Category: Oral Questions

Source: New Zealand Parliament – Oral Questions and Answers

Hon JUDITH COLLINS to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by all of her Government’s statements and actions?

Hon JULIE ANNE GENTER to the Minister of Finance: What steps, if any, will he take to ensure the Government’s economic response to the current COVID-19 outbreak does not increase house prices?

Hon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE to the Minister of Finance: How much of the $56.5 billion authorised by the Imprest Supply (Second for 2020/21) Act 2020 was appropriated in the Supplementary Estimates of Appropriations 2020/21, and what sum is being sought by the Government through the Imprest Supply (Second for 2021/22) Bill?

DAVID SEYMOUR to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by all her answers relating to pre-departure testing in oral question No. 3 on 7 September?

Hon LOUISE UPSTON to the Minister of Education: Does he stand by his Government’s preparations in education for COVID-related restrictions, and is he confident that Kiwi schoolkids can receive the best education possible through COVID-related restrictions?

Hon TODD McCLAY to the Minister of Finance: Will he provide additional targeted support to businesses in Auckland that could be facing further weeks of lockdown, as well as to those businesses, particularly in the hospitality sector, in other parts of the country who continue to lose money as a result of the Government’s new level 2 restrictions?

CHRIS BISHOP to the Minister for COVID-19 Response: Have any of the planning and delivery groups listed on the Ministry of Health website as giving strategic advice and guidance for COVID-19 vaccines given advice on using Novavax as a booster vaccine dose to the current Pfizer vaccine, and what is the Government’s current policy on deploying booster doses for the COVID-19 vaccine programme?

Answers to these questions are delivered from 2pm (New Zealand time) on the day of tabling. The answers can be accessed in text form, once Hansard is finalised, by clicking here.

Source: New Zealand Parliament – Oral Questions and Answers

Hon JAMES SHAW to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by his statement that climate is a “bread and butter issue” for his Government; if so, will he ensure that adapting to extreme weather and cutting pollution are both central to the Government response to Cyclone Gabrielle?

RACHEL BROOKING to the Minister of Finance: What will be the economic impact of the recent extreme weather events, and how is the Government responding to those events?

CHRISTOPHER LUXON to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by all of his Government’s statements and actions?

ANGIE WARREN-CLARK to the Minister for Social Development and Employment: What announcements has she made about supporting NGOs and those impacted by the floods and Cyclone Gabrielle?

DAVID SEYMOUR to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by all his Government’s statements and actions?

NICOLA WILLIS to the Minister of Finance: Does he think New Zealanders suffering a cost of living crisis should pay more tax, and why won’t he rule out introducing a new tax to help pay for the Cyclone Gabrielle clean-up?

SHANAN HALBERT to the Minister of Transport: What reports has he received about progress on repairing transport networks following the recent extreme weather events?

CHRIS BAILLIE to the Minister of Police: Does he stand by his statement that “What I’d say to the gangs, get your bloody patches off”; if so, has he seen reports of how many gang members have taken their patches off?

Hon AUPITO WILLIAM SIO to the Minister for Emergency Management: What assistance has NEMA coordinated to support local responses to Cyclone Gabrielle?

ERICA STANFORD to the Minister of Education: On what date was she provided with the term 3 2022 attendance data by the Ministry of Education, and why was the data not released publicly until just yesterday?

ARENA WILLIAMS to the Minister for Small Business: How is the Government supporting small businesses affected by recent extreme weather events?

SIMEON BROWN to the Minister of Transport: Does he still expect “early works to commence in 2023” on Auckland light rail; if so, on what date in 2023 will early works commence?

Answers to these questions are delivered from 2pm (New Zealand time) on the day of tabling. The answers can be accessed in text form, once Hansard is finalised, by clicking here.

Source: New Zealand Parliament – Oral Questions and Answers

Hon JUDITH COLLINS to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by all of her Government’s statements and actions?

Dr SHANE RETI to the Minister of Health: What was he referring to in the House yesterday when he said that there were some DHB preparations that could have been done “a little better”, and what things, if any, could have been done a little better at Middlemore Hospital?

DAVID SEYMOUR to the Minister of Health: Is he satisfied with the response at Middlemore Hospital following the identification of a COVID-19 positive patient?

Hon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE to the Minister of Finance: Will he commit to criteria for undertaking spending under the authority of the second Imprest Supply Bill for 2021/22; if so, what will those criteria be?

Hon JULIE ANNE GENTER to the Associate Minister of Housing (Public Housing): Why did the Government prohibit residential rent increases last year in response to the outbreak of COVID-19, and will it do the same this year?

CHRIS BISHOP to the Minister for COVID-19 Response: When did he first receive advice on the new requirement for essential workers crossing the Auckland border to have had a test in the last seven days, and is he satisfied with the planning done for an outbreak of the Delta variant of COVID-19?

Answers to these questions are delivered from 2pm (New Zealand time) on the day of tabling. The answers can be accessed in text form, once Hansard is finalised, by clicking here.

Source: New Zealand Parliament – Oral Questions and Answers

CHRISTOPHER LUXON to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by all of her Government’s statements and actions?

RAWIRI WAITITI to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by all her Government’s statements and policies?

BARBARA EDMONDS to the Minister of Finance: What are the Government’s priorities for Budget 2023?

Hon EUGENIE SAGE to the Minister for Oceans and Fisheries: Does he agree with the Minister of Conservation that New Zealand supports a global protection target of 30 percent of land and sea areas by 2030; if so, what progress, if any, has the Government made toward achieving this in the Hauraki Gulf/Tīkapa Moana since October 2020?

NICOLA WILLIS to the Minister of Finance: Does he stand by his statement that “every day of the week we look to see what savings and reprioritisations we can make”; if so, what specific savings or reprioritisations has he identified this week?

ANGELA ROBERTS to the Minister of Education: What support has the Government contributed to help schools to provide learning environments for their students that are warm, dry, and fit for purpose?

SIMON WATTS to the Minister of Local Government: Why did she not send the advice she received on 22 November relating to entrenchment of provisions of the Water Services Entities Bill to any other Ministers, and does she stand by all her statements on entrenchments?

ANGIE WARREN-CLARK to the Minister for Social Development and Employment: What research has she seen on the impact of the Families Package five years after its introduction?

PENNY SIMMONDS to the Minister of Education: Is he confident Te Pūkenga is on track to achieve all of its objectives, and how much, if anything, has been spent to date on redundancy payments for senior executives?

JO LUXTON to the Minister of Immigration: What reports has he seen regarding migration to New Zealand?

KAREN CHHOUR to the Minister for Children: Does he stand by his statement that “when a child is identified or apprehended by Police for offending behaviour, information will be shared with Oranga Tamariki within 24 hours, with an agreed plan on how to deal with and support the young person confirmed in 48 hours”; if so, how does he expect this to be delivered while Oranga Tamariki faces more than 500 vacancies?

TANGI UTIKERE to the Associate Minister of Health: What progress has been made towards a smokefree New Zealand?

Answers to these questions are delivered from 2pm (New Zealand time) on the day of tabling. The answers can be accessed in text form, once Hansard is finalised, by clicking here.

Source: New Zealand Parliament – Oral Questions and Answers

BARBARA EDMONDS to the Minister of Finance: What recent reports has he seen on the New Zealand economy?

CHRISTOPHER LUXON to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by all of her Government’s statements and actions?

TĀMATI COFFEY to the Minister of Housing: What actions has the Government taken to achieve better housing outcomes for the people of Rotorua?

DAVID SEYMOUR to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by all her Government’s statements and policies?

NICOLA WILLIS to the Minister of Finance: Has he been instructed by the Prime Minister to look through the things he has on his agenda to ask himself whether “either from a spending perspective and investment perspective, or just from a focus perspective, those are things that we should be prioritising at this point in time”; if so, what initiatives, if any, has he identified should no longer be prioritised?

CAMILLA BELICH to the Minister of Education: What reports has he seen about numbers of people undertaking vocational education and training?

Hon PAUL GOLDSMITH to the Minister of Justice: Is she confident the Government has the correct priorities in Justice?

NAISI CHEN to the Minister of Tourism: What reports has he seen on New Zealand’s tourism recovery?

ERICA STANFORD to the Minister of Immigration: Why were nurses and midwives not placed on the straight-to-residence pathway of the Green List in May, and on what date did he first receive advice, if at all, that the retention rates of migrant nurses and midwives are no longer a concern?

HELEN WHITE to the Minister of Transport: What recent announcements has he made about futureproofing New Zealand’s transport system?

SIMON WATTS to the Minister of Local Government: Did she receive advice from the Department of Internal Affairs on 25 October raising the possibility that Hon Eugenie Sage would pursue entrenchment of provisions in the Water Services Entities Bill via supplementary order paper and stating the Government would need to decide whether to support it; if so, how does she reconcile that with her answer to me in oral questions on 6 December, “We were made aware of the details of the SOP at the same time as he was”?

TEANAU TUIONO to the Minister of Education: Does he think the wages of rural school bus drivers in Aotearoa are fair?

Answers to these questions are delivered from 2pm (New Zealand time) on the day of tabling. The answers can be accessed in text form, once Hansard is finalised, by clicking here.

Source: New Zealand Parliament – Oral Questions and Answers

Hon JUDITH COLLINS to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by all of her Government’s statements and actions?

Dr SHANE RETI to the Minister of Health: When he reportedly admitted recently there were gaps in hospital preparations for the Delta outbreak, what were those gaps?

DAVID SEYMOUR to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by her statement that “with Covid raging outside our borders, and new more transmissible strains emerging, we have had to both make continual improvements to strengthen our border while continuing to plan and prepare for managing any resurgence in the most effective way possible”?

JAN LOGIE to the Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety: Is he confident that Government policies are ensuring working people are safe and supported during the current COVID-19 outbreak?

Hon LOUISE UPSTON to the Minister of Finance: Does he have confidence in the administration and timeliness of the COVID-19 wage subsidy scheme?

DAVID SEYMOUR to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by all her Government’s statements and actions?

CHRIS BISHOP to the Minister for COVID-19 Response: Has the Director-General of Health exempted, under clause 9 of the COVID-19 Public Health Response (Point-of-care Tests) Order 2021, any point-of-care tests from the prohibitions in that order, and what is current Government policy on rapid COVID-19 tests?

Answers to these questions are delivered from 2pm (New Zealand time) on the day of tabling. The answers can be accessed in text form, once Hansard is finalised, by clicking here.

Source: New Zealand Parliament – Oral Questions and Answers

CHRIS BAILLIE to the Minister of Education: Has he received any reports on future options for Māori-medium and kaupapa Māori education in the past six months?

TERISA NGOBI to the Minister for Children: What recent announcements has the Government made about stopping children re-offending?

NICOLA WILLIS to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by all her Government’s statements and actions?

DAN ROSEWARNE to the Minister of Energy and Resources: What has the Government’s Warmer Kiwi Homes programme achieved?

CHRIS BISHOP to the Minister of Justice: What does the Ministry of Justice advice dated 11 April 2022 on entrenching sections of the Water Services Entities Bill that she received on 28 November 2022 say, and did she seek any advice on entrenchment in that bill earlier?

Dr TRACEY McLELLAN to the Minister of Health: What recent announcements has Pharmac advised him of in relation to funding more medicines for New Zealanders?

Hon JULIE ANNE GENTER to the Minister of Transport: Does he stand by the Minister of Finance’s statement about half-price public transport, “this is a very expensive policy. And what it does is, it robs the fund that funds our roads”; if so, why?

GLEN BENNETT to the Minister for Broadcasting and Media: What recent announcement has the Government made about supporting the New Zealand media sector?

MELISSA LEE to the Minister for Broadcasting and Media: Does he stand by all the Government’s views and actions regarding Aotearoa New Zealand Public Media?

TĀMATI COFFEY to the Minister for Youth: What reports has she seen on young people’s re-engagement through the Ākonga fund?

SIMON WATTS to the Minister of Local Government: Does she stand by her statement on entrenching provisions of the Water Services Entities Bill, “There is a moral obligation of people who believe that privatisation should not occur to support that particular SOP”; if so, how does she reconcile that with a Cabinet decision made on 30 May that “the Bill should not entrench the privatisation provisions in the Bill”?

MARK CAMERON to the Minister of Agriculture: Does he stand by the Acting Minister for Agriculture’s statement made on 16 November 2022 that “specific mitigation technologies commercially available now include low-methane sheep genetics, the effluent pond treatment technology EcoPond, and urease inhibitor”; if so, how many commercial farms in New Zealand are currently utilising each of these technologies?

Answers to these questions are delivered from 2pm (New Zealand time) on the day of tabling. The answers can be accessed in text form, once Hansard is finalised, by clicking here.

Source: New Zealand Parliament – Oral Questions and Answers

DAVID SEYMOUR to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by her statement, “A small handful are not due their day 12 test—but I would caution the member that those are the contacts we know about”; if so, how many contacts are still awaiting a test result now?

Hon JUDITH COLLINS to the Prime Minister: What did she mean yesterday when she said, “When the outbreak started, we saw, of course, as you may expect, some demand lift”, and does she accept that prior to the current outbreak, eligible people wanted to get vaccines but were not able to secure appointments?

Hon LOUISE UPSTON to the Minister of Finance: How does the new requirement to reapply for the COVID-19 Wage Subsidy every fortnight help businesses and employees?

Hon JAMES SHAW to the Minister of Finance: Does he stand by his statement regarding people in hardship that “what we want to do is ensure that the current forms of support we have are adequate”; if so, will the Government take action in response to the Salvation Army’s observation that despite actions taken so far, “critical food insecurity issues for people and whānau persist”?

Hon TODD McCLAY to the Minister of Finance: Does he believe that the current COVID-related financial support for struggling businesses is adequate, and how many businesses, if any, does he expect to close permanently as a result of level 3 and level 4 lockdown restrictions?

CHRIS BISHOP to the Minister for COVID-19 Response: How many COVID-positive people are awaiting transfer to quarantine facilities, if any, and is he satisfied that the Government’s MIQ facilities were appropriately prepared for the Delta variant arriving in New Zealand?

MATT DOOCEY to the Minister of Health: How does he reconcile Dr Susanna Every-Palmer’s research that one year after the first lockdown, levels of psychological distress remained elevated, even though there were no lockdown restrictions in place, with his comment that “Wellbeing dipped slightly during March-April 2020’s Alert Level 4, but quickly recovered as alert levels decreased”, and does he now recognise that higher levels of mental distress have continued to be felt in the community as a result of COVID-19?

Answers to these questions are delivered from 2pm (New Zealand time) on the day of tabling. The answers can be accessed in text form, once Hansard is finalised, by clicking here.

Source: New Zealand Parliament – Oral Questions and Answers

CHRISTOPHER LUXON to the Prime Minister: Does she have confidence in all of her Ministers?

BARBARA EDMONDS to the Minister of Finance: What recent reports has he seen on the New Zealand economy?

NICOLA WILLIS to the Minister of Finance: Is he confident that taxpayer money is being spent appropriately and delivering value for New Zealanders during a cost of living crisis?

WILLOW-JEAN PRIME to the Minister of Police: What recent announcements has the Government made about helping Police respond to fleeing drivers?

JAN LOGIE to the Minister for Children: Does he agree with Royal Commissioner Paul Gibson that “The experiences of disabled survivors, shared with the Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry, describe a terrible history. But it would be a mistake to believe this remains in our past”; if so, what interventions are in place, if any, to ensure a disability rights focus within Oranga Tamariki?

Hon PAUL GOLDSMITH to the Minister of Justice: Is she confident the justice system is prioritising community safety and providing justice to the victims of crime?

Dr EMILY HENDERSON to the Minister for Social Development and Employment: What announcements has she made on extending hardship support for dental grants?

SIMEON BROWN to the Minister of Transport: On what date did he first write to Labour MPs encouraging them to put forward bids for funding under the $350 million Transport Choices package, and on what date did NZTA open expressions of interest for councils to bid for the funding?

SARAH PALLETT to the Minister for Women: What recent announcements have been made on the Government’s progress on pay equity?

NICOLE McKEE to the Minister of Police: Is he confident that all information stolen during the firearms licensing data breach at the former Auckland Central Police Station on Vincent Street has since been recovered?

SIMON WATTS to the Minister of Local Government: Does she stand by her statement on entrenching a provision of the Water Services Entities Bill, “We know that while this particular SOP may not pass the constitutional threshold, there is a moral obligation of people who believe that privatisation should not occur to support that particular SOP”, and does she stand by all her statements on entrenchment provisions?

ANNA LORCK to the Minister for the Digital Economy and Communications: What reports has he seen about improved rural broadband?

Answers to these questions are delivered from 2pm (New Zealand time) on the day of tabling. The answers can be accessed in text form, once Hansard is finalised, by clicking here.

Source: New Zealand Parliament – Oral Questions and Answers

Hon JUDITH COLLINS to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by her statement from yesterday, “Of course, our goal is to vaccinate as many people as possible as quickly as possible”; if so, has her goal changed from April, when she said, “I support the fact that we have been later in the pecking order”?

DAVID SEYMOUR to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by her statement regarding an alert level change in Auckland that “we need to be confident we don’t have Delta circulating undetected in the community, and we need to be confident any cases we may have are contained and isolated”; if so, is this the same for the South Island?

Dr SHANE RETI to the Minister for COVID-19 Response: How did this Government prepare DHBs for a Delta variant outbreak from when Delta was first detected in New Zealand five months ago, and which DHBs, if any, had low PPE inventory eight days before the current Delta outbreak was discovered?

Hon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE to the Minister of Finance: Is he satisfied that all initiatives funded from the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund are for COVID-19 response and recovery and that, had the COVID-19 outbreak not occurred last year, they would not have been funded?

CHRIS BISHOP to the Minister for COVID-19 Response: Is he satisfied with the speed of the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out and decisions relating to the roll-out made by the Government to this point?

Hon JAMES SHAW to the Minister of Finance: Will the Government make further funding available from the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund to support people in hardship; if so, in what form?

Answers to these questions are delivered from 2pm (New Zealand time) on the day of tabling. The answers can be accessed in text form, once Hansard is finalised, by clicking here.