12. Question No. 12—PoliceHon Dr NICK SMITH (National—Nelson) to the Minister of PoliceQuestion No. 12—Police12. Hon Dr NICK SMITH (National—Nelson) to the Minister of Police: Does he stand by all his statements policies and actions?Hon STUART NASH (Minister of Police): Yes. Hon Dr Nick Smith: Does he stand by his statement to TVNZ on roadside drug-testing last December in response to the Matthew Dow tragedy in Nelson in which he said—and I quote—There's a discussion document that has been approved by Cabinet that's going to go out to the public early next year"?Hon STUART NASH: First of all let me say that if a person is impaired by drugs or alcohol they should not be driving. It is against the law. We are looking at a new strategy to improve road safety during 2019. An immediate $100 million increase of funding was made to improve road safety when we took office. However more announcements will be made shortly.Hon Dr Nick Smith: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. My question was whether he stood by an important statement.SPEAKER: The member very clearly got a "no" out of that. Carry on.Hon Dr Nick Smith: I certainly didn't hear a "no". I heard a comment on the issue. I heard nothing about—look he said Cabinet had approved something.SPEAKER: Order! Order!Hon Dr Nick Smith: Did Cabinet last year approve a discussion paper on enabling police to do roadside drug-testing; if not why did he tell TVNZ and the people of New Zealand that it had approved such a discussion paper?Hon STUART NASH: That member's been around long enough to know that we don't discuss what goes on in Cabinet in the House.Hon Dr Nick Smith: Point of order Mr Speaker.SPEAKER: No no. I don't need it. The member had a straight question and it was a very clear question. It related to a direct quote from him. We had already commented that a paper had been approved by Cabinet. I'm sort of taking Dr Nick Smith's word that the quote is accurate and it'd be pretty serious if it's not but taking that at face value he cannot say on television that Cabinet approved something and then say that it's not his role to say so in this House.Hon STUART NASH: What I can say is I do not recall saying that but what I will say is work is undergoing in this area.Hon Dr Nick Smith: Will the Minister apologise to the mother of Matthew Dow who would've turned 25 today if not killed by a reckless drug-driver given that he misled her in saying that Cabinet had approved a discussion document and that it was to be released earlier this year?Rt Hon Winston Peters: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. With the greatest respect this is certainly no way to treat human tragedy in the way it's being played out politically in this House and we on this side of this House seriously object. We don't diminish in any way—Hon Michael Woodhouse: Is the question out of order or not?Rt Hon Winston Peters: —the harm or the hurt that the family might have felt but this is not the way for this Parliament to behave surely.SPEAKER: First of all I want to deal with the person who interjected during that point of order. Who was that?Hon Michael Woodhouse: That would probably have been me Mr Speaker.SPEAKER: The member will leave the Chamber.Hon Michael Woodhouse withdrew from the Chamber. Hon Dr Nick Smith: Point of order Mr Speaker.SPEAKER: No. I'm contemplating dealing with this point of order. This is a very serious matter. It involves the death of a loved one. I think many of us are concerned at the approach that is being taken in the House now but in my opinion it is a matter of at the moment judgment of good taste and good taste rather than a matter at the moment of order. So if Dr Smith wants to restate his question with that proviso—the clear indication from me that there's a question of taste and appropriateness involved here—but he is a very senior member and obviously the public will make their judgment on it.Hon Dr Nick Smith: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. You have rightly noted this is a serious matter. A key part of that is the accuracy of the quote and I accept that—SPEAKER: Order! The member has been invited to ask his supplementary question again as he did previously before he was interrupted by the Deputy Prime Minister. No one has doubted his word as far as the accuracy of that quote is concerned. All we've had is the Minister saying that he can't recall saying it.Hon Dr Nick Smith: Will the Minister apologise to the Dow family and to the people of New Zealand for his false statement and I quote "There's a discussion document that's been approved by Cabinet that's going to go out to the public early next year" when that was untrue?Hon STUART NASH: I have absolute sympathy for the Dow family and your loss—I cannot imagine it. I will not apologise for something I have absolutely no responsibility for. For every family that has lost someone on our roads because there is a drink- or drug-driver I have absolute sympathy. What I can say is work is going on in this area though. Another thing I would say is Mr Scott brought a member's bill to the House last year. I sat down with him and I tried to work with him on this because we felt that the scope of his bill was too narrow. We asked to work with him. He refused to do that so this Government undertook to address this in a way that actually addressed the issue.Hon Dr Nick Smith: Supplementary.SPEAKER: No. The member's run out of supplementaries."