2. Question No. 2—Prime MinisterHon SIMON BRIDGES (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime MinisterQuestion No. 2—Prime Minister2. Hon SIMON BRIDGES (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by all his Government's statements policies and actions?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS (Acting Prime Minister): In their context yes.Hon Simon Bridges: Is Sir Michael Cullen's pay of $84000 by the Government for his work to 6 March on a capital gains tax good value for money?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: Well first of all Dr Cullen is being paid in the same way that the criteria was laid out by the National Party when they were in Government and in that context given the difficulty of the subject matter and also the composition of that committee of highly trained experts that's what we'd expect the cost to be.Hon Simon Bridges: Does he agree with the Hon Willie Jackson who said recently in this House that at $1000 a day Sir Michael is doing us a favour" because it's peanuts?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: Well compared to what some other people get yes it is. Anyone who was a serious lawyer would know what I'm talking about—but of course you'd have to be a serious lawyer with his own business.Hon Simon Bridges: Should Sir Michael in fact have been paid more as Willie Jackson has suggested: "He's undercharged himself. There's no doubt about that."?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: Could I just say that Dr Cullen has a serious record of being a fine public servant and that's why the National Party put him in so many jobs. Hon Simon Bridges: Does the Prime Minister agree he should be paid more than $84000 for four months' work?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: Well to be honest with that member the reality is that Cabinet left it to the appropriate Minister and he set the rate that the National Party had set in its criteria—no different to what they paid similar people in similar circumstances. So why all of a sudden Mr Cullen is being picked out despite his frequent appointments by the National Party is beyond me.Hon Simon Bridges: Was any of Sir Michael's pay for deep contemplation or is it only the current not the former Deputy Prime Minister—SPEAKER: Order! The member will resume his seat.Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: I can answer that one.SPEAKER: No you can't.Hon Simon Bridges: Does he agree with Willie Jackson that "We need a capital gains tax because we need a more fairer a more equitable society."?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: Can I say that the Government has received the Cullen report. We are in deep contemplation of that. We'll be soon announcing—[Interruption] We'll be shortly announcing our conclusion and can I say that in that state of deep contemplation we can still beat them any day of the week.Hon Simon Bridges: Can the Prime Minister elaborate for me what his deep contemplation looks like?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: It looks like us over here and him over there.Hon Simon Bridges: By that does he mean asleep on the job?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: Can I just say that we decided that the endangerment of New Zealand's embassies—Hon Simon Bridges: Wake up and smell the coffee Winston.Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: —and high commissions offshore and our people in their thousands around the world—SPEAKER: Order! The member will resume his seat. Sorry. I think the member knows that's an inappropriate interjection. He's had his warning for the day.Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: The reality is we went to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to ensure that they understood the true facts about the circumstances at Christchurch. Can I say that unless you were there and saw the reaction—and I have a colleague who was there—they will never know how successful that trip was.Hon Simon Bridges: How did he set the record straight when yet an hour afterwards the video of the massacre was being played?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: Can I just say that if it's an hour afterwards then the President of Turkey was still at the conference. More importantly before we even left we had the ambassador for Turkey in to make it very clear how we viewed the repetition of that tape. Now those are the facts and you can have all the fake news imitation you like but that's what we did—SPEAKER: Order! Order!Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: —and I feel—and my country hopefully feels—better for it.Hon Simon Bridges: Will Māori land recovered under the Treaty of Waitangi settlements be exempted under the Government's proposed capital gains tax as Meka Whaitiri has suggested recently to the Gisborne Herald?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: Can I just say that this attempt to provide an ethnic and racist view on a very serious study is bound to fail.SPEAKER: Order! The member will withdraw and apologise. He cannot suggest that that member is racist. Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: I withdraw and apologise. Could I just say that any suggestion of the nature that he is putting out there to try and put a wedge between the people of this country based on race is bound to fail. We will ensure that this is a comprehensive law—[Interruption] I beg your pardon? Hon Member: It's a legitimate question.Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: How would you know it's legitimate given your background? With the greatest respect—SPEAKER: Order! And the member has a name and it's not "you" because "you" is me all right? No; further supplementary. We've had enough. Hon Simon Bridges: Is the Government considering introducing a capital gains tax that exempts Māori from the capital gains tax?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: Can I say that the report will be decided upon shortly and an announcement will be made no doubt by the Minister of Finance. I can say that it was the National Party who dropped the Māori corporate entity tax rate down to 17 percent—National did that.Hon Simon Bridges: Can I take from that he disagrees with what Meka Whaitiri told the Gisborne Herald?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: Can I just say that in a coalition where the bountiful nature of our ideas requires serious discussion a lot of members will say a lot of things but in the end what we announce officially will be the Government's policy and it'll be sooner rather than later before that member.Hon Simon Bridges: On that is it Cabinet's position—or is it his position—that the response by the Government to the Tax Working Group report will still be delivered "in early April"?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: As I recall the Minister of Finance made it very clear it would be in April of 2019 and we're in the second day of that month. So there was no time line set on the first week second week or third or fourth week for that matter but April was the time given and if he's patient as we have been whilst we go around the country and talk to businesses and farmers and workers around New Zealand then he will have his answer very shortly. Hon Simon Bridges: Stuart Nash the Minister of Revenue said at a conference in Queenstown recently that it would be in early April. Will the Prime Minister confirm that or is there a slightly different time line?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: The reality is that certain things have happened in this country in the last 2½ weeks—Hon Paula Bennett: Just answer the question.Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: —I am answering the question—which have required serious attention not only in our forward planning with respect of our diary. That being the case there'll be an answer from this Government on the Tax Working Group's report in April this year."