Questions for Oral Answer
As At Tuesday, 22 June 2004

Questions to Ministers

1. TIM BARNETT to the Minister of Defence: What decisions has the Government taken to replace the Army's light operational vehicle fleet?

2. STEPHEN FRANKS to the Minister of Justice: Does he think the victims' rights referred to in the Parole Act 2002 should include a right to expect the Parole Board to ensure a sentence denounces, deters and holds a prisoner accountable for his or her crime; if not, why not?

3. Dr DON BRASH to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by her statement in relation to the "Working for Families" Budget package that "there is no evidence whatsoever that high effective marginal tax rates would cause middle-income families not to want to go to work."; if not, why not?

4. Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS to the Associate Minister for Social Development and Employment: In the last five years, how many people not born in New Zealand received an unemployment, invalid's, and/or sickness benefit, and at what cost?

5. RUSSELL FAIRBROTHER to the Minister of Justice: Where is the new Public Defence Service pilot scheme operating and what is its purpose?

6. GERRY BROWNLEE to the Minister of Fisheries: Has he been informed of any reports which suggest that Maori currently own more than 20 percent of marine farming space around the coastline of New Zealand; if so, why is he proposing to allocate 20 percent of marine farming space to iwi?

7. Hon PETER DUNNE to the Associate Minister of Justice: What specific rights, if any, does the Civil Union Bill confer on couples, or is this particular bill only of symbolic value?

8. Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS to the Minister of Immigration: What discussions has he had, if any, with the Minister of Health regarding the number of drug resistant tuberculosis cases found in New Zealand, and has she given him the number of cases brought in by immigrants infected overseas?

9. KATHERINE RICH to the Associate Minister for Social Development and Employment (CYF): Was the Department of Child, Youth and Family Services monitoring the care of the six-week old baby boy reported to be in Starship Hospital in a critical condition, and had the department been doing so since the baby's birth?

10. DAVID PARKER to the Minister for the Environment: What recent initiatives has the Government taken to protect the environment from the growing problem of discarded used tyres?

11. Hon TONY RYALL to the Minister of Corrections: What analysis has been done on the effectiveness of the Public Prison Service's rehabilitation programmes on repeat offenders?

12. METIRIA TUREI to the Associate Minister of Justice: Does the Government have any plans to amend the Human Rights Act 1993 to allow political parties to discriminate on the basis of religious belief or sexual orientation; 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>>