Questions For Oral Answer - Wednesday, 12 September 2007

Questions to Ministers

1. Hon MARK GOSCHE to the Minister of Finance: Is the Government taking any steps to improve regulatory oversight of non-bank deposit takers?

2. JOHN KEY to the Prime Minister: Does she have confidence in the Minister of Corrections; if so, why?

3. GORDON COPELAND to the Attorney-General: Will the Government support my New Zealand Bill of Rights (Private Property Rights) Amendment Bill given that former Labour Prime Minister Sir Geoffrey Palmer has said publicly that “I took a deliberate decision to exclude this in the 1980s but on reflection I believe it should be included” in reference to the protection of property rights by the Bill of Rights?

4. Hon BILL ENGLISH to the Minister of Justice: Does he consider that the three-month election period prescribed in the Electoral Act 1993 is a fair, reasonable and realistic period; if not, why not?

5. JILL PETTIS to the Associate Minister of Health: What action is the Government taking to protect New Zealanders against harmful substances?

6. SIMON POWER to the Minister of Corrections: Does he stand by his statements that he takes corruption allegations “extremely seriously”, and that “We cannot afford to have our hard-working and dedicated staff tainted by the actions of a few.”?

7. DIANNE YATES to the Minister for Disarmament and Arms Control: What initiative will New Zealand take at the United Nations General Assembly this year to reduce the risk of use of nuclear weapons?

8. KATHERINE RICH to the Minister of Education: Does he stand by his statement, “The Government is committed to a 1:15 ratio; by the end of 2008, with the other Budget to come, that is what we will have.”; if so, is he satisfied that he will have enough teachers to staff new entrant classes to ensure that by 1 January 2008 “there are no more than 15 students in a class”?

9. HONE HARAWIRA to the Minister of Māori Affairs: Ka aki ia i te Kawanatanga ki te tautoko i te Kawenata Whakapuaki o te Paremata Kotahitanga o te Ao mo nga Iwi Taketake o te Ao, apopo nei poti ai, ara, te tekau ma toru o Mahuru, rua mano ma whitu, ara, he kawenata whakapuaki kua maho nei te iwi taketake ki te whakatutuki mo nga tau rua tekau ma wha ki muri?

- Translation: Will he put pressure on the Government to support the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples which will be voted on tomorrow, 13 September 2007, a declaration which indigenous people have been working on for the last 24 years?

10. PANSY WONG to the Minister for ACC: Does she stand by her answers to questions for written answer 13711 (2007) and 14994 (2007) dated 8 August and 27 August respectively, that she is not aware of any investigation by external authorities into any of the private investigators ACC hires; if so, why?

11. KEITH LOCKE to the Minister in charge of the NZ Security Intelligence Service: Can she confirm that she knows which foreign government is behind cyber attacks on New Zealand Government computer systems but will not say who; if so, is her reluctance to name names in any way related to New Zealand’s free trade talks with China?

12. Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN to the Minister of Broadcasting: What steps has he taken to assure himself that Television New Zealand’s strategy will reverse the company’s decline in revenue, following the announcement of the company’s worst ever financial result?

ENDS

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