1. Question No. 1—Prime MinisterHon PAULA BENNETT (Deputy Leader—National) to the Prime MinisterORAL QUESTIONSQUESTIONS TO MINISTERSQuestion No. 1—Prime Minister1. Hon PAULA BENNETT (Deputy Leader—National) to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by all his Government's statements and actions?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS (Acting Prime Minister): Yes.Hon Paula Bennett: Is he concerned that Meka Whaitiri still disputes the allegations of physical contact when the report details there were bruises left on the victim caused by physical contact?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: The report is still private. There has been a leak. That leak is being investigated and the Government has supported that inquiry. We will find who the leaker is but of course we don't have the advantage of launching an inquiry into a leak whilst knowing who the leaker was in the first place.Hon Paula Bennett: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. My question was very much about whether or not they still dispute allegations and not actually about the leak.SPEAKER: Yes and it was right at the margins of responsibility and in my opinion as much as the Minister was responsible for was addressed.Hon Paula Bennett: Do the actions of Meka Whaitiri make her a good role model?Hon Grant Robertson: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I was intending to take one if you hadn't ruled how you had previously. Meka Whaitiri is no longer a Minister in the Government and I think—you are obviously considering the question.SPEAKER: And I accept that but I don't think one needs to be a—we could have had a lot of extra words in the question but I think we are talking about the actions of someone while she was a Minister and therefore the Prime Minister will answer the question.Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: The reality is that Meka Whaitiri has lost her ministerial position. That said Meka Whaitiri in her past has been a standout woman who has made an enormous contribution to Ngati Porou and indeed Māoridom and just because there may or may not have been a lapse is no reason for that member to repose on me the responsibility of being able to judge the worth or value of women. Hon Paula Bennett: Has anybody in the Government apologised to the victim?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: Could I just say that the victim is not known to me. The report is still confidential and is being released and the delay to protect the so-called or alleged victim—Hon Dr Nick Smith: Answer the question.Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: I'm answering the question in the way a lawyer would not the way some twit like you would. [Interruption] SPEAKER: Order! Order! Yes I can—[Interruption] When I call order I expect to get order from both sides. I understand what the Acting Prime Minister was trying to do and I'm not going to require him to withdraw and apologise but I ask him to take care not to draw me into his reaction to interjections whatever their quality.Hon Paula Bennett: Does he agree with the reported statement Instead of going on the defensive Māori leaders and MPs have a responsibility to publicly acknowledge the problem and urgently address it and Māori attitudes towards violence will not change until Māori leaders acknowledge the problem."?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: To the best of my memory Meka Whaitiri does not agree with that statement does not agree with the allegation that that member is now joining from a secret report which is not available to me at this point in time. Let me make it very clear: we'll wait till the report finally comes out in its entirety and then we'll be in a position to answer the House and the member.Hon Paula Bennett: I seek leave to table that statement which was made by the Rt Hon Winston Peters and was sourced from the Parliamentary Library.SPEAKER: Can I ask the member what the original source of the document is?Hon Paula Bennett: It was a press statement but I've googled and cannot find it.SPEAKER: Thank you. I'm not putting the leave and I say to the deputy leader of the Opposition in future can she give original sources of documents. Something that is got through the library does not disguise the fact—or should not be an attempt to be a disguise of the fact—that it's the type of document that as my predecessors have made very clear means members are disorderly when they seek to table them.Hon Paula Bennett: Speaking to that I searched for it and I thought the criteria was if it's not readily available which it wasn't.SPEAKER: Well no. If it's a press statement if it's available online then we don't seek leave to table them here and that has been made abundantly clear for the entire time that that member has been a member of Parliament.Hon Paula Bennett: Does he stand by Megan Woods' statement that the Prime Minister was not actively involved in the appointment of Derek Handley as Chief Technology Officer?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: Utterly and so does Mr Handley.Hon Paula Bennett: Did the Prime Minister exchange 23 messages with Clare Curran discussing in detail the appointment of Derek Handley as Chief Technology Officer (CTO)?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: I have to confess that I haven't seen all of the thousand or so pages at this point in time but I have been prepared to come down to this House knowing full well that the Prime Minister left this process in the hands of Clare Curran and that she is totally blameless on the question of her involvement if that member seeks to say that there's some sort of improper behaviour on the Prime Minister's part. The Prime Minister was at great pains to ensure—and there is evidence of that when she says she's going to leave it to Clare Curran in terms of the role. That of course is backed up by a man called Handley and thank God for him.Hon Paula Bennett: Did the Prime Minister's chief press secretary proactively text Derek Handley exchange 13 text messages with him and call him at least twice to discuss his appointment as Chief Technology Officer?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: That is a fallacious allegation. First of all a series—[Interruption] No. A series of events is put up and then an improper interpretation of them is put up in the question and I'm happy to debunk the second interpretation. Yes there was some communication—there were communications. None of it concerns the CTO's job.Hon Paula Bennett: Then why were they released in the papers that the Minister has just tabled?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: Because this is a very transparent Government and we believe in total complete full disclosure.Hon Paula Bennett: Did the Prime Minister's chief of staff call Derek Handley to discuss his offer to help and support the Prime Minister?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: I don't know how many people work for the Prime Minister's office but I can see me answering questions for everybody that was there. The fact of the matter is it is the Prime Minister who is not involved here and that is the truth in this matter.Hon Paula Bennett: So does he still stand by Megan Woods' statement that the Prime Minister was not actively involved in the appointment of Derek Handley?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: I have been driven from the very beginning to support the honesty of Megan Woods in that matter. She's been utterly truthful about that and that member's got a thousand things to start poring over to try and find some evidence."