QUESTIONS FOR ORAL ANSWER

Wednesday, 20 June 2001

Questions to Ministers

1. GRANT GILLON to the Minister for Economic Development: What needs have emerged since Northland was identified by the Ministry of Economic Development as an acute region?

2. Hon ROGER SOWRY to the Minister of Health: What specific action will she take in response to reports that the stress of constant demand for greater efficiencies, restructurings and demands for cost-cutting are leading to breakdowns on the job at Auckland District Health Board and putting the entire organisation at extreme risk?

3. JANET MACKEY to the Minister of Justice: What are the key areas of concern for the Government arising out of the Ministry of Justice's report on recidivism patterns for people convicted in 1995?

4. Dr LYNDA SCOTT to the Minister of Health: What reports has she received from district health boards regarding proposed efficiency gains for the 2001/2002 financial year?

5. SUE BRADFORD to the Minister of Labour: Did the Government intend to prevent large groups of workers who hold any kind of supervisory position from being able to sign up to collective agreements under the Employment Relations Act?

6. Dr WAYNE MAPP to the Minister of Justice: Has he seen the statement by Hon Roger McClay, the Commissioner for Children, "I do worry that we are sending the message that a two-year-old's life is only worth six years while an adult's is worth more."; if so, what assurances can he provide to the Commissioner and the public that the law will be strengthened in relation to the sentences of people who kill children?

7. HELEN DUNCAN to the Minister of Education: What did the Getting Set for an Active Nation report say in relation to physical activity in schools and how did schools react to those findings?

8. Dr the Hon LOCKWOOD SMITH to the Minister of Labour: Further to her answers in the House yesterday, what actions, as Minister, had she planned or undertaken that, in her opinion, would have led to the Prime Minister asking her to make a decision about whether she was prepared to live within the rules?

9. Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS to the Prime Minister: In the light of her response to oral question No 3 on Tuesday 19 June 2001, regarding the Yelash settlement, and her insistence that she did not discuss confidentiality or penalty provisions issues with legal counsel before receiving the settlement terms whilst in China, did she discuss, confer or communicate with any other person on the issue of confidentiality prior to the time she received the negotiated settlement in China; if so, who?

10. Hon BILL ENGLISH to the Prime Minister: In light of the Attorney-General's statement to the House on 22 May, in relation to the confidentiality clause in the Yelash defamation settlement, that "that clause was included by counsel for the Prime Minister", on whose instructions did counsel for the Prime Minister include that clause?

11. JUDY KEALL to the Minister of Health: What steps has the Government taken to improve palliative care?

12. RODNEY HIDE to the Minister for State Owned Enterprises: Is the report in this morning's Dominion correct that, in relation to the full-page newspaper advertisements paid for by Meridian Energy in which Labour member of Parliament Tim Barnett endorses the company, he will be asking Mr Barnett and Meridian Energy about the circumstances; if so, what is the range of issues he will ask them to answer?

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.

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