Roche Denise: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeRoche Denise: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 10 April 2014. Volume:697;Page:17169. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]11.DENISE ROCHE (Green)to the Associate Minister of Health: Does he stand by his statement that “he has absolutely nothing to hide” in regard to any potential conflicts of interest in regard to his duties as the Associate Minister of Health?Hon PETER DUNNE (Associate Minister of Health):Yes I do.Denise Roche: Does he consider that there is the potential for a conflict of interest when the Minister who oversees funding for gambling harm minimisation is also chair of an organisation that seeks pokie funding; if not why not?Hon PETER DUNNE: No I do not; the reason is simple. The organisation that I chair I established in 1993. One of its local activities is to organise an annual Christmas parade which 25000 people enjoy. It seeks funding from local trusts to organise the floats for that parade. I have never taken any part in those funding decisions.Denise Roche: Does he consider that he has met the requirements of the parliamentary pecuniary interests register for the last—Mr SPEAKER: Order! The Minister has no responsibility as a Minister for the register of pecuniary interests; it is a responsibility that all members of Parliament have because they are members of Parliament. There is certainly no ministerial responsibility. I invite the member to rephrase her supplementary question.Denise Roche: Thank you Mr Speaker. I will do. Does he consider that he is meeting the high standards required of Ministers in the Key Government with his duties as Associate Minister of Health given his failure to declare his interest in the Northern Wellington Festival Trust until 2013?Hon PETER DUNNE: I have declared my interests in that committee and in a number of other activities. Maybe I should have done so earlier but that was an oversight. It is certainly in last year’s declaration this year’s and future declarations to come. As I said in my response to the member’s primary question I am confident I have absolutely nothing to hide in this respect.Denise Roche: Does he declare that it is acceptable that he is the Minister dealing with gambling harm and he did not declare interest in an organisation that receives pokie funds until 2013?Hon PETER DUNNE: I have already answered that question. We can go round and round in circles here. I have nothing to hide. I have never attempted to do so. I welcome any scrutiny on the matter.Te Ururoa Flavell: Will the Minister consider reopening the tender from the Problem Gambling Foundation?Hon PETER DUNNE: That tender process was from memory commenced in 2012. It was carried out independently of Ministers by officials. I was not made aware of the outcome of the process until it had been completed. That was on 19 March this year. As a consequence given the robust way in which it was carried out I have absolutely no intention of interfering in that decision.Denise Roche: When did he inform the Prime Minister that he chaired a trust that sought and received pokie funds? Was it before or after the Prime Minister gave him the role of Associate Minister of Health?Hon PETER DUNNE: I cannot recall exactly but it has been a subject we have discussed many times in quite a jocular way principally because photographs have appeared in newspapers of me dressed as Santa’s elf in the Christmas parade.Denise Roche: I seek leave to table parliamentary research showing that the Minister did not declare his interest in the Northern Wellington Festival Trust until 2013.Mr SPEAKER: Order! I just need the source of the document.Denise Roche: Parliamentary research from the Parliamentary Library. It is all in one document.Mr SPEAKER: On the basis that it may not be available to members I will put the leave and the House can decide. Leave is sought to table that—Hon Trevor Mallard: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker.Mr SPEAKER: Is the member wanting to speak before I put the leave?Hon Trevor Mallard: Yes. Just as a warning I think there are some pretty strict rules that came in with the last Standing Orders change as to the ways that members are allowed to draw attention to breaches in pecuniary interests and I think doing it this way is not one of them. I just want to warn the member that she might in fact get herself into some trouble if it was allowed to be raised in this manner.Denise Roche: I withdraw that but I do have another supplementary question.Mr SPEAKER: Supplementary question Denise Roche.Denise Roche: Does he regard that he is fit to be the Associate Minister implementing solutions to problem gambling given his links to the pokie industry; if so why?Hon PETER DUNNE: I have no links to the pokie industry. If the member assumes that the fact that an organisation that I chair seeks funding for a Christmas parade is some dastardly crime then she is from a vastly different world than I come from. I have nothing to hide and will continue in that role.