Henare Tau: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Henare Tau: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Sitting date: 16 August 2011. Volume:675;Page:20895. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
9. 
Hon TAU HENARE (National) 
 to the  
Minister for Social Development and Employment 
: What is the Government doing to help teen parents get ahead? 
Hon PAULA BENNETT (Minister for Social Development and Employment) 
: 
 We make no apologies for actually targeting our resources to this vulnerable group teen parents who desperately need our help. It is a shocking fact that until this Government no one even bothered to count them let alone do anything for them. The welfare system has been failing them and their children and this Government makes no apology for resetting the system in order to give them a helping hand and even a dose of tough love. 
Hon Tau Henare 
: Has the Minister seen any reports on the reliability of the household labour force survey statistics? 
Hon PAULA BENNETT 
: Yes. I actually have— 
Hon Rick Barker 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. What does the matter of the household labour force survey statistics have to do with the primary question? That is surely out of order by being well wide of the mark. 
Hon Tau Henare 
: Several questions throughout the week have had the household labour force survey as the basis of the question. This is just a continuation of that questioning. 
Hon Simon Power 
: Any attempt to link empirical and statistical evidence to questions such as how we are helping a particular group to get ahead must surely assist the House in its quest for information on this issue. 
Hon Rick Barker 
: There is no relevance in this particular question to what has happened in the preceding week. That is the assertion of the Hon Tau Henare. Those questions have been and gone. Had the member wished to raise matters of statistics and of the household labour force survey it should have been done in the primary question. Secondly it would have been fair enough for the member to raise a matter about household labour force survey statistics if they had been referred to by the Minister in her reply to the primary question but the Minister made no reference to the matter. There is absolutely no linkage between the two whatsoever.  
Mr SPEAKER 
: I do not usually rule a question out unless it is perceived that it is unreasonable to put such a question to the Minister. I note that questions asked today—not just those asked last week—linked exactly these two issues. I seem to remember that one particular question—question No. 4 from the member’s own party—referred to unemployed young people aged 15 to 19 years and then pursued issues to do with the household labour force survey. It would seem that the Hon Simon Power’s point is reasonably well made that in the interests of the House obtaining useful information for me to rule the question out would be perhaps a little unfair. If it were not possible for the Minister to answer the question then I think the member would be on pretty reasonable grounds. But I think it would be unreasonable for me to rule it out.  
Hon Rick Barker 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I just draw your attention to the question asked by the Hon Trevor Mallard which made specific mention of the matter of statistics on 15 to 19-year-olds etc. and therefore it was legitimate. I just say we should be fair about this. If you are going to be very generous—as you appear to be in this particular case—about allowing a question from the Hon Tau Henare with little tangible connection to the primary question other than that the matter has been referred to then you will have to allow such a question from the Opposition. It will not therefore be acceptable for the Minister to say there is no connection to the question. If this question is allowed under this process then it will substantially widen the scope of questions to Ministers from members of the Opposition in future. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The member may reflect on the fact that in question No. 7 today there were issues about how closely related the primary question and supplementary questions were. The member raises a good point and if there were no connection at all I would say the member is absolutely right that the question should be ruled out. But given the flow of questions in the House over this issue—this matter has been one of the key issues in question time over the last couple of days—it would seem to me to be unreasonable for me to be too pedantic about it. The member is right that strictly I could be pedantic and say the primary question and the supplementary question are not sufficiently closely related but then I would be ignoring the flow of question time and the intention of question time to make sure that the House obtains useful information. There has to be a link and I believe that the link on this occasion has been well established over the last couple of days. But I hear what the Hon Rick Barker is saying. 
Hon PAULA BENNETT 
: Yes. I have seen a report on statistics relating to the household labour force survey. In fact I have a report that says David Benson-Pope has put himself at odds with former Minister Steve Maharey about— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I will not allow a question like that to be used to slag off former members or other members of this House—there is no way in the world. The reason for allowing the question was to see whether valuable information for the House would emerge in relation to the debate about the household labour force survey young teen parents and 15 to 19-year-old unemployed people. If it is to be used just to slag off another member I am afraid that is it.