Questions for Oral Answer As At Wednesday, 8 September 2004

Questions to Ministers

1. CLAYTON COSGROVE to the Minister of Finance: Has he received any recent reports on the New Zealand economy?

2. RODNEY HIDE to the Prime Minister: Following her reply yesterday that Mr Lloyd "would not give the information", has she now been able to find out how many jobs have been created by Sovereign Yachts, and does she stand by her 2001 Statement to Parliament that "hundreds more jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars of export earnings" were in prospect through this development?

3. JEANETTE FITZSIMONS to the Minister of Conservation: Does he have any concerns about options proposed by the Ministry of Fisheries to increase the number of rare New Zealand sea lions that are allowed to be killed in the southern squid trawl fishery?

4. KATHERINE RICH to the Minister of Internal Affairs: What specific Department of Internal Affairs grants have been investigated in the last 12 months and what has been the outcome of those investigations?

5. Hon MARK GOSCHE to the Minister for Social Development and Employment: What reports has he received on outcomes of Work and Income programmes assisting clients seeking employment in the creative industries?

6. SUE BRADFORD to the Minister for Community and Voluntary Sector: Following a report on the community and voluntary sector showing that "For every one dollar provided to a voluntary agency, between $3 and $5 worth of services are delivered to the community.", what will he do to further encourage and support that sector?

7. MARK PECK to the Minister of Education: What reports has he received on the success of the Government's initiatives in the areas of literacy and numeracy?

8. Hon TONY RYALL to the Minister of Police: What assurances can he give that the personal safety of police officers will not be jeopardised as inmate overcrowding worsens, and when does he expect this situation to end in light of the warning from a senior police officer that "The more we have to put in there the more it turns into a powderkeg."?

9. LUAMANUVAO WINNIE LABAN to the Minister for Trade Negotiations: What progress was made in trade negotiations from last weekend's meeting in Jakarta?

10. GERRY BROWNLEE to the Minister of Maori Affairs: Can he confirm his reported statement that Tainui concerns about whether the Foreshore and Seabed Bill cuts across claims over the Waikato River and west coast harbours will have to be worked through as it goes through the House; if so, what action has he taken so far to work through Tainui's concerns?

11. Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS to the Minister of Police: With regard to the Prime Minister's comments in the House yesterday, at what level was the decision made not to prosecute Phillip Layton Edwards for the aggravated burglary at 8 Rocky Nook Avenue, Auckland, on 12 September 2002, and why was the decision made at that level?

12. MURRAY SMITH to the Minister of Finance: What specific proposals does he intend to implement to ensure that the broader economic contribution of the voluntary sector is both valued and encouraged, in light of the report by Price Waterhouse Coopers which estimates that the voluntary sector may be contributing more than a billion dollars to the economy a year?

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>>