QUESTIONS FOR ORAL ANSWER

Wednesday, 5 December 2001

Questions to Ministers

1. Hon ROGER SOWRY to the Minister of Health: What is her response to the latest Public Health Financial Statistics which recorded a provisional operating deficit for district health boards of $42.3 million for the September 2001 quarter, and is she concerned about the increasing operating deficit?

2. JOHN TAMIHERE to the Minister of Finance: What further reports has he received on the state of business confidence in New Zealand?

3. RODNEY HIDE to the Minister of Labour: Did Ms Susan Bathgate tell her or her officials before Ms Bathgate's appointment to the Employment Relations Authority that there were formal complaints against her to the Principal Judge and the Registrar of the Family Court of substandard performance and conduct as Counsel for Child that exposed children she was representing to the potential of further sexual abuse, and does the Minister believe that such a complaint, along with an examination of its substance, would have had a bearing on the question of Ms Bathgate's suitability as an Authority member?

4. KEITH LOCKE to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Has he received any reports of the massacre of surrendering Taleban prisoners by Northern Alliance forces; if so, will he support Amnesty International's proposal that an inquiry be held into the massacre at Qala-i-Jhangi fort near Mazar-i-Sharif where hundreds died?

5. Dr LYNDA SCOTT to the Minister of Health: What savings had she identified when she stated, in response to my question regarding the Canterbury District Health Board nurses' strike yesterday, that "I would imagine there are costs and savings in any strike."?

6. NANAIA MAHUTA to the Minister of Education: What international reports has he received on performance in reading, numeracy and scientific literacy of New Zealand students?

7. Hon MAX BRADFORD to the Minister of Defence: Can he guarantee that neither Major General Dodson, nor any member of the Army General Staff, has provided any material from Mr Ron Mark's personal military files to any staff member of the public relations company Communications Trumps; if not, why not?

8. Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS to the Minister of Defence: What monies were paid by the Army to Communication Trumps over the last 36 months and, specifically, for what purposes?

9. SIMON POWER to the Minister of Labour: Did the report by John Upton QC find anything adverse in the actions of Susan Bathgate; if so, has she reported those findings to the Minister for Courts, who is responsible for Susan Bathgate's positions on the Complaints Review Tribunal and the Social Security Appeal Authority?

10. DIANNE YATES to the Associate Minister of Education (Tertiary Education): What reports has he received on the establishment of specialist centres of research excellence?

11. Dr PAUL HUTCHISON to the Minister of Health: Are district health boards fully recompensed for the full cost of cancer drugs; if not, why not?

12. DAVID BENSON-POPE to the Minister for Economic Development: What steps has the Government taken to maximise the potential benefits for New Zealand's economic development arising from the Lord of the Rings movies?

Questions to Members

1. BELINDA VERNON to the Chairperson of the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee: On what date did the committee first advertise for submissions on the Land Transport (Road Safety Enforcement) Amendment Bill, and what is the closing date for submissions?

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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>>