Peters Winston: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Peters Winston: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Sitting date: 26 February 2013. Volume:687;Page:8150. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
1. 
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS (Leader—NZ First) 
 to the  
Prime Minister 
: Why did he say last week in relation to SkyCity “Its architects designed such a thing realised they needed more land worked out who owned the land and approached Television New Zealand”? 
Rt Hon JOHN KEY (Prime Minister) 
: 
 Because I believed it to be true at the time. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: Well if the Prime Minister believed it to be true at the time—and this is his third apology that he has given to New Zealand First on matters in the House—who advised him that Television New Zealand (TVNZ) had been approached by Skycity? 
Rt Hon JOHN KEY 
: I was aware at a press conference I went to when we launched the successful conclusion of the expressions of interest process of the architect’s drawings which clearly showed the proposed convention centre be built on the land owned by Television New Zealand. I made a pretty fair assumption that that had been the case. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: Is it not correct that his staff had a meeting with Ministry of Economic Development officials on 9 November 2010 2 months after Skycity first signalled its interest in the TVNZ land; if so how can we be expected to believe that the subject of the TVNZ land was not raised? 
Rt Hon JOHN KEY 
: I have no record of what happened at that meeting—I would be prepared to go and look at it but I do not have it—but I will make the point that the member made some pretty strong assertions last week in the House which have actually been proven to be incorrect. He said that there was a secret side-deal. Well what we now know is that there was actually no deal; secondly there was no approach; and thirdly I was not involved in the process. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: Does the Prime Minister expect us to believe that he goes to meetings where the taxpayer is funding the meeting in the first place and his attendance and that of his staff and no one keeps a record during the meeting and no one records what happened after the meeting or for that matter no one prepared any notice about what the meeting was being held for in the first place? [ 
Interruption 
] Tell us about what? 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Order! 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: This is not about ACC—no. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Order! Could the—[ 
Interruption 
] Could the Rt Hon Winston Peters complete his supplementary question. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: Well I am trying to Mr Speaker but all I am asking—is the Prime Minister expecting New Zealanders to believe that he goes to a meeting and there is no preparatory notice as to why he is going that when the meeting occurs no one takes any notice at all not even the other side which he could consult with later on or that when the meeting is over no record is kept of what happened at the meeting in the first place when the taxpayer is funding that meeting? 
Rt Hon JOHN KEY 
: In certain instances yes. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: How can he expect the House to believe that he and his staff never discussed the TVNZ land with Skycity or Ministry of Economic Development officials when the Auditor-General says the Ministry of Economic Development began doing preparatory work for the sale as early as 2010 including Treaty of Waitangi clearance? 
Rt Hon JOHN KEY 
: Because it is correct. As Television New Zealand has pointed out it actually has not had an approach from Skycity. What I was aware of was what I said earlier: I went to a press conference on Sunday afternoon— 
Hon Annette King 
: Just made it up. 
Rt Hon JOHN KEY 
: Well I went to a press conference on Sunday afternoon with the Mayor of Auckland Len Brown. At that press conference were presented the drawings from the architect. What was presented was that they would require more land. The place where it was going to be built it was quite clear was Television New Zealand’s land. Yes I made an assumption but I would have thought probably a pretty sound one.