Brown Peter: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Brown Peter: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:616;Page:12529] 
10.  
PETER BROWN (Deputy Leader—NZ First) 
 to the  
Prime Minister 
: Does she still stand by her statement made in 1999 that “We will continue to fund those border control activities which the State presently funds. Funding such core responsibilities has a far higher priority for us.”; if not why not? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK (Prime Minister) 
: 
 The member’s quote is incomplete. The full statement was: “Funding such core responsibilities has a far higher priority for us than the meaningless dribs and drabs of tax cuts announced by our opponents.” Labour’s 1999 election policy referred to abandoning the then National Government’s plans to introduce a new user-pays regime for border control services and continuing to fund those border control activities that the State was funding at that time. That policy was honoured in full in the Government’s first term of office. It was not repeated in the 2002 manifesto. 
Peter Brown 
: Does the Prime Minister recall after becoming Prime Minister in 1999 adding a handwritten comment to a typed letter to an aviation executive that stated: “We will be honouring the commitment we gave to you re border control” and was initialled “HC”; and will she tell the House whether that executive had any right to believe that border control fees would be absorbed by the taxpayer and by the Crown? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: As I said the policy was honoured in full in the 1999-2002 period. The policy was of course specific to continuing to fund those border control activities that the State was funding at that time. That did not include by the way picking up costs for the regional airports which the previous Government I understand had also refused to pick up. Since September 11 a great many more costs are being imposed on New Zealand in order to trade and in order to have passengers go from our airports to airports in particularly the United State of America. I can advise the member that in the next few weeks the Deputy Prime Minister will issue a consultation paper for discussion with industry to see whether the appropriate funding split is what we have at present which is about one-third of the costs of passenger clearance services being picked up by industry and the other two-thirds by the Government. 
Gordon Copeland 
: Does the Prime Minister acknowledge that an intrinsic and a core aspect of securing New Zealand’s borders is the safeguarding of New Zealanders against imported threats of terror and will the Government therefore reconsider its proposal to impose a new $4 million charge on importers for work done by the Customs Service to ensure the safety and security of all New Zealanders? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: As the member knows legislation on those matters has been before a select committee and I think it is now back before the House. Meanwhile discussion is continuing with industry. It is a question about where the costs of new requirements should fall and as I understand the Minister of Customs has made plain it was not necessary for the Government to act at all but it decided to act because it thought that would make it easier than leaving it to every individual business to try to make arrangements. 
Peter Brown 
: Is the Prime Minister telling the House that the $19 million-plus additional fees that are being imposed on industry—transport operators in particular which flow through to exporters and importers—are under consideration and that there is a possibility that they will be absorbed by the Crown out of taxpayer funding? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: I can advise the member that discussion around these issues is continuing.