Questions for Oral Answer
As At Tuesday, 29 June 2004

Questions to Ministers

1. Hon TONY RYALL to the Minister of Justice: Does he have full confidence in the Parole Board; if so, why?

2. SUE KEDGLEY to the Minister of Health: Is she going to act on the call of 125,000 New Zealanders who have signed a petition calling on the Government to fund district health boards so they can pay nurses fairly and ensure safe staffing levels; if not, why not?

3. CLAYTON COSGROVE to the Minister of Finance: What reports has he received on the New Zealand economy?

4. STEPHEN FRANKS to the Minister of Justice: Will he ensure that the announced review of the Parole Board considers whether punishment should be part of the Parole Board's consideration when deciding on parole, and did he expect that punishment would be taken into account when he promoted the Parole Act 2002?

5. JUDY TURNER to the Associate Minister of Health: Does he stand by his statement that "We need to face the fact that drug taking is widely accepted as a trigger for suicide by some people with mental illness."; if not, why not?

6. RON MARK to the Minister of Corrections: Was Arthur Alexander Gray's original sentence of imprisonment taken into account before he was released under probation supervision in Nelson last year and subsequently attempted to kill two backpackers?

7. STEVE CHADWICK to the Minister for the Environment: What action has the Government taken to help fix the problem with Lake Rotoiti water quality?

8. Hon BILL ENGLISH to the Associate Minister of Education (Tertiary Education): Has he had any advice from Ministry of Education officials about their role in the alleged conflict of interest situation at Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology, currently being investigated by the Office of the Auditor-General; if so, what was that advice?

9. RON MARK to the Minister of Police: Is he confident that police staffing numbers are adequate; if so, why?

10. GERRY BROWNLEE to the Minister in charge of Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations: Can she rule out ownership of the Waikato River and West Coast harbours being transferred to Tainui as part of a settlement of their historical claims; if not, how does she reconcile that with the Government's assurances to other New Zealanders that the foreshore and seabed will be placed in Crown ownership?

11. Hon MARK GOSCHE to the Minister of Housing: What reports has he received on security and affordability of housing for elderly New Zealanders living in State houses?

12. PHIL HEATLEY to the Minister of Fisheries: Can he confirm existing marine farming consent applications, halted for over two and a half years by the aquaculture moratorium, may now be thwarted in favour of the allocation to iwi of 20 percent of marine farming space; if so, does he regard the Government's proposal as fair to everyone?

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>>