Parliament 5 April 2012
April 5th, 2012 at 12:19 pm by David FarrarOral Questions 2 pm – 3 pm
- GRANT ROBERTSON to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by all his answers to questions in the House this year?
- TODD McCLAY to the Minister of Finance: What is the impact on the Crown’s finances of the Government’s tax changes since the 2008 election?
- Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by his statement of 5 July 2010 that “I’d hate to see New Zealanders as tenants in their own country”; if not, why not?
- Dr JACKIE BLUE to the Associate Minister of Health: What reports has he received about the Prime Minister’s Youth Mental Health Project, announced yesterday?
- Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE to the Minister for Economic Development: Does he agree with South Australian Treasurer Paul Snelling in relation to SkyCity that “there cannot and will not be any connection between any change to their regulatory arrangements governing the casino and their investment”, and can he assure the House that a similar standard will be upheld by this Government?
- JULIE ANNE GENTER to the Minister of Transport: Did the Government compare the costs and benefits of the Roads of National Significance against those of other transport projects before announcing them to ensure that it is getting best value for public money; if not, why not?
- MELISSA LEE to the Minister for Social Development: What recent announcements have been made to improve the way the Government deals with young people who have mental health problems?
- Hon PHIL GOFF to the Minister of Foreign Affairs: What concerns, if any, have been expressed to him that proposed changes to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will damage New Zealand’s promotion of its international trade and foreign policy interests?
- SIMON O’CONNOR to the Associate Minister of Education: What recent announcements has the Government made on the school network upgrade project?
- PHIL TWYFORD to the Minister of Finance: Have Treasury officials reviewed Ministry of Transport calculations including projected traffic volume growth, per capita change in volumes over the last seven years and the alignment with GDP, and if so, is he satisfied that the currently planned transport spend is good value for money?
- NICKY WAGNER to the Minister of Energy and Resources: What initiatives has the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority implemented to help support Christchurch’s Recovery?
- GARETH HUGHES to the Minister of Energy and Resources: Has he received advice on the economic impacts of a major oil spill off the coast of Kaikoura?
Today there are five questions from National, four questions from Labour, two from the Greensand one from NZ First.
Patsy of the day goes to Q9 – What recent announcements has the Government made on the school network upgrade project?
Labour are asking the PM the normal gotcha question, the Sky City deal, MFAT restructuring, and transport spending
Greens are on highway spending and oil spills and NZ First is on the Crafar farms.
Government Motions 3.00 pm – 4.00 pm (estimate)
Two motions to be debated before we hit Government bills. The first is to appoint Sir David Carruthers as chairperson of the Independent Police Complaints Authority.
The second is on alterations to the appropriations for the Auditor-General, Ombudsmen and Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment. It is also debatable
Government Bills 4.00 pm – 6.00 pm
- Taxation (International Investment and Remedial Matters) Bill – third reading
- Appropriation (2010/11 Financial Review) Bill – committee stage continued (four hour debate)
- Building Amendment Bill (No 4) - first reading continued
There is no formal time limit on the motions preceding the bill but if they do not drag on, then the Taxation bill may pass its third reading.
The Taxation (International Investment and Remedial Matters) Bill was introduced in October 2010 and seeks to to reform the tax treatment of gains of New Zealand residents from income interests in overseas entities and gains of foreign residents from interests in New Zealand companies. It passed its first and second readings on a voice vote but at committee stage Labour and Greens voted against Part 3.
The Appropriation (2010/11 Financial Review) Bill seeks to confirm and validate financial matters relating to the 2010/11 financial year.
The Building Amendment Bill (No 4) was introduced in November 2011 and seeks to also implement the Building Act reviews decisions, including more comprehensive consumer protection measures and clarifying exemptions from building consent requirements.
April 5th, 2012 at 12:41 pm
Genter vs Brownlee round 2. It is on. The new Green MP clearly got the better of Brownlie in round 1, can she finish the job today?
Vote:April 5th, 2012 at 12:46 pm
6. Supplementary: Will the Government be applying the same tax and spend approach for the funding of Roads of National Significance to other modes of transport as well? If not, why not?
Vote:April 5th, 2012 at 1:08 pm
6. Supplementary: How has the Government determined that the National Land Transport Fund Excise tax of 48.5 cents + GST per litre (or $32.40 per 60 litre tank) is optimum for the economy?
Vote:April 5th, 2012 at 1:17 pm
it is actually round four..
..rounds one and two..parliament and breakfast telly..genter monstered him..
..round three yesterday she stumbled..
..but her question today looks nice and tight/focussed..
..(i wanna see brownlee sweat..again..)
phillip ure@whoar.co.nz
Vote:April 5th, 2012 at 4:29 pm
… And round four goes to Julie Anne:
http://www.parliament.nz/en-NZ/PB/Business/QOA/5/0/4/50HansQ_20120405_00000006-6-Transport-Funding-Value-for-Money.htm
Vote:April 5th, 2012 at 4:34 pm
Genter well ahead on points so far, but Brownlee gets some credit for his blustering style.
Vote:April 5th, 2012 at 6:27 pm
as th transcript shows..genter did ok..
..but i thought the woo-hoo.! story is the news banks did not declare the 15 grand he got from sky-city when running for mayor..
..that’s a crime..and if found guilty..he will have to resign from parliament..
..(well..should that happen..at least he will be able to take his nana-naps in peace..
..instead of fighting those urges..with mixed success..most questiontimes..)
..(robertson also noted that brown did the same thing…didn’t declare his 15 grand…
..that payment also explains browns’ lack of opposition to the more-pokies plan..
..sky-city brought them both off..
..so for them..it didn’t matter who won the election..
..they already owned them both..
..corruption has many faces..
..and seems to be quite cheap at the price..
http://whoar.co.nz/2012/new-zealand-parliament-list-of-questions-for-oral-answer-thursday-5-april-2012/
phillip ure@whoar.co.nz
Vote:April 5th, 2012 at 9:02 pm
If anyone would like to see the actual exchange, in real life. in real time.
i linked to it at 6.01 on the general debate thread.
Watch it yourself. Then ponder,,,
What are these shitheads, like campit, philu, and mikenmild up to ?
And then you have a low, total piece of shit such as philu @ 6.27 trying to scew the whole argument
and make it sumsing to do with poker machines.
As usual. Laughable, pittifull, typical,
Vote:do these pieces of shit make you want to puke,,, or what ?
April 6th, 2012 at 6:34 am
Get a grip bereal and pull yourself together man! We’re just pointing out that fuel excise tax should be more than just a welfare programme for the Bitumen Contractors Association – it needs to be spent on projects that make economic sense.
Vote:April 6th, 2012 at 8:33 am
Indeed campit, I would suggest that if the government intended to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on other (non-roading) projects that had such a poor economic rationale then there would be considerable opposition.
Vote: