March 29, 2012 1:29pm by David Farrar

Parliament 29 March 2012

Oral Questions 2 pm – 3 pm

  1. GRANT ROBERTSON to the Prime Minister: Does he have confidence in the Minister for ACC?
  2. MAGGIE BARRY to the Minister of Finance: What are the fiscal and economic benefits of selling minority shareholdings in four State-owned energy companies and Air New Zealand?
  3. ANDREW LITTLE to the Minister for ACC: When was the email she received between 12 March 2012 and 18 March 2012 from Michelle Boag concerning Bronwyn Pullar and the involvement of both in a meeting over a mass privacy breach first printed by her or a staff member in her office?
  4. GARETH HUGHES to the Minister of Energy and Resources: Will he implement a nationwide moratorium on new fracking wells until the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment can assure the public it is safe?
  5. ALFRED NGARO to the Minister for Social Development: How will this year’s annual general adjustment provide greater certainty to those receiving benefits and New Zealand Superannuation?
  6. Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS to the Prime Minister: Has he had any recent discussions with the Prime Minister of Australia over security and intelligence concerns Australia has expressed over Huawei?
  7. CHARLES CHAUVEL to the Minister of Police: Did the Police Commissioner or any of his staff inform the Prime Minister or any of his staff of the decision not to prosecute Mr Bradley Ambrose; if so, on what date?
  8. JONATHAN YOUNG to the Minister of Energy and Resources: What progress has the Government made towards increasing the proportion of electricity generated from renewable energy sources in New Zealand?
  9. Hon DAVID PARKER to the Minister of Finance: What written reports did he receive from the Treasury during the five months after his appointment as Minister of Finance in late 2008 describing the increases in deposits in finance companies after they entered the Crown guarantee scheme, as referred to in paragraphs 6.2 and 6.5 of the Auditor General’s performance audit report on the Treasury’s handling of the Crown Retail Deposit Scheme, and what did those reports tell him, if anything, about how much the Crown’s exposure to those financial companies had increased?
  10. KEVIN HAGUE to the Minister for ACC: What advice has she received about when ACC Board Chairman John Judge first became aware of the issues that were the subject of the December meeting between senior ACC managers, Bronwyn Pullar and Michelle Boag; and if she hasn’t asked for that advice, why not?
  11. Hon ANNETTE KING to the Minister of Housing: What action is the Government taking to make housing more affordable?
  12. LOUISE UPSTON to the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations: What progress has the Government made towards enacting deeds of settlement with iwi in legislation?

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 Q11 and unusually is from a Labour MP, Annette King – What action is the Government taking to make housing more affordable?

Labour are also asking on ACC twice, Crown Deposit Guarantee Scheme, and teapotgate,

Greens are on fracking ACC.

Government Bills 3.00 pm – 6.00 pm

  1. Ngati Pahauwera Treaty Claims Settlement Bill – third reading
  2. Ngati Porou Claims Settlement Bill – third reading
  3. Student Loan Scheme Amendment Bill – third reading
  4. Trade (Safeguard Measures) Bill – committee stage
  5. Building Amendment Bill (No 4) – first reading continued

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 Trade Safeguard Measures Bill was introduced in September 2008, and seeks to repeal the Temporary Safeguard Authorities Act 1987 (which embodies New Zealand’s current safeguards regime) and to replace it with a new regime consistent with World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules. ’Safeguards’ are emergency measures applied at New Zealand’s border, such as a duty. It passed first reading on a voice vote and the select committee report back has no minority report.

The Building Amendment Bill (No 4) was introduced in November 2011 and seeks to also implement the Building Act reviews decisions, including more comprehensive consumer protection measures and clarifying exemptions from building consent requirements.

The Crown Pastoral Land (Rent for Pastoral Leases) Amendment Bill was introduced in December 2010 and aims to replace the land valuation basis for setting rents for pastoral leases with a property-earning-capacity basis for setting rents for pastoral leases. It was supported at first reading by National, Greens, ACT, Maori and United and opposed by Labour.  Labour opposed the bill at select committee saying it “severely compromises the property rights of the land owner, the Crown, to negotiate a fair return on the full value of the land”. At second reading and committee stage it was supported by National, ACT and Maori Party but opposed by all other parties including (unusually) United Future.