Points of Order — Waterview Connection—Announcement of Preferred Option

I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I am sorry to interrupt the Minister; we are very keen to hear from him. But I want to raise a very serious breach of process of the House. The minute you had finished ruling on the application for an urgent debate from the Opposition and the minute the opportunity for an urgent question to be lodged was completed, the Government released its decision about the Waterview tunnel option. That is a clear breach—

I do not need assistance on this. The member will resume his seat. That is not a matter for the order of the House. The member will not disagree with the Speaker—or he will not disagree for long with the Speaker. That is not a matter for the order of the House. The New Zealand Transport Agency is at liberty to release its announcements whenever it chooses in this House. As Speaker, that is not a matter for me to get involved in at all, and it is not a matter for the order of this House.

I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I agree with you; it is not a matter for you in terms of the agency. This release was made by the Minister of Transport, a member of this House, the Hon Steven Joyce, who is laughing about what he has done. I ask whether you are prepared to see your authority as Speaker treated in this way by the Government deliberately timing announcements—

💬 Hon Tau Henare: Grow up!

Mr Henare is busy interjecting; he should take his own advice. The Government, knowing the House is about to move into urgency—there will be no question time tomorrow, and we are in a parliamentary adjournment next week—has deliberately manipulated, to the detriment of the House, its announcement. The minute you finished your ruling, Mr Speaker, the Minister of Transport made his announcement.

That is a—

💬 Mr SPEAKER: We are going to get into debate here, and that is what concerns me.

I submit to you that the shadow Leader of the House is trifling with the Chair by even raising this matter. The fact is that an urgent question has to be lodged prior to 1 o’clock, and the member knows that. The second point is that a Government will make announcements at any time. If people have read the press releases from the Labour Party over the last couple of days, they will think that the Labour Party somehow had some insight into this decision already.

We do not need to take this matter any further. We can see exactly the problem that arises when an invalid point of order is raised: we get debating material being brought into the point of order process. This is not a matter for the order of the House at all, in any shape or form. But questioning my rulings is a matter for the order of the House. A point of order, the Hon Darren Hughes, but I warn him he had better not question my ruling.

I seek leave under Standing Order 379 to ask the Minister of Transport an urgent question relating to the decision the Government announced one minute after question time finished not to build tunnels at Waterview.

💬 Mr SPEAKER: Leave is sought for the honourable member to ask the Minister of Transport an urgent question. Is there any objection? There is objection.