Questions for Oral Answer
As At Wednesday, 7 December 2005
Questions to Ministers
1. Dr DON BRASH to the Prime Minister: Why has she referred the actions of Hon David Benson-Pope's press secretary to
Ministerial Services yet taken no action against Hon David Benson-Pope himself in relation to the selective leaking of
police documents?
2. BARBARA STEWART to the Minister of Health: Is he concerned at the growing disparity in Government expenditure on
pharmaceuticals between New Zealand and Australia, which now spends more than twice the amount per capita on
pharmaceuticals than New Zealand does; if not, why not?
3. Hon BILL ENGLISH to the Minister for Tertiary Education: Can he confirm that an April 2002 briefing to the Associate
Minister of Education and the Minister of Education contained this statement regarding Te Wananga o Aotearoa, "Ministry
officials have stressed the need for increased governance involvement, oversight and financial management and
planning."; if so, which Ministers and officials were responsible for ensuring those concerns were acted on?
4. MOANA MACKEY to the Minister of Education: What recent reports has he received on progress with the NCEA exam season?
5. JUDITH COLLINS to the Minister for Social Development and Employment: Does he stand by his statement in the House
yesterday when he said, "Can I stress that I believe I have acted in a perfectly upfront way in all matters, and have
not been deceitful."; if so, why?
6. RODNEY HIDE to the Minister for Social Development and Employment: Has his office received the transcript of the
police interview he had on 21 September, where he said "the sort of activity that I'm being accused of, of forcing a
tennis ball into someone's mouth would be as unacceptable then as it is now and I was not, I have never committed such
an offence.", and does he stand by his statement in the House yesterday that "I am one of the 19 people who either do
not recall the alleged events, or do not believe they happened."?
7. Hon TONY RYALL to the Minister of Health: How many calls were made to PlunketLine (excluding calls transferred from
Healthline) in the month of October 2005, and how many of these were answered?
8. SHANE JONES to the Minister of Finance: What recent reports has he received on the KiwiSaver scheme?
9. Dr the Hon LOCKWOOD SMITH to the Minister of Immigration: Are immigration representations made by members of
Parliament given priority over other immigration applications?
10. DARIEN FENTON to the Minister of Health: In what ways is the Government supporting a greater role for nurses in
health care?
11. Hon MURRAY McCULLY to the Minister of Foreign Affairs: Why did he tell the New Zealand Press Association at the APEC
meeting that he would raise our "$2 billion" trade deficit with China in his meeting with the Chinese Foreign Minister,
and what proposals, if any, did he advance at the meeting to address the issue?
12. SUE MORONEY to the Minister of Labour: What changes have recently been made to the paid parental leave scheme?
ENDS