Parliament 27 March 2012

Oral Questions 2 pm – 3 pm

1. KEVIN HAGUE to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by the answers given on his behalf to all my questions in the House on Thursday, 22 March?
2. GRANT ROBERTSON to the Minister for ACC: Does she have confidence in the Board of ACC?
3. IAN McKELVIE to the Minister for Economic Development: What actions is the Government taking to increase employer confidence to hire new workers?
4. DENIS O’ROURKE to the Prime Minister: Has he received any recent reports or briefings from the Police?
5. Hon DAVID PARKER to the Attorney-General: How often has the Solictor-General appeared in Court representing the Crown in cases involving the interests of a Prime Minister during an election campaign?
6. TIM MACINDOE to the Minister for Social Development: Why is the Government reforming New Zealand’s welfare system?
7. Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE to the Minister of Finance: What did he mean regarding public sector CEO pay increases when he said “There’s a couple of bigger pay increases, I think three with the energy companies, which will be probably related to the share float that’s coming”?
8. NIKKI KAYE to the Associate Minister of Education: What announcements have been made about the first school property public private partnership in New Zealand?
9. ANDREW LITTLE to the Minister for ACC: Which of the investigations now underway in ACC – the Malcolm Crompton–led investigation into privacy issues or the Police investigation into alleged blackmail – will deal with the disclosure of former ACC Minister Nick Smith’s letter regarding Bronwyn Pullar to the media?
10. JACQUI DEAN to the Minister of Internal Affairs: What progress has the Government made to combat the trade of objectionable images of children?
11. DAVID CLENDON to the Minister of Corrections: Does she agree with the United Kingdom Ministry of Justice report that states “there is no evidence that, on average, prison is more cost-effective at preventing reoffending than community sentences.”?
12. CLARE CURRAN to the Prime Minister: Why has the New Zealand Government taken a different decision to the Australian Government with regard to security matters relating to Huawei’s involvement in broadband projects?

Today there are four questions from National, five questions from Labour, two from the Greens and one from NZ First.

Patsy of the day goes to Q6 – Why is the Government reforming New Zealand’s welfare system?

Labour are so many topics to choose from, its is interesting to see whatthey went with – ACC twice , then Teapotgate and asset sales.

Greens are on ACC and prisons. NZ First on teapotgate.

Government Bills 4.00 pm – 6.00 pm and 7.30 pm – 10.00 pm

1. Appropriation (2010/11 Financial Review) Bill – second reading (no debate)
2. Social Security (Youth Support and Work Focus) Amendment Bill – first reading
3. Student Loan Scheme Amendment Bill – second reading
4. Regulatory Reform Bill – second reading continued
5. Regulatory Reform (Repeals) Bill – second reading continued

The Appropriation (2010/11 Financial Review) Bill seeks to confirm and validate financial matters relating to the 2010/11 financial year.

The Social Security (Youth Support and Work Focus) Amendment Bill was introduced in March 2012 and seeks to introduce a new system of income support for young people and introduce a stronger work focus to some benefit categories.

The Student Loan Scheme Amendment Bill was introduced in September 2011 and seeks to amend the scheme to shorten the repayment holiday from three years to one year and require borrowers to apply for a repayment holiday, plus other changes. It was supported at first reading by National, Labour, ACT, Maori, Progressive and United and opposed by Greens and Chris Carter. It appears to continue to have broad support as there was no minority report back from the select committee.

The Regulatory Reform Bill was introduced in December 2010 and seeks to  improve the regulatory environment by amending 13 Acts “to reduce the compliance burden on business by amending ineffective or excessively costly regulation”. It was supported at first reading by all parties except the Greens. There is no minority report from the select committee so appears to have broad support.

The Regulatory Reform (Repeals) Bill was introduced in November 2010 and seeks to repeal “31 Acts that have been identified as spent, meaning they no longer have any actual effect, or have very limited effect, and are out of date”.  It was passed on a voice vote at first reading, and considered in tandem with the Regulatory Reform Bill by the Commerce Select Committee. There was also no minority report so appears to be non-controversial.