Collins Judith: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Collins Judith: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:615;Page:11093] 
11.  
JUDITH COLLINS (National—Clevedon) 
 to the  
Minister of Immigration 
: How did she obtain potentially legally privileged notes relating to the 16-year-old Sri Lankan girl recently deported from New Zealand? 
Hon LIANNE DALZIEL (Minister of Immigration) 
: 
 I understand that the lawyer’s office made the information available to the Mt Albert electorate office some months ago when they were seeking support for the individual. One of the electorate agents faxed it through to my office last week. It was not brought to my attention at that time and it was re-faxed on Monday which was the first time I had seen it. The Prime Minister was not aware of either the fact that the electorate office had the information or that it had sent it to me until I advised her of that this morning. 
Judith Collins 
: Does the Minister know who took an envelope containing the written communication between the young girl and her lawyer and left it on the TV3 desk in Parliament; if so was that person a member of her staff her department’s staff the Prime Minister’s staff or did she do it herself? 
Hon LIANNE DALZIEL 
: I did not personally give the document to TV3 but I can confirm that a staff member of mine did. 
Judith Collins 
: Does the Minister stand by her statement on TV3 on 16 February that this sexually abused and raped girl deserved “not one jot of sympathy” from the New Zealand public; if she does does she still accept the view of the Hon Damien O’Connor when he described rape of this child as “not being very kind”? 
Hon LIANNE DALZIEL 
: I answered that question in the House the other day by reference to the fact that the Refugee Status Appeals Authority accepted that sexual abuse had occurred in respect of two uncles. The Refugee Status Appeals Authority also accepted the grandmother’s word that the daughter was not at risk of any abuse from one of those uncles and the Refugee Status Appeals Authority—the independent authority—determined that in fact she had nothing to fear from the other uncle. 
Judith Collins 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. The Minister has made no attempt to answer my question. I asked her whether she stood by her statement that this girl deserved not one jot of sympathy and she has not answered. 
Hon LIANNE DALZIEL 
: I have said that the circumstances do not deserve one jot of sympathy. I do have sympathy for a young woman who was brought to this country deliberately to make a false claim for refugee status. I am absolutely amazed that members of the National Party think that it is acceptable to make a false claim for refugee status to cover up the true state of affairs. 
Judith Collins 
: Who was the member of the Minister’s staff who took those notes to the TV3 office at Parliament? 
Hon LIANNE DALZIEL 
: The name of my staff member is Juli Clausen. 
Judith Collins 
: I seek leave to table the  
New Zealand Herald 
 article that reports Ms Dalziel as saying “the 16-year-old girl and her grandmother did not deserve ‘one jot of public sympathy’ ”. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought to table that article. Is there any objection? There is. 
Judith Collins 
: I seek leave to table the transcript of the Minister’s answers on today’s Radio New Zealand  
Morning Report 
. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought to table that document. Is there any objection? There is. 
Judith Collins 
: I seek leave to table the transcript of the Minister’s answers on today’s Radio New Zealand  
Nine to Noon 
. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought to table that transcript. Is there any objection? There is. 
Hon LIANNE DALZIEL 
: I seek leave to table the letter from the Refugee Status Appeals Authority to Marshall Bird and Curtis that contains the handwritten notes that we have referred to today. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought to table that. Is there any objection? There is. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. The answer given by the Minister to the first supplementary question asked by Miss Collins leads to a potentially serious issue. I ask that the  
Hansard 
 of this question time and in particular this question be made available a little bit sooner than is usually the case so we can determine just how serious the situation has now become. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I can assure the member that under our new technology all questions go on the net as soon as they are processed and that is very very quickly.