1. Prime Minister—Resignation of Minister of Broadcasting Communications and Digital MediaHon SIMON BRIDGES (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime MinisterORAL QUESTIONSQUESTIONS TO MINISTERSPrime Minister—Resignation of Minister of Broadcasting Communications and Digital Media1. Hon SIMON BRIDGES (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by all her statements and actions in relation to the resignation of the former Minister of Broadcasting Communications and Digital Media?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN (Prime Minister): Tēnā koutou e Te Whare. Yes.Hon Simon Bridges: When did Clare Curran resign?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Her formal resignation as I've said was tended mid-morning around 10 a.m. on Friday.Hon Simon Bridges: What time on Thursday evening was the Prime Minister called by Clare Curran about the resignation?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: All of this I have talked about publicly before. I had an initial conversation with the Minister on Thursday evening. As is already on the public record her official resignation was received on Friday morning.Hon Simon Bridges: What time was the call on Thursday evening?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Some time in the evening. Hon Simon Bridges: When asked on Newstalk ZB on Friday morning if she had considered cutting ties with Clare Curran and she said No" had Clare Curran already resigned by that point; and if she had is the Prime Minister satisfied with the answer she gave?Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern: Yes. The question I was asked was "Are you considering cutting ties with her or firing her?" I said no I was not firing her. I did not fire her; the Minister made a decision to resign from her portfolios.Hon Simon Bridges: Will the Prime Minister accept that whilst that answer may be technically true it's incredibly misleading?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: If the member is suggesting I should have cancelled all interviews I don't think that's possible for anyone in my office. Of course we conduct interviews like that all the time. I was asked whether I'd fired her or was considering firing her; I had not and I did not.Hon Simon Bridges: Isn't the fact of the matter that in her press statement in Clare Curran's press statement of Friday and indeed in her later interviews the tenor was very clear: she said "Clare Curran contacted me last night to advise me that she'd decided and she wanted to resign from her portfolios. We talked it through. I accepted her resignation. End of story."?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: The fact that the member has that level of detail is because we have been transparent around the process. I received a phone call on Thursday evening indicating the member's views. She in the morning formally resigned. I've been very clear about this time line and conducted interviews in between.Rt Hon Winston Peters: Just to ensure the public does understand with clarity that words mean what they mean if something's—SPEAKER: Order! I'm going to ask the Deputy Prime Minister to sit down and I'm going to ask two people to do things: (1) I'm going to ask the Deputy Prime Minister to ask a question without a preface and (2) I'm going to require Paula Bennett to stop interjecting.Rt Hon Winston Peters: Just to get this clear is something that is technically true false or is it true?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I believe that something that is technically true is indeed true. Hon Simon Bridges: Why in the Prime Minister's statements on Friday did she make it clear that Clare Curran resigned and she accepted that on Thursday evening and yet this morning she changed her story—for example telling Mike Hosking that Clare Curran didn't resign until Friday morning and that all she did on Thursday evening was talk about considering resigning making her decision the next day?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Because that is what happened. The Minister formally resigned at the time that I received her formal resignation. And again I was asked if I had fired her; I had not. Before a Minister resigns from their portfolio of course they may choose to want to inform their family to inform their staff. It's only right that we allow a member to undertake those things before it is publicly conveyed.Hon Simon Bridges: Does this mean that if Clare Curran had changed her mind overnight the Prime Minister would not have accepted her resignation?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: That's a hypothetical. The member resigned on Friday morning formally at the time that I received her resignation letter.Hon Simon Bridges: Why didn't the Prime Minister just show some leadership and sack Clare Curran?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I removed her from Cabinet over the errors that she made. The decision to resign was hers.Hon Simon Bridges: What did Greg O'Connor get wrong when he said "There was a little [sort] of confusion about interviews on Friday morning—[you] can't have that. You leave gaps. That won't happen again so I think everyone's learnt from it." and "It could have been done better. I don't think anyone will disagree with that. But I'll tell you what it will be done better next time."?SPEAKER: Order! No responsibility of the Prime Minister.Hon Simon Bridges: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I'm asking the Prime Minister whether she agrees with a statement in relation to her handling of the resignation of a Minister. It's absolutely within the Speakers' rulings.SPEAKER: Can the member read exactly his preface to the quotes?Hon Simon Bridges: "What did Greg O'Connor get wrong"?SPEAKER: That's not the Prime Minister's responsibility.Hon Simon Bridges: Well can I have another go?SPEAKER: Order! The answer to that is yes but it counts.Hon Simon Bridges: Does she agree with Greg O'Connor when he said "There was a little [sort] of confusion about interviews on Friday morning—[you] can't have that. You leave gaps. That won't happen again so I think everybody's learnt from it." and "It could have been done better. I don't think anyone will disagree with that. But I'll tell you what it'll be done better next time."?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: In this case all of the learnings have been done by Greg O'Connor.Rt Hon Winston Peters: Prime Minister—Hon Member: Who's the leak?Rt Hon Winston Peters: Prime Minister Clare Curran had been responsible—Hon Gerry Brownlee: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I think it's quite reasonable to expect that someone with the experience of the Deputy Prime Minister would begin a question with a question word.SPEAKER: And I'm sure that the Deputy Prime Minister will have another crack at it. I'm sure he's not helped by the second row of the Government interjecting while he's trying to ask a question.Rt Hon Winston Peters: Mr Speaker it seems that there was a hypothetical—it seems that you accepted a hypothetical from Mr Bridges two questions back. I'm just putting one directly with respect to Clare Curran and it does require—being a question—for an "if" to be in front of it. That's usually what a question—SPEAKER: And I was letting the Deputy Prime Minister run. There is no rule against asking hypothetical questions. You just don't have to answer them.Rt Hon Winston Peters: Thank you very much Mr Speaker. If Clare Curran had been responsible for a leak damaging to the leadership would she have fired her?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Yes.Hon Simon Bridges: Who in her office provided the media with an inaccurate transcript of her interview with Chris Lynch?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I think what the member might be referring to is a request that was made to my office to provide a transcript which I should point out is publicly available. The interview was public. My understanding—I'm advised by my office that in providing that they didn't repeat one of the questions from the interviewer. That obviously would have been obvious if the individual who asked had listened to the interview that's publicly available.Hon Simon Bridges: So who provided it to the media?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I'm not entirely sure who actually made the request. I'm not sure it was by the media.Hon Simon Bridges: When did she first find out that her office had provided an inaccurate transcript of her interview?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Actually I reject the premise of that question.Hon Simon Bridges: What was it not inaccurate?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: My understanding is that my statements were. [Interruption] SPEAKER: Order!Hon Simon Bridges: Is the Prime Minister disputing that a doctored transcript went from her office to media on Friday?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: The member is insinuating that my statements weren't accurately transcribed. My understanding is that the transcript—as so-called—didn't include the full questioner's details rather than my answers. But again at the core of this issue is whether or not what I said was publicly available—it was; it was a radio interview."