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: 29 May 2012. Volume:680;Page:2573. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
6. 
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS (Leader—NZ First) 
 to the  
Prime Minister 
: Does he retain confidence in the Minister responsible for Whanau Ora; if so why? 
Rt Hon JOHN KEY (Prime Minister) 
: 
 Yes; she is a hard-working competent Minister who is working for a brighter future for all New Zealanders. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: How can he possibly retain confidence in the Minister for Whanau Ora when during these economic times she gave $60000 to a rugby and sports club to “undertake whanau development research to develop a range of outcomes which include resilience whanau connectedness and community role models and leadership”? 
Rt Hon JOHN KEY 
: I cannot comment on an individual case but what I can say is the last time the member made accusations about Whanau Ora he was wrong. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: Well that is a lie for a start. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Order! No— 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: I tabled the evidence— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Order! Now if I heard the member correctly he will get to his feet withdraw and apologise for that statement. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: I withdraw and apologise. I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. The Prime Minister made a statement that was not part of his answer surely— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Order! The member cannot refute an answer by way of point of order. The member has further supplementary questions and he can pursue the matter through further supplementary questions but not by way of point of order. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I think you might want to add on to your ruling that there has been a change in the Standing Orders for this Parliament which means that there is a route that the member can take to have that matter referred. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The member is quite correct. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: How can he possibly as Prime Minister retain confidence in the Minister for Whanau Ora when she is granting sums like $60000 to an established sports club when there are poor Maori children in the far north scrounging for food in pig scrap heaps and buckets as reported in the  
New Zealand Herald  
on 12 May this year? 
Rt Hon JOHN KEY 
: I do not have individual information on the particular programme the member is talking about. He will have to take that up with the Minister directly. In terms of the claims in the  
New Zealand Herald  
I have no reasonable way of ensuring that that is accurate or not. In terms of the wider overall issues about Whanau Ora that is aimed very much at families who need significant support and who are using a multitude of different agencies and the Government is looking at ways to improve the outcomes. Given the successful track record we have had in the past of being totally unsuccessful with those families I would have thought that trying new ways was not a bad idea. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: Does he think it fair that his Government is taxing paper boys and leaving rest home workers to battle and scrimp on the minimum wage while he and she dish out $60000 in sums like that and millions of dollars at that for a rugby club to research “whanau connectedness” whatever that is? 
Rt Hon JOHN KEY 
: I think the Budget is fair if that is the question that the member is asking. At the end of the day yes there have been some minor changes to the tax code. There have also been provisions for people who earn income at a younger age not to pay tax up to $2340 for what would otherwise be technically a taxable event. Overall the Government in difficult times is trying to make sure it is fair to all taxpayers. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: Given that the Prime Minister and Minister concerned are giving out $60000 for example to a sports club a rugby club can he explain to Parliament and the country as to what he thinks “whanau” is or are? 
Rt Hon JOHN KEY 
: I think it is te reo word for “family”.