Parliament 26 June 2012

Oral Questions 2.00 pm – 3.00 pm

1. JOHN HAYES to the Minister of Finance: What steps is the Government taking to get better results and value for money from the public service?
2. DAVID SHEARER to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by all his statements?
3. MELISSA LEE to the Minister for Social Development: What commitments has the Government made to reduce long-term welfare dependency?
4. Hon DAVID PARKER to the Minister of Finance: Does he stand by his statement that “We are a government that thinks getting results is what’s really important”?
5. METIRIA TUREI to the Minister for Social Development: Have Police, CYFS, medical and referee checks been carried out for all current placements by CYFS under referral by the Youth Court; if not, why not?
6. COLIN KING to the Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment: How is the Government working to encourage economic growth with a more highly skilled workforce?
7. Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by all his statements?
8. Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE to the Minister of Finance: Does he stand by his statement regarding SOE chief executive salaries that “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”; if so, does he support the $451,873 pay increase for the Chief Executive of Mighty River Power whose pay is increasing from $1,317,469 to $1,769,342?
9. JAMI-LEE ROSS to the Associate Minister of Transport: What reports has he received on the public’s understanding of the new give way rules?
10. Hon MARYAN STREET to the Minister of Health: Does he stand by all the answers given on his behalf to Oral Question No. 6 on Thursday, 21 June?
11. TE URUROA FLAVELL to the Minister for the Environment: Does she agree with Bay of Plenty Regional Council Pollution Prevention Manager, Nick Zaman, that “courts, council and the wider community will not tolerate the pollution of our environment” and if so, what action will she take to encourage farmers and farm owners to comply with their legal responsibilities to protect waterways?
12. CLARE CURRAN to the Minister of Broadcasting: In the light of the latest monthly audience figures by Nielson, which show almost 1.6 million New Zealanders watched TVNZ7 in May, an increase of nearly 120,000 viewers in just one month, is he now prepared to recommend that the Government review its decision not to provide further funding so that TVNZ7, the only nationwide public broadcast television station, can continue operation beyond 30 June?

Patsy of the day goes to Q6 – How is the Government working to encourage economic growth with a more highly skilled workforce?

Labour are asking a gotcha to John Key, a gotcha to Bill English, SOE salaries, a gotcha to Tony Ryall and TVNZ7.

Greens are on CYFS, Maori Party on waterways pollution and NZ First a gotcha to the PM.

Government Bills 3.00 pm – 6.00 pm and 7.30 pm – 10.00 pm

1. Mixed Ownership Model Bill – third reading
2. Prisoners’ and Victims’ Claims (2012 Expiry and Application Dates) Amendment Bill – committee stage
3. Dairy Industry Restructuring Amendment Bill – second reading continued
4. Debate on performance of crown entities (three hour debate)

The Mixed Ownership Bill third reading will take two hours so should conclude around 5 pm. The Prisoners’ Bill is fairly simple and not opposed by Labour so it is possible it will pass committee stage quickly – even before dinner. The Dairy bill has just one speech left on it, so it is likely the Hose will commence but not conclude the debate on the performance of crown entities.

The Mixed Ownership Model Bill was introduced in March 2012 and enables the Crown to  remove Genesis Power Limited, Meridian Energy Limited, Mighty River Power Limited, and Solid Energy New Zealand Limited from the State-Owned Enterprises Act 1986, and restricts the Crown from holding less than 51% of the voting rights in each of the companies and will restrict non-Crown individuals and entities from holding more than 10% of the voting rights in each of the companies. It passed first reading 61-60 with National, ACT, United Future in favour and all other parties against. The Finance and Expenditure reported it back with minority reports from Labour and Greens. It passed second reading 61-59, and most votes in committee stage had the same split.

The Prisoners’ and Victims’ Claims (2012 Expiry and Application Dates) Amendment Bill was introduced in April 2012 and aims to  extend the restrictions on the awarding of compensation for one more year from 1 July 2012 until 30 June 2013. It passed first reading 72 to 48 with National, NZ First, Maori, ACT, United in favour and Labour, Greens, Mana against. The Justice and Electoral Committee recommended that it pass, with minority reports from Labour and Greens. It passed second reading 103-16 with only Greens, Maori and Mana against.

The Dairy Industry Restructuring Amendment Bill was introduced in March 2012 and seeks to  introduce a new regime in relation to Fonterra’s milk price setting, proposed capital restructure, and share valuation. It passed first reading 64 to 54 with Labour, Greens, NZ First and Mana against. The Primary Production Committee recommended it pass with amendments, with Labour and Greens giving minority reports.