QUESTIONS TO MINISTERS

1. Hon TAU HENARE to the Minister of Finance: What reports has he received on the Government’s financial position?

2. DAVID SHEARER to the Prime Minister: Does he have confidence in all his Ministers?

3. IAN McKELVIE to the Minister of Police: What trends have been seen by Police since laws were changed in 2009 to combat illegal street racing?

4. GRANT ROBERTSON to the Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being very poor and 10 being outstanding, how does he rate the Government’s performance on job creation?

5. Dr RUSSEL NORMAN to the Minister of Finance: Does he stand by his statement, in relation to drought-stricken farmers, that “I wasn’t referring to climate change. It’s just that if it turned out that there was a succession of droughts, there’s no amount of government assistance that can offset that effect on farming’?

6. SIMON O'CONNOR to the Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment: What progress has been made with the Government’s Apprenticeship Re-boot?

7. Hon DAVID PARKER to the Minister of Finance: By how many dollars has the gap between New Zealand and Australian average weekly wages grown since December 2008, based on the methodology tabled by Hon John Key on 28 July 2010?

8. TE URUROA FLAVELL to the Minister of Internal Affairs: Does he intend to take any action about the failure of SkyCity Auckland to prevent access to the casino by people with gambling problems as recently reported in the media?

9. Hon ANNETTE KING to the Minister of Health: Is he confident that the Government’s initiative to provide Better, Sooner, More Convenient health care is meeting his expectations, if not, why not?

10. ANDREW WILLIAMS to the Minister for Land Information: How much of New Zealand farmland is foreign-owned?

11. Dr JACKIE BLUE to the Associate Minister of Health: What progress has been made in reducing infections in intensive care units?

12. PHIL TWYFORD to the Minister of Housing: What specific actions, if any, does Auckland Council need to take to avoid Government intervention, given his reported statement that “the Government would use the reformed RMA to intervene in Auckland”, if Auckland Council doesn’t change its planning practices?

© Scoop Media

Metservice: Where Will Snow Fall And What To Look Out For

The deep Antarctic air that is expected to sweep across the country this week is bringing very significant weather to many provinces.Here's the official MetService view of the key weather concerns for the country.

MetService Media and Communications Meteorologist Dan Corbett commented,"While snow will be a major issue for those in the South Island, wind and hail will affect many North Island districts."

Snow is expected to fall to sea level, or very near it, from Southland to South Canterbury from late Wednesday into Thursday and Friday. The snow level is expected to rise to 200m from about Christchurch northwards... More>>