Labour welcome Key commitment to investigate Worth
new-zealand-labour-party
Mon May 11 2009 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)
Labour welcome Key commitment to investigate Worth
Monday, 11 May 2009, 12:10 pm
Press Release: New Zealand Labour Party
11 May 2009 Media Statement
Labour welcome Key commitment to investigate Richard Worth
Labour's Internal Affairs spokesperson Chris Hipkins has welcomed the commitment made by Prime Minister John Key on Breakfast TV this morning to investigate the refusal by one of his Ministers to answer written parliamentary questions or Official Information Act requests.
"John Key clearly stated on Breakfast TV this morning that he didn't know why his Internal Affairs Minister Dr Richard Worth was refusing to answer basic parliamentary questions and gave a commitment that he would look into it.
“I look forward to Dr Worth's forthcoming conversion to the principles of openness and transparency following Mr Key's intervention," Chris Hipkins said.
"Fronting up and answering parliamentary questions and Official Information Act requests is a basic ministerial function. Fundamentally it is about accountability.
“One would have thought given his recent troubles Dr Worth would be going to some lengths to prove that he had nothing else to hide.
"Ministers receive a salary in excess of $240,000 a year paid for by taxpayers. It is therefore reasonable to expect they would be able to answer some fairly simple questions about what they have been doing to earn their salary.
“It's time for Dr Worth to front up," Chris Hipkins said.
ENDS
John Key Breakfast May 11, 2009
HENRY: Indeed there is a silver lining to this hideously grey cloud. Let's talk about Richard Worth. Labour are saying, Chris Hipkin, Hipkins, um, is saying that since he became the minister, he has repeatedly refused to answer written parliamentary questions about reports he's received or who he has met.
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KEY: Yeah. Well look, every office has a different approach to answering that. I am the Minister of SIS and GCSB, as well as the Minister of Ministerial Services and Tourism, ah, on security ones I don't answer questions, that's the long-standing habit of all prime ministers.
HENRY: Which is understandable, but Richard Worth is Minister of Internal Affairs, he has an obligation to front up, doesn't he.
KEY: Yeah, I mean, look, I don't know the specific reason, I'd have to go and have a look at it, may be that there were thousands of reports, I'm not sure. I mean, they are just stock-standard questions that Labour put in, there's hundreds and hundreds of them that come in all the time...
HENRY: Yep.
KEY: So I, I'll have a look at it but I don't really know why he's answered in that way.
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