QUESTIONS FOR ORAL ANSWER

Tuesday, 13 November 2001

Questions to Ministers

1. GRANT GILLON to the Prime Minister: What reports has she received about the Government's offer of SAS troops to the international military action against terrorism?

2. Hon BILL ENGLISH to the Prime Minister: Is her statement that "the Government is not reviewing" its offer of New Zealand SAS troops based on her reported belief that the Alliance conference resolution to review support was a sop to leftists, and her doubts that the Alliance position will change; if not, what was it based on?

3. JEANETTE FITZSIMONS to the Prime Minister: Does she still agree with the resolution of this House on 3 October which included total support for the approach taken by the United States of America in response to the terrorist attacks in New York on 11 September?

4. Hon BILL ENGLISH to the Minister of Finance: What is his response to minutes of a meeting of directors of New Zealand Post on 21 March 2001, in relation to the People's Bank, which attribute to Mr Ken Douglas the view that "it is not helpful for the Deputy Prime Minister to be using selected parts of the business case", and to Mr Syd Bradley the criticism that the degree of the Deputy Prime Minister's involvement was "a major concern"?

5. ANN HARTLEY to the Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector: What reports has he received on initiatives to support volunteering in New Zealand communities?

6. Hon RICHARD PREBBLE to the Prime Minister: In light of her reported statement that "I've made it clear the Government is not reviewing the offer that it made" in relation to the decision to offer SAS troops for the war against terrorism, what regard, if any, is Cabinet having to the Alliance Party's announced review of its support for the war against terrorism?

7. PHILLIDA BUNKLE to the Associate Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Official Development Assistance): What progress has been made on the humanitarian aid package offered by the Government to assist with the crisis in Afghanistan?

8. Hon TONY RYALL to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by her statement that Matthew Solomon Thompson was "a young man who, many years ago, had been placed as a State ward in [the Associate Minister of Corrections'] home by the Department of Social Welfare"; if so, why?

9. HELEN DUNCAN to the Minister of Education: What is the Government's response to the Education and Science Committee's report on the teaching of reading in New Zealand?

10. Hon TONY RYALL to the Minister of Corrections: What specific measures has he worked on with his Associate Minister to ensure that "appropriate procedures and processes are followed" regarding contact with the Department of Corrections about individual inmates?

11. DAVID CUNLIFFE to the Minister of Broadcasting: What reports has she received about the standards under which free-to-air television broadcasters operate?

12. SIMON POWER to the Minister of Labour: Does she stand by her answer in the House on 31 October 2001 where she said "Ms Bathgate was a serious candidate for the chief position. She was also well qualified in her experience in legal practice and her experience in sitting on tribunals."; if so, why?

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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>>