King Annette: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members 
King Annette: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members 
[Volume:653;Page:2135] 
2.  
Hon ANNETTE KING (Deputy Leader—Labour) 
 to the  
Prime Minister 
: Does he have confidence in all his Ministers; if so why? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH (Deputy Prime Minister) 
 on behalf of the  
Prime Minister 
: Yes; because they are all talented and are working hard for New Zealand. 
Hon Annette King 
: How can he have confidence in the Minister for ACC when over 400 briefing papers are currently stacked up in his office requiring attention and is this not a sign of a Minister out of his depth? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: Yes the Prime Minister does have confidence in the Minister for ACC. He is dealing with the legacy of Labour overseeing the accident compensation scheme with much more focus on politics than on the effectiveness of the scheme. The Minister for ACC now has to set about the difficult job of saving the scheme’s entitlements from that party’s mismanagement of the scheme. 
Hon Annette King 
: How can he have confidence in the Minister for the Environment when senior executives from the Ministry for the Environment have gone to the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and to his office to say that they cannot work with Dr Smith because he has not read any advice provided to him and is this not an indication of a Minister out of control? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: If there was any Minister who could be guaranteed to read every word of all advice then it would be the Minister for the Environment. The Labour Party of course has nothing to do except pay attention to rumour and gossip. 
Hon Annette King 
: Why if the Prime Minister has confidence in the Minister for ACC has he taken to writing answers to parliamentary question for the Minister as was demonstrated in the answer provided to the Opposition on 19 March which stated: “PM’s advocated answer”? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: Mr Speaker— 
Hon Gerry Brownlee 
: It was left over from Labour. 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: Well that was my point actually. Following the practice of the previous Labour Government we take a whole-of-Government approach although I would have to say that we have yet to develop the stern disciplinary methods used by the ninth floor previously. 
Hon Annette King 
: Did the Prime Minister instruct the Hon Steven Joyce to give the Minister for ACC a bollocking in the parliamentary lobby recently for his poor performance in the House or does the Minister for Communications and Information Technology see that as being part of his daily duties? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: Those who are familiar with working with the Prime Minister know that he is quite capable of doing his own bollocking in his own charming way. 
Hon Annette King 
: Who was the Prime Minister referring to when he said there was no room for phone-throwers or temper tantrums at the top; and can he confirm his colleagues’ belief that in fact he was talking about Nick Smith? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: No he was talking about the previous occupants of the ninth floor of the Beehive and not only has he decided there is no room for them but the New Zealand public has decided there is no room for them.