Questions for Oral Answer As At Thursday, 2 June 2005

Questions to Ministers

1. Dr DON BRASH to the Prime Minister: Does she believe the New Zealand public has confidence in the basic services provided by her Government, in light of the survey published by The New Zealand Herald showing 73.8 percent of people believe both Government-funded healthcare and education have remained the same or worsened since her Government came to power?

2. NANAIA MAHUTA to the Minister of Education: What progress has the Government made towards its targets for getting more people into modern apprenticeships?

3. Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS to the Minister of Immigration: Has he conducted any investigations into the "real bad people" referred to by Mr Amir Salman in yesterday's Dominion Post; if not, why not?

4. STEVE CHADWICK to the Associate Minister of Health: What Budget initiatives are there with respect to the aged care sector?

5. NANDOR TANCZOS to the Minister of Education: What is the projected total of outstanding student loans before provision for bad debts in 2010, and what proportion of net Government assets does this represent?

6. Hon BILL ENGLISH to the Minister of Education: What payments have been made to Te Wananga o Aotearoa under the terms of the Waitangi Tribunal recommended settlement negotiated between Te Wananga o Aotearoa and the Crown, and on what conditions have these payments been made?

7. GEORGINA BEYER to the Associate Minister for Social Development and Employment: What targeted initiatives has the Government undertaken to reduce long-term unemployment?

8. Hon Dr NICK SMITH to the Minister for Building Issues: What responsibility does he accept for the drop in building consents for new dwelling units from 3,027 in March to 1,617 in April and a drop in the total value of building consents from $1,159 million in March to $663 million in April?

9. LARRY BALDOCK to the Minister of Conservation: What progress, if any, has been made on the formal reassessment of 1080 by the Environmental Risk Management Authority, as initiated by the Department of Conservation and the Animal Health Board, and how many aerial 1080 drops, if any, are scheduled to take place before the reassessment is complete?

10. Hon BRIAN DONNELLY to the Minister of Education: Did Rt Hon Helen Clark announce a policy regarding taxpayer subsidised tertiary study for Chinese nationals on Tuesday; if so, what is the estimated annual cost to the taxpayer of such a scheme?

11. JOHN CARTER to the Minister of Defence: Can he confirm that there have been transmission issues with the new light operational vehicles, and what action has been undertaken to fix these vehicles?

12. RODNEY HIDE to the Minister of Health: Does she stand by the reported assurance she gave the Health Committee in 2002 that she was aiming at a deficit that was "close to zero" within three years, and what is her explanation for the projection of district health board deficits of $100 million for 2005/06 and similar deficits for 2006/07?

Questions to Members

1. RODNEY HIDE to the Chairperson of the Health Committee: Is the committee meeting to discuss the 2005/06 Estimates: Vote Health; if so, when?

ENDS

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Gordon Campbell:
On What John Banks And Nick Smith Have In Common

The defence that John Banks has been offering to the charges of electoral fraud – that he didn’t read the document he signed, and therefore lacked the necessary criminal intent – is a fairly standard example of political business as usual.

At a time when political power is being centralised downtown in the Executive, responsibility is being re-located to the suburbs. The Beehive seeks to operate as a blame free, shame free environment. At all times, plausible deniability is to be maintained.

Being able to put distance between the Minister and the actions/outcomes/political fallout of policy is not simply the last desperate resort of scoundrels, but the first resort of the foot soldiers in ministerial service... More>>