Questions for Oral Answer As At Wednesday, 23 August 2006

Questions to Ministers

1. Dr DON BRASH to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by the statement in the Speech from the Throne in 1999 that her Government would "restore public confidence in the political integrity of Parliament and the electoral process"?

2. RUSSELL FAIRBROTHER to the Minister of Agriculture: What progress is the Government making to improve access for New Zealand stonefruit to export markets?

3. JOHN KEY to the Minister of Finance: Does he agree that he made an "apparent threat to pull a piece of tax legislation in retaliation for the Herald's coverage of Labour's pledge card rort", as reported by the media?

4. JEANETTE FITZSIMONS to the Minister of Finance: Is he sufficiently concerned about the demise of the Overlander service on 30 September to commit the Government to contributing financially to a rescue package; if not, why not?

5. Hon TONY RYALL to the Minister of Justice: Does he agree with the statements of the Chief Electoral Officer that the Labour pledge card and the A2-size pamphlet headed "Working together", "clearly encourages ... voters to vote for the Labour Party" and that "the expenses of these publications should be included in your [Labour's] return of election expenses."; if not, why not?

6. Dr the Hon LOCKWOOD SMITH to the Minister of Immigration: What involvement, if any, did the Minister have with respect to the case of Mr Sunan Siriwan either before or after the issuing of the special direction for a work visa to be granted as an exception to policy?

7. Hon MARK GOSCHE to the Minister for ACC: What recent announcements has she made concerning New Zealand's ACC system?

8. SIMON POWER to the Minister of Justice: Does he agree with the statement of the Prime Minister in her speech on proposed changes to the criminal justice system last week, when she said, in comparing the increased number of prison inmates to the overall reduction in reported crime, that "Something doesn't add up."?

9. GEORGINA BEYER to the Minister for Social Development and Employment: What reports has he received on the number of New Zealanders employed and unemployed?

10. Dr WAYNE MAPP to the Minister of Labour: Does she accept that the Department of Labour should fully investigate the nature of the work relationships raised in the Ingram Report, in light of Dr Ingram's statement that "if any of those issues [are] to be pursued further, that task would need to be undertaken by some appropriately authorised authority"; if not, why not?

11. BARBARA STEWART to the Minister of Health: Has his Ministry ever researched possible methods of separating acute surgery from elective surgery, as advocated by senior medical staff in Christchurch following the culling of 5,121 patients from Canterbury District Health Board waiting lists?

12. Hon DAVID CARTER to the Minister for Land Information: Why did the Government commission the report from Donn Armstrong on the land tenure process, and when will it be released to all interested parties?

ENDS

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