Rich Katherine: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Rich Katherine: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:619;Page:14723] 
4.  
KATHERINE RICH (National) 
 to the  
Minister for Social Development and Employment 
: What specific information or concerns did the Acting Minister pass on to the Secretary of Labour Dr James Buwalda regarding the Community Employment Group’s northern regional manager Ms AmokuraPanoho and from whom did the Acting Minister receive that information? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY (Minister for Social Development and Employment) 
: 
 On 20 July 2004 during a meeting with officials the Acting Minister noted that concerns had been raised about the extent and appropriateness of Ms Panoho’s involvement in the Maori Party. She passed those concerns on to Dr Buwalda to act on as he thought fit. The Acting Minister was acting upon information provided by the Hon John Tamihere to the Prime Minister who as is consistent with normal practice passed it on to the relevant Minister to decide what to do. The Acting Minister did not take any further part in the investigation of the issue but was advised on 30 July 2004 that Ms Panoho had tendered her resignation. 
Katherine Rich 
: What specifically were the concerns of the Acting Minister regarding Ms Panoho’s involvement with the Maori Party that led Department of Labour officials to take such significant steps as to meet with Ms Panoho and to bully her into resigning? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: To start at the end of the question I really need just to quote from an interview with Ms Panoho in which she repeated on a number of occasions one line. Ms Panoho in her interview with Linda Clark on Radio New Zealand said: “No I wasn’t put under pressure to resign.” The specific issues that were raised were the extent and appropriateness of Ms Panoho’s involvement in the Maori Party. I repeat because the member opposite is trying to attack Ms Panoho that Ms Panoho has said repeatedly that she was not put under pressure. 
Katherine Rich 
: Does the Minister think it is inconsistent that this Government thinks the attendance of a Community Employment Group regional manager at a Maori Party meeting was wrong but the activism prior to the 1999 election of a previous Community Employment Group national manager who is now the Minister of Maori Affairs was OK? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: My understanding is that the current Minister of Maori Affairs who was the chief executive for the Community Employment Group resigned well in advance of the election as public servants do—I did so myself when I was running for office. In relation to concerns about Ms Panoho members should remember that concerns about the extent and appropriateness of her involvement were raised but that they was dealt with appropriately by the chief executive purely as an employment issue as they should have been. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: Is it a fact that a substantial number of the people who attended that hui were there whilst being paid by the taxpayer to be somewhere else—namely at their job—and if it was wrong for Ms Panoho to be in that situation which I think most people would accept then what is being done about the remainder of those who left their job that day to attend that hui at the taxpayers’ expense? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: I advise the member that the meeting was in the evening. I was not at the meeting so I cannot answer as to the specifics of what he asked. The general principle that I think all of us work on—and have done so from the time of Peter Fraser on—is that public servants need to be very careful that they remain being seen to be independent so that they can act on behalf of any Government. 
Katherine Rich 
: Why was it not OK for Ms Panoho to attend a Maori Party hui when it was OK for John Tamihere’s staff to attend the same Maori Party hui and are they not public servants as well? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: I have to say that it is not for me to judge. It is appropriately a responsibility within the judgment of the chief executive who has an employment relationship with an employee to work on that matter. 
Dr Muriel Newman 
: In light of the Minister’s previous answer is he assuring the House that the Hon Parekura Horomia attended no Labour Party meetings while he was the general manager of the Community Employment Group? 
Hon Dr Michael Cullen 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. You have frequently ruled in the past that Ministers in this Government are not responsible for their actions under previous Governments. Clearly the Minister was not chief executive of the Community Employment Group under this Government. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I thought that the question on balance could be answered. 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: As my colleague has just pointed out of course I have no real knowledge of what Mr Horomia may or may not have done when he was working for the National Government at that time. But I would repeat the golden rule is that public servants need to be available to work for any Government of any hue at any time and therefore their independence and autonomy need to be something they guard very preciously. 
Katherine Rich 
: Has he or any official sought or received any legal advice about what likely legal fees or compensation to Ms Panoho could cost the taxpayer? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: No.