Questions For Oral Answer -Thursday, 9 August 2007

Questions to Ministers

1. Hon BILL ENGLISH to the Minister of State Services: Does she have confidence in Dr Mark Prebble’s investigation into the Public Service recruitment and employment of Madeleine Setchell; if not, why not?

2. PETER BROWN to the Minister of Immigration: Does the re-write of the Immigration Act introduced yesterday include measures to ensure that would be migrants are willing and able to integrate with the rest of society; if not, why not?

3. GERRY BROWNLEE to the Minister of State Services: Does she stand by the briefing from the State Services Commission on issues surrounding an employment decision at the Ministry for the Environment which she released on 20 July 2007; if not, why not?

4. SHANE JONES to the Minister of Finance: What recent reports has he received on enrolments in the KiwiSaver scheme?

5. Hon BILL ENGLISH to the Minister of Justice: Is it Government policy that issuing a press release, sending an email, or posting a letter should constitute publishing an election advertisement, if those documents disagree or agree with anything any political party is associated with; if so, why?

6. HEATHER ROY to the Minister of Finance: What percentage of New Zealanders now pay the 39 percent tax rate his Government introduced, when he said on 23 December 1999 that “Ninety-five percent of people will not be asked to pay more tax. Instead, only the top 5 percent of income earners will pay more.”, and what would the cost be of honouring that statement and restoring the threshold to the top 5 percent of income earners?

7. Hon TONY RYALL to the Minister of Health: Did the Ministry of Health, or anyone else, express any caution to the then Minister of Health, Hon Annette King, on the appropriateness of her appointing Mr Hausmann to the Hawke’s Bay District Health Board at a time when his company intended to put in a bid for a multi-million dollar contract with that same board; if so, who?

8. RUSSELL FAIRBROTHER to the Minister for Social Development and Employment: What reports has he received on the number of New Zealanders in paid employment?

9. PHIL HEATLEY to the Minister of Housing: Has he read the report Housing Supply in the Auckland Region 2000-2005 prepared for Housing New Zealand Corporation and the Centre for Housing Research; if so, what is his Government’s response to its observation that “A number of factors have constrained supply. One of these has been a limited supply of land. Another contributor has been difficulties in the consents process, especially its time consuming nature”?

10. STEVE CHADWICK to the Minister of Conservation: What is the Government doing to encourage Kiwi families to enjoy the great outdoors?

11. JUDITH COLLINS to the Minister for Social Development and Employment: What actions, if any, are taken to protect Work and Income clients who visit Work and Income offices?

12. JEANETTE FITZSIMONS to the Associate Minister of Energy: When he told the House on 19 July this year that “a significant gas discovery in the Great South Basin … will actually help in terms of our thermal generation” and that he would “much rather have our existing thermal power stations fuelled by natural gas than by coal”, was he proposing that the gas from the Great South Basin be used at the Huntly Power Station; if so, how was he proposing it get there given the lack of pipelines in the South Island and Southern Ocean?

ENDS

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