PRINTER CARTRIDGE SCAM

The Hon. I.F. EVANS (Davenport) (14:44): My question is to the Minister for Finance. Has the minister received advice that senior Treasury officers were advised in mid-2010 of purchases by Treasury officers of printer cartridges from suspect companies and that this issue was not referred to the Auditor-General or to the Government Investigations Unit and that no disciplinary action was taken against any officer and, if so, why is there no mention of this in the report of the procurement working group?

The Hon. M.F. O'BRIEN (Napier—Minister for Finance, Minister for the Public Sector) (14:44): I thank the member for Davenport for the question. My role has been very hands-off. I was the instigator, the convenor of the working group, which was chaired by Jim Hallion. I attended as an observer. I had some input in terms of pushing matters along—

Mr Marshall: We know about observers with the government.

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr Marshall: Were you a real one?

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.F. O'BRIEN: Yes, I was a real one. Given the fact that we were dealing with the actions of public servants and that there was disciplinary action that could flow from our investigations which were carried out, I did not at any stage interrogate the identity of any individual in any agency. I remained very much at arm's length from the investigations so that there could be no accusation of ministerial contamination of the process.