Rich Katherine: General Debate 
Rich Katherine: General Debate 
[Volume:631;Page:3152] 
KATHERINE RICH (National) 
: 
 That was a public broadcast from Damien O’Connor the Minister who is currently overseeing the construction of the “Milton Hilton” just south of Dunedin which is the most expensive prison to be built in New Zealand’s history. 
Tomorrow will be known forever more as the day of the Cunliffe Budget—the one that got away. It is the Budget that was to have a flagship announcement but that was leaked 3 weeks earlier by someone from within the Beehive. I read the documents put out by the State Services Commissioner and frankly I say that the document actually begs more questions than it answers. The report requires one major question to be asked which is how it happened at all. If one reads the document one can see it is clear that although the State Services Commissioner wants to make this look like an extremely simple chain of events the reality is probably quite different. 
Some aspects of the report are very very strange indeed. My colleagues Bill English and Gerry Brownlee who have spoken before me covered some of the major issues but I would like to turn to an exchange between the Minister of State Services Annette King and Mark Prebble. On 3 May as a result of the leak Annette King got on the phone and said to Mark Prebble that she wanted an inquiry. But what is very strange is that the Minister did not confirm this by letter until some 6 days after that. Her letter to Mark Prebble is dated 9 May. Some 6 days after the phone call the Minister confirmed the terms of reference and the nature of that discussion. 
Members know that if Ministers want to turn round letters they can do so in a matter of minutes. That was not the case here so I think the Minister needs to explain. The letter was not complex; it is only a couple of hundred words long but attached to it are the terms of reference. What is strange is that Mark Prebble was quoting those terms of reference days earlier in correspondence with people on the subject. So obviously Mark Prebble has a photographic memory or can recite text from an oral submission. It seems odd that he was able to have the terms of reference and act upon them before the Minister had formally given them to him. Surely the Minister or the ministerial office cannot forget to write a letter that confirms a discussion. What this says to me is that there was some sneaky little arrangement behind the scenes to not confirm the actual terms of reference and what would go on. I think the Minister needs to explain what the strategy was here because it simply does not stack up that some 6 days later she chose to confirm the nature of that discussion. 
One of the other points that I think is quite hilarious though is that when this issue of a leaked document was a matter of concern David Cunliffe again put himself into the fray. At the time when all focus was on this one leaked document David Cunliffe is subject to another paragraph in Mark Prebble’s report. Mark Prebble notes that again—for a second time—the document went missing and was found somewhat haplessly behind a photocopier. This can only indicate that David Cunliffe’s office was somehow in a state of chaos. One can imagine the flurry of documents being copied left right and centre. I do not know how someone manages to drop one extra copy down behind the photocopier but that itself although it may seem a small issue is perhaps indicative of the way that office is being run. So while David Cunliffe is considering his new role as a market analyst/commentator he might like to think about how his office is being run. 
This week we are seeing another charm offensive blown to bits—that is the charm offensive that Trevor Mallard was trying to inflict on the business community. He was trying to look like a resurrected Minister who was interested in business issues. One speech actually had Trevor Mallard saying that we should celebrate wealth creators. If that is not a road to Damascus conversion I do not know what is. But yesterday in the House we saw all of that blown to bits. Under pressure from questions from the Opposition the Minister just blew to bits and decided that he would dish dirt which is basically reverting to type.