Chadwick Steve: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Chadwick Steve: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:612;Page:9041] 
4.  
STEVE CHADWICK (NZ Labour—Rotorua) 
 to the  
Associate Minister of Health 
: Has he received any reports on smoke-free contracts provided by non-governmental organisations? 
Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR (Associate Minister of Health) 
: 
 I have received reports from the Ministry of Health outlining contracts that it holds with non-governmental organisations advocating non-smoking activities. I am advised that standard advocacy clauses have existed in these contracts as far back as the mid-1990s—a period when the National Government was in power and Bill English was for a time the Minister of Health. 
Steve Chadwick 
: Is the Minister reviewing whether this practice should continue? 
Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR 
: Yes. The ministry has been instructed to review all current contracts and the most recent amendments to ensure the contracts are appropriate for a Government agency. I am not satisfied with the current situation and intend to tighten the rules around advocacy clauses. In this regard I have asked my officials to seek advice from the State Services Commission in reviewing contracts. 
Dr Lynda Scott 
: Were the members of the Health Committee chaired by Steve Chadwick ever informed by the Ministry of Health that its advisers to the select committee had in fact paid some of the anti-smoking groups to prepare a submission on Miss Chadwick’s own member’s bill; if not why not? 
Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR 
: I am not aware whether the select committee was informed. I am aware of contracts that go back to 1993 that have as a core part—if I am allowed to quote from one of them the 1995 contract between the Northern Regional Health Authority and Action on Smoking and Health (ASH)—“LIAISON/ADVOCACY SERVICES. The provider will liaise with government and private health agencies members of Parliament political parties the media and any other appropriate organisations to raise public awareness of tobacco related issues …”. 
Hon Roger Sowry 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. The Minister quoted from a document and I require that document to be tabled. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The member can seek leave. 
Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR 
: I am more than happy to table it. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought to table the document. Is there any objection? Oh the member is required to table it—yes. Please table it. And he will. 
Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR 
: I will table it after question time. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Table it as soon as the question is over. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. Firstly the Minister is required to do it so leave was not required but further there is another question on this matter further down the Order Paper. I think it would be helpful to the House if we could have that paper from Mr O’Connor tabled now. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: He must table it now and I ask him to do so. [ 
Interruption 
] There are a couple of supplementary questions to come. As soon as those questions have come I will ask him— 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I know what you have said and it would be helpful to my parliamentary colleagues if he did table it now but he is not required to table it until the end of the day’s sitting. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: No that is slightly different. If he is quoting from an official document and he is asked to table it—and he says it is an official document—he must table it straight away. 
Document laid on the Table of the House. 
Heather Roy 
: Does he find it acceptable that his officials paid ASH the Smokefree Coalition and Apararangi Tautoko Auahi Kore to lobby MPs and make submissions to select committees—[ 
Interruption 
] 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Mr O’Connor was asked to table the document. Could he please table it now. 
Hon Roger Sowry 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. The Clerk has advised me that Mr O’Connor by walking to the Table putting the document on the Table then walking away with it has tabled it and has decided to keep it for himself for the rest of question time. This is the same Minister who was caught out yesterday misquoting a document and had to come down to the House. Mr Speaker I seek your help and assistance in ensuring that the document is tabled and other members have access to it. If it means that we leave the question and come back to it so be it. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The Minister must table the document right now. Please table it. 
Hon Richard Prebble 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. My understanding is that the Minister actually has tabled it. His having tabled it any member can pick it up and he was the first to pick it up. [ 
Interruption 
] No he is absolutely entitled to do that. He can put it down and pick it up again. He has picked it up and that is what he is entitled to do. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Let me just say that as always Mr Prebble has an interesting point of view and technically he is correct but I am going to ask the Minister to table the document now as requested—right now. 
Document laid on the Table of the House. 
Hon Richard Prebble 
: In that case I seek the leave of the House for this question to be stopped now and for us to do the next one then come back to it. It is just unreasonable for a Minister who is using a document not to be able to quote from it. Let us have time so that other copies can be given. Why do we not wait until after the next question on notice? 
Mr SPEAKER 
: All I want to say is that that is a sensible suggestion. I am moving on and I will come back to the question. Question No. 5. 
Dr Lynda Scott 
: Supplementary question— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: No I am coming back to the question. 
Hon Dr Michael Cullen 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I see no point in the document being tabled so that it can be xeroxed so that other members can have it and the Minister can have it back if then the deputy leader of National is going to sit there reading it. 
Hon Roger Sowry 
: I have just asked the Clerk to photocopy it and was told by the Clerk that he would not photocopy it because he would not let it leave the room. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: This is getting quite out of hand and I want it to stop right now. I ask the Clerk to have it photocopied now. [ 
Interruption 
] We will come back to question No. 4 later.