Mallard Trevor: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Mallard Trevor: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:675;Page:21269] 
4. 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD (Labour—Hutt South) 
 to the  
Minister for the Rugby World Cup 
: Has he received any reports or briefings verbal or written since he became the Minister for the Rugby World Cup on the ability of downtown Auckland to host Rugby World Cup 2011 related events and what were the dates of those briefings? 
Hon MURRAY McCULLY (Minister for the Rugby World Cup) 
: 
 The member may be aware that the Government is leading the delivery of a range of activities at Queens Wharf of which it is the part-owner. As a consequence I receive a range of regular reports and briefings regarding its capacity to host planned events. With regard to the wider waterfront ATEED—Auckland Tourism Events and Economic Development—the events arm of Auckland City is active in the lead role. Officials would have received reports and briefings in the context of the management committee responsible for Queens Wharf. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. That was a deliberately straight direct question asking—in the end—what the dates of those briefings were. I think he has had plenty of time to sort through his files for them. He did not attempt to answer that part of the question. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I think it is a fair point of order. Although it may not be reasonable to expect all the dates because there may be quite a long list of briefings—the Minister indicated a number of briefings—some dates I think would be appropriate to answer the question since it is a primary question. 
Hon MURRAY McCULLY 
: I can indicate that there would have been a substantial number of those reports around the time of the acquisition of Queens Wharf and more recently as we got closer to the opening of the Rugby World Cup there would have been a significant increase in the number of reports on the various activities to be engaged in at Queens Wharf. If the member would like me to supply a list of the dates of all of the reports I have received I would be happy to make it available to him separately. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: I accept the offer. Did he receive in the briefing to him as an incoming Minister at the end of 2008 warnings about transport and crowd issues in central Auckland for the Rugby World Cup? 
Hon MURRAY McCULLY 
: Yes. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: What priority did he give to the task of sorting that as Minister for the Rugby World Cup between December 2008 and last Friday? 
Hon MURRAY McCULLY 
: With regard to the transport challenges it would be fair to say that they would have received the highest priority. It is no great secret that I identified in the risk assessments that were undertaken in conversations with agencies including directly with the Auckland Transport Agency itself that I assessed that the transport challenges were one of the greatest risks facing the Rugby World Cup and accordingly a good deal of time and discussion have gone into managing those challenges. Again I would be very happy to make a list of the various discussions with the Auckland Transport Agency available to the member. Further the issues of crowd control and participation on the Auckland waterfront have been managed by ATEED and Auckland Council. The Queens Wharf interface has been the focus of the Government’s attention in that respect but of course it has alongside other elements of the Rugby World Cup received attention from officials and therefore from me from time to time. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: Did he receive a full-day briefing along with the Minister of Transport on the Rugby World Cup—mainly transport issues—in June of this year which led to some photo opportunities and did he express at the end of that briefing satisfaction with the arrangements? 
Hon MURRAY McCULLY 
: It was not in fact a full-day briefing but it was a substantial part of a day. It involved a range of visits including a visit to the transport control centre to see how it worked. But no it would not be fair to say that I pronounced myself fully satisfied with arrangements as a consequence of that briefing and as the member will discover when I give him an ongoing list of the interactions there were further matters that I was exploring with the Minister of Transport and directly with transport officials. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: Did the Minister spend more time focused on crowd issues in the event that more than 12000 people wanted to go down on to the wharf or on picking the colour of the shirt for the Prime Minister to mince in? 
Hon Rodney Hide 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I think you will find that that comment was totally unacceptable to this House. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I do not want to be ruling out words that may be marginal words. I am sure we are big enough children not to take offence at every possible word. If I thought the Prime Minister was going to be terribly upset by that word I might rule it out but I do not want to be ruling out endless words. 
Hon MURRAY McCULLY 
: It has been my impression that the Prime Minister has an extraordinarily good sense of fashion judgment and therefore is in no need of advice from me. Indeed were he in need of such advice I doubt he would seek it from me.