Robertson Grant: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeRobertson Grant: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 13 March 2014. Volume:697;Page:16672. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]4.GRANT ROBERTSON (Labour—Wellington Central)to the Minister of Justice: Does she stand by all her statements regarding her relationship with Oravida Ltd?Hon JUDITH COLLINS (Minister of Justice):Yes and I have told the shareholders and managing director at Oravida Ltd as I have told many other people and organisations when I visit them that they must ensure that the use of any photos taken of me or any references to me in published materials must not give the impression that I am endorsing them their products or services. I have also referred them to the Cabinet Manual.Grant Robertson: What reasons does she have for her statement that there is no actual conflict of interest in her dealings with Oravida Ltd during her ministerial visit to China?Hon JUDITH COLLINS: Obviously I have read the Cabinet Manual but also the Prime Minister has assured me that that is the information that he has received from the Cabinet Office.Hon David Parker: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. The question was not what the Cabinet Manual said; the question was how she can say she did not—Mr SPEAKER: Order! That was not the question. The question was what reason did the Minister have and the Minister—Grant Robertson: Why did she agree to visit the Shanghai headquarters of Oravida Ltd in October last year?Hon JUDITH COLLINS: Well I thought that it would be a good thing to do. I was asked by my personal friends Mr Shi and Ms Xu and I also know—Grant Robertson: Oh right! Asked by your friends?Hon JUDITH COLLINS: And just as that member will one day visit some friends overseas should he ever become a Minister I thought that it was a good thing to do. The ambassador assured me that we would have time but if we did not have time then we would not go to it. But it was at the end of the schedule and we did have time.Grant Robertson: In light of paragraph 2.62 of the Cabinet Manual which says: “A conflict may arise if people … such as a Minister’s family whānau or close associates might derive or be perceived as deriving some personal financial or other benefit from a decision or action by the Minister …” does she believe that her good friends the directors of Oravida Ltd would have benefited from her coming and being part of a photo opportunity at the Shanghai headquarters of their firm?Hon JUDITH COLLINS: On all matters in regard to the Cabinet Office I take my advice from the Prime Minister and his advice is very clear that this is not a breach of the Cabinet Manual.Grant Robertson: In the last 2 years what other benefits or gifts has she received from Oravida New Zealand Ltd?Hon JUDITH COLLINS: If I had received any gifts that should be declared under the Register of Pecuniary and Other Specified Interests of Members of Parliament then they would have been.Grant Robertson: Given the statement of Oravida director Julia Xu on Television New Zealand’s Q+A programme in September 2013 that “we as an operator are still needing to provide lab tests for each batch of milk that we ship into China to CIQ that our milk is free of contamination.” can she see why a dinner with her the chairman of Oravida and a Chinese border control official might give rise to a conflict of interest?Hon JUDITH COLLINS: Well obviously I am not responsible for Ms Xu or any statements she may have made but I will say that I took with me to that dinner Ms Margaret Malcolm who is a senior adviser and well-respected person here in Parliament and she can verify that what we talked about was tourism. She is also a barrister and solicitor and I think that is very important. So clearly I would have been much wiser to have treated it as an official function and put it in the Cabinet report.Grant Robertson: When Julia Xu said in her interview on Q+A on 15 September—1 month before her visit to Oravida a company that her husband is a director of—that the botulism scare had had quite a significant impact on the sales and investment of Oravida can she see how a meeting with Oravida’s chairman and a Chinese border official could benefit her and her close associates?Hon JUDITH COLLINS: Well if it were not for the fact that the border official is a very close friend of Mr Shi I could see why that member might want to perceive that but that is why I have said that I should have been much more careful about that and I was not. And for that I have apologised unreservedly.