Peters Winston: Oral Questions — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumePeters Winston: Oral Questions — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 04 November 2014. Volume:701;Page:475. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]1.Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS (Leader—NZ First)to the Prime Minister: Is he committed to an open and transparent Government on issues where New Zealand may soon be involved in conflict in the Middle East?Rt Hon JOHN KEY (Prime Minister):As I have previously said the Government is looking at a range of options to contribute to the international coalition against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). ISIL is a brutal organisation that deserves the strongest of condemnation. It is my intention to be as open and transparent with New Zealanders as I can responsibly be about the issue of such a potential contribution.Rt Hon Winston Peters: Why then has he delayed including the public in to use his words “a mature conversation” about the Islamic State threat until after the election and indeed until this week?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: During the course of the election campaign there were questions raised about ISIL and I clearly remember making quite a number of comments. One of the problems was that I was about the only person in the entire Parliament who wanted to talk about policy and issues of that matter—certainly I do not remember that member being in that position.Rt Hon Winston Peters: Given that in June he was giving the public of this country his personal assurance that the Government would not be involved why has the Government been selectively releasing information about the Islamic State threat rather than keeping the public fully informed on the nature of the threat it poses to New Zealand?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: Firstly the situation in Iraq is evolving and I think all members of the international community would acknowledge that. Secondly tomorrow as the member is probably aware it is my intention to give a major speech on the issue that I think will actually spell out for New Zealanders both the range of options available and a sense of the risk domestically regionally and internationally. Finally my understanding is that with the agreement of the Business Committee there is going to be a ministerial statement in the House tomorrow by myself. There will be a wide-ranging debate. We have ensured that all political parties even those that have fewer than 6 members will be able to be part of that debate. It is my expectation that New Zealanders from their lounge rooms to this Parliament will want to debate what contribution if any that New Zealand might make.Rt Hon Winston Peters: What assurances can the Prime Minister give that New Zealand will not commit military forces to meeting the Islamic State threat unless there is the United Nations’ sanction for military action?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: The first thing I would say is that the member really will need to wait until he sees the speech tomorrow and then he can draw his own conclusions on that question. But secondly in terms of the United Nations one area we are following is the United Nations resolution in relation to foreign fighters. That is something we have been closely following and that is the very reason why the Government is putting up some proposals which will be included in the speech tomorrow to address that issue. I will take a moment to thank the Labour Party which I understand is supporting it and I hope that New Zealand First will support it because it has had the same briefings from officials that the Labour Party has.Rt Hon Winston Peters: Given that answer why would the New Zealand public not regard the Prime Minister’s so-called mature conversation on the Islamic State issue as a smokescreen and window-dressing when critical decisions have already been made by the Government?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: No decisions have actually been made by the Government yet except for the ones in relation to humanitarian aid where we have previously made contributions I think of up to $13.5 million. So no decisions have actually been made. Some decisions may well be made in the future and when people get a chance to see my speech tomorrow they will decide that. I simply say to the member that the issue here is not about whether we are trying to withhold information from the New Zealand public; the issue here is about protecting the New Zealand public from a threat that is credible internationally regionally and domestically.Rt Hon Winston Peters: Is it not true that Cabinet has already made a decision on this matter; if it is true what confidence can the public have that all the material decisions about New Zealand’s role in relation to the international response to the Islamic State threat have not already been made by the Government?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: Unless the member is the 21st member of the National Cabinet then he knows something I do not. But outside that no decisions have been made by Cabinet.David Shearer: Given that he has stated that any New Zealand deployment would be “there for a reasonably significant period of time” what would he define as the exit point or the point at which it had finished its job?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: Firstly I would urge the member to closely look at the speech tomorrow; he will have a better understanding when he sees that. Secondly the point I was making is simply that if you look at something like Afghanistan in reality when the Labour Government committed New Zealand’s resources and forces to Afghanistan I am not sure people would have thought it would be for the 11 or 12 years that we ultimately stayed but that was the length of time required. I think realistically whatever takes place in a country like Iraq is not something that is going to be very short term. Whether that is 2 3 4 or 5 years I do not know but if the member is asking me whether something was of the order of 6 months then I would say that if that decision was made then it would be no.