Yates Dianne: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Yates Dianne: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:612;Page:9079] 
1. DIANNE YATES (Labour—Hamilton East) 
 to the  
Minister of Immigration 
: Has a migrant Thai couple received a Government-funded holiday to Thailand as stated by Rt Hon Winston Peters? 
Hon LIANNE DALZIEL (Minister of Immigration) 
: 
 No. The individual he named was a New Zealand resident married to a New Zealand citizen. There is no evidence that he has breached any immigration rules with regard to eligibility for anything. Allegations about New Zealand citizens or residents receiving benefits or student allowances while out of the country should be made to the Ministry of Social Development. It is the Customs Service database that is used for Ministry of Social Development data matches not that of the New Zealand Immigration Service. 
Dianne Yates 
: Have there been other instances of incorrect information being given about immigration cases and why is it important that information is verified before allegations are made? 
Hon LIANNE DALZIEL 
: It is important that verification is given so that the truth of the matter can be got to. There is another example I would like to bring to the House’s attention. It was alleged that Mohammed Saidi made false representations about where he was from. The advice I have is that that allegation came from a woman who said he said that to her— 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: Yes his wife. 
Hon LIANNE DALZIEL 
: Yes it was from the woman he married not the New Zealand Immigration Service. He is alleged to have said that he was really Italian. To have said that he was Italian might be immoral but it is not illegal. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: I thank the Minister for setting up an own goal. I ask her whether that man is the man who spent a month on remand at Paparoa prison on charges of rape and breaking and entering which were laid by his wife; is it a fact that he left here on 6 July 2003 for Thailand; is it a fact that he is on a 30-hour adult education programme at Linwood College a course that is free of charge to New Zealand residents and that he is I might add a beneficiary; is it a fact that he is receiving a student allowance which is a very difficult thing to get; is it a fact that since July he has been paid $1423.81 and that if he stays until his return date which will be in January next year he will have picked up a further $3000; and how on earth can someone (a) get into the country (b) get a student allowance and (c) be abroad picking up that allowance when he is not fulfilling any of the requirements? Here is the icing on the cake: his wife is also a beneficiary. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: A number of questions were asked there. The Hon Lianne Dalziel can reply briefly. 
Hon LIANNE DALZIEL 
: The individual concerned is a New Zealand resident. His wife is a New Zealand citizen. The member should direct questions about benefit matters to the appropriate Minister. 
David Benson-Pope 
: Have there been any other examples of incorrect information that make it difficult for immigration groups to respond to allegations in Parliament? 
Hon LIANNE DALZIEL 
: Yes. It was alleged in Parliament that an asylum seeker had gone missing from an Auckland Refugee Council hostel in May this year. That was not correct. I now have a copy of a trespass notice issued against that individual by the Auckland Refugee Council in order to keep him away from the hostel because he had no basis for being there. I also have a copy of a letter that the Auckland Refugee Council sent to me which says that it is quite clear somebody used the letter to Winston Peters to go to some lengths to blacken the council’s reputation. That is not good enough. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: First of all is it not a fact that three women wrote to that Minister about the first person who she said had some Italian connections? One of those women was his wife; the second was his paramour with whom he had a baby and the third was another paramour with whom he had a baby and the Minister has still done nothing about this person. Second how can someone be on both the benefit in the case of the wife and on a student allowance in the case of the husband who is in Thailand now and have no one check up; and third when will this Minister get on top of her job so that— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Two questions are allowed and the member has had two. He then went on to ask a third. He has finished the two questions allowed inside his supplementary question. 
Hon LIANNE DALZIEL 
: The answer to the first question is yes I received correspondence from the wife of the individual concerned and yes she did make it very plain to me that he told her he was Italian rather than Moroccan. As I said before it might be immoral to mislead people about one’s ethnicity but it is not illegal. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: So is this man who is lying to all and sundry including his wife and others a matter of comedy as far as this Minister goes—despite the fact that he is not worthy of being in New Zealand in the first place and is being paid for by the taxpayer; but more seriously what sort of a Minister tolerates someone who seeks to bribe an applicant for sex as we will see in question No. 8 today in order to escape both her own responsibility and that of any official? No one was prepared last night to front on the  
Holmes 
 show and defend themselves. She should resign. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The Minister may respond to the questions. 
Hon LIANNE DALZIEL 
: With regard to Mohammed Saidi as that member well knows because I have answered questions in the House—[ 
Interruption 
] Excuse me. That was the first question. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. The Minister is seeking to identify one person in particular and I am raising issues in respect of three people in particular as examples of her gross negligence. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The member asked two questions. The Minister at the moment is attempting to answer one of them. 
Hon LIANNE DALZIEL 
: The first question asked whether I felt that it was a matter of amusement that Mohammed Saidi said he was Italian in order to inveigle his way into the affections of a New Zealand woman. I do not think that is funny; I think it is ironic that the member raised the question about him commenting upon his ethnicity in that way. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I just heard an allegation from Mr Mallard. It is an allegation that is frequently repeated in this House and I do not mind. I can take it and I can give it out better than most of them. The point is that he has repeated an allegation that is demonstrably untrue. He knows full well that I was captain of the Auckland Maori side and that the allegation is a lie. So would you ask him to cut it out? 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I just say that personal comments are never helpful they do not improve the standard of debate in the House and they will cease. 
Hon LIANNE DALZIEL 
: As I was saying I do not find it amusing that people are afraid to front up to their own ethnicity and parade themselves as coming from another country because they are ashamed of who they are. With respect to the second question no I do not find it acceptable that any member of staff of the Immigration Service would offer information in exchange for sexual favours. That person has quite rightly been dismissed from the Immigration Service. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: I seek to table the background documents in respect of the Thai man that the Minister referred to and that the primary question referred to—bank accounts airline bookings— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Leave has been sought— 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: —the full hundred yards. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought is to table that document. Is there any objection? There is objection. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. Before Mr Peters had finished saying what his documents were you were asking the House to grant him leave. I think it not unreasonable that he be allowed to list the several documents he was asking to release. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The member did indicate that the documents related to the case raised in this question. I thought he said that quite satisfactorily. Leave has to be brief and seek the position concerned. Mr Peters quite rightly sought that leave. I will put the leave again. Is there any objection? There is not. 
Documents by leave laid on the Table of the House. 
Hon LIANNE DALZIEL 
: I seek leave to table a letter from the Auckland Refugee Council talking about the jealousy and pettiness behind the attempt to sabotage the organisation. 
Document not tabled.