Brash Don: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Brash Don: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:625;Page:20365] 
8.  
Dr DON BRASH (Leader of the Opposition) 
 to the  
Prime Minister 
: Did she receive a phone call from the editor of the  
Sunday Star-Times 
 subsequent to the publication of its 16 January 2000 story regarding Mr Doone and following a statement from Mr Doone describing the article as defamatory seeking an assurance as to the accuracy of information contained in the story; if so what assurance did she give the editor? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK (Prime Minister) 
: 
 I have some recollection of a call at some point but after 5 years and 4 months I cannot be certain of the content. One assumes it would have been similar to my conversation with Mr Alley in which I drew his attention to the fact that what had been said was contested. 
Dr Don Brash 
: Is she aware of the report in the Christchurch  
Press 
 today that tapes of this conversation report the editor as saying: “This is going to cost us a lot of money if we’re wrong.” to which the Prime Minister replied that the story was correct and said: “I’d hang tough on this one if I were you.”; and will she confirm that statement to the House today? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: To the best of my knowledge that statement is a cut and paste and the first statement that Dr Brash quoted was not from the editor. 
Dr Don Brash 
: Was the editor lying in her brief of evidence when she said: “Ms Clark was very clear during this conversation that the newspaper had not reported any incorrect information. Indeed she encouraged the newspaper to continue its investigation as the matter was reaching its critical stages.”; or does she now accept that that was an accurate account of events? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: I do not believe I encouraged the paper. It needed no encouragement. It had been running the story for 6 weeks by the time these first conversations took place. 
Dr Don Brash 
: Was the editor lying when she said: “The Prime Minister’s statements were central to our reporting of the Peter Doone story. In particular without her corroboration the  
Sunday Star-Times  
would not have stated that … Peter Doone had said ‘that won’t be necessary’.” or does the Prime Minister now accept that this was an accurate account of events? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: As the lawyer for Fairfax has made clear the  
Sunday Star-Times  
had a number of sources and the Prime Minister was by no means an original source. I have consistently drawn attention to the fact that I drew the newspaper’s attention to the fact that what was said was disputed. 
Rodney Hide 
: Why does the Prime Minister think it is acceptable for her to leak secret Cabinet documents and the contents of a Police Complaints Authority report that was still privileged when she states in her brief of evidence: “I recall that I went through some aspects of the information contained in the Police Complaints Authority report again.”; and is it acceptable for Ministers in Cabinet to leak the contents of documents before they have been considered by Cabinet? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: It is a matter of judgment for the Prime Minister how I use information from official reports. By definition I cannot leak. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: If members wish to hear the question and the answer I ask them to be quiet. 
Dr Don Brash 
: Was the editor lying when she said in her signed statement: “In the circumstances it is difficult to imagine a better-placed source. The Prime Minister was dealing daily with the issue and we assumed that at the time she had access to more information and was better informed regarding the incident than almost anyone else.”; if not why not? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: That is why more weight should have been given to what the newspaper was told which was that what was said was contested. 
Dr Don Brash 
: Will the Prime Minister give her consent to the release of the tapes and transcripts of her conversations with the  
Sunday Star-Times  
or at least the release of the journalist’s notes which she has just admitted exist so that New Zealanders can judge for themselves whether it is the story that she told Parliament last week or the story she told the court last month that is correct? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: As I have said before there is no evidence that there are tapes. There are journalist’s notes provided under privilege. I invite Dr Brash to tell us whether Mr Doone’s lawyers are drafting his questions.