Questions for Oral Answer
As At Tuesday, 24 February 2004

Questions to Ministers

1. Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS to the Minister of Broadcasting: Is Television New Zealand Limited undertaking any inquiries into the manner in which its reporters obtain information for news stories?

2. JILL PETTIS to the Minister for Rural Affairs: What assistance and support is being provided by the Government to rural communities affected by the current flooding?

3. DONNA AWATERE HUATA to the Associate Minister of Education (Tertiary Education): What support is available for private training establishments that get into financial strife?

4. JUDY TURNER to the Associate Minister for Social Development and Employment (CYF): Does she agree with the comments of the Department of Child, Youth and Family Services' Southern Regional Manager, Paula Attrill, that curbing child prostitution is "first and foremost" a police issue; if so, why?

5. GERRY BROWNLEE to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by the response given on her behalf on 19 February that in "early July the Mt Albert electorate office contacted Marshall, Bird and Curtis asking for certain documents. Those documents were faxed.", and does she stand by the assertion made on her behalf that a document tabled by the Deputy Prime Minister was a "cover sheet" which evidenced the alleged communication came from the lawyer's office?

6. MOANA MACKEY to the Associate Minister of Education (Tertiary Education): What reports has he received on whether New Zealand universities apply different standards of assessment to Maori students than for non-Maori students?

7. Hon BILL ENGLISH to the Minister of Education: Why are the educational benefits of network reviews large enough to proceed with decisions on 71 school closures this term, but not large enough to justify any more school network reviews?

8. METIRIA TUREI to the Minister of Education: Does his statement that "The days of people worrying that when the Minister's coming to your school he's coming not to praise you but to bury you are over." apply to schools under review around New Zealand such as Pinehaven, Watlington Intermediate, Kaiata, Kapuni and Invercargill South; if not, why not?

9. Hon KEN SHIRLEY to the Minister for the Environment: Does she support the application of the Resource Management Act to all New Zealanders regardless of race, and do councils who are confronted with flagrant law breaking have her Government's full support to uphold the law?

10. LYNNE PILLAY to the Minister of Health: What are the estimated impacts of increasing access to the free breast screening programme for women aged between 45-70 years announced yesterday?

11. GERRY BROWNLEE to the Prime Minister: What did she discuss with Lianne Dalziel in her meeting with her on Wednesday last week, and when did she first become aware of the involvement of her electorate office in the transmission of the letter leaked last Monday by Lianne Dalziel?

12. Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS to the Minister of Labour: What has she done about giving local government the right to decide with local communities whether or not there is Easter trading in local government areas?

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.

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>>