Peters Winston: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Peters Winston: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Sitting date: 20 March 2013. Volume:688;Page:8706. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
12. 
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS (Leader—NZ First) 
 to the  
Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery 
: Have allegations of fraud and corruption involving Canterbury earthquake recovery and rebuild contracts been raised with him as Minister; if so what specific steps has he taken to address them? 
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE (Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery) 
: 
 Yes there have been allegations sent to my office and these have been directed to relevant agencies for investigation. Research shows that there are considerable risks of fraud and corruption in post-disaster recovery and this is why the interagency fraud group which includes the police and the Serious Fraud Office has been proactively monitoring the rebuild. This is in addition to processes put in place by the Earthquake Commission and the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority to investigate allegations. The Office of the Auditor-General is also closely monitoring the major expenditure in Canterbury. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: How long did it take the Minister to find out that work had been scoped and invoiced for but not done? I will give you four examples. Ten piles were to be done. One pile was done and the others were not—nine were not—but they were all invoiced for. A removed disposed re-gibbed ceiling was not done but was invoiced for which is common at the moment. Work to remove dispose of and replace lining paper and paint was not done but was invoiced for. Scaffolding was claimed to be used but was never ever on the property when the repair was done. How long did it take him to find out that this was going on and what is the level of the fraud? 
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE 
: The project management office which I assume was involved with the jobs that the Minister has spoken of— 
Hon Judith Collins 
: The member. 
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE 
: —the member has spoken of sorry—has been aware right from the outset that there was potential for bad behaviour and has therefore investigated these sorts of allegations. If the member wants to give me the details of those allegations I am very happy to see them prosecuted further. Although the member can sit there and say that I am the Minister there have actually been nearly 35000 of these jobs completed. I am sorry but I do not have the details of every one of them. If he has got information that someone is ripping off the taxpayer put it on the table so we can sort it. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: Is the total cost of fraud and corruption detected in the Canterbury earthquake recovery and rebuild estimated to be between $130 million and $240 million and given countless warnings that this would happen why did he allow it to happen? 
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE 
: I do not know where that figure came from. We do not want any fraud. That is why we have a proactive group of interagency authorities making sure that we do not get this sort of thing happening and why if anybody is caught fraudulently invoicing the Earthquake Commission or the Fletcher EQR office they will get dealt to. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: If Fletcher Construction was overall project manager for most of the 33398 houses that have been completed to date and if it has charged for the scope of works for each house and invoiced that work then what is the level of Fletcher’s involvement in this corruption and fraud? 
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE 
: This has got all the hallmarks of— 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. When the majority of contracts are scoped and an invoice is signed off by Fletcher’s I am asking him what its level of involvement is. He started to say that it had got all the hallmarks of something. I want to know what the answer is. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I think the important point is that he had just started. If the member would allow the Minister to answer the question please. 
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE 
: The member is putting his question on the basis that he has information that frankly I do not have. So if he would like to give it to me we will take it apart. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. This Minister has had over 3 hours to get the answer ready. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Order! Would the member raise his point of order. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: I am getting to the point of order but I am trying to justify why the point of order is a reasonable one— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Just get to the point of order. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: —that you should seriously consider. He is the Minister. He has had 3 hours to get this ready. He has got a whole lot of staff— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: What is the point of order? 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: My point of order is that it ill behoves you to allow him to ask me for the evidence when he is paid to do that and he has got hundreds of public servants to do that as well. 
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE 
: The question says: “Have allegations of fraud and corruption involving Canterbury earthquake recovery and rebuild contracts been raised with him as Minister; if so what specific steps has he taken to address them?”. I am happy to table the answer—if he would not understand it if I read it—but I said yes. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. The Minister gets up reads out the primary question which was not the question he was asked to address and which I have raised my point of order on and you find that acceptable. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Order! This is enough time wasted on this. The member asked the question. The Minister addressed the supplementary question satisfactorily. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Is it a fresh point of order? 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: It is a fresh point of order. Are you saying that the Minister’s answer to my question was the same question I put in the primary question? 
Mr SPEAKER 
: No I am not. I am saying that the Minister adequately addressed the supplementary question.