QUESTIONS FOR ORAL ANSWER

Wednesday, 14 February 2001

Questions to Ministers

1. IAN EWEN-STREET to the Associate Minister of Education (Tertiary Education): What consideration has he given to the suggestion of the Deputy Prime Minister that the student loan debt of science and engineering graduates be wiped if they agree to work in New Zealand for several years?

2. Rt Hon JENNY SHIPLEY to the Prime Minister: Does she expect all Ministers to adhere to the principle of collective responsibility, as prescribed in the Cabinet Office Manual; if not, why not?

3. DAVID BENSON-POPE to the Minister of Education: How does the national certificate of educational achievement, as it is proposed now, differ from the qualification agreed to by Cabinet in 1998?

4. Hon BILL ENGLISH to the Minister of Finance: What will happen to the funds of depositors in the event of the "People's Bank" proving to be a commercial failure?

5. JANET MACKEY to the Minister of Justice: What changes is he proposing to the Criminal Investigations (Blood Samples) Act 1995, and why?

6. Hon RICHARD PREBBLE to the Associate Minister of Justice: Is the Registrar of Electors for the Wellington Central electorate making inquiries into the circumstances surrounding the enrolment as electors by Hon Marian Hobbs and Hon Phillida Bunkle; if so, what is the timetable for this investigation?

7. GEORGINA BEYER to the Minister for Rural Affairs: Is he satisfied with the response to date to the Sustainable Farming Fund; if so, why?

8. Hon ROGER SOWRY to the Minister of Health: In her statement of 11 February 2001 entitled "Hospital queues significantly reduced", on what basis did she assert that "significant improvements in delivering elective (non-urgent) treatment services has seen hospital queues drop by 56% in the first quarter of the 2000/01 year"?

9. OWEN JENNINGS to the Minister of Agriculture: What assurances can he give apple growers that they are being fairly treated under the current industry regulatory framework?

10. Dr the Hon LOCKWOOD SMITH to the Minister of Labour: What actions will she take in relation to the veterinarians' strike scheduled for Friday, which reportedly threatens to throw the pre-Easter $1.4 billion meat export processing season into turmoil?

11. DAVID CUNLIFFE to the Minister of Commerce: Why is the Government introducing a Takeovers Code from 1 July 2001?

12. BOB SIMCOCK to the Minister of Social Services and Employment: What is his response to foodbank workers reportedly putting the Government on notice, saying that Labour and Alliance social policies are not working and that foodbank use is higher than ever?

ENDS

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Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>