4. Question No. 4—FinanceHon AMY ADAMS (National—Selwyn) to the Minister of FinanceQuestion No. 4—Finance4. Hon AMY ADAMS (National—Selwyn) to the Minister of Finance: What evidence did he ask for or receive before his press release at 8.18 p.m. on Tuesday 28 May to substantiate the claim the material is a result of a systematic hack"?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance): My full quote indicates that I was basing this on Treasury's statement and advice. As with all of my interactions with the Treasury there were questions asked but those matters are part of the State Services Commission investigation. I do not want to prejudice that inquiry any further than the comment that I've already made.Hon Amy Adams: Did he obtain legal advice before making his statement and if not why not?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: No. My statement simply repeated the advice that the Treasury secretary had given.Hon Amy Adams: So when his own statement recorded that this was "extremely serious" why did he not seek legal advice or corroborating evidence to back up the claim of systematic hacking before issuing his press statement linking illegal behaviour to the Opposition?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: The matter had been referred to the police. That was the state of the situation. My words in the statement echoed what Treasury had already said.Hon Amy Adams: Is it his usual pattern to simply parrot what he's told by officials?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: It's a mixed bag on that count.Hon Amy Adams: Did he at any time before 8 p.m. on 28 May warn the Secretary to the Treasury of the seriousness of making a criminal complaint involving a New Zealand political party and making public statements to that effect without him having clear and compelling evidence to do so?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: The Treasury secretary had already referred the matter of the access to the Treasury system to the police before he met with me. Other matters beyond that are the subject of the investigation.Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern: Was he aware of who was responsible for the access to that Budget information at that time?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: No.Hon Amy Adams: Was the Secretary to the Treasury made aware of the advice from the GCSB prior to his appearances on numerous television programmes on Wednesday morning?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: That would be a matter that would need to be answered by the Secretary to the Treasury. I do note that the question of his advice and actions is the subject of the State Services Commission investigation.Hon Amy Adams: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I understand that the State Services Commission is investigating. None the less the Minister is responsible to this House to answer questions about the behaviour of officials. The Prime Minister has made it clear that the Government will expect to answer oral questions on this matter. With those two caveats I don't think that can be regarded as addressing the question. He simply said he won't answer.SPEAKER: I anticipated the possibility of this one coming up and therefore I did do a little bit of homework before. I think in this particular case there is a very clear ruling from someone we're all quite familiar with Mr Speaker Smith from 2012: "Where there is an independent inquiry by a statutory authority I have to respect an assertion of it not being in the public interest to comment while that inquiry is under way." There are a number of similar Speakers' rulings and it's also clear in McGee that in the end I cannot overrule the view of a Minister with regard to the public interest.Hon Amy Adams: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I'm just seeking to clarify sir—I totally accept your ruling. It's been made very clear repeatedly by the Government that the State Services Commission inquiry won't investigate what Ministers have done. My question wasn't about what officials had done; it was about whether the Minister had warned or effectively passed on what we now know is the GCSB advice. The State Services Commission won't look at that—we know that—and so I would argue that that ruling doesn't apply and that the question was very much around what the Minister had done not what the officials were doing amongst themselves.Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Speaking to the point of order the member's last supplementary question was directly about what the Treasury secretary did or hadn't done with the—Hon Amy Adams: No no.SPEAKER: Order! Order!Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: —GCSB. Actually it was precisely about questions regarding the secretary and the GCSB not about the actions of Ministers.SPEAKER: Now what I'm first of all going to do is warn the Hon Amy Adams that she must not interject during a point of order. I'm now going to ask her because I think time has passed on a little bit to read exactly the same question again so it can be answered again.Hon Amy Adams: Certainly sir. Was the Secretary to the Treasury made aware of the GCSB advice the Ministers had received prior to making his television appearances on numerous programmes on Wednesday morning?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I simply do not know the answer to that question.Hon Amy Adams: Why did the Minister not immediately publicly correct his statement after receiving advice from his colleague the Hon Andrew Little of the advice from GCSB?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: As I have previously stated the matter had been referred to the police. I did not use the words that are upsetting the member after that time; I simply referred to the advice that I'd had by Treasury that the police were then investigating the matter."