Cunliffe David: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members 
Cunliffe David: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members 
[Volume:655;Page:4811] 
1. 
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE (Labour—New Lynn) 
 to the  
Chairperson of the Finance and Expenditure Committee 
: Has the Finance and Expenditure Committee made a decision on the proposed banking inquiry today? 
CRAIG FOSS (Chairperson of the Finance and Expenditure Committee): 
 Yes. 
Hon David Cunliffe 
: Why did he and the National ACT and Maori Party members vote against— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: That question is out of order because that is not a matter of the process of the committee. The chair of the committee cannot be expected to answer that kind of question. I will give the member a chance to ask a supplementary question that is in order though. 
Hon David Cunliffe 
: I am not questioning your ruling Mr Speaker but I seek your guidance. The process of taking a vote I had been under the impression was a matter of process and the way in which the vote was conducted and the results of that vote are now matters of the public record so there is no question of that being confidential to the committee. Do you Mr Speaker have any advice as to how I might go to those matters of process in a way that is within the Standing Orders? 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The part of the question as I heard it—and forgive me if I heard it wrongly—that was out of order was the part that asked the chair of the committee why parties had done certain things. The chair of the committee is not responsible for that so I invite the honourable member to ask a supplementary that is in order should he wish. 
Hon David Cunliffe 
: Thank you Mr Speaker; that helps. Is it the case that the chairperson and the National ACT and Maori Party members voted against the inquiry topic that the chairperson himself had earlier proposed after the Reserve Bank had confirmed that there was still a problem on short-term interest rates and after the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance had indicated they did not have a problem with the inquiry proceeding; or was it a case of saying one thing to the public’s face and the opposite in the committee after a loving chat with a few old bankers? 
Hon Gerry Brownlee 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. That is a political question; it is not a procedural question. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Well I accept the point the honourable member is making to some extent. I mean the first part of the question did relate to the record of the committee and the chair would have information on whether it was correct that certain parties voted in a certain way. The first part was not about why they did that; it was about whether they had done so. But then the member proceeded to add allegations to his question; members tend to do that. I did not stop the honourable member and I therefore feel that the question was not totally out of order. I was listening quite carefully to it. But I suggest that in the future questions to committee chairs should not contain quite so much political material. 
Hon Gerry Brownlee 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I ask you to reconsider that because the question asks the chairperson of the select committee to explain why he and others voted in a particular way. That is the essence of the question. Members on the other side can say no or whatever else but when we start to ask questions about whether it was for this reason or for another reason or whether this was something that someone said at one time and not at another that is not to do with the procedure of the committee. Those are personal decisions of the members at that committee. How they cast their vote is a matter of public record; it should not then be able to be questioned through the question time process in the House like this. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I accept the point the honourable member has made and perhaps I should have stopped the member because the latter part of his question did go outside the Standing Orders. But the first part was in order. He was not asking why; he was asking for the record of what actually happened and I believe that that is in order. So the first part of the question I think is in order to be answered. 
CRAIG FOSS 
: The member should be aware that the voting on this matter has been recorded in the committee minutes and these will need to be confirmed at the next committee meeting. All other matters are within the committee and I urge the member not to go outside those rules.