5. Question No. 5—Prime MinisterHon PAULA BENNETT (Deputy Leader—National) to the Prime MinisterQuestion No. 5—Prime Minister5. Hon PAULA BENNETT (Deputy Leader—National) to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by her statement that On … the difficult issues the hard issues we will be there we are there in those conversations"?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN (Prime Minister): Yes. I stand by my full statement which was: "On issues like Ihumātao the difficult issues the hard issues we will be there we are there in those conversations". I went on to describe the importance in this situation of trying to find a by Māori for Māori solution to the issue. Hon Paula Bennett: What is her response to the open letter sent to her as Prime Minister by Labour Party members regarding the allegations of repeated sexual assaults harassment and predatory behaviour by one of her staff?SPEAKER: Order! There are a number of reasons I think I could rule that question out part of which is ministerial responsibility—but it must relate to the original question. Taking a partial quote on another issue and suggesting that it relates to a secondary issue is not an acceptable way of working.Hon Paula Bennett: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. A couple of things Mr Speaker then if I can just clarify: so the open letter is blatantly to the Prime Minister—SPEAKER: Yes.Hon Paula Bennett: —and so it certainly is in that respect. And as far as a quote around hard issues then I think it is a direct quote. And this is certainly one of those hard issues that I would imagine the Prime Minister would have comment on.SPEAKER: I can understand where the member is coming from. The area that the member is referring to is an area of my responsibility. The fact that someone else has been written to about it does not make it their responsibility. The member might want to try rephrasing her question to get it within the Prime Minister's responsibility.Hon Gerry Brownlee: Speaking to the point of order while I appreciate you correctly saying that it may well be in your area of responsibility I think it is also reasonable that we believe the public statements of the Prime Minister. One of those statements in an interview with Mr Hosking was that she is the employer in this case. I don't think therefore it's reasonable to have the Prime Minister making that claim in the public arena and then not being able to answer questions having said that in this very public arena also.SPEAKER: The member will be absolutely aware that in this particular case the Prime Minister is not the employer. The fact that she may have said that she was she was wrong. The member trying to use that as a way of getting a question for which I have responsibility—there is not ministerial responsibility for this—is not appropriate.Hon Paula Bennett: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. So the Prime Minister can go out and categorically make a statement that she is the employer and because you then judge that that is incorrect after the fact she then no longer has to make—so can she make statements about anything be wrong and you then make that judgment?SPEAKER: If the member had asked a question about the Prime Minister's statement—which happened to be incorrect—then I could well have allowed it. But the fact that the Prime Minister has made a statement in a particular area does not bring an otherwise out of order supplementary question into order.Hon Paula Bennett: Thank you. My supplementary question is: when the Prime Minister is addressing difficult issues does she include that in regards to allegations of repeated sexual assaults harassment and predatory behaviour that are alleged to have been done by one of her staff?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Yes. I will be clear of course: convention in this House of course requires me to respond to those things that I have ministerial responsibility for. But I will answer in general terms. The member will have seen that I have conducted a number of interviews this morning and will continue to answer those questions from my capacity as a Prime Minister. Of course we need to make sure that we have environments in all of our workplaces that meet the expectations of alleged victims and that respond to those situations. There are things that need to be dealt with here and I will continue to work to ensure that they are addressed whilst also taking very seriously my responsibility as leader of New Zealand to create a justice system where people feel confident going through. We have seen an example—[Interruption]SPEAKER: Order! Now the Prime Minister will sit down and I will hear the rest of this in silence. Some of us have been dealing with this issue for some time and having the points of view of survivors of alleged abuse shouted down when they are put to the House is just not acceptable in the 21st century.Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: So I do take very seriously the systemic issues we need to address in our justice system so that we have an environment where people feel and victims feel comfortable using that system. We have seen clear examples in the public domain currently where that has not been the case and I take that very seriously.Hon Paula Bennett: Has she seen reports in the public domain where victims were told not to go to the police but keep their complaints internal?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I can speak for the area where I have responsibility. I would never ever ever encourage someone not to take a complaint to the proper authorities. The member if she reflects back on my statements in this House—I have conveyed that time and time again. What we have to accept is that some do not feel comfortable doing that. We have to improve our system. That is the place where we're most able to take these issues forward—through our criminal justice system—and we have a lot of work to do to fix that.Hon Paula Bennett: Is it correct that her Minister of Finance the Hon Grant Robertson has known about the allegations made about a staff member in her office for some time and does she expect us to believe that she hasn't spoken with him about it?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Again I've answered many questions on this issue in the public domain but what I will stick to in this House is convention which is answering where people have ministerial responsibility. Hon Paula Bennett: How many of her Ministers know about these allegations concerning one of her staff members?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Again I refer to the previous answer. Again this is an area where I absolutely accept the public interest and I'm responding to that but when I'm in this House I will maintain the conventions of this House."