Questions for Oral Answer As At Wednesday, 18 May 2005
Questions to Ministers
1. Dr DON BRASH to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by her statement that her Government has a "goal of economic
transformation and a return to the top half of the OECD ratings by 2011."; if not, why not?
2. GEORGINA BEYER to the Minister for Social Development and Employment: What is the Government doing to ensure that
access to childcare is no longer a financial hurdle for parents looking to return to work?
3. RODNEY HIDE to the Minister of Revenue: What dollar figure would the $60,000 threshold have to be lifted to in order
that no more than 5 per cent of taxpayers pay the 39 cent rate in 2005/06, and what would be the fiscal cost of making
this adjustment?
4. JUDY TURNER to the Prime Minister: Does she still stand by her intention to develop policy and actions designed to
boost participation in the workforce, particularly in respect of women; if so, why?
5. JOHN KEY to the Minister of Finance: Does he believe the tax cuts announced by Peter Costello in Australia last week
put pressure on New Zealand to follow suit; if not, why not?
6. TIM BARNETT to the Minister of Justice: What initiative is the Ministry of Justice taking to deal with trauma and
adverse impact on children caused by the separation of their parents?
7. PETER BROWN to the Minister of Labour: Does he have any concerns regarding the increasing number of workers striking
over their pay and working conditions; if so, what plans, if any, does he have to address this issue?
8. SUE KEDGLEY to the Minister of Broadcasting: Why, since the TVNZ Charter was introduced in 2003, has there been a
three per cent decrease in New Zealand programmes shown on TV One, and no increase in New Zealand programmes shown on
TV2, during the hours 6am to midnight?
9. Dr PAUL HUTCHISON to the Minister of Health: Does she stand by her statement, "people are not culled. They are sent
to their general practitioners to be monitored", and can she explain the difference to the thousands of patients who
have been removed from waiting lists?
10. Hon MATT ROBSON to the Associate Minister of Health: What recent funding announcements has the Labour Progressive
Government made to combat the problem of drug and alcohol abuse and suicide prevention?
11. RODNEY HIDE to the Prime Minister: What standards of ministerial behaviour has she and her Government set, in light
of her statement "New Zealanders should be able to look to their government for a lead on standards of behaviour and
accountability."?
12. RON MARK to the Minister of Health: Does the Ministry of Health conduct background checks, other than psychological
and psychiatric assessments, before any decisions are made to fund sex change operations; if not, why not?
ENDS