QUESTIONS FOR ORAL ANSWER
Thursday, 24 August 2000
Questions to Ministers
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1. Hon. Bill English to the Minister of Finance: What impact will the continued slide in the value of the New Zealand
dollar have on low and middle income households?
2. Dianne Yates to the Minister of Internal Affairs: What investigations has he made into the concerns raised in the
House yesterday relating to alleged financial management shortcomings in the New Zealand Fire Service Hamilton office?
3. Dr Wayne Mapp to the Minister of Defence: How will New Zealand be able to monitor its own seas in light of the
Australian Government's statement that the Project Sirius "upgrade also would have enabled New Zealand to fully monitor
its sovereign waters"?
4. Grant Gillon to the Minister of Customs: In the light of recent international seizures of designer drugs such as
that by the Canadian Customs Service of 340,000 tablets of ecstasy, what contribution is the New Zealand Customs Service
making to international efforts to curtail the trafficking of designer drugs?
5. Rt Hon. Wyatt Creech to the Minister of Health: Has she seen the reported comments of a hospital chief executive, in
response to her suggestion that hospital and health services help junior doctors pay student loans, that "I have no idea
where hospital and health services are going to find the money from. There seems to be an assumption that the money is
sitting there to be spent."; if so, what is her response?
6. Rod Donald to the Minister for Trade Negotiations: How will the possibility of cheaper imported clothing and
footwear or increased beer exports, negotiated under the proposed Singapore-New Zealand closer economic partnership
agreement, help the Government to achieve its goals of job creation, regional development and closing the gaps?
7. Hon. Dr Nick Smith to the Minister of Conservation: Will the Department of Conservation be spending $260,000
upgrading the Maungapohatu Road; if so, under what criteria was the funding approved?
8. Rt Hon. Winston Peters to the Minister of Internal Affairs: Further to the answer given to written question 13850
(2000) concerning inappropriate use of the Internet within the Fire Service, how much effort was made to seek out those
responsible?
9. Bob Simcock to the Associate Minister of Social Services and Employment (Social Services): What does she mean when
she says that Maori child abuse statistics must be seen in the context of colonisation?
10. Damien O'Connor to the Minister for Land Information: What factors led to the Government's decision to provide
assistance to landowners who unknowingly bought DDT or dieldrin-contaminated land from the Crown?
11. Rodney Hide to the Minister of Finance: On what basis, when the dollar fell below 50 cents US, did he make his
prediction reported in the Herald in December last year, that the Kiwi dollar should rise again before too long, and can
he explain why the dollar subsequently fell to an historic low below 43 cents overnight?
12. Luamanuvao Winnie Laban to the Minister responsible for National Archives: Why does the Government consider it
necessary to have an independent department of National Archives?
Thursday, 24 August 2000
Questions to Members
1. Rt Hon. Wyatt Creech to the Chairperson of the Health Committee: Has the Prime Minister advised the committee that
the Government may clarify a Treaty of Waitangi clause in the New Zealand Public Health and Disability Bill currently
before the committee; if so, what arrangements will she make to ensure that the public have the opportunity to make
submissions on any proposed new provision?
2. Hon. Tony Ryall to the Chairperson of the Justice and Electoral Committee: When does the committee intend to resolve
to report back the Matrimonial Property Amendment Bill including Supplementary Order Paper No 25?