Questions for Oral Answer

As At Wednesday, 25 August 2004 Questions to Ministers

1. JILL PETTIS to the Minister for Economic Development: Has he received any recent reports on economic and regional growth; if so, what do these indicate?

2. Hon TONY RYALL to the Minister of Immigration: Does the Government have any plans to review refugee numbers in light of evidence that nine out of ten refugees are still dependent on a benefit after two years, and that after five years, eight out of ten are benefit-reliant; if so, what are they?

3. CLAYTON COSGROVE to the Minister of Revenue: What steps, if any, has the Government taken to encourage offshore gas exploration?

4. RON MARK to the Minister of Police: Did the police respond to a call from 8 Rocky Nook Avenue, Auckland on 12 September 2002; if so, what was the nature of the offence reported?

5. BERNIE OGILVY to the Minister of Education: Can he confirm that the total combined deficits incurred by schools doubled from $14 million in 1995 to $29 million last year, with the average secondary school deficit increasing by 70 percent from $55,624 to $94,631 in that time; if so, why?

6. KATHERINE RICH to the Minister for Social Development and Employment: How many sole parents receive a reduced benefit because they refuse to name the father of their children or refuse to fill out a child support application?

7. ROD DONALD to the Prime Minister: Will she give thorough consideration to holding a referendum at the next general election to give the people of New Zealand the opportunity to decide whether or not they want to change the official New Zealand flag?

8. RODNEY HIDE to the Minister of Finance: Does he accept that investing $2.4 billion on our roading network will increase GDP by $1 billion a year by 2012, as found by the Allen Consulting Group; if not, why not?

9. Dr ASHRAF CHOUDHARY to the Associate Minister of Education (Tertiary Education): What is the Government doing to support major initiatives in the tertiary education sector?

10. SIMON POWER to the Minister of Education: Is he satisfied that the Government's funding formula for schools is providing enough money and flexibility to provide the standard of education expected by parents and caregivers; if so, why?

11. MARK PECK to the Minister for Small Business: What recent reports has he received from the Small Business Advisory Group?

12. Hon Dr NICK SMITH to the Minister for the Environment: How did her Government's decision to amend the Resource Management Act 1991 last year by removing the Environment Court's power to grant security for costs help reduce the problem of frivolous and vexatious objectors?

13. JUDY TURNER to the Minister of Health: Is she satisfied that the Government's investment in health research is consistent with its concomitant commitment to preventative health care?

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>>