Questions For Oral Answer

Wednesday, 23 June 1999

Questions to Ministers

1. Gerry Brownlee to the Minister of Social Services, Work and Income: Does he agree with recent comments that unemployment figures have increased by 85,000?

2. Rt Hon. Helen Clark to the Prime Minister: In view of her reported challenge to Television New Zealand to release the range of figures under discussion with John Hawkesby, will she, as Prime Minister, require the Minister of State Services and the Minister responsible for the Fire Service, to release details of the payment made to Mrs Jean Martin when she resigned from the Fire Service; if not, why not?

3. Peter Brown to the Prime Minister: Why does she continue to have Ministers in charge of various portfolios when increasingly Ministers are claiming to be not responsible for the actions of their boards?

4. Jim Anderton to the Minister for Enterprise and Commerce: When was the last time the Holidays Act 1981 was amended to extend the minimum annual leave entitlement, and is that entitlement being reviewed?

5. Hon. Dr Michael Cullen to the Minister of Tourism: Is it Government policy that Bryan Mogridge and Michael Wall should return all the money that they received as a payment to leave the Tourism Board; if not, why not?

6. Rodney Hide to the Treasurer: How much would a three cent cut to the top rate of tax reduce Government revenue by in a year and how does this reduction compare to the increase in Government expenditure that has occurred since 1993/94?

7. Hon. Neil Kirton to the Minister of Health: Following his reported statement that "It's no secret I'm concerned about the state of Capital Coast Health. It hasn't performed well in many years.", will he be seeking a refund of the nearly $2 million paid to consultants who were hired to develop a financial rescue package for Capital Coast Health?

8. Annabel Young to the Prime Minister: What reports has she recently received on the impact of APEC on women?

9. Hon. Robyn McDonald to the Minister of Consumer Affairs: What does he intend to do about the continued sale of child resistant cigarette lighters?

10. Hon. Phil Goff to the Minister of Justice: What protection, if any, does the justice system offer to families driven from their homes by intimidation and threatening behaviour by gang members?

11. Belinda Vernon to the Minister responsible for Housing New Zealand Ltd: What progress has been made in acquiring 1,000 new homes in Auckland?

12. Hon. Annette King to the Minister of Health: Was the Health Funding Authority's contract with Ascot Hospital for joint replacement surgery negotiated and finalised in just eight days and signed before the hospital had opened; if so, what safety and quality checks were completed before the signing of the contract?

© 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>>