Parliament 13 June 2012

Oral Questions 2 pm – 3 pm

1. TE URUROA FLAVELL to the Minister of Internal Affairs: Is he concerned that Pub Charity Chief Executive Martin Cheer has publicly declared that Pub Charity was using gaming machine money to fight the Gambling (Gambling Harm Reduction) Amendment Bill, and what actions has the Department of Internal Affairs taken to enforce its direction that net proceeds were not to be used for lobbying?
2. DAVID SHEARER to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by his statement that “superannuation is an issue, but one thing that is worth noting is that increasing the age of eligibility has much less of an impact than commentators might imagine”?
3. Hon Dr NICK SMITH to the Minister of Finance: What reports has he received on the stability of New Zealand’s financial system?
4. Hon DAVID PARKER to the Minister of Finance: Will total superannuation spending be higher than total education spending in the month of June 2016 using the same assumptions as in his latest Budget projections?
5. ALFRED NGARO to the Minister for Social Development: What reports has she received that show the Government’s work-focused approach to the benefit system is working?
6. Dr RUSSEL NORMAN to the Minister for Economic Development: Does he agree with the business group Pure Advantage that “countries that reduce the carbon dependency of their economies most quickly and develop carbon friendly technologies will be the most prosperous in the 21st century”?
7. KANWALJIT SINGH BAKSHI to the Minister of Energy and Resources: What recent announcement has he made about mineral prospectivity in Northland?
8. Hon NANAIA MAHUTA to the Minister of Education: Does her plan to improve teacher quality include reinstating the $45 million cut from teacher professional development in Budget 2009; if not, why not?
9. SCOTT SIMPSON to the Minister of Transport: What progress has the Government made on the Vehicle Licensing Reform project?
10. ANDREW LITTLE to the Minister for ACC: What responsibility does she take for failures at ACC since the 2011 Election?
11. Le’aufa’amulia ASENATI LOLE-TAYLOR to the Minister of Corrections: Is she confident that Serco will meet the contracted performance requirements at the new prison in Wiri, despite the fact that Serco has been failing performance targets at Mount Eden Corrections Facility by 40 percent?
12. Dr CAM CALDER to the Minister of Corrections: What steps is the Government taking to improve the safety of staff in prisons?

Patsy of the day goes to Q9 – What progress has the Government made on the Vehicle Licensing Reform project?

Labour are asking on superannuation twice, education and ACC.

Greens are on carbon dependency, Maori Party on pokies and NZ First on private prisons.

General Debate 3 pm – 4 pm

The weekly free for all. 12 speeches of five minutes each on any topic.

Members Bills 4 pm – 6 pm and 7.30 pm – 10 pm 

1. Waitaki District Council Reserves and Other Land Empowering Bill – first reading
2. Mount Maunganui Borough Reclamation and Empowering Act Repeal Bill – first reading
3. Riccarton Bush Amendment Bill – first reading
4. Fair Trading (Soliciting on Behalf of Charities) Amendment Bill – third reading
5. Register of Pecuniary Interests of Judges Bill – first reading

The three local bills could take up the entire session as the debates can last six hours in total. But if each has only a few speakers, then the next two bills might be progressed.

The Waitaki District Council Reserves and Other Land Empowering Bill was introduced in May 2012 by Jacqui Dean and seeks to to revoke the reservation of 2 pieces of land within the Waitaki District and to clarify the status of a third piece of land in that district.

The Mount Maunganui Borough Reclamation and Empowering Act Repeal Bill was introduced in May 2012 by Te Ururoa Flavell and seeks to repeal the Mount Maunganui Borough Reclamation and Empowering Act 1975.

The Riccarton Bush Amendment Bill was introduced in May 2012 by Gerry Brownlee and seeks to modernise and update the governance arrangements for the Board known as the Riccarton Bush Trustees.

The Fair Trading (Soliciting on Behalf of Charities) Amendment Bill was introduced in November 2009 by Amy Adams (Nat) and is now in the name of Michael Woodhouse (Nat). It seeks to increase the transparency and public accountability of third-party businesses that collect funds on behalf of registered charities, by mandating disclosure of how much money actually goes to the charity. It was supported by all parties at first reading, and after amendment by the Commerce Committee also by all parties. It also passed second reading and committee stage on a voice vote.

The Register of Pecuniary Interests of Judges Bill was introduced in November 2010 by Kennedy Graham and seeks to create a register of pecuniary interests for Judges.