing or writing those party policy documents?Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON: I don't have responsibility for other party manifestos.Rt Hon Chris Hipkins: Point of order Mr Speaker.SPEAKER: I've got your point of order. I think the difficulty here is that if the party documents have been provided to officials to help formulate policy from this point then there is a ministerial responsibility.Hon Chris Bishop: Point of order Mr Speaker. We're into some difficulty here. We are getting into difficulty here because although Mr Hipkins is of course completely correct that documents that are given to officials on behalf of the Government are the responsibility of Ministers the creation of documents in a political party sense is not the responsibility of the Prime Minister. In particular even in his capacity of leader of the National Party he is not responsible for those if it's related to a three-party Government. So we are getting into difficulty here and there's also the issue of awareness of all of that as well—so how on earth would the Prime Minister be able to comment with any degree of veracity around that? SPEAKER: Well—Rt Hon Chris Hipkins: Speaking to that point of order Mr Speaker—SPEAKER: Look I just wanted to make a comment here. Firstly I don't think we are getting into difficulty. So the question is: if a party document is provided to officials is it part of the official record effectively? The answer is yes. If there is a question about a Minister's knowledge of how that document got formulated—and that is the basis of the question today—that is a question that could be relatively easily answered. The member actually in his own point of order made that point. Rt Hon Winston Peters: Point of order Mr Speaker. What's going on here—SPEAKER: No hang on a minute. Just a minute I haven't dealt with this—finished here. Is he still going? OK. Point of order—sorry. Rt Hon Winston Peters: Well this is to be helpful Mr Speaker. SPEAKER: Yes. Rt Hon Winston Peters: The reality is there's an element of information being made here with no evidence whatsoever. The Electoral Act requires—as we all know—parties to submit a full record open and in front of the public and under the law of where they got their party funding. That information is available to that member over there—Hon Dr Megan Woods: It's not about funding. Rt Hon Winston Peters: —yes he does—but no he prefers to make these insinuations without a bare fact to back them up. SPEAKER: No the point though is that the Prime Minister is being asked if he knows the full source of a policy document that was provided by another party. Rt Hon Winston Peters: No he didn't say that; it went further than that. SPEAKER: It is the question and that's a relatively easy answer—yep. Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON: As Prime Minister I'm unaware of what Ministers are actually asking their officials for advice. Rt Hon Chris Hipkins: Is it his position as Prime Minister that Ministers should be presenting to officials party policy documents and giving them those documents as instructions for further advice to be prepared? Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON: What I think is fantastic is we have an Associate Minister with delegation for reducing smoking. She's incredibly focused on that goal and she's asked her officials for a range of advice to actually lower smoking in New Zealand. That's a good thing. Rt Hon Chris Hipkins: Point of order Mr Speaker. The Prime Minister hasn't addressed what is actually a very significant question. Generally when Ministers give party policy documents to officials it is an instruction for the officials to therefore implement that. I've asked him whether Ministers in his Government are giving party policy documents to officials and whether he is comfortable with that approach. SPEAKER: Well there is a coalition agreement which is publicly available for people to see what the transfer of policy is. But the Prime Minister may like to answer. Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON: We campaigned on a set of policies; it's right that officials would have those manifestos. Rt Hon Chris Hipkins: Is New Zealand First's policy on tobacco now the Government's policy? Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON: No. Rt Hon Chris Hipkins: So why would New Zealand First's party policy document have been presented to officials as Government instruction? Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON: That's not what I said. It's not unreasonable that officials should actually see party political manifestos in consideration as they think about dreaming up policy advice that actually lowers smoking. Rt Hon Winston Peters: Does the Prime Minister not find it extraordinary that the Opposition that's raising in the House today this issue nevertheless supported the very same party writing sound policy in 2018-19 which led to the biggest drop in the whole world of cigarette smoking? That's the fact isn't it? Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON: I think we're incredibly proud of the lowering of smoking rates. It's gone from 16.7 percent down to 8.6 percent and to 6.8 percent in the space of the last decade. SPEAKER: Right well we'll just let the smoke clear and we'll have the Hon James Shaw."