(Paraphrased answers will be published in the Headlines wire following completion of question time.)

Questions For Oral Answer Tuesday, 20 July 1999

1. Rt Hon. Helen Clark to the Prime Minister: Does she accept the criticism by the Government Administration Committee of her decision to have Cabinet only meet fortnightly; if not, why not?

2. Alec Neill to the Prime Minister: What indications has she had from Chinese Premier, Zhu Rongji, concerning the future of our trading relationship with China?

3. Rod Donald to the Associate Minister of Social Services, Work and Income: Is he satisfied with the performance of the Work and Income New Zealand Chief Executive Christine Rankin and the reported "astonishing results" achieved by the department she leads?

4. Owen Jennings to the Minister for Food, Fibre, Biosecurity and Border Control: What plans does the Government have to reform the New Zealand Wool Board and how will they affect the growers' reserves held by the Board?

5. Rt Hon. Winston Peters to the Prime Minister: Did she have a business meeting last month with Indonesian businessman James Riady of the Lippo Group; if so, did the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade or the Security Intelligence Service officials know about Mr Riady's background before he was invited to visit New Zealand?

6. Steve Maharey to the Associate Minister of Social Services, Work and Income: Has he received any reports regarding the effectiveness of Christine Rankin as Chief Executive of Work and Income New Zealand; if so, is he totally satisfied with her performance in that role to date?

7. Bob Simcock to the Minister for Enterprise and Commerce: Does he consider that the Employment Contracts Act 1991 has helped in the rapid decline of working days lost over the last ten years?

8. Lianne Dalziel to the Minister of Health: Is it Government policy for public hospitals to provide various levels of maternity care according to the patient's ability and willingness to pay; if so, why?

9. Rana Waitai to the Minister of Police: What are the benefits of the Government's policy on licensing firearms?

10. Pansy Wong to the Treasurer: What are the implications of the latest business confidence data for the Government's economic forecasts?

11. Gerry Brownlee to the Minister for Accident Rehabilitation and Compensation Insurance: What evidence is there that small and medium enterprises are benefiting from accident insurance reforms?

12. Harry Duynhoven to the Minister of Transport: Following the coroner's report on the Southern Air crash in August 1998, is he satisfied that the performance of the Civil Aviation Authority is adequate to ensure the safety of airline passengers; if not, what action has he taken to improve that performance?

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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>>