King Annette: Oral Questions — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeKing Annette: Oral Questions — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 28 April 2015. Volume:704;Page:2907. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]2.Hon ANNETTE KING (Deputy Leader—Labour)to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by his statement that “There’s always a risk with third-term Governments that they get arrogant. There’s always a risk that they veer off into a space they haven’t been and start surprising their supporters”?Hon BILL ENGLISH (Acting Prime Minister):Yes. It was an observation based on watching the third term of the previous Labour Government.Hon Annette King: Was pulling the hair of a woman worker in a cafe arrogant veering off into a space where he had not been before or just totally inappropriate behaviour?Hon BILL ENGLISH: As the Prime Minister has acknowledged it was totally inappropriate behaviour for which he apologised to the young woman concerned and I might say well before public attention was drawn to the matter.Hon Annette King: Does he think that in modern New Zealand it is OK to describe repeated and unwelcome pulling of a young woman’s hair as banter horseplay joking around; if not why has he attempted to minimise his weird behaviour?Hon BILL ENGLISH: The Prime Minister has not attempted to minimise the behaviour; he has acknowledged the inappropriate nature of that behaviour and dealt with the issue when it was drawn to his attention.Hon Annette King: Was the National Party warned of his hair-pulling behaviour before his actions became public; if so when?Mr SPEAKER: In as far as there is prime ministerial responsibility the Hon Bill English.Hon BILL ENGLISH: Of course the Prime Minister had an indication about the behaviour because the young woman raised it with him and he apologised to her. I might say that the Prime Minister has through intensive interaction with the public over a long period as leader of the National Party and as the Prime Minister observed almost always the highest standards of appropriate behaviour.Hon Annette King: Was there any communication between his office or his staff and Rachel Glucina or the cafe owners following the breaking of this story?Hon BILL ENGLISH: I have not had the opportunity to establish whether or not that is the case so I simply cannot answer that question.Hon Annette King: Does he stand by his statement that he “needs to be better at reading the tea leaves” when making decisions about how he will behave in public; if so how often does he use tea leaves for advice?Hon BILL ENGLISH: Yes the Prime Minister does stand by that statement. I might say that part of the Prime Minister’s disappointment at these events—Grant Robertson: He did it!Hon BILL ENGLISH: —and the inappropriateness of his behaviour is that in almost every other respect his interaction with New Zealanders is positive.Hon Annette King: What is the difference between his behaviour and that of Aaron Gilmore’s?Hon BILL ENGLISH: They are different circumstances and have both been dealt with appropriately.Hon Annette King: I seek leave to table a Facebook post on the National Party’s website—Mr SPEAKER: Order! [Interruption] Order! I do not need any further assistance. It is available to all members if they want to look for it.Rt Hon Winston Peters: Putting aside the numerous Parnell cafe incidents how does the Acting Prime Minister explain the countless photographs of Mr Key stroking young girls’ hair and what psychological condition is that?Hon BILL ENGLISH: I reject all the imputations of that question. The Prime Minister has a track record that I know Opposition parties resent and that is of very positive interaction with the whole range of the New Zealand community. In this case he has acknowledged the inappropriateness of his behaviour and dealt with it well before it came to public attention because in his view if the young woman felt that way about the behaviour then it clearly was not appropriate and he had to deal with it.Rt Hon Winston Peters: Putting aside the Parnell cafe case what about the numerous other cases where he has not apologised at all and how does he explain that?Hon BILL ENGLISH: Almost without exception the interactions the Prime Minister has with the New Zealand public are not the subject of complaints. In fact more than any other Prime Minister he is open to those interactions and they are positive. If anyone felt that he had acted inappropriately they are able to raise that issue and I think as indicated by this incident the Prime Minister will take responsibility for his behaviour and apologise accordingly.Hon Annette King: Has the Deputy Prime Minister ever advised him that he undertakes such behaviour in public?Hon BILL ENGLISH: Very generally the Prime Minister has been able to conduct a very positive relationship with the broader public without the benefit of advice from the Deputy Prime Minister.