Cunliffe David: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeCunliffe David: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 19 November 2013. Volume:695;Page:14760. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]4.Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE (Leader of the Opposition) to thePrime Minister: Does he stand by all his statements?Hon BILL ENGLISH (Acting Prime Minister): Yes.Hon David Cunliffe: Does he stand by his statement that “the Government believes there is no cause of action” to help compensate the Pike River families?Hon BILL ENGLISH: I stand by the full statement in the context in which it was made.Hon David Cunliffe: Why will his Government not pursue the parent shareholder of Pike River New Zealand Oil and Gas which has received $42 million in insurance payouts since the company incurred the disaster and which has a moral obligation to contribute to the compensation of the Pike River families?Hon BILL ENGLISH: The Government has no legal means of doing so. There may be extralegal means and that might be what the member should explain because he as I understand it has announced that he will pursue the company if he is in Government. He needs to explain just on what basis he would do that.Hon David Cunliffe: Is the Prime Minister aware of whether ACC and the New Zealand Superannuation Fund were among the New Zealand Oil and Gas shareholders who voted against paying compensation?Hon BILL ENGLISH: No I am not aware of how they may or may not have voted on that matter.Hon David Cunliffe: I might be able to help the Acting Prime Minister. Given that 99 percent of the shareholders of New Zealand Oil and Gas voted against paying compensation and given that ACC owns 6 percent of it and the New Zealand Superannuation Fund owns 1.2 percent of it has he been able to work out whether they voted for or against compensation or perhaps he could ask them whether they voted for or against compensation?Hon BILL ENGLISH: I would want to look into the facts of the matter rather than rely on the member’s assertions.Hon David Cunliffe: Why when Solid Energy has been paid $1.2 million of the insurance money when none was paid out to the families has the Prime Minister taken no action in respect of Solid Energy which the Crown owns?Hon BILL ENGLISH: I am not exactly sure what connection the member is trying to draw there. I think that we need to keep in mind here that in the case of Pike River we have seen a real tragedy that has created real suffering for those families. I think that every member of Parliament would find that week to week they are also dealing with families who have suffered real tragedy although not in such large numbers. The question the member is opening up is the obligation of the Crown to deal with all of those cases in the way he is suggesting we should deal with Pike River.Hon David Cunliffe: Given that in this particular case 29 miners are dead a royal commission has found that one of his ministries is partially culpable for failing to close the mine the Minister responsible has resigned a court has ordered compensation the parent of the company now in receivership has refused to pay that compensation two Crown entities that are ultimately answerable to him through their boards have voted against the parent company paying compensation and yet another Crown entity has received insurance payouts and refused to contribute a cent has the Government honoured all of its moral obligations to the Pike River families?Hon BILL ENGLISH: The answer to that question is yes in the same way—Hon David Cunliffe: Shame!Hon BILL ENGLISH: —listen—that the Government honours its obligations to every single family in New Zealand who suffers from a death in the workplace or from a death by accident or from lifelong disability. Any Government has to keep in mind the hidden as well as the high profile tragedies.Hon David Cunliffe: Why did the Prime Minister say last Thursday that no immediate sale of Air New Zealand shares was planned and that he had not received any advice on the sale when he must have known that the sale process was going to begin in less than 24 hours?Hon BILL ENGLISH: He said it because it was correct. The decision that Air New Zealand would be sold at some stage had actually been signalled 3 years ago—almost 3 years ago—and the final decision to proceed with the transaction was made on Friday last week.Hon David Cunliffe: Is the Prime Minister aware that a day before that statement theAustralian Financial Reviewand theNew Zealand Heraldwere carrying initial reports of the imminent sale of the airline and why does he think it is fair that the so-called Kiwi mum and dad investors were kept in the dark by their own Prime Minister until Sunday while at the same time insiders sharebrokers and institutions were being told the opposite as early as the Wednesday prior?Hon BILL ENGLISH: The member is simply wrong. [Interruption] Well he is. There is a complex set of rules passed by this Parliament just recently that govern the procedure around this sort of sale. The Government has stuck to it and the member’s allegations about the Prime Minister misleading people are simply wrong.