Collins Judith: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Collins Judith: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:615;Page:11167] 
6.  
JUDITH COLLINS (National—Clevedon) 
 to the  
Minister of Immigration 
: Is it acceptable behaviour for her or her staff to distribute personal information or notes relating to individual cases to the media and what confidence can the public have that their personal immigration information would not be made public without their express permission and knowledge? 
Hon LIANNE DALZIEL (Minister of Immigration) 
: 
 I accept that in this case I made a mistake. The public can be confident that I have learned from the experience. 
Judith Collins 
: How can anyone have confidence that the Minister will not leak personal immigration information given her denial yesterday of any knowledge of the leaking of the document and her new admission today that she personally delivered it to the  
Dominion Post 
? 
Hon LIANNE DALZIEL 
: I have already explained in answer to a previous question that I gave the information to the  
Dominion Post  
after the TV3 item had screened. The question related to the information being in the hands of TV3. 
Judith Collins 
: Can the Minister prove that the documents she leaked to the media this week were provided to the Prime Minister’s electorate office by the girl’s lawyer; if not why not? 
Hon LIANNE DALZIEL 
: That is the advice I have received from the electorate office. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: If the document tabled by Dr Cullen is verified as coming from the source he has named—and therefore permission was presumably given for its release—why did the Minister after meeting with the Prime Minister yesterday continue to deny all knowledge of the document’s source or was she led to believe that it simply came via the tooth fairy? 
Hon Dr Michael Cullen 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I invite you to inquire of the member what the authentication is for the supposed denial. If it is the television clip that was pre-recorded some days ago. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I will allow the question. 
Hon LIANNE DALZIEL 
: The television clip which will be screened this Sunday was recorded at around 11.15 a.m. yesterday. It was not until 1 o’clock yesterday that I established how the electorate office had obtained the material. It is true that I wanted to protect the source—not the electorate office but whoever had given it to the electorate office. When I discovered that the document came from the lawyers’ office itself I felt that I did not need to offer that protection. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I do not think that the point of order from Dr Cullen was particularly helpful and I do not think it has helped the Minister. We expect to be given honest answers in this House. We do not expect a Minister to give us the sort of talk that we have just heard. We know that the Minister met with the Prime Minister after  
Morning Report 
 yesterday. The document was leaked the night before. Is the Minister trying to tell us that she leaked this document having no idea where it came from? 
Mr SPEAKER 
: No I have ruled on that matter. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: I ask the Minister whether it is her view that the issue of the privacy or confidentiality of client-solicitor relationships was waived by the lawyers in question; in that event why on earth did she say something that was not true and how many times in the past in this House has she done that? 
Hon LIANNE DALZIEL 
: I am aware that individuals or their authorised representatives can impliedly waive the right to privacy by making their case public. I am aware that Judith Collins’ signed authority from the Sri Lankan teenager and her grandmother authorises her to release sensitive and privileged documents to the media only if it is her belief that the release of confidential documents would assist them both. 
Simon Power 
: Why would anyone ever believe the Minister again when she is asked to comment on immigration cases—she says that she cannot comment on individual detail but has demonstrated that she is quite prepared to leak that type of detail to the media? 
Hon LIANNE DALZIEL 
: In the covering letter from the Refugee Status Appeals Authority—which was annotated with notes from the lawyer—I took out the names of the individuals. I did not breach their privacy. 
Hon Richard Prebble 
: Given the seriousness of the allegations and the credibility issues that they raise is the Government prepared to see that an independent inquiry is set up to look into this matter and is the Minister prepared to repeat to this House the statements that have been reported in the media in her name: that if it turns out that any of her officials in the department have behaved improperly she will resign? What is the answer to those two questions? 
Hon LIANNE DALZIEL 
: In respect of the first matter that is something that I believe the Prime Minister will look at. In respect of the second question yes.