Bishop ChrisCHRIS BISHOP (National—Hutt South): Thank you very much Mr Speaker. What is going on in the New Zealand First Party? What is going on? What is going on? Earlier today we had the extraordinary spectacle of the New Zealand First Party MPs taking I think eight different positions on whether or not there'll be a referendum on abortion. Tracey Martin went on Morning Report and said I don't believe we talked about that. It's nothing to do with me. I don't know what you're talking about." Clayton Mitchell you know was happy to provide comment down on the tiles on a Tuesday but on a Wednesday he was straight through with "Nothing to see here. Move along." and I think he went out the back way. Mr Peters the Deputy Prime Minister suddenly does what I think we'd call a "doing an Andrew Little"—dropping a bombshell on the Minister of Justice. What I want to know is what did Andrew Little do to the Deputy Prime Minister in a past life? It seems like every year the Minister of Justice proposes an idea—last year it was three strikes; this year it's having abortion law reform—and then the Deputy Prime Minister comes along and says "Oh I don't think so actually." "Oh I've got a new idea." Last year it was—no that never went to Cabinet: "We're not in support of that." This year it's "Oh I've suddenly got this grand idea. We'll have a referendum." He forgot to tell his caucus. He forgot to tell his colleagues and poor old Tracey Martin the former deputy leader of New Zealand First was hung out to dry on Morning Report and now Clayton Mitchell I understand is making a run for the deputy leadership. He's getting rid of his good mate Fletcher—he's getting rid of Fletcher—and matua Shane the caretaker the chiropractor of the provinces is sitting there. He's just biding his time. He knows good things come to those who wait—good things come to those who have loud voices and can go around and sprinkle the pixie dust around the provinces. So what's going on in New Zealand First? Well no one knows. But let's talk about the Green Party. What's going on in the Green Party? All I have to say there is how the mighty have fallen. How the mighty have fallen. They signed up to this coalition agreement—or sorry I shouldn't say "coalition" because that only refers to New Zealand First and the Labour Party. They signed up to a confidence and supply agreement with the Labour Party and what does it say? It says that the Greens and the Labour Party will strengthen democracy by increasing transparency around official information. They will "Strengthen … transparency around official information." Once upon a time the Green Party used to stand up here all the time and hector us actually about the Official Information Act and colleagues and Ministers in the last Government will remember the sanctimony from the Green Party. "You need to release this. You can't wear different hats." and you know "Oh John Key shouldn't be the National Party leader and also the Prime Minister. You can't do all that you secretive corrupt Government."—all those sorts of allegations and all those claims. Well what do we find now? Well now we find Julie Anne Genter the Associate Minister of Transport dancing on the head of a pin so tiny in question time in order to not release the secret letter that she sent to Minister Phil Twyford. Now people out there listening might say "Well why does this matter? It's just a letter." Well actually it does matter because the second Mount Victoria tunnel is critical for Wellington and critical for the Hutt Valley and we need to know—the Parliament deserves to know and Wellingtonians deserve to know and the people of New Zealand deserve to know—what was in that letter. We believe that that letter had a substantive impact on the Let's Get Wellington Moving final package. In fact the Minister has even accepted that it had some influence. We know that the second Mount Victoria tunnel was all lined up for 2024 for 2029. Now it's on the never-never and we believe it's because of that secret letter. It should be released right? It absolutely should be released. What are Minister Julie Anne Genter's excuses? "Well the Ombudsman says I don't have to." except if you go and read the Ombudsman's opinion as I have done it relates to an email or emails—plural—from the Green Party to the Government OK? There is a case to be made that emails between political parties around consultation should not be released. That is not what we are talking about here. This is not an email from the Green Party to the Government; this is a letter written on ministerial letterhead as we found out yesterday; signed by the Minister as "Julie Anne Genter Associate Minister of Transport" as we found out today; and sent to her senior colleague the Minister of Transport. So the Ombudsman's opinion provides no factual foundation for the defence. What else have we heard? The second defence is that it wasn't sent in her capacity as a Minister except the problem for her there is that Minister Phil Twyford says—as we found out today—that he received a letter from the Associate Minister of Transport Julie Anne Genter. It was signed as Associate Minister it was sent on letterhead and she's answered oral and written questions about it for the last two weeks as the Associate Minister. The truth will out in the end and Wellingtonians will find out just what influence the Green Party's had on Labour Party transport policy."