Questions for Oral Answer
As At Wednesday, 3 March 2004

Questions to Ministers

1. Hon RICHARD PREBBLE to the Minister of Maori Affairs: Does he agree with the Minister for Social Development and Employment, Hon Steve Maharey, that "It is perhaps time to set a date when all grievances must be settled so we can all move on,"; if not, why not?

2. MARC ALEXANDER to the Minister of Justice: Is he confident that s.98A of the Crimes Act 1961 concerning participation in a criminal gang is being utilised effectively to combat the spread of gangs and their related criminal activities; if so, why?

3. Hon BILL ENGLISH to the Minister of Education: What will be the difference between the process followed by the ministry facilitator and the process to be followed by the mediator with respect to the proposed closure of 13 Invercargill schools?

4. CLAYTON COSGROVE to the Minister of Finance: Has he received any reports recording complaints about the level of regulation in New Zealand?

5. SUE BRADFORD to the Minister for Social Development and Employment: Is he confident that all 265 towns named by Work and Income as limited employment locations offer no job prospects and no potential for local economic development?

6. Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS to the Minister of Finance: What are the total costs including legal, disbursements or consultants' fees since 1 January 1998 paid by the Crown Forestry Rental Trust in association with the Volcanic Interior Plateau Project Taumata, and to what matters do those costs refer?

7. Hon ROGER SOWRY to the Minister of Labour: Has he received any reports that the Employment Relations Law Reform Bill will create more jobs; if so, who were those reports from?

8. Dr ASHRAF CHOUDHARY to the Minister for Trade Negotiations: What progress can he report on multilateral negotiations at the World Trade Organisation?

9. SIMON POWER to the Minister for Courts: How many cases have been deferred by the Disputes Tribunal over the past week because of referee unavailability?

10. H V ROSS ROBERTSON to the Minister of Tourism: What reports has he received about New Zealand's international media profile as a premiere visitor destination?

11. Dr WAYNE MAPP to the Associate Minister of Justice: Why is the Government establishing 16 working groups with local authorities and whanau, hapu and iwi, to "enhance participation opportunities ... in decision making processes affecting the coastal marine area", given her statement on 18 February that Maori will only have "the methods of communication that are already provided for in the Resource Management Act"?

12. PETER BROWN to the Minister of Internal Affairs: Is he supportive of proposals to reclassify the use of urine or excrement in association with degrading or dehumanising or sexual conduct as being no longer "objectionable"; if so, why?

Questions to Members

1. Hon ROGER SOWRY to the Chairperson of the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee: How many submissions have been received by the committee on the Employment Relations Law Reform Bill?

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>>