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PM Post-Cabinet Press Conference 10 June 2013

PM's Press Conference: Peter Dunne | NSA and the GCSB

PM Post-Cabinet Press Conference 10 June 2013

By Hamish Cardwell

Scoop Video+Photos

Peter Dunne's resignation as Minister | National Security Agency, Prism and the GCSB.

Prime Minister John Key's regular post-cabinet press conference was dominated by questions about Peter Dunne who resigned as a Minister on Friday June 7. Mr Dunne had refused to cooperate with an inquiry into a leaked report on the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB).

The conference began with Mr Key repeating his earlier announcement that Rotorua MP Todd McClay would take over Mr Dunne's revenue and associate health portfolios, and would be appointed a Minister outside of cabinet.

He also announced that Education Minister Hekia Parata would release the second year's worth national standards data for primary and intermediate schools. The data would give the government a good picture of the education system and help target resources, he said.

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QUESTIONS

Mr Key was asked if he trusted Mr Dunne.

He said he did and that he had in the past. He wanted to believe that Mr Dunne had not leaked the report, but was not in a position to fully assess that.

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Mr Dunne would be leaving the Security and Intelligence Committee to be replaced by Tony Ryall. This was for “technical rules around the committee” based on the fact he is no longer a minister, not because he did not trust Mr Dunne, he said.

Mr Key said he did not believe Winston Peters possessed the email exchange between Mr Dunne and Dominion Post reporter Andrea Vance.

There was no reason Mr Dunne or Ms Vance would give the emails to Mr Peters and very few other people had access to their correspondence, he said.

“This is the normal modus operandi for Winston Peters; bluff and bluster and claim you have a lot of information. If you have got them, release them, but I bet you he doesn't have them.”

Mr Dunne had written to him to say he would continue to support the government on confidence and supply issues, and had also confirmed that he would support the government on Sky City and Resource Management Act legislation.

“The government is extremely stable and people who try and propose that it is not are engaged in wishful thinking.”

The PM was asked if he there was any chance that the National Security Agency of the United States had collected in information on New Zealanders.

It has been revealed that The United States intelligence agency have been engaged in widespread secret interception of internet communications.

Mr Key said he could not go into the operational techniques of either the GCSB or New Zealand's security partners but he expected the GCSB to act within the law. The GCSB did work with other intelligence agencies from time to time but New Zealand did not have a “wholesale reciprocal”of information exchange.

ENDS

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