Carter John: New Zealand Trade and Enterprise Bill — Instruction to CommitteeCWH In Committee 
Carter John: New Zealand Trade and Enterprise Bill — Instruction to CommitteeCWH In Committee 
[Volume:609;Page:6309] 
JOHN CARTER (NZ National—Northland) 
: I want to raise a particular concern with regard to clause 79. I want to tell the Committee about a matter that I do not have absolute confirmation of but I would like the Minister in the chair the Hon Lianne Dalziel to comment on it. I am sure the Minister of Finance will also want to take an interest in it. It is an issue around no compensation for technical redundancies. That is fair enough but in this Parliament we are aware that there is a redundancy and it is not a technical one. An employee has been made redundant and we understand that his redundancy payout is in the vicinity of $160000—a golden handshake. The Minister would be well advised to take a call either to confirm that or to put us straight. Now that it is on the public record there will no doubt be some interest in the matter of whether a person who has retired— 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: That can’t be because they were going to stop them. 
JOHN CARTER 
: That is the very point. Mr Winston Peters is exactly right. The Labour Government said there would be no more golden handshakes— 
Hon Tony Ryall 
: Read my lips! 
JOHN CARTER 
: Yes read my lips. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: It was 4 years ago. 
JOHN CARTER 
: Yes 4 years ago it was stated that there would be no payouts at all. It might be that this rumour is a rumour. If it is I genuinely ask the Minister to put us right then we can move on to other parts of the bill. But this rumour started running rife about 2 minutes ago and it will carry on running until it is corrected. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: I bet she won’t. I bet the member any money he wants. 
JOHN CARTER 
: I am not sure I would take that bet. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: I will! 
JOHN CARTER 
: The member might. If the rumour is incorrect I ask the Minister to tell us and we can move on to other parts. The public has a right to know whether it is correct. We are talking about hard-earned taxpayers’ dollars. 
Hon Member 
: How much was it? 
JOHN CARTER 
: It is rumoured to be $160000 to walk away. 
Hon Ken Shirley 
: Who got that? 
JOHN CARTER 
: It is rumoured that the chief executive of Industry New Zealand got it. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: Four years ago? 
JOHN CARTER 
: No not 4 years ago when the Government promised there would be none; not even 3 years ago— 
Hon Ken Shirley 
: Three months ago? 
JOHN CARTER 
: I am told that it was within the last month or two. It is not a redundancy; it is a golden handshake. I want the Minister to correct me if I am wrong. If I am wrong I will accept that and we can then move on. However if I am not wrong then the Minister needs to stand up to explain why the Government has gone back on its commitment to no more golden handshakes. 
The CHAIRPERSON (Hon Clem Simich) 
: Can the member explain to me how what he has said is relevant to the wording of this clause. 
JOHN CARTER 
: I am talking about technical redundancies. 
Hon Tony Ryall 
: The dissolution of former agencies. 
JOHN CARTER 
: Yes absolutely. This is the whole matter of dissolution. It is all about continuity of employment final reports and accounts. 
Clayton Cosgrove 
: Help him out Tony! 
JOHN CARTER 
: That is why we have colleagues on this side of the House who are not too proud to help each other out; nor are we too proud to accept the advice of our colleagues. I am very grateful to the Hon Tony Ryall for pointing out the heading “Dissolution of former agencies”. 
What I and the other members on this side of Chamber are worried about—and I know that New Zealand First and ACT members join with me—is whether this money is being properly spent. 
Hon Tony Ryall 
: Or is he going to get a job in the Prime Minister’s office? 
JOHN CARTER 
: Well there we go! Is that possible? Perhaps the Minister could answer that. Maybe there will be an offer of a part-time job in the Prime Minister’s office as well. [ 
Interruption 
] Well it has happened before. In fact I can think of two or three occasions. So I say that we need to know that fact; otherwise it could impinge on the whole of this bill and put a taint on this legislation. I say to the Minister in charge of this bill—not the Minister in the chair Lianne Dalziel but the Minister in charge of the bill Mr Anderton: “Here we go again!” He is an absolute farce of a Minister and he should not be here. He is spending $160000 out of his $211 million. Judging by the way he gives money away it is a wonder that he did not give the whole lot away. He has given out $160000 with no accountability and that situation needs to be fixed.