Power Simon: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Power Simon: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:613;Page:9712] 
8.  
SIMON POWER (National—Rangitikei) 
 to the  
Minister of Defence 
: Will the Government be increasing the defensive capabilities of the New Zealand Defence Force engineering unit in Iraq in light of the injury of a soldier deployed there; if not why not? 
Hon PHIL GOFF (Acting Minister of Defence) 
: No. Defence Force advice is that increased defensive capability such as armoured vehicles or heavy weaponry is not appropriate and would be inconsistent with the humanitarian and reconstruction role that Defence Force personnel are in Iraq to perform. It would be counterproductive to their ability to relate to those they are working with. Defence Force personnel however are appropriately trained equipped and armed for self-defence. 
Simon Power 
: Is the Government continuing with the policy of New Zealand troops in Iraq travelling in civilian vehicles instead of adequately armoured vehicles such as the armoured Land Rovers the British have brought in from Northern Ireland; if so why? 
Hon PHIL GOFF 
: I think it is important that the member knows this was not a patrol; it was a routine drive in a convoy and standard to the movement of personnel around this part of Iraq. The vehicle that the New Zealand officer was in was in fact a British vehicle and he was in the company of civilians and other military personnel. 
David Benson-Pope 
: Would the Minister please inform the House of the nature of the tasks in which the New Zealand Defence Force engineering unit is engaged? 
Hon PHIL GOFF 
: They are broadly reconstruction and humanitarian tasks. Specifically our forces are working on restoring infrastructure. One of the most important jobs they are doing is providing drinkable water in schools and poor neighbourhoods and I would hope that every member of this House appreciated the need for that humanitarian work and supported our forces there. 
Hon Ken Shirley 
: How can the New Zealand public objectively assess the justification for any change to our defence capabilities in Iraq when the only media permitted to accompany the Prime Minister on her recent visit to the troops was a State television crew who were specifically instructed to break with convention and not serve as a pool camera for ATPM feed to other networks; and was the Minister aware of that instruction? 
Hon PHIL GOFF 
: I am informed that that simply is not true. Secondly any media can apply to go to Iraq at any time to cover visits but even that member would appreciate that when the leader of a country goes to a place that is inherently dangerous one does not signal that beforehand. 
Simon Power 
: Were defensive capabilities altered with the Prime Minister’s visit to Iraq last week and why was it necessary to keep her visit so secret given the very public visits of Donald Rumsfeld Tony Blair and Colin Powell to Iraq in recent times? 
Hon PHIL GOFF 
: I notice that the one person the member did not mention was Paul Wolfowitz. He signalled his presence in advance and a missile went through his hotel as a consequence. 
Rodney Hide 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I think the Minister might have addressed one part of the question but there was an earlier part that was of some interest—certainly to me and I am sure to other members of the House. The question was about whether there was—I forget the phrase that Mr Power used—a rearrangement of defence forces in light of the Prime Minister’s visit. I was very interested to have that part of the question addressed. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I think the Minister could well answer that part. 
Hon PHIL GOFF 
: I am happy to do that. Yes of course the leader of any country who goes to a war zone like that will have appropriate defensive support as I had when I went to Afghanistan. 
Ron Mark 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. Through you I seek some assistance for the Minister. The Minister is in danger with the last answer he gave of terribly misleading the House for on CNN television it was made very clear that that missile was deliberately planned well in advance and it was coincidental that Wolfowitz happened to be present in the hotel at the time. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: That is not a point of order. There is another way that the member can use those facts.