QUESTIONS FOR ORAL ANSWER

Wednesday, 23 May 2001

Questions to Ministers

1. HELEN DUNCAN to the Minister of Education: Has he received a report from the State Services Commission on the Specialist Education Services' termination of Celia Lashlie's contract; if so, what are the key findings of the report?

2. Hon MURRAY McCULLY to the Attorney-General: What authorisation or instructions were provided to Mr Rennie QC prior to his writing to counsel for Mr Yelash on 11 April setting out a proposal to settle the defamation action between Mr Yelash and the Prime Minister?

3. GRANT GILLON to the Minister of Consumer Affairs: What recent evidence has he seen of excessive charges for credit?

4. Rt Hon JENNY SHIPLEY to the Prime Minister: Did she personally speak with Hugh Rennie QC or the Crown Law Office to discuss the Yelash settlement; if so, what "general or specific" instructions, directions or authorisations did she give?

5. DIANNE YATES to the Minister for Biosecurity: What changes in border control procedure have been announced this week?

6. Hon PETER DUNNE to the Attorney-General: Is it correct that counsel for the Prime Minister required an undertaking from Mr Chris Reid, solicitor for Mr John Yelash, that Mr Reid would not disburse any settlement monies until after Mr Yelash had signed a confidentiality deed; if so, why was that undertaking required?

7. Hon KEN SHIRLEY to the Minister of Health: In light of the Health and Disability Commissioner's conclusion in his report into her complaint against Auckland orthopaedic surgeon Mr Joe Brownlee that Mr Brownlee was not culpable, will she now apologise to Mr Brownlee?

8. Hon BILL ENGLISH to the Minister of Finance: Will he follow Australia's lead and drop the New Zealand company tax rate to 30% in tomorrow's Budget; if not, why not?

9. CHRIS CARTER to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade: What does he hope to achieve with his visit to Tibet next week?

10. GERRY BROWNLEE to the Associate Minister of Education (Tertiary Education): Will he confirm that if universities do not accept the funding offer he has made to them, they will not only lose next year's funding increase but will also lose the 2.3% increase from last year's Budget?

11. Hon DOVER SAMUELS to the Minister for Economic Development: What is he doing to help regions, such as Northland, that have acute economic problems?

12. BOB SIMCOCK to the Minister of Social Services and Employment: How can he reconcile his statement in the House on 17 May 2001, that "I understand that research results due to be released tomorrow by the New Zealand Council of Christian Social Services will confirm that its countrywide survey shows a reduction in a large number of food banks, where they are seeing fewer clients.", with the Council's housing and policy group convenor Campbell Roberts' statement that "There isn't any indication that the number of people going to food banks has reduced."?

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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>>