Questions for Oral Answer
As At Tuesday, 25 May 2004

Questions to Ministers

1. Hon TONY RYALL to the Minister of Justice: Why did he include new section 134A in the Crimes Amendment Bill (No 2) and what process did he use to secure Cabinet or Cabinet committee approval for the introduction of the bill?

2. CLAYTON COSGROVE to the Minister of Finance: What are the major long term pressures on Government spending?

3. Hon TONY RYALL to the Minister of Justice: Did he explain to his Cabinet or caucus colleagues the new provision in the Crimes Amendment Bill (No 2) that a person accused of sexual conduct with a child under 16 with consent can claim a defence by proving he or she took reasonable steps to find the age of the person concerned, and that he or she believed the child to be of, or over, the age of 16; if so, were any changes made as a result?

4. JEANETTE FITZSIMONS to the Minister of Fisheries: Does he have confidence in the Quota Management System to protect New Zealand's fisheries from overfishing; if so, why?

5. Hon BILL ENGLISH to the Associate Minister of Education (Tertiary Education): Would he regard evidence of conflicts of interest and potentially fraudulent enrolments as sufficient cause for an independent inquiry into the spending of $105 million on community education last year?

6. Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS to the Minister of Communications: Why is New Zealand the only OECD nation that has decided not to unbundle its local loop given that Mexico, which was the second to last nation not to, has begun down this path?

7. LYNNE PILLAY to the Minister of Transport: What reports, if any, has he received on proposals for Auckland transport?

8. RON MARK to the Minister of Corrections: Is he satisfied with the outcome of New Zealand Parole Board decisions?

9. MARK PECK to the Minister of Statistics: What action is the Government taking to strengthen the system of official statistics?

10. Hon RICHARD PREBBLE to the Minister of Finance: Does he stand by his reported comments in the Dominion Post on Friday 21 May ruling out cuts to the top rate of personal tax rates; if so, why is he ignoring advice from the Treasury report, New Zealand Economic Growth: An Analysis of Performance and Policy, April 2004, that found "A foundational principle for a taxation system that seeks to support economic growth is that it should be broad based - low rate"?

11. Hon PETER DUNNE to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade: What is the attitude of the New Zealand Government to the harassment of its citizens by foreign governments?

12. KATHERINE RICH to the Minister for Social Development and Employment: Why was taxpayers' money used to fund a project described by the Community Employment Group as "Te Kahui family reunion", which the group's New Plymouth field worker has described as "a real success"?

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>>