Questions for Oral Answer
As At Thursday, 19 February 2004

Questions to Ministers

1. KEITH LOCKE to the Minister of Immigration: Does she now regret her behaviour and the behaviour of her department in relation to the treatment of a sexually abused Sri Lankan teenager who was forcibly deported last Thursday?

2. JUDITH COLLINS to the Minister of Immigration: Does she stand by her response on Morning Report on 18 February that she did not put potentially legally privileged notes, relating to the 16-year-old Sri Lankan girl recently deported from New Zealand into the public arena; if not, why not?

3. DARREN HUGHES to the Minister of Civil Defence: What steps have been taken to address the current civil defence emergency, and what advice has he received regarding ongoing weather prospects?

4. Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS to the Prime Minister: How many times has she told the House that she has confidence in her Minister of Immigration and does she still hold that view?

5. MARC ALEXANDER to the Minister of Corrections: Does he consider that the privately-managed Auckland Central Remand Prison delivers a lesser standard of management, with lower outcomes, than State-managed prisons; if so, why?

6. JUDITH COLLINS to the Minister of Immigration: Is it acceptable behaviour for her or her staff to distribute personal information or notes relating to individual cases to the media, and what confidence can the public have that their personal immigration information would not be made public without their express permission and knowledge?

7. HELEN DUNCAN to the Associate Minister of Education (Tertiary Education): What reports has he received on the progress of the Modern Apprenticeships scheme?

8. HEATHER ROY to the Minister of Health: Given the Prime Minister's statement that the Government's policies are to be "thoroughly based on need", will she remove the loading for funding Primary Health Organisations that provides 20 percent extra funding for patients of the same sex, income and age, simply because a patient is Maori; if not, why is Primary Health Organisations funding based on race, not health needs?

9. DAVID BENSON-POPE to the Minister of State Services: What progress has been made to date towards implementing a retirement savings scheme in the State sector?

10. SIMON POWER to the Minister of Civil Defence: Is he satisfied with the amount of money given by the Government to the victims of flooding in the lower North Island, including the Manawatu and Rangitikei; if so, why?

11. MAHARA OKEROA to the Minister for Courts: What programmes does the Ministry of Justice have in place to assist children appearing as witnesses in court proceedings?

12. GERRY BROWNLEE to the Prime Minister: Does she have confidence in the Minister of Immigration; if so, why?

ENDS

© Scoop Media

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>>