Curran Clare: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeCurran Clare: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 05 December 2013. Volume:695;Page:15296. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]10.CLARE CURRAN (Labour—Dunedin South) to theAssociate Minister of Finance: Does he still have responsibility for the “Day to day responsibilities functions and powers of the Minister of Finance in relation to Chorus Limited” as Associate Minister of Finance?Hon STEVEN JOYCE (Associate Minister of Finance): Yes.Clare Curran: Does he accept any responsibility at all for Chorus’s current predicament and the troubled roll-out of the ultra-fast broadband programme?Hon STEVEN JOYCE: Well there are a couple of problems with that question. One is that the member says that Chorus has a predicament when I noticed that only a few weeks ago she was saying that there was no predicament and it was crying wolf. The second thing is that this is the member who also told us that copper broadband prices were going to go up hugely. The Commerce Commission has made a decision. We know that. That has made it difficult for Chorus to proceed with its part in ultra-fast broadband. We know that. The Government and its agent Crown Fibre Holdings are now working through solutions with Chorus. It is no more simple or complex than that Ms Curran.Clare Curran: How is the potential renegotiation of the Chorus contract fair to other ultra-fast broadband contractors who are fulfilling their contractual obligations without the need for corporate welfare?Hon STEVEN JOYCE: Well the member is quite wide of the mark in terms of my responsibilities in that matter. If she has read the day-to-day responsibilities functions and powers of the Minister of Finance in relation to Chorus she will know that that does not come into that category. But nevertheless I am sure that a satisfactory solution will be found for this. The reality is that the Minister has got Crown Fibre Holdings working with Chorus as would be appropriate.Clare Curran: Is not the verbal Ernst and Young report political justification to send Crown Fibre Holdings to the table with Chorus?Hon STEVEN JOYCE: Well shock horror probe! The reality is that Crown Fibre Holdings did the original negotiations and deal with Chorus in the first place. It would be the logical organisation irrespective of whether there were one three five or seven reports produced.Clare Curran: Does he still stand by his statement that “This Government’s ultra-fast broadband project is seen worldwide as a success.”; if so what world was he referring to and does he mean “success” in the same way that the asset sales are a success?Hon STEVEN JOYCE: Ah—Mr SPEAKER: Order! The Hon Steven Joyce.Hon STEVEN JOYCE: Sorry I was rushing. I thank the member for her question. Yes absolutely. And let us compare it with a jurisdiction not too far from here called Australia. I think the member was quite enamoured with the approach in Australia where it has spent something like 30 to 60 times the amount of taxpayers’ money to achieve fewer houses passed and fewer houses connected on both a comparative and an absolute basis than New Zealand. So absolutely I stand by that. I know that the member has hated it the whole way through. I know that she has hated the legislation—Mr SPEAKER: Order! I thank the Minister. It is clear that he stands by his statement.