12. Social Development Ministry—Relocation of Regional Commissioner RoleHon LOUISE UPSTON (National—Taupō) to the Minister for Social DevelopmentSocial Development Ministry—Relocation of Regional Commissioner Role12. Hon LOUISE UPSTON (National—Taupō) to the Minister for Social Development: Does she stand by all her ministry's recent decisions and actions?Hon CARMEL SEPULONI (Minister for Social Development): I stand 100 percent behind my ministry and the thousands of front-line staff who work every day to support New Zealanders in need of assistance. However for nine years they worked under the previous Government's punitive and deficit-focused policy settings. This influenced practice at the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) and as a result some mistakes still occur. Hon Gerry Brownlee: Point of order. Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: I'm working with MSD—SPEAKER: Order! Order! A point of order the Hon Gerry Brownlee. Hon Gerry Brownlee: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. You've been very very good I think at making sure that Ministers answered questions that related to their ministries without making reference to the past Government or past policies or other such. How do your past rulings sit with the way that question has just been answered which is highly political and making points that are not relevant to the question but are gratuitous in the extreme?SPEAKER: And I think if the member had listened to the phrase after the one he objected to he would have seen the context which in my opinion made it—while marginal—an acceptable answer. Hon Gerry Brownlee: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. If we are then to learn that from the phrase and the ability of a phrase to put something into context can we now expect to be able to use that same technique in the asking of primary questions? SPEAKER: I will consider primary questions on a case by case basis. Hon Louise Upston: Supplementary question—SPEAKER: No no the member hadn't finished. Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: This influenced practice at MSD and as a result some mistakes still occur. I'm working with MSD to undo the damage to ensure every New Zealander seeking support—whether they be a young unemployed person a solo parent a disabled person or a superannuitant—gets the absolute best advice and support we can give. [Interruption]SPEAKER: Order! The Leader of the Opposition will stand withdraw and apologise. Hon Simon Bridges: I withdraw and apologise. I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. What was the aspect that offended the rulings of the Speaker because I genuinely would like to learn. SPEAKER: Well if the member doesn't understand that I'm happy to give him a tutorial later but I don't think we need to have it in front of the whole House. Hon Louise Upston: Will the decision to cease the role of the Regional Commissioner for Nelson Marlborough and West Coast and to have this role done by the Wellington commissioner improve services in these regions? Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: Despite this being an operational matter I cannot consider this move as a mistake. Nelson is not being absorbed into Wellington. It will continue to be an MSD region in its own right with its own senior management team. Work and Income has a significant presence regionally and I am assured that MSD is committed to maintaining the excellent level of service the region expects. SPEAKER: Order! Order! Can I just recommend to members that they be very careful about the nature of their interjections. Hon Louise Upston: How is the decision to relocate the MSD Regional Commissioner for Nelson Marlborough and West Coast to Wellington consistent with the coalition agreement and promise that states the Government will relocate Government services to the regions?Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: As I stated in my previous answer this is an operational matter but I can assure those living in Nelson that they will continue to get the excellent service from their local Work and Income New Zealand office and MSD that they can reasonably expect. Maureen Pugh: Does the Government now consider the West Coast to be part of Wellington? SPEAKER: Order! There's no responsibility for that. Hon Gerry Brownlee: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. SPEAKER: A point of order—she's not the Minister for Geography".Hon Gerry Brownlee: No that's quite right and quite evident from the way she's behaving in her ministry. SPEAKER: Does the member have a point of order? Hon Gerry Brownlee: I do because the question simply asked in response to the answers given by the Minister: does the Government consider that the West Coast is now part of Wellington? What's wrong with that? If that is—it's obviously the case because it's what they're doing. SPEAKER: Order! I mean I don't know if the member's sort of serious in his approach. If the member wanted to ask that question in relation to MSD districts or Work and Income districts or where commissioners cover then some of that should've been included in the question. None of it was. That concludes oral questions. [Interruption] Sorry. One more. Sorry—no. No more. I apologise. The Opposition's run out of supplementary questions."