QUESTIONS FOR ORAL ANSWER
Thursday, 9 November 2006
Questions to Ministers
1. DARREN HUGHES to the Minister for Industry and Regional Development: What is the Government doing to stimulate
growth in regional New Zealand?
2. Hon Dr NICK SMITH to the Minister responsible for Climate Change Issues: How does he reconcile his statement
last year, that “The government has decided not to implement a carbon tax, or any other broad-based tax, in the first
commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol.”, with his statement in this morning’s New Zealand Herald that a
State-imposed carbon tax could end plans for a coal-fired Marsden B power station?
3. JEANETTE FITZSIMONS to the Prime Minister: Does she have confidence that her Ministers of Transport, Agriculture
and Energy will be able to develop adequate plans for their sectors to implement the goal she stated yesterday in the
House “not to put more carbon into the atmosphere than [New Zealand] is able to offset by other means”?
4. GERRY BROWNLEE to the Minister of Māori Affairs: Was the “Closing the Gaps” policy successful?
5. STEVE CHADWICK to the Minister of Tourism: What recent reports has he received on international visitor
spending?
6. Hon TONY RYALL to the Minister of Health: Is there any financial waste in the health system; if so, where?
7. TE URUROA FLAVELL to the Minister in charge of Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations: How does the Crown intend to
ensure that the method of calculating the quantum of the settlement for Ngāti Mutunga will be fair in reality as well as
fair in the circumstances?
8. Dr the Hon LOCKWOOD SMITH to the Minister of Immigration: Does he have confidence in the New Zealand Immigration
Service; if so, why?
9. JEANETTE FITZSIMONS to the Minister responsible for Climate Change Issues: When he attends the United Nations
Climate Change Conference in Nairobi next week, what proposals will he put forward or support to encourage developing
countries to accept obligations in the second commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol?
10. Hon BILL ENGLISH to the Minister of Education: Does he agree with New Zealand Qualifications Authority deputy
chief executive Bali Haque that credit should be given to an answer in text speak if it “clearly shows the required
understanding”?
11. GORDON COPELAND to the Minister for Transport Safety: Is he concerned that last year drivers aged 15 to 24 were
involved in 142 fatal road accidents, in which they were at fault 83 percent of the time, and that the social cost of
crashes in which drivers in this age group were at fault totalled roughly $1 billion; if so, what is he going to do
about it?
12. CHRIS TREMAIN to the Minister for Economic Development: Is he satisfied with the operations of all the New
Zealand Trade and Enterprise programmes covered by the evaluations released over the last week?
ENDS