Questions for Oral Answer
As At tuesday, 16 march 2004

Questions to Ministers
1. GERRY BROWNLEE to the Prime Minister: Why is she now reported as saying there will be no announcements this week regarding a commission of inquiry into Treaty of Waitangi matters, when on Thursday she was reported to be set to go on an inquiry?

2. MARK GOSCHE to the Minister for ACC: What is she doing to make the ACC medical misadventure provisions fairer and more consistent?

3. KATHERINE RICH to the Minister of Education: Why does the collective agreement for Specialist Education Services field staff provide for an extra allowance to be paid to Maori staff members for their skill and knowledge of te reo Maori and tikanga Maori, and why does the collective agreement limit the payment of the allowance to Maori staff?

4. DAVID PARKER to the Minister of Tourism: What reports has he received on the implementation of the New Zealand Tourism Strategy 2010?

5. STEPHEN FRANKS to the Attorney-General: Has she advised Cabinet or the Prime Minister about commenting on a Maori Land Court ruling authorising certain foreshore and seabed claims to proceed; if so, what was her advice?

6. JUDY TURNER to the Associate Minister for Social Development and Employment (CYF): Does she stand by her comment that the current crisis of unallocated cases at the Department of Child, Youth and Family Services is just a "departmental issue"?

7. Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS to the Minister of Fisheries: Which appeals to the Catch History Review Committee did Jacqui Lowe sit on prior to March 2004?

8. LYNNE PILLAY to the Associate Minister of Education (Tertiary Education): What is the Government doing to provide opportunities for New Zealand students to study internationally?

9. Hon BILL ENGLISH to the Associate Minister of Education (Tertiary Education): Does he believe taxpayer-funded courses such as the Eastern Institute of Technology's "He Waiata Ma Te Whanau", which offers participants the opportunity to "relax" at home and sing-along with songs on the radio, and Tarawhiti Polytechnic's "Twilight Golf" meet the objectives of the Tertiary Education Strategy?

10. BARBARA STEWART to the Minister of Health: How many people infected with tuberculosis are currently patients at North Shore Hospital, and, if there are any, how many of those patients were born in New Zealand?

11. SUE BRADFORD to the Minister of Women's Affairs: What is the Government doing to implement its commitment to "reduce the incidence and impact of violence on women"?

12. Hon Dr NICK SMITH to the Minister of Civil Defence: Will the Government indemnify councils from any damage to life or property from the expected 1.4 million cubic metre Mt Ruapehu lahar; if not, why not?

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>>