Peters Winston: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Peters Winston: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:620;Page:15751] 
11.  
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS (Leader—NZ First) 
 to the  
Prime Minister 
: Does she have confidence in the inquiries if any made by the Minister of Immigration into the alleged part played by WahibZaza and Rabir alias Roberto in Ahmed Zaoui’s arrival in New Zealand; if so why? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN (Deputy Prime Minister) 
 on behalf of the 
 Prime Minister 
: Yes. I am advised that the New Zealand Immigration Service has carried out inquiries but those have not substantiated claims the member has made. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: Has the Prime Minister referred to the decision of the Refugee Status Appeals Authority which states: “The appellant went into hiding. He discussed the situation with X who counselled against going to Australia where he would be held in detention and recommended that he come to New Zealand. The appellant had read of the New Zealand Prime Minister’s humanitarian response to the  
Tampa 
 crisis and felt encouraged to approach the New Zealand authorities.”; and is X WahibZaza? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: I am not familiar with that document so I cannot say who X is. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: Can I read further in that document from the Refugee Status Appeals Authority at paragraph 286 which states: “The appellant no longer had his Burkino Faso passport it having been through the wash accidentally. Accordingly he purchased a South African passport on the black market and after making arrangements for his family he travelled via Thailand Laos Vietnam and Korea to New Zealand arriving here on 4 December 2002.”; and is it not a fact that a man called Rabir alias Roberto—alerted to the Prime Minister last week—got that passport organised for Ahmed Zaoui falsely so too? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: It is certainly clear that the passport was falsely obtained. Indeed I might say that it is a forged passport not a falsely obtained passport; there are differences between those two things. But no evidence has been found of a “Rabir alias Roberto” being involved in this matter. 
Hon Matt Robson 
: Is the Prime Minister aware that the advice given to Mr Ahmed Zaoui to come to New Zealand rather than Australia was one by Mr SamirBennegadi who is a nuclear physicist and Algerian citizen and an Australian citizen as well and who is employed at Lucas Heights and by the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) leadership who are lawfully in Paris because they believed that New Zealand would provide natural justice and not detain him and treat him as unfairly as they thought Australia would? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: I am sure it is correct that New Zealand will provide natural justice but this one has been drawn out for so long it is becoming somewhat unnatural. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: Can the Prime Minister not deny the fact that Ahmed Zaoui came here because as the Refugee Status Appeals Authority says in its document he believed we would be a soft option and now we have passed over $1 million of wasted expenditure on a man adjudged by three First World OECD countries to be a terrorist; and how is that fair to the New Zealand taxpayer? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: It is certainly true that New Zealand takes a humanitarian approach but the Government’s position for a very considerable time now is that it would be better for the legal dancing to end and for the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security to be able to get on and complete his work and then the process can be taken through to conclusion. The Government can then review the legislation passed by the National Party to work out why it has proved to be so incompetent in practice. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: Why has legislation to do with terrorism been invoked in the Irving case but in the case of Ahmed Zaoui all we get is the hard-working taxpayer being screwed on a monthly basis now to the tune of over $1 million? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: The Government has every sympathy with the member’s view that the current Act is proving inadequate in its first implementation. This is the first time the current legislation has been used and it clearly needs to be reviewed. Of course in the case of Mr Irving he has stated that if he manages to get on a plane and get off in New Zealand he may consider claiming refugee status. It would be hard to see how he could be a refugee from the United Kingdom.