Questions for Oral Answer
As At Tuesday, 15 June 2004

Questions to Ministers

1. Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS to the Minister of Immigration: Is he confident that the New Zealand Immigration Service is working collaboratively with other Government departments to ensure illegal immigrants are identified and subsequently removed from New Zealand?

2. CLAYTON COSGROVE to the Minister of Finance: What flat tax rate would be required to deliver the same gains to the family on $55,000 a year mentioned in the Budget speech, and what would be the fiscal cost of that tax break?

3. Dr DON BRASH to the Prime Minister: Is she concerned about the impact of the Budget on work incentives for middle income families, given her statement that "when you have, you know, targeted assistance like this you always end up with, you know, abatement levels"; if not, why not?

4. BERNIE OGILVY to the Minister of Education: Why were the brochures promoting the Government's plan to provide twenty hours free early childhood education at community-based centres sent to privately-owned early childhood education providers for distribution?

5. DONNA AWATERE HUATA to the Minister of Education: What assurance can he give that NCEA levels 1 to 3, as delivered in every school, meets standards set down by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority?

6. SUE KEDGLEY to the Minister of Health: Has she seen the 2004 Pharmac submission to the Health Committee which states that the cost to the New Zealand taxpayer of joining with Australia in a joint therapeutics agency could be $85 million to $135 million over three years due to a de facto patent term extension, and how will such a cost increase benefit New Zealand?

7. DIANNE YATES to the Minister of State Services: Has the number of State sector employees increased since 1999; if so, why?

8. RODNEY HIDE to the Prime Minister: How big would the operating balance need to be for her to recommend to her Minister of Finance that he drop the top tax rate of 39 cents?

9. DAVID PARKER to the Minister for Biosecurity: What reports has he received analysing recent Budget allocations in biosecurity?

10. JOHN KEY to the Minister of Finance: Can he confirm that 14,900 fewer families are expected to receive family assistance when the "Working for Families" package is fully implemented in 2007 than received family assistance in 1999?

11. Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS to the Minister of Finance: Why is the Government spending $21 million to promote and sell the 2004 Budget to the public?

12. GERRY BROWNLEE to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by her statement with regard to the Government's "Working for Families" Budget package that "a certain amount of money has to go into promoting it"; if so, how much money does the Government plan to spend over the next four years promoting the package?

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>>