Jones Dail: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Jones Dail: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:626;Page:21249] 
5.  
DAIL JONES (NZ First) 
 to the  
Coordinating Minister Race Relations 
: What has been the total cost for each year since 1999 to all Government departments for providing both internal and external treaty-related courses and associated educational material? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD (Coordinating Minister Race Relations) 
: 
 I do not hold information on how much each individual department has spent on treaty-related courses and educational material. If the member really wishes to obtain this information I suggest he put down written questions to responsible Ministers. 
Dail Jones 
: Does the Minister believe that the money spent on educational programmes for State servants regarding the Treaty of Waitangi is simply feeding the—and I quote the Minister who said this last week—“treaty industry”; if not can he identify any positive quantifiable outcomes that have been made in the public service as a result of this spending and would he take as an outcome the views of Mr Graham Kelly who said on the Maori population: “There were seven canoes that came in 740 from Hawaiki so there are seven tribes. They all held each others’ hands to stop them from sinking on the voyage. Once they got to New Zealand they started fighting and eating each other so there have been Maori wars ever since then.”; and are the views expressed in Ottawa by Mr Graham Kelly our high commissioner in Ottawa an example of the positive quantifiable outcome of the Minister’s programmes? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: I think it would be fair to say that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade has some work to do as far as Mr Kelly is concerned. 
Dail Jones 
: Why does the Minister keep on standing up in front of the House even after a week or more declaring that he still cannot supply us with full details of the amount of taxpayers’ money that has been spent on worthless educational courses for bureaucrats and one foreign affairs official at least when the public deserves to know the extent of the Government’s wastefulness in this area and is it simply because if the true amount were known no amount of Government spin would be able to justify such a flagrant waste of taxpayers’ money? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: I do accept that it would be a challenge as far as one current Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade employee is concerned having known the individual for some time but I am willing to encourage my colleagues to get the information together—not that there has been any policy change since Nick Smith was in charge of the area as far as education is concerned. We could collect the information up if the member puts down proper questions. If he really wants advice on how to draft an appropriate question—I think he was first in Parliament in 1975 but he does not know how to draft questions yet—I am willing to give him a guide. 
Dail Jones 
: Despite the Minister’s failure to answer any of these questions properly until now can he still try to tell us in what way the $6 million set aside for this Government’s Treaty of Waitangi education programme and any additional amounts will benefit New Zealanders: for example will it reduce elective surgery waiting times will it reduce the exorbitant school fees imposed on parents by this Government or has it merely created more jobs and higher pay for the Labour Party’s girls and boys? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: I think it is fair to say that there would be a debate about whether the majority of the people involved in what the member refers to as the “treaty industry” are Labour Party supporters. 
Rodney Hide 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. I wonder whether through you we may ask Mr Dail Jones to table or explain where our High Commissioner in Canada made those comments so that we can see that this is what the Labour Party MPs really think and what their appointments actually say? 
Madam SPEAKER 
: That is not a point of order.