Parliament Today 16 October 2013
Questions for Oral Answer
Questions to Ministers 2.00PM – 3.00PM.
- PAUL GOLDSMITH to the Minister of Finance: What reports has he received about forecasts for the New Zealand economy and how are these being reflected in levels of business confidence?
- Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by the statement made on his behalf on 25 September “The Minister was aware that the Department of Conservation was working on a submission. He was not aware of the content of the leaked draft submission until Tuesday, 17 September”?
- COLIN KING to the Minister of Science and Innovation: What recent announcements has the Government made about investment in the National Science Challenges?
- METIRIA TUREI to the Prime Minister: Does he have confidence in all his Ministers?
- BRENDAN HORAN to the Minister of Energy and Resources:Does he stand by all of his recent statements?
- PAUL FOSTER-BELL to the Minister of Justice: What recent steps have been taken by the Government to make it easier to resolve cross-border disputes between New Zealand and Australia?
- Hon ANNETTE KING to the Minister of Health: What reports has he received in the last month of New Zealanders receiving inadequate health services?
- ALFRED NGARO to the Minister of Housing: What progress has the Government made in addressing Auckland’s housing supply issues over the past two weeks?
- CHRIS HIPKINS to the Minister of Education: Is she satisfied that she is fulfilling all of her legal obligations under the Education Act 1989; if so, why?
- JACQUI DEAN to the Minister of Statistics: What does the latest release of Census data show in regard to population growth in the regions?
- EUGENIE SAGE to the Minister of Conservation: How many submissions did the Department of Conservation make on regional, district or city plans or regional policy statements in 2012/13 that related to water quality issues?
- Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE to the Prime Minister: Does he now accept that his statement that Chorus “will go broke” is incorrect; if not, why not?
Today Labour are asking four questions. These questions are about the Ruataniwha dam, Health, the responsibilities of the Minister of Health, and the financial position of Chorus. Labour Leader David Cunliffe is asking two out of four questions himself. The Greens are aksing two questions, whether the Prime Minister has confidence in all his Ministers, and water quality. Independent MP Brendan Horan is asking whether Minister for Energy and Resources Simon Bridges stands by all his statements.
The patsy of the day award goes to Paul Foster-Bell for Question 6: What recent steps have been taken by the Government to make it easier to resolve cross-border disputes between New Zealand and Australia?
General Debate 3.00PM – 4.00PM
A lively weekly debate of twelve speeches of no more than five minutes each.
Government Bills 4.00PM – 6.00PM and 7.30PM-10.00PM
1.Telecommunications (Interception Capability and Security) Bill
2.Insolvency Practitioners Bill
3.Industry Training and Apprenticeships Amendment Bill
The Telecommunications (Interception Capability and Security) Bill is being guided through the house by the Minister for ICT, Amy Adams. This bill seeks to repeal and replace the Telecommunications (Interception Capability) Act 2004 in order to ensure that interception obligations applying to the telecommunications industry are clear, do not impose unnecessary compliance costs, and are sufficiently flexible to respond to current and future operational needs and technological developments. It also seeks to require network operators to engage with the Government on network security matters, inform the Government of certain proposed decisions, courses of action, or changes in relation to an area of “specified security interest”, and work with the Government to apply any specific risk-based and proportionate security measures. David wrote about the bill earlier here.
The Insolvency Practitioners Bill is being guided through the house by the Minister of Commerce, Craig Foss. This bill creates powers to restrict or prohibit individuals from providing insolvency services, and strengthens measures to automatically disqualify insolvency practitioners.
The Industry Training and Apprenticeships Amendment Bill is being guided through the house by the Minister for Tertiary Education, Steven Joyce. The Industry Training and Apprenticeships Amendment Bill makes the amendments required to implement the findings of the industry training review undertaken by the Government in 2011 and 2012.
The Human Rights Amendment Bill is being guided through the house by the Minister of Justice, Judith Collins. This bill enables the establishment of a full-time Disability Rights Commissioner within the Human Rights Commission, and makes changes to the role and structure of the Commission.