The National Party has persistently grilled the government for a third straight day over the specific location, in digital or paper form, of the secret 33 page coalition document between Labour and New Zealand First.
National Foreign Affairs spokesperson Gerry Brownlee tried, to no avail, to get as much detail out of deputy PM Winston Peters in Parliament question time today.
"Is the 33 page unpublished coalition document located in any ministerial device or hard-drive?" Mr Brownlee asked.
A smiling Mr Peters replied coyly, to a large round of applause from the government's side: "Could the Minister help me out by giving me a description of what is a ministerial device?"
Mr Brownlee went to clarify: "Is the 33 page unpublished coalition document located in any ministerial communications device, smart phone, or hard-drive of any type, or a safe?"
In replying Mr Peters reverted to a consistent government line the Prime Minister and others have argued all through the 33 page coalition document debate.
"This was all done before the government was formed and that is the only matter you are entitled to ask about," said Mr Peters.
Eventually, Speaker Trevor Mallard had to bring the repetitive debate to a conclusion.
"My view is the location of a non-ministeral document is not something which makes it a ministerial document," Mr Mallard said.
"For example I used to keep my personal cheque-book in the ministerial safe, that did not make it a ministerial document."
For days the National Party have been trying to establish the 33 page document as in the possession of government ministers and ministerial staff.
If it does, the National Party believe this makes it fall under the Official Information Act and would have to be publicly released.
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