QUESTIONS FOR ORAL ANSWER

Wednesday, 1 May 2002

Questions to Ministers

1. DAVID BENSON-POPE to the Associate Minister of Education (Tertiary Education): What action, if any, does he intend taking in response to the recent High Court decision on the funding of University of Otago dental courses?

2. KATHERINE RICH to the Minister of Maori Affairs: In light of his reported comments that he was "more than certain [the board] would have" commissioned credit and security checks on Mr Davy, can he explain on what basis he made this assertion and whether he has personally confirmed that these checks were done?

3. JEANETTE FITZSIMONS to the Minister for the Environment: Has she been briefed on the statement by the Mexican Government at the 18 April 2002 meeting of the biodiversity convention in the Hague that, at 95 percent of sites tested in Mexico, corn crops have been contaminated by DNA from genetically modified corn; if so, what implications does she see for New Zealand's policy on the release of genetically modified organisms?

4. Hon DAVID CARTER to the Convenor, Ministerial Group on Climate Change: How will a three to six cent per litre increase in the cost of petrol, a three to seven cent per litre increase in the cost of diesel, a four to nine percent rise in the cost of electricity, a three to eight percent increase in the cost of gas, and an eight to 19 percent increase in the cost of coal, as outlined in the Government Climate Change Discussion Paper, improve New Zealand's standard of living or economic competitiveness relative to Australia?

5. MARK PECK to the Minister of Finance: What recent reports has he received on the state of the economy?

6. STEPHEN FRANKS to the Minister of Justice: Why does the report of the Ministerial Taskforce on Youth Offending contain no international comparison figures for violent youth crime, given its claim that New Zealand's youth justice system is generally working well?

7. KEVIN CAMPBELL to the Minister for Industry and Regional Development: What progress has been made on developing the regional immigration initiative, which aims to boost regional economies through immigration policy?

8. Hon Dr NICK SMITH to the Minister of Education: Will he accept responsibility for the third consecutive term of industrial action in secondary schools that is adversely affecting thousands of students' education, undermining implementation of the new National Certificate of Educational Achievement and disrupting extra-curricular activities; if not, why not?

9. H V ROSS ROBERTSON to the Minister of Labour: Has she received any proposals to change the employment relations environment?

10. GERRY BROWNLEE to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by her reported statement that her Government will set new standards - both in terms of behaviour and performance; if so, does she believe her Ministers have lived up to that commitment?

11. DAVID CUNLIFFE to the Minister of Communications: What is the role of the Telecommunications Commissioner under the new Telecommunications Act 2001?

12. Hon MURRAY McCULLY to the Minister for State Owned Enterprises: Does he support the unanimous recommendation of the Finance and Expenditure Committee that the Auditor-General should conduct an audit of the New Zealand Post Limited subsidiary Transend, and does he consider with the benefit of hindsight that he should have required a proper audit to be undertaken when allegations of serious problems in Transend first surfaced?

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