2. Question No. 2—Prime MinisterCHRISTOPHER LUXON (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime MinisterQuestion No. 2—Prime Minister2. CHRISTOPHER LUXON (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by all of his Government's statements and actions?Rt Hon CHRIS HIPKINS (Prime Minister): Yes.Christopher Luxon: Does he know how many times Stuart Nash offered private oral briefings to donors or other parties with a commercial interest in Cabinet information?Rt Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: As I indicated on the way to the House this morning I've asked the Cabinet secretary to review Stuart Nash's communications with donors. The advice I've had from the Cabinet Office is that that will take around two months and I will await the outcome of that review before making any further decisions or comment on it.Christopher Luxon: Is he confident Stuart Nash's decisions on forestry including the decision to exclude most of Hawke's Bay from the inquiry into slash were not affected by his relationship with donors from the forestry sector?Rt Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: The decision around the terms of reference for the inquiry into the review on forestry—on land use—were decisions of the whole Cabinet. The decision was made at the time to limit that to some of the land where there was clear evidence that forestry slash had had a significant impact and there had been significant erosion. An independent review panel has been appointed to do that review. That was all signed off by the Cabinet as a whole and I am confident that we will get a robust independent outcome from that review.Christopher Luxon: Is he confident Stuart Nash's decisions on fisheries including the issue of cameras on fishing boats were not affected by his relationship with donors from the fisheries sector?Rt Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: I note that those particular donors didn't want cameras on fishing boats and Stuart Nash has consistently been an advocate for them.Christopher Luxon: What steps has he taken if any to ensure all of Stuart Nash's written and electronic communications with donors or anyone else with a commercial interest in Cabinet information have been preserved for the inquiry into Mr Nash?Rt Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: I think the member probably should have listened to my primary answer. That is something that I have asked the Cabinet Office to review. SPEAKER: I'll get the member to ask the question again. Christopher Luxon: What steps has he taken if any to ensure all of Stuart Nash's written and electronic communications with donors or anyone else with a commercial interest in Cabinet information have been preserved for the inquiry into Mr Nash?Rt Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: As I indicated in my primary answer I have today asked the Cabinet Office to review all such communications between Stuart Nash and those donors and I will await the outcome of that review before making any further comment or decision on the matter.Christopher Luxon: Has he asked Stuart Nash why his Facebook account appears to have been deleted last night?Rt Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: No.Christopher Luxon: When were staff in the Prime Minister's office—either his or the former Prime Minister's—first made aware of the email Stuart Nash sent to donors divulging confidential Cabinet information?Rt Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: In terms of my office it was at some point yesterday afternoon; I don't have the exact time of that. I did ask this morning—or last night—for a review to identify whether the office had in any way been aware of that communication prior to that. My understanding is that in 2021 Stuart Nash's then ministerial office consulted the office of the then Prime Minister on an Official Information Act request release where that email had been identified as part of that release and had been identified as being outside the scope of the review. The investigations on that matter that I have undertaken since then indicate that neither the Prime Minister of the time nor the Prime Minister's chief of staff of the time were made aware of that.Christopher Luxon: How can Kiwis believe they're getting a fair hearing from this Government when Labour donors get special access to ministerial decision-making?Rt Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: I reject the premise—I don't agree with that assertion. I do agree that Stuart Nash has behaved inappropriately here and he has faced a consequence for that; quite a serious consequence for that.David Seymour: How can he be confident that no other Minister including from New Zealand First have behaved in the same way as Stuart Nash effectively operating as lobbyists within this Government's Cabinet?Rt Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: If the member wants to go down a road of basically requiring the communications between every Minister and every political donor to be vetted and reviewed that could go back a long long way. And if that's what the member is asking for it would be a very very very big inquiry. I have seen no evidence to suggest that any Minister in this Government other than the questions raised about Stuart Nash yesterday have anything to answer for in that regard.David Seymour: Does that include the New Zealand First Ministers whose party was associated with a large fund named the New Zealand First Foundation given that the Prime Minister has no idea who contributed to that or what their interests were?Rt Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: That is a matter currently before the courts; it's not something that I can comment on.Christopher Luxon: Is he confident that Stuart Nash as a Minister declared all actual and perceived conflicts of interest arising from any donations he received from the sectors he was responsible for?Rt Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: I can confirm that all of Stuart Nash's donations to the best of my knowledge have been publicly declared and transparently so and that any conflicts of interest that he had were registered with the Cabinet Office using the usual process.Christopher Luxon: Is he confident that none of his other Ministers have undisclosed conflicts of interest between donations they have received and their portfolio responsibilities?Rt Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: Every candidate for Parliament declares their donations and that is made publicly available. Every Minister on an annual basis goes through a process with the Cabinet Office of identifying any conflicts of interest whether that relates to donors or other conflicts of interest. That is a process that's been longstanding under successive Governments and I have confidence in that process.