Today's questions for oral answer. Paraphrased answers to these questions will be posted in the Headlines wire shortly after 3pm.
QUESTIONS FOR ORAL ANSWER
Thursday, 30 March 2000
Questions to Ministers
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1. Ian Ewen-Street to the Minister of Transport: Does he stand by his decision to take no immediate action to slow
down the fast ferries in the Marlborough Sounds despite a report which finds that ferry wash poses an "undesirable"
level of risk to human life; if so, why?
2. Hon. Tony Ryall to the Prime Minister: Does she agree with her 1995 statement "Labour supports the principles and
intentions of the West Coast Accord"?
3. Damien O'Connor to the Minister of Finance: What was the nature of the offer made to West Coast mayors today?
4. Hon. Richard Prebble to the Prime Minister: Further to her answer to oral question No. 10 on 14 March, what are
the details of the allegation of wrongdoing against the Waipareira Trust that she has received and what further action,
if any, has she taken to investigate the truth of these allegations?
5. Rt Hon. Winston Peters to the Minister of Finance: Has the Overseas Investment Commission received any
applications in the last six months from Te Ika Paewai Ltd to permit a level of foreign ownership in Sealord's fishing
interests; if so, who authorised the application?
6. Hon. John Luxton to the Minister for Industry and Regional Development: Does he believe 2,000 additional new jobs
will be created on the West Coast as a result of the economic development package announced?
7. Luamanuvao Winnie Laban to the Associate Minister of Education (Tertiary Education): What is he doing to ensure
that the views of students are heard by the Government?
8. Hon. Max Bradford to the Minister of Labour: Has she received any advice from her department to suggest that the
Reserve Bank's understanding of the operation of the labour market is significantly different from other mainstream New
Zealand forecasters?
9. Grant Gillon to the Minister for Economic Development: Is he concerned that regional development is being
affected by higher petrol prices in the regions; if so, what actions is he going to take to address the situation?
10. Hon. Bill English to the Minister of Labour: Does she agree with the study on New Zealand's productivity
prepared by Diewert and Lawrence for her department, which shows that, taking into account employment growth,
productivity grew 2 percent per annum from 1993 to 1998 while growth was 0.1 percent per annum in the previous nine
years?
11. Martin Gallagher to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade: How serious are the ethnic tensions in the
Solomon Islands and is the situation likely to deteriorate further?
12. Bob Simcock to the Minister of Labour: Does she have confidence that her department will be able to accurately
track employment figures under the Government's proposed industrial relations policy?
Thursday, 30 March 2000
Questions to Members
1. Hon. Dr Nick Smith to the Chairperson of the Primary Production Committee: When will the committee complete its
financial review of Timberlands West Coast Ltd?