QUESTIONS FOR ORAL ANSWER

Thursday, 21 June 2001

Questions to Ministers

1. SUE KEDGLEY to the Associate Minister of Energy: As New Zealand's "dirty diesel" has sulphur levels 60 times higher than some European countries, will the Government urgently amend the petroleum products specifications regulations to lower permitted levels of sulphur in diesel to European levels; if not, why not?

2. Rt Hon JENNY SHIPLEY to the Minister for State Owned Enterprises: Will he direct State-owned enterprises, under the State-Owned Enterprises Act 1986, that they shall not get involved in activities which endorse the viewpoint of any particular politician or political party?

3. MARK PECK to the Minister of Finance: Is it Government policy to introduce a new tax on owner occupier housing?

4. Dr PAUL HUTCHISON to the Minister of Health: Does she believe that she should take responsibility for decisions to increase district health board chief executives' salaries or make transition payments; if not, why not?

5. JANET MACKEY to the Minister of Justice: Does he intend to propose changes to the Crimes Act so that the law is gender neutral in respect to sexual offences?

6. RODNEY HIDE to the Prime Minister: Is it correct that, in relation to her proposed settlement with Mr John Yelash, her Chief of Staff telephoned Crown Law to discuss the settlement and that it was Crown Law that instructed Mr Hugh Rennie; if so, why did she not explain this chain of instruction when first questioned in Parliament about who instructed who?

7. CLAYTON COSGROVE to the Minister for Trade Negotiations: What is the significance of the latest United States announcements on the World Trade Organisation dispute concerning United States restrictions on New Zealand lamb?

8. Hon MURRAY McCULLY to the Minister assisting the Prime Minister on Auckland Issues: Has the Government delayed the decision regarding the proposed acquisition of the Tranz Rail Auckland rail corridor from June to August; if so, what advice has she given the Prime Minister on the reasons for this delay?

9. Dr MURIEL NEWMAN to the Prime Minister: Is it correct that the strategy of amalgamating the Ministry of Social Policy and the Department of Work and Income "arose in discussion" between herself and the Minister of State Services, and that as a result the State Services Commissioner recommended in writing to her that the Chief Executive of any newly-merged structure "needs to be a policy leader, thinker and change manager, rather than primarily an operational manager"?

10. Dr the Hon LOCKWOOD SMITH to the Minister of Labour: Does she stand by her answer in the House yesterday, with respect to the Employment Relations Act, that "The intent is that both supervisory staff and all other staff should be able to choose whether they wish to be covered by collective bargaining and by the collective agreements that result from that bargaining."; if not, why not?

11. DAVID CUNLIFFE to the Minister of Communications: What process is the Government following to appoint a Telecommunications Commissioner as announced in the Government's telecommunication policy?

12. LINDSAY TISCH to the Minister of Internal Affairs: What reports has he received regarding fire evacuation procedures in multi-storey buildings with stairs and lifts?

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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>>