Rich Katherine: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Rich Katherine: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:609;Page:6251] 
4.  
KATHERINE RICH (NZ National) 
 to the  
Minister of Maori Affairs 
: Does he stand by his answer to question for written answer No. 5043 where he stated that “I am advised that the Carbine Group have not been selected and no contract has been entered into.”; if not why not? 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA (Minister of Maori Affairs) 
: 
 Yes. 
Katherine Rich 
: In the light of a letter dated 2 April 2002 from the Maori Television Service to the Carbine Group which states: “I am pleased to advise that the board of directors of Maori Television Service have accepted Carbine’s broadcast solution” which makes it clear that the Minister’s response just 1 month later was incorrect will he now correct that response? 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: No. [ 
Interruption 
] 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I warn members that I am not going to tolerate interjections from anyone while questions are being asked. 
Mahara Okeroa 
: Was any independent advice given to the Maori Television Service about whether there was a contract with the Carbine Group? 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: Yes. Independent advice was provided by Ernst and Young in May 2002. That company concluded that no binding commitments had been entered into by the Maori Television Service with the Carbine Group. 
Rodney Hide 
: Can the Minister confirm that the Maori Television Service board had signed off the Carbine Group’s “broadcast solution” before Mr John Davy confirmed the deal in writing on 2 April 2002 and how come he as Minister and his officials in their oversight role did not know about that when signing off parliamentary questions to this House? 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: No contract was entered into with the Carbine Group. 
Katherine Rich 
: Which part of the following quote does the Minister not understand and I read from the letter from the Maori Television Service to the Carbine—[ 
Interruption 
] 
Mr SPEAKER 
: There might be an implied ironic comment there but I would like the member to ask a question. I invite her to do so. 
Rodney Hide 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. You have warned this side of the House not to interject. Sitting on your right is the Hon Trevor Mallard who interjected sharply—not through a point of order but by way of interjection—and you did nothing. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I have not finished what I was doing. The Minister of Education will now leave the Chamber. 
Hon Trevor Mallard withdrew from the Chamber. 
Katherine Rich 
: Can the Minister explain his earlier answers in the light of the fact that there is a letter from the Maori Television Service to the Carbine Group reading as follows: “I am pleased to advise that the board of directors of Maori Television Service have accepted Carbine’s broadcast solution.”; and what does the Minister not understand about that? 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: I understand it quite clearly. There was no contract entered into by the Maori Television Service with the Carbine Group. 
Mahara Okeroa 
: Given that Te Puni Kokiri was acting for the Maori Television Service during its establishment period did Te Puni Kokiri ever draft a contract between the Maori Television Service and the Carbine Group? 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: No. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: If that is the case why did his letter not say such a thing rather than make it clear to all and sundry that on the face of that letter a party had been chosen and that in all respects a contract would have been decided upon; why did he not say “subject to a satisfactory contract” when he advised this House? 
Hon Dr Michael Cullen 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. The Minister cannot be expected to explain why Mr Davy did not do certain things. Mr Davy is a convicted fraudster and I understand he has since left the country. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: He is the Minister of Maori Affairs. His job is to explain how it was that correspondence got into the public domain that clearly indicated that a selection had been made. The days of passing the buck to every civil servant rather than the Minister are over. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: No I will ask the Minister to comment. 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: I have consulted the minutes of the board meetings of the Maori Television Service. The board clearly favoured the Carbine proposal at an early stage but in the end no contract was entered into nor was any decision taken without the approval at that time of the chief executive officer of Te Puni Kokiri. 
Katherine Rich 
: I seek leave to table the document from the Maori Television Service to the Carbine group. 
Document not tabled.