Hodgson Pete: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Hodgson Pete: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:655;Page:4285] 
12.  
Hon PETE HODGSON (Labour—Dunedin North) 
 to the  
Prime Minister 
: Why did he lose confidence in Dr Richard Worth as a Minister? 
Hon JOHN KEY (Prime Minister) 
 As I said on 3 June Dr Worth’s conduct did not befit a Minister and I would not have him in my executive. 
Hon Pete Hodgson 
: Was his loss of confidence linked to his coming to a view that Dr Richard Worth may have offered ministerial appointments inappropriately? 
Hon JOHN KEY 
: I have no intention of going into the specifics but I can say that I am satisfied that Dr Worth did not meet the standards that I set for my Ministers and therefore when I lost confidence in him I sought his resignation. 
Hon Pete Hodgson 
: If his loss of confidence was “nothing of a legal nature” as he said yesterday nothing to do with Dr Worth’s trip to India because that was all aired some months ago and nothing to do with Mr Goff’s phone call to the Prime Minister about 6 weeks ago because he has discounted that then what was it about? 
Hon JOHN KEY 
: As I said I will not go into specifics but it is fair to say that I lost confidence in Dr Worth and on that basis he could not remain a Minister. 
Hon Pete Hodgson 
: When he said yesterday that “I saw information I felt I needed to act on. I acted.” what was that information? 
Hon JOHN KEY 
: I will not go into specifics. For a start Dr Worth is now a member of the public; he is not a member of the executive he is not a member of Parliament and he is not a member of the National caucus. All I can say is that if I see information of that nature then I will act and I would act again if I saw that kind of information again. 
Hon Pete Hodgson 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. It was inevitable that at some point I would need to raise a point of order under Standing Order 377(1) which states: “An answer that seeks to address the question asked must be given if it can be given consistently with the public interest.” My submission to you Mr Speaker is that the last answer—we will stick with just the last answer—did not seek to address the question asked. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: It is an interesting point that the member has raised. However as Speaker I cannot be the judge of the public interest in a matter like this. I have to rely on a Minister’s view of whether providing more information is in the public interest. I cannot be the judge of that. From what I heard the Prime Minister give in his answer his assessment of the public interest is that it is not his intention to say any more about the matter and he gave the reasons why. I will hear the member further though. 
Hon Pete Hodgson 
: I am happy to accept that ruling. 
I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. It is a new point of order. Given that this is a matter that certainly took the attention of the media yesterday that has certainly taken the attention of the media over recent days and that certainly is in the interest of members of the House I wonder whether the Prime Minister is entitled to come to a view as to what is in the public interest and what is not when it is blatantly obvious to many people that this matter is in the public interest. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I accept the genuineness of the member’s point of order. These are obviously difficult issues. I have to repeat that as Speaker I cannot make that judgment; only a Minister can make the judgment as to whether providing certain information is or is not in the public interest. I therefore have to accept the Prime Minister’s assessment that now that Dr Worth has retired as a Minister which is the principal issue—and he has retired as a member of Parliament too—there are matters of privacy at stake. I cannot second-guess the Prime Minister’s judgment on this matter and I therefore have to let the Prime Minister’s answer stand. 
Hon Pete Hodgson 
: Has the Prime Minister told his Cabinet colleagues why he lost confidence in Dr Richard Worth as a Minister? 
Hon JOHN KEY 
: I have given them a broad outline but I have not gone into specific details either. 
Hon Pete Hodgson 
: Has he told his caucus colleagues why he lost confidence in Dr Richard Worth as a Minister? 
Hon JOHN KEY 
: I have gone into broad details but I have not given them specific details either. 
Hon Pete Hodgson 
: Did he lose confidence in Dr Worth for a single reason or for multiple reasons? 
Hon JOHN KEY 
: I am not going to go into the specifics of the matter but it is fair to say that if somebody does not enjoy my confidence then he or she will not remain as a Minister. 
Hon Pete Hodgson 
: Mr Speaker supplementary— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I am advised that the Labour Party has used its full allocation of supplementary questions.