QUESTIONS FOR ORAL ANSWER

Wednesday, 21 February 2001

Questions to Ministers

1. Rt Hon JENNY SHIPLEY to the Minister of Finance: What did he mean when he said that the "People's Bank" "will have to stand or fall on its commercial merits"?

2. MARK PECK to the Minister of Revenue: Has he received any recent suggestions for changes to the personal tax system?

3. Hon RICHARD PREBBLE to the Minister of Agriculture: Did the Government give any instruction or directions to negotiators for the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry that any offer made to the MAF veterinarians must be fiscally neutral; if so, was this disclosed at the beginning of the negotiations as part of good faith bargaining?

4. Hon PETER DUNNE to the Minister of Transport: Will the Government introduce legislation to enable regional councils to own urban passenger rail services?

5. Hon BILL ENGLISH to the Minister of Finance: Further to Hon Jim Anderton's comment that the Government intended to "set up a publicly-owned New Zealand bank with branches all over New Zealand", does the "People's Bank" plan to establish branches in small communities which have lost their banking facilities?

6. GRAHAM KELLY to the Minister for Accident Insurance: Has he received any further reports on the issue of ACC overcharging raised in oral question No 1 yesterday, asked by the Hon Ken Shirley?

7. Dr the Hon LOCKWOOD SMITH to the Minister of Labour: In light of mediation failing in both the Nelson port picket and the Government veterinarians' strike, what authority, if any, does she have under the Employment Relations Act to take actions to end these industrial disputes?

8. JILL PETTIS to the Minister of Social Services and Employment: What evidence is there that the reduction in the unemployment rate is being reflected in reductions in the number of people in receipt of unemployment benefits?

9. Hon ROGER SOWRY to the Minister of Health: Has she received a letter from Mr Andrew Strange tendering his resignation as a director of the Auckland District Health Board; if so, what was her response?

10. TAITO PHILLIP FIELD to the Minister of Housing: What reports has he received on the impact of income-related rents?

11. PANSY WONG to the Minister of Consumer Affairs: Is it correct that her Ministry is conducting communication programmes to advise East Coast Maori communities about the dangers of electricity and gas as its contribution towards the "reducing inequalities" programme, formerly known as "Closing the Gaps"; if so, at what cost?

12. Dr MURIEL NEWMAN to the Associate Minister of Justice: In light of editorial support in major newspapers for the Family Courts (Openness of Proceedings) Amendment Bill, is the Government prepared to support the bill going to a select committee to allow considered evaluation and input from the public?

© Scoop Media

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>>