March 13, 2013 12:11pm by Scott Miller

Parliament 13th March

Questions for Oral Answer 2pm – 3pm

Questions to Ministers

  1. Hon TAU HENARE to the Minister of Finance: What reports has he received on the Government’s financial position?
  2. DAVID SHEARER to the Prime Minister: Does he have confidence in all his Ministers?
  3. IAN McKELVIE to the Minister of Police: What trends have been seen by Police since laws were changed in 2009 to combat illegal street racing?
  4. GRANT ROBERTSON to the Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being very poor and 10 being outstanding, how does he rate the Government’s performance on job creation?
  5. Dr RUSSEL NORMAN to the Minister of Finance: Does he stand by his statement, in relation to drought-stricken farmers, that “I wasn’t referring to climate change. It’s just that if it turned out that there was a succession of droughts, there’s no amount of government assistance that can offset that effect on farming’?
  6. SIMON O’CONNOR to the Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment: What progress has been made with the Government’s Apprenticeship Re-boot?
  7. Hon DAVID PARKER to the Minister of Finance: By how many dollars has the gap between New Zealand and Australian average weekly wages grown since December 2008, based on the methodology tabled by Hon John Key on 28 July 2010?
  8. TE URUROA FLAVELL to the Minister of Internal Affairs: Does he intend to take any action about the failure of SkyCity Auckland to prevent access to the casino by people with gambling problems as recently reported in the media?
  9. Hon ANNETTE KING to the Minister of Health: Is he confident that the Government’s initiative to provide Better, Sooner, More Convenient health care is meeting his expectations, if not, why not?
  10. ANDREW WILLIAMS to the Minister for Land Information: How much of New Zealand farmland is foreign-owned?
  11. Dr JACKIE BLUE to the Associate Minister of Health: What progress has been made in reducing infections in intensive care units?
  12. PHIL TWYFORD to the Minister of Housing: What specific actions, if any, does Auckland Council need to take to avoid Government intervention, given his reported statement that “the Government would use the reformed RMA to intervene in Auckland”, if Auckland Council doesn’t change its planning practices?

Today there are four questions from National on issues ranging from the Governments Finances, Boy Racers, Apprenticeships and Infection rates in Intensive Care Units around the country. Labour are asking five questions to ministers ranging from Confidence in Ministers, Job Creation, Wages between New Zealand and Australia, Health Targets and Auckland housing issues.

The Greens, Maori Party and New Zealand First are each asking one question on issues ranging from Climate Change to Sky City Casino and Land Ownership

Today’s pasty of the day goes to question 11 from Dr Jackie Blue on infection rates in Intensive Care Units.

Budget Policy Statement 3pm to 5pm

Today Parliament will be debating the Budget Policy Statement 2013 and Treasury’s Half-Year economic and fiscal update which has recently been reported to the house via the Finance and Expenditure Committee.

Private and Local Orders of the day 5pm – 6pm and 7.30pm to 10pm

1. South Taranaki District Council (Cold Creek Rural Water Supply) Bill – 3rd Reading – Hon Chester Borrows – 4pm to 4.45pm

This bill would allow for the South Taranaki District Council to transfer ownership of the Cold Creek Rural Water Supply Scheme to back to the community via creating a co-operative called Cold Creek Community Water Supply Limited which would allow allow them to look after the scheme that provides water to around 7,620 hectares of land  in the Pihama/Te Kiri area in South Taranaki.

At the 2nd reading of this bill the vote passed by 102 to 16 with the Greens, Mana and the Maori Party voting against this bill.

2. Habeas Corpus Amendment Bill – Committee Stage – Chris Auchinvole – 4.45pm to 6pm

This bill was created to amend the Habas Corpus Act 2001 as a result of a report produced by the Law Commission in 2007. In addition, it gives Judges more room to move in regards to the issue of Habeas Corpus applications.

At the last reading of this bill the vote passed by 112 to 7 with New Zealand First opposing the bill. Denis O’Rourke voted against this bill on the grounds “it is a nonsense bill”  (Quote from Denis O’Rourke, 2nd Reading, Hansard)

3. Holidays (Full Recognition of Waitangi Day and ANZAC Day) Amendment Bill – 2nd reading – Dr David Clark – 7.30pm to 8pm

This bill creates the ability to Monday-ise both Waitangi Day and ANZAC Day so that if these public holidays fail on a weekend day then you would be able to claim the public hoilday on the following Monday.

So far this Bill has been supported by all other parties other than National and Act, however is expected to pass tonight as National will not be exercising there power of Veto on this bill.

4. Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Bill – 2nd reading – Louisa Wall – 8pm to 10pm

This bill is designed to amend the Marriage Act 1955 to allow for a change to section 2(1) to allow Marriages to be conducted between 2 people instead of the status que of between a Man and Women.

For a record of who voted for and against during the first reading please click here and scroll to the bottom of the page