1. Prime Minister—Confidence in MinistersHon PAULA BENNETT (Deputy Leader—National) to the Prime MinisterORAL QUESTIONSQUESTIONS TO MINISTERSPrime Minister—Confidence in Ministers1. Hon PAULA BENNETT (Deputy Leader—National) to the Prime Minister: Does he have confidence in all his Ministers?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS (Acting Prime Minister): Yes.Hon Paula Bennett: How can he have confidence in the Minister in charge of the Overseas Investment Amendment Bill David Parker when it has been reported he has close personal relationships with high-end property developers who have sought exemptions from the bill?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: The reality is that we inherited that deal from a former Minister Steven Joyce who did not go through the consultation process and if Amy Adams knew anything about the law she would know that full well. That being the case Treasury gave us one set of advice and the Speaker referred to a separate set of advice. As a consequence we've acted on the Speaker's advice.Hon Paula Bennett: How can he have confidence in his Minister in charge of the Overseas Investment Amendment Bill when he said We want the prices of New Zealand homes whether it be a lakeside station the best [homes] in the Bay of Islands or … modest homes in our towns and cities to be set by local buyers not on the international market … New Zealanders should not be outbid by wealthier foreign buyers." when that Minister's own bill now excludes exemptions allowing that to occur?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: That summation by that member is demonstrably wrong. For land and for houses that statement is totally false. What is true—because we do listen to the market and being so close to it we do understand how it works—is we've ensured there are some exemptions where apartments are concerned.Hon Paula Bennett: Does he have confidence in his Minister of Foreign Affairs who has expressed concern about New Zealanders being outbid when buying land by wealthier foreign buyers but now supports a bill that proposes exempting those wealthier foreign buyers?SPEAKER: Before I allow the question I want an assurance from the questioner that the statement was made as the Minister of Foreign Affairs.Hon Paula Bennett: Speaking to that sir I purposely left it quite broad and not a direct quote where he has expressed concern repeatedly in many contexts and while the Minister of Foreign Affairs.SPEAKER: No the question was whether the statement was made as Minister of Foreign Affairs as opposed to the leader of the New Zealand First Party.Hon Paula Bennett: I haven't given a direct quote of a statement made by the Minister.SPEAKER: What I'm going to do is give the member another chance to get a question which is within order.Hon Paula Bennett: Thank you sir. Does he have confidence in his Minister of Justice Andrew Little when he said in this House last week that he defined a prison officer who was grabbed on the buttock squeezed quite hard and then followed and intimidated by the prisoner as suffering "a pinch on the bottom"?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: What I do have is confidence in a justice Minister who understands—Hon Dr Nick Smith: Just answer the question.Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: —I'll answer the question if you'll just give me a chance to Mr Smith not make that poppycock type of shouting you do every day in this House to every question. Can I say I have confidence in a Minister of Justice who understands the gradations in levels of sexual offending and he expressed one. What would the member do?Hon Paula Bennett: Does he consider a woman grabbed in the workplace for a prolonged period of time and followed and intimidated to be the victim of an indecent assault?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: Depending on the facts and not the hypotheticals and if the facts were proven that would be a sexual assault yes.Hon Paula Bennett: How can he have confidence in his Parliamentary Under-Secretary to the Minister for Ethnic Communities Michael Wood when he said "The office of Ethnic Communities is moving into premises in Onehunga which will be shared with list MP Priyanca Radhakrishnan. We've boosted that support that we're providing in terms of connecting with ethnic communities so we have more staff members working in our ethnic communities outreach teams." and the editor of the Onehunga Community News says she has a recording of him saying that?Hon Chris Hipkins: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. The comments made by Michael Wood were made in his capacity as a local member of Parliament and the first part of the quote that Paula Bennett mentions is not actually a quote. It is a reporter's reporting. It is not a quote of anything that Michael Wood said.SPEAKER: Can I first—[Interruption] No sorry I'm going to deal with this matter first. Can I first check with the Hon Paula Bennett whether the first part of what she indicated was a quote was in fact contained in quotation marks in the publication in question?Hon Paula Bennett: Yes sir it was.SPEAKER: Thank you. Right the Acting Prime Minister will answer the question.Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: Can I just say that the reports on the opening of the labour office were wrong. They were misreported. And the office is a labour office for—Hon Member: It's a tape recording.Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: I beg your pardon?Hon Member: There's a tape recording.Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: The office is a labour office for ethnic communities funded by Parliamentary Service not an office of ethnic community services.Hon Paula Bennett: Will the Prime Minister be asking to hear the recording from the Onehunga Community News as they believe they have a direct quote from the under-secretary?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: What the Prime Minister will be doing is asking that member to produce a report to this Parliament and back up her allegations. [Interruption] SPEAKER: Order! Nathan Guy.Hon Paula Bennett: Can he have confidence that his Parliamentary Under-Secretary to the Minister for Ethnic Communities is not misusing taxpayer-funded money by having offices of bureaucrats attached to Labour electorate offices?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: Because of my last two answers and more importantly if that member wants to make that allegation please turn up in in Parliament with the proof and then we'll be able to examine the evidence. But I and my colleagues are just too busy to do her work for her.Hon Chris Hipkins: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I seek leave to table the article from the Onehunga Community News. I know that we don't normally table media articles but this is not a widely circulated publication. Anybody looking at it will see that there are no quotation marks over the statement that Paula Bennett has told the House was a quote. SPEAKER: I'm not going to put it to the House; I am going to ask the member to give it to Paula Bennett so that she if appropriate can correct her statement to me which would be a serious misleading if it was correct. Further supplementary? Sorry you've finished?Hon Paula Bennett: I'm done thank you.SPEAKER: OK."