12. Question No. 12—CorrectionsRAWIRI WAITITI (Co-Leader—Te Paati Māori) to the Minister of CorrectionsQuestion No. 12—Corrections12. RAWIRI WAITITI (Co-Leader—Te Paati Māori) to the Minister of Corrections: Does he have confidence in the Department of Corrections? Hon DAVID PARKER (Attorney-General) on behalf of the Minister of Corrections: Yes.Rawiri Waititi: Is he aware of any inhumane treatment to the 16 inmates who protested at Waikeria and are they being targeted?Hon DAVID PARKER: If the member wanted answers to that particular area he could have put that down in the primary question and I'm sure the Minister would be willing to answer that in particular if it was.Rawiri Waititi: Can the Minister confirm that these 16 protesters have been targeted again with solitary confinement—SPEAKER: Order! The member will resume his seat. The Minister made it very clear in his primary answer that he was not briefed on this specific matter and Standing Orders and Speakers' rulings are very clear that if a member wants answers to a specific question then one doesn't ask a general question in order to get there. I've interrupted the member so he's only used one of his supplementary questions not two because it would have been ruled out. The member will have another go at seeing if he can ask it in a way that is in order.David Seymour: Point of order. The Standing Orders and Speakers' rulings say that the member may not be able to expect an answer but what you've just said is he's not allowed to ask the question and surely that—I don't know any Speaker's ruling or Standing Order that says you can't ask the question.SPEAKER: The member will resume his seat. I might be accused of coaching the member in order to attempt to help him get to the point where he can make a supplementary question where he can expect to get a useful answer. Now this is a practice I think it's fair to say that when I was in Opposition I used to criticise the Hon Dr Lockwood Smith for doing—for doing some coaching while he was refereeing—but I think with a party with relatively new members and not the experience I think in this particular case me trying to be helpful shouldn't be objected to by another party.Rawiri Waititi: This is harder than I thought Mr Speaker today. SPEAKER: So's life mate. Rawiri Waititi: This one's supposed to be easy. For the Minister—he's not even here—is he aware of any inhumane treatment of the protesters in Waikeria and are they being targeted?SPEAKER: Oh well I've tried to help the member but it doesn't matter. The Minister can answer.Hon DAVID PARKER: I can't answer the specifics of the question. What I can say is that the Minister expects the department to act legally in accordance with the law and the rules of corrections and I can also say on his behalf that when he finds instances where that has not happened—for example at Auckland's women's prison earlier in the year—he takes action.Rawiri Waititi: Can the Minister confirm that those who are being targeted and again with solitary confinement since being moved to Waikeria Prison to multiple other prisons including one protester who reportedly has been locked in his cell for up to 23 hours a day; if not why not?Hon DAVID PARKER: I can't confirm that.Rawiri Waititi: I'll throw the other two Mr Speaker.SPEAKER: All right. That concludes oral questions.