November 13, 2012 1:34pm by speters

Parliament 13 November 2012

Oral Questions 2.00 pm – 3.00 pm

Questions to Ministers

  1. KATRINA SHANKS to the Minister of Finance: How is the Government’s economic programme helping New Zealand families by increasing savings, keeping interest rates low and minimising cost of living pressures?
  2. DAVID SHEARER to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by all his statements on jobs and employment?
  3. TIM MACINDOE to the Minister for Social Development: What announcements have been made as part of the Government’s White Paper for Vulnerable Children to take stronger action against child abusers?
  4. GRANT ROBERTSON to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by his statement “What we do environmentally matters a great deal, but we also want jobs and we also want to make sure we’re not prioritising that over everything else. I think we’ve got that balance about right”?
  5. JONATHAN YOUNG to the Minister of Energy and Resources: What recent announcement has been made about Block Offer 2013?
  6. Dr RUSSEL NORMAN to the Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment: Was the Prime Minister correct when he said on 12 October 2012 that “our unemployment rate’s not rising”; if so, why?
  7. Hon DAVID PARKER to the Minister of Finance: Does he stand by his statement in September 2010 that “there is no doubt that unemployment has peaked”?
  8. TODD McCLAY to the Minister for Climate Change Issues: What steps is he taking to ensure the environmental integrity of the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme?
  9. JACINDA ARDERN to the Minister for Social Development: Does she stand by her statement that “the Government is taking an active, work-based approach” to her welfare reforms?
  10. BARBARA STEWART to the Minister of Health: Is he satisfied that District Health Boards have done enough to promote understanding of the Pharmacy Services Agreement?
  11. Dr JACKIE BLUE to the Minister of Health: What is the Government doing to promote awareness and support those with hepatitis C?
  12. Dr KENNEDY GRAHAM to the Minister for Climate Change Issues: Has he received any advice on the impact on New Zealand trade resulting from his decision not to sign up to the Second Commitment Period under the Kyoto Protocol; if so, what was it?

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

Labour are asking on welfare reforms, the environment, and twice on employment. The Greens are asking on employment and the Kyoto Protocol, and NZ First are asking on the Pharmacy Services Agreement.

Patsy of the day goes to Katrina Shanks for Q1: How is the Government’s economic programme helping New Zealand families by increasing savings, keeping interest rates low and minimising cost of living pressures?

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

  1. Lawyers and Conveyancers Amendment Bill – committee stage
  2. Electronic Identity Verification Bill – committee stage
  3. Identity Information Confirmation Bill – committee stage
  4. Legislation Bill – committee stage (cont.)
  5. Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill – second reading

The Lawyers and Conveyancers Amendment Bill was introduced by Judith Collins and restores the rank of QC as well as restricting eligibility for that rank to barristers sole. It passed its second reading by 63 votes to 56. Labour, the Greens, NZ First and Mana all voted against.

The Electronic Identity Verification Bill and Identity Information Confirmation Bill were introduced by Chris Tremain and  set out the regulatory framework for the administration and application of the new “RealMe” online identity verification service. It passed its second reading with unanimous support.

The Legislation Bill was introduced by Chris Finlayson to modernise and improve the law relating to the publication, availability, reprinting, revision, and official versions of legislation and to bring this law together in a single piece of legislation. It passed its second reading with unanimous support.

The Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill was introduced by David Carter and amends the principal Act’s purpose to explicitly target cost-effectiveness, as well as making a raft of other amendments relating to the operation of local government. It barely passed its first reading by 61 votes to 59, with  Labour, the Greens, NZ First, the Māori Party and Mana all voting against. The Local Government and Environment Committee reported it back to the House on 30 October.

EDIT: Have changed the post to reflect that the Legislation Bill committee stage is the only one of the four that is being continued – I had inaccurately labelled the other three as continued. – speters