Written questions

Asked by

Vanushi Walters

List MP · Labour Party

• Has New Zealand’s Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China been summoned, called in, or otherwise asked to attend a meeting by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China in connection with remarks made in the New…

Asked by

Vanushi Walters

List MP · Labour Party

• What standing instruction or practice, if any, governs whether and when the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade advises the Office of the Prime Minister that a foreign mission has lodged formal representations concerning the conduct or…

Asked by

Vanushi Walters

List MP · Labour Party

• Were any Ministers other than himself notified that the Chinese Embassy in New Zealand had lodged representations with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade on 30 July 2026 concerning remarks made in the New Zealand Parliament; if so,…

Asked by

Vanushi Walters

List MP · Labour Party

• Was the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet notified that the Chinese Embassy in New Zealand had lodged representations with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade on 30 July 2026 concerning remarks made in the New Zealand…

Asked by

Vanushi Walters

List MP · Labour Party

• Was the Office of the Prime Minister notified that the Chinese Embassy in New Zealand had lodged representations with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade on 30 July 2026 concerning remarks made in the New Zealand Parliament; if so,…

Asked by

Vanushi Walters

List MP · Labour Party

• Has he issued any instruction to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade regarding how it should respond to the representations lodged by the Chinese Embassy in New Zealand on 30 July 2026 concerning remarks made in the New Zealand…

Asked by

Vanushi Walters

List MP · Labour Party

• Was he consulted on, or did he approve, the content of any New Zealand response to the representations lodged by the Chinese Embassy in New Zealand on 30 July 2026 before that response was conveyed?

Asked by

Vanushi Walters

List MP · Labour Party

• Has the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade conveyed any response to the Chinese Embassy in New Zealand concerning the representations that Embassy lodged on 30 July 2026 over remarks made in the New Zealand Parliament; if so, on what…

Asked by

Vanushi Walters

List MP · Labour Party

• Has any New Zealand official been asked to attend the Chinese Embassy in Wellington in connection with remarks made in the New Zealand Parliament on 29 July 2026, at any time since that date; if so, on what date and at what level of…

Asked by

Vanushi Walters

List MP · Labour Party

• Was any document handed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade by the Chinese Embassy in New Zealand in the course of the representations of 30 July 2026 concerning remarks made in the New Zealand Parliament; if so, what was the…

Asked by

Vanushi Walters

List MP · Labour Party

• What written records, if any, does the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade hold of the representations lodged by the Chinese Embassy in New Zealand on 30 July 2026 concerning remarks made in the New Zealand Parliament, including any note…

Asked by

Vanushi Walters

List MP · Labour Party

• Did the meeting or conversation of 30 July 2026 between an official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Chinese Embassy in New Zealand concerning remarks made in the New Zealand Parliament take place in person, by…

Asked by

Vanushi Walters

List MP · Labour Party

• At what level of seniority, on each side, was the meeting or conversation of 30 July 2026 between an official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Chinese Embassy in New Zealand concerning remarks made in the New Zealand…

Asked by

Vanushi Walters

List MP · Labour Party

• Was the meeting or conversation on 30 July 2026 between an official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Chinese Embassy in New Zealand, at which that Embassy states it lodged solemn representations concerning remarks made…

Asked by

Vanushi Walters

List MP · Labour Party

• How is the approach made by the Chinese Embassy in New Zealand to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade on 30 July 2026, described by that Embassy as the lodging of “solemn representations” over negative China-related remarks made in…

Asked by

Vanushi Walters

List MP · Labour Party

• Does he stand by his statement in the House on 5 August 2026, in answer to a supplementary question to oral question No. 6, that a member of Parliament “has been in this Parliament five minutes, has wasted so much of Parliament’s time”?

Asked by

Vanushi Walters

List MP · Labour Party

• How many separate approaches, if any, did the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade receive from the Chinese Embassy in New Zealand between 29 July 2026 and 5 August 2026 concerning remarks made in the New Zealand Parliament, and on what…

Asked by

Vanushi Walters

List MP · Labour Party

• On what date and at what time was he first informed that the Chinese Embassy in New Zealand had lodged representations with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade concerning remarks made in the New Zealand Parliament on 29 July 2026,…

Asked by

Vanushi Walters

List MP · Labour Party

• Does he stand by his statement to media at Parliament on 29 July 2026, referring to a member of Parliament who had heckled him during the general debate that day, that the member “can’t even speak the language properly”?

Asked by

Vanushi Walters

List MP · Labour Party

• Does he consider that statements made publicly by a Minister of Foreign Affairs about another country are capable of being understood by the government of that country as reflecting the position of the New Zealand Government, irrespective…

Asked by

Vanushi Walters

List MP · Labour Party

• Has he, in his capacity as Minister of Foreign Affairs, corrected, clarified, withdrawn, or qualified any part of the words he spoke in the general debate in the House on 29 July 2026 in which he told a member of Parliament to “go back to…

Asked by

Vanushi Walters

List MP · Labour Party

• Does he stand by his statement in the House on 5 August 2026, in response to a supplementary question asking whether he agreed that Chinese people “lie like a flat fish”, that “That statement is demonstrably, on the Hansard, false.”; if…

Asked by

Vanushi Walters

List MP · Labour Party

• Does he consider that the words “that’s where they lie like a flatfish”, spoken by him in the general debate in the House on 29 July 2026, referred to the People’s Republic of China, to the Government of the People’s Republic of China, to…

Asked by

Vanushi Walters

List MP · Labour Party

• To whom or what does the word “they” refer in the words “that’s where they lie like a flatfish”, spoken by him and recorded in Hansard for the general debate in the House on 29 July 2026, given his statement in the House on 5 August 2026…

Asked by

Vanushi Walters

List MP · Labour Party

• Does he stand by his statement in the House on 5 August 2026, in answer to oral question No. 6, that he stands by all his statements as Minister of Foreign Affairs “including those made during two visits this term to China”?

Asked by

Vanushi Walters

List MP · Labour Party

• Does he stand by his statement in the House on 5 August 2026, in answer to oral question No. 6 asking whether he stood by all his statements and actions, “I stand by all my comments as the Minister of Foreign Affairs. I also stand by my…

Asked by

Vanushi Walters

List MP · Labour Party

• Further to reply 33624 (2026), will the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade now undertake an assessment of the implications of the abstention for New Zealand's international human rights reputation and for current or prospective New…

Asked by

Vanushi Walters

List MP · Labour Party

• Further to reply 33619 (2026), what consultation, if any, did New Zealand have with Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, or European Union member states about the reappointment resolution before the vote?

Asked by

Vanushi Walters

List MP · Labour Party

• Further to reply 33603 (2026), did New Zealand raise its process concerns about the reappointment with the Office of the Secretary-General, the President of the General Assembly, or any other member state before 24 July 2026, and if not,…

Asked by

Vanushi Walters

List MP · Labour Party

• Further to reply 33609 (2026), does the Government hold any record, including any cable, email, file note, or telephone log, of the decision to abstain, and will those records be released?

Asked by

Vanushi Walters

List MP · Labour Party

• Further to reply 33609 (2026), given that the vote occurred on 24 July 2026 in New York, is the decision date of Saturday 25 July 2026 (NZT) the same decision expressed in New Zealand time, or a separate decision taken after the vote was…

Asked by

Vanushi Walters

List MP · Labour Party

• Further to reply 33616 (2026), how is the statement that "the Ministry did not provide advice to the Minister on the vote" to be reconciled with reply 33604 (2026), which records that voting instructions on the resolution were issued by…

Asked by

Vanushi Walters

List MP · Labour Party

• Further to reply 33618 (2026), what explanation, if any, was given to other delegations, whether bilaterally or in any group setting, for New Zealand's abstention, and on what dates?

Asked by

Vanushi Walters

List MP · Labour Party

• Further to reply 33618 (2026), did New Zealand's representative make any oral remarks, general statement, or other in-chamber intervention in connection with the abstention on 24 July 2026?

Asked by

Vanushi Walters

List MP · Labour Party

• Further to reply 33608 (2026), has the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade reviewed its handling of this vote, and will any changes be made to its instruction-setting, delegation, or escalation practices as a result?

Asked by

Vanushi Walters

List MP · Labour Party

• Further to reply 33604 (2026), what attempts, if any, were made to contact Wellington before the vote was taken, at what times, and to which officials?

Asked by

Vanushi Walters

List MP · Labour Party

• Further to reply 33604 (2026), under what delegated authority may a New Zealand representative depart from voting instructions issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade?

Asked by

Vanushi Walters

List MP · Labour Party

• Further to reply 33604 (2026), which official took the decision to abstain in New York, and was that official the Permanent Representative, the Deputy Permanent Representative, or another officer of the Permanent Mission?

Asked by

Vanushi Walters

List MP · Labour Party

• Further to reply 33603 (2026), given that the Secretary-General's nomination of Mr Türk and the timing of the Secretary-General succession process were both matters of public record before 24 July 2026, why were the process concerns cited…

Asked by

Vanushi Walters

List MP · Labour Party

• Further to reply 33604 (2026), was the additional information referred to related to the process concerns described in reply 33603 (2026), namely that the reappointment was for an unprecedented second four-year term and that it occurred…

Asked by

Vanushi Walters

List MP · Labour Party

• Further to reply 33604 (2026), did the additional information cause New Zealand's representative to depart from an instruction to vote in favour, or from an instruction to vote against?

Asked by

Vanushi Walters

List MP · Labour Party

• Further to reply 33604 (2026), what considerations informed the voting instructions as originally issued?

Asked by

Vanushi Walters

List MP · Labour Party

• Further to reply 33604 (2026), were the original voting instructions recorded in writing, and will the Minister release them?

Asked by

Vanushi Walters

List MP · Labour Party

• Further to reply 33604 (2026), what specifically was the "additional information" that emerged once debate of the relevant resolution was underway and which had not been apparent at the time voting instructions were issued?

Asked by

Vanushi Walters

List MP · Labour Party

• Further to reply 33604 (2026), which official or officials issued the voting instructions, and at what level of seniority?

Asked by

Georgie Dansey

List MP · Labour Party

• How many people received hardship assistance payments for emergency housing in Hamilton City during the June 2026 quarter; and how many received hardship assistance payments for emergency housing during the June 2023 quarter?

Asked by

Georgie Dansey

List MP · Labour Party

• How many people received hardship assistance payments for food in Hamilton City during the June 2026 quarter; and how many received hardship assistance payments for food during the June 2023 quarter?

Asked by

Georgie Dansey

List MP · Labour Party

• How many people received hardship assistance payments in Hamilton City during the June 2026 quarter; and how many received hardship assistance payments during the December 2023 quarter?

Asked by

Georgie Dansey

List MP · Labour Party

• How many people receiving Jobseeker Support were sanctioned in Hamilton City during the June 2026 quarter; and how many were sanctioned in the June 2023 quarter?

Asked by

Georgie Dansey

List MP · Labour Party

• How many people who identify as Māori are currently unemployed in Hamilton City; and how many were there in November 2023?