Questions for Oral Answer
As At Tuesday, 7 September 2004

Questions to Ministers

1. Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS to the Prime Minister: Does she have confidence in the Minister of Police; if so, why?

2. MARC ALEXANDER to the Minister of Justice: Did his officials predict the 16.5 percent increase in the prison population since June 2002; if so, why did the Government only yesterday raise the prospect of increasing the capacity of new and existing prisons?

3. Hon TONY RYALL to the Minister of Police: How many police officers have been required to guard remand prisoners in police and court cells over the past two months, and what discussions, if any, has he had with the Minister of Corrections as to how much longer these actions will be required?

4. MOANA MACKEY to the Minister for the Environment: What steps has the Government taken towards improved flood management in New Zealand?

5. GERRY BROWNLEE to the Associate Minister of Maori Affairs: Does he stand by his reported statement that changes were likely when the foreshore and seabed legislation was returned to the House and promised that they would take a "huge level of heat" out of the debate; if so, why?

6. MARK PECK to the Minister for Small Business: What reports has he received on reductions in compliance costs for small businesses?

7. Hon BILL ENGLISH to the Associate Minister of Education (Tertiary Education): What is the Government's policy on the purpose of equivalent full-time student funding?

8. JEANETTE FITZSIMONS to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade: When will the Government make a decision as to whether New Zealand will ratify the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety?

9. KATHERINE RICH to the Minister of Internal Affairs: Does he have full confidence that all projects receiving funding from the Department of Internal Affairs are meeting their objectives; if not, why not?

10. RODNEY HIDE to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by her statement of 4 February 2001 that Sovereign Yachts would "strengthen further New Zealand's high value marine industries", and how many of the 350 jobs estimated within two years have materialised?

11. Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS to the Prime Minister: Does she have confidence in the Minister of Immigration; if so, why?

12. STEVE CHADWICK to the Minister of Local Government: What support has the Government given to Bay of Plenty ratepayers and councils affected by recent floods and earthquakes?

Questions to Members

1. GERRY BROWNLEE to the Chairperson of the Fisheries and Other Sea-related Legislation Committee: What criteria did the committee use to determine which submitters out of the thousands of submissions received would be allowed to submit orally on the Foreshore and Seabed Bill?

2. Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS to the Chairperson of the Fisheries and Other Sea-related Legislation Committee: What steps has he taken to ensure the security of committee members hearing submissions on the Foreshore and Seabed Bill, given that the police took 35 minutes to respond to the call for help on Wednesday 25 August 2004?

3. Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS to the Chairperson of the Commerce Committee: Why has the "briefing into TVNZ's accountability to Parliament" scheduled to occur on 1 July 2004, then provisionally planned for 5 August 2004, still not taken place, and when is it to take place?

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>>