Goff Phil: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Goff Phil: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:652;Page:1047] 
2.  
Hon PHIL GOFF (Leader of the Opposition) 
 to the  
Prime Minister 
: Does he have confidence in all his Ministers? 
Hon JOHN KEY (Prime Minister) 
: 
 Yes because they are talented people who are working hard for New Zealand. 
Hon Phil Goff 
: Can the Prime Minister—or the country—have any confidence in the transparency and honesty of the Minister of Finance who while ramming through legislation before Christmas without subjecting it to the scrutiny of a select committee deliberately suppressed and withheld from the public and parliamentarians the advice he received from his own ministry that the fundamental parts of that legislation were deeply flawed? 
Hon JOHN KEY 
: Yes. I have complete confidence in the Minister of Finance. If we want to have concerns about Ministers of Finance maybe we should have concern for a former Minister of Finance who may well find himself in breach of the Public Finance Act. 
Hon Phil Goff 
: Why was the National Government so frightened of releasing the briefing to Bill English at the same time as it released other briefings; and now that the briefing has been found to reveal that the legislation the National Government pushed through was fundamentally flawed will the Prime Minister admit that he was wrong and change that legislation? 
Hon JOHN KEY 
: We are far from frightened. I remind the member that when he was last in Government his Minister of Finance the Hon Dr Michael Cullen described a briefing from Treasury as an “ideological burp”. But let us put that all to one side. I refer the member to the  
Wall Street Journal 
Asia 
 in which a very interesting editorial appeared just last week commending New Zealand for its economic packages in contrast with many countries around Asia. 
Hon Phil Goff 
: Was the Prime Minister or his office directly or indirectly involved in the decision to not make available the Treasury briefings when they were relevant to the debate before the House; if so how does that reflect on the Prime Minister’s supposed commitment to openness and transparency? 
Hon JOHN KEY 
: No I was not personally involved. It may come as a shock to that member but I have such confidence— 
Hon Phil Goff 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I asked whether he or his office was involved. 
Hon JOHN KEY 
: No I was not involved and to the best of my knowledge my office was not involved. It may come as a great surprise to the member but I have such confidence in my Minister of Finance that he can choose to release his briefing from Treasury whenever he likes. 
Hon Phil Goff 
: Can the Prime Minister categorically assure the House that National is not concealing Treasury advice or other departmental advice against any of the legislation now being introduced in the House today under urgency? 
Hon JOHN KEY 
: Yes I can confirm that the Government is not concealing any briefings or hiding anything from the House. If the member wants to talk about concealing things maybe he should go and ask people in his own research unit about that because the last time I saw them they were concealing the booze from the parliamentary Christmas party. 
Hon Phil Goff 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. [ 
Interruption 
] 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The member is taking a point of order and the ministerial benches know that points of order are heard in silence. Thank you. 
Hon Phil Goff 
: I point out to you that the Prime Minister has categorically assured the House that the Government is not withholding anything. In fact it has not even released anything so how can he give— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The honourable member may like to reflect on how that matter was a point of order. 
Hon Phil Goff 
: There is a clause in the Standing Orders that states that a Minister cannot mislead the House. The Prime Minister has categorically assured the House that Treasury advice or other departmental advice was not withheld— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The member will take his seat. The member has been in this House as long as I have. He knows there are ways of dealing with issues if he is concerned about anyone misleading the House and it is not by way of a point of order. The honourable member knows that well.