Parliament 16 February 2011

Oral Questions 2 pm – 3 pm

  1. Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS to the Prime Minister: Has he had time to read and digest the judgement of Justice Miller regarding the Crafar farm deal; if so, does he stand by his comments made in the House yesterday?
  2. Hon DAVID PARKER to the Minister for Land Information: Does he believe he and the Government have conducted themselves competently and appropriately in relation to the decision to approve the purchase of the Crafar farms by a foreign buyer; if not, what did they do wrong?
  3. JONATHAN YOUNG to the Minister of Finance: What reports has the Government issued on the economy?
  4. JACINDA ARDERN to the Minister for Social Development: Does she have confidence that Work and meets their own “case management approach” expectations?
  5.  to the Minister for Social Development: Does she have concerns that changes to the eligibility for the Training Incentive Allowance are causing single parent beneficiaries to consider working in the sex industry?
  6. Dr CAM CALDER to the Minister of Health: What improvements have there been to services for patients as a result of greater collaboration between District Health Boards?
  7. Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE to the Minister for State Owned Enterprises: Does he still intend to sell 49 per cent of the four State-owned energy companies?
  8. JAMI-LEE ROSS to the Minister of Local Government: What analysis has he received on rate increases across New Zealand's 78 councils following the enactment of new local government legislation since 2002?
  9. Hon LIANNE DALZIEL to the Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery: Does he stand by the part of his statement of 27 January, announcing the extension of the red zone offer to retirement villages, that letters of offer would be sent to each resident and CERA would work with village owners as quickly as possible to ensure the residents are assisted; if not, why not?
  10. Dr RUSSEL NORMAN to the Minister for Land Information: Did Overseas Investment Office officials meet with Chinese political consul Cheng Lei late last year; if so, did they discuss Shanghai Pengxin's bid for the Crafar farms?
  11. CLARE CURRAN to the Minister of Broadcasting: What is the name of the documentary which was withheld in the papers released publicly by titled “Records of decisions made at working group meeting”?
  12. Hon TAU HENARE to the Minister for Economic Development: What progress has he made declaring the Volvo Ocean Race Stopover a major event under the Major Events Management Act 2007?

Today there are four questions from National, five questions from Labour, two from the Greens, and one from NZ First.

No prize for patsy of the day, as for once National is using one of their questions to have a go at Labour, specifically the scalping activities of . Q12 will be fun.

The Crafar farm court ruling is the main issue, with Labour and NZ First asking questions on it. The decision is a godsend for them.

is likely to be another big issue with Labour and Greens looking to ask questions about the woman who says she considered prostitution to pay for her childcare.

Address in Reply 3 pm – 6 pm 

Maiden speeches for new National MPs are from 4.30 pm to 6 pm, being North Shore MP , Rangitikei MP Ian McKelvie, Rodney MP , Tamaki MP Simon O'Connor, Coromandel MP Scott Simpson, and List MP Dr Jian Yang.

Around 4.5 hours remaining of the debate.

Government Bills 7.30 pm – 10.00 pm (and Friday 9 am  1 pm)

  1. Ngai Tāmanuhiri Claims Settlement Bill – first reading
  2. Ngati Makino Claims Settlement Bill – first reading
  3. Ngāti Manawa and Ngāti Whare Claims Settlement Bill – second reading
  4. Nga Wai o Maniapoto (Waipa River) Bill – second reading
  5. Ngati Pahauwera Treaty Claims Settlement Bill – second reading
  6. Ngati Porou Claims Settlement Bill – second reading
  7. Statutes Amendment Bill (No 2) – second reading and all remaining stages
  8. Statutes Amendment Bill (No 3) – first reading

Nothing terribly controversial here. However some of the speeches on the treaty settlement bills can be very interesting, as you learn a lot of NZ history on some of them.