Parliament - Live Stream and Question Time

Questions to Ministers TERISA NGOBI to the Minister of Housing: What progress has the Government made rebuilding New Zealand's public housing stock? DAVID SEYMOUR to the Acting Prime Minister: Does she stand by all her Government's statements and policies? CHRISTOPHER LUXON to the Acting Prime Minister: Does she stand by all of her Government's statements and actions? CAMILLA BELICH to the Minister of Education: What recent announcements has the Government made on extra support for the tertiary education sector? NICOLA WILLIS to the Minister of Finance: What advice, if any, has he had about the impact a new asset tax, such as, for example, a wealth tax, would have on the New Zealand economy, particularly in light of economic recession and the cost of living crisis? TANGI UTIKERE to the Minister of Health: What is the Government doing to reduce the cost of healthcare from 1 July? Hon PAUL GOLDSMITH to the Minister of Justice: Does she agree with independent victims' advocate Ruth Money, who says that discounts to sentences for convicted criminals are "getting out of control", and how does allowing for sentence discounts to reach 73 percent fit with her stated pledge to be "victim-centric"? SARAH PALLETT to the Associate Minister for Social Development and Employment: What recent announcements has she made about Peke Waihanga? HARETE HIPANGO to the Minister for Children: Is he confident children in the care of Oranga Tamariki are safe; if not, why not? RICARDO MENÉNDEZ MARCH to the Minister of Housing: Is she committed to ensuring everyone on the public housing waiting list has an accessible, affordable, and healthy public home to live in; if so, why has her Government not committed to funding the public housing building programme beyond June 2025? BROOKE van VELDEN to the Minister of Health: What options is Te Whatu Ora considering for the repurposing or alternative use of the more than 17,839,000 rapid antigen tests (RATs) that as of 12 June had either expired or will not be dispatched because they are nearing expiry, and what does it cost Te Whatu Ora each month to store these expired or expiring RATs? STEPH LEWIS to the Associate Minister of Health: What recent measures have been put in place by the Government to help increase vaccination rates and accessibility to healthcare for mums and babies?

Questions to Ministers TEANAU TUIONO to the Minister of Agriculture: Has he seen the call in the Climate Shift plan, released last week, to "Transition intensive dairying to low emissions farming by phasing out synthetic nitrogen fertiliser and imported animal feed, reducing herd size, and banning new large-scale irrigation schemes"; if so, does he support it? SHANAN HALBERT to the Minister of Finance: What recent reports has he seen on the New Zealand economy? NICOLA WILLIS to the Prime Minister: Does he have confidence in all of his Ministers? Dr JAMES McDOWALL to the Minister of Immigration: Can football fans from non - visa waiver countries wishing to take advantage of this month's release of additional tickets for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup come to New Zealand to watch games that start in 28 days, and how many days does it currently take Immigration New Zealand, on average, to process 90 percent of visitor visa applications for non - visa waiver countries? SARAH PALLETT to the Minister for Women: How will Budget 2023 deliver for women? Hon LOUISE UPSTON to the Minister for Social Development and Employment: How many more people are on the jobseeker benefit today compared to September 2017, and how much higher are jobseeker benefit numbers expected to climb, according to Treasury's forecast from the Budget? TAMATI COFFEY to the Minister of Tourism: What recent announcement has been made regarding the tourism industry's transformation to be more environmentally responsible? MATT DOOCEY to the Minister of Health: Is it correct that reported waiting times for children seeking mental health treatment in the Wellington region increased from 28 days in 2018 to almost 70 days in 2022, and does she agree with the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission's statement that "There are persistent workforce shortages, and we are yet to see a clear strategy and roadmap to grow and develop the workforce we so desperately need"? IBRAHIM OMER to the Minister of Foreign Affairs: What recent announcements has she made in response to Iran's ongoing human rights abuses? PENNY SIMMONDS to the Minister of Education: What is the unaudited draft financial surplus or deficit for Te Pukenga for the financial year ended 31 December 2022? TERISA NGOBI to the Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs: What progress has the Government made for Kiwi consumers this week? HARETE HIPANGO to the Minister for Children: Does he stand by all of his statements and actions regarding Oranga Tamariki?

Questions to Ministers CHRISTOPHER LUXON to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by all of his Government's statements and actions? HON MARAMA DAVIDSON to the Minister of Finance: Is he concerned at the findings in the Productivity Commission's A fair chance for all report that nearly 1 in 5 New Zealanders experience persistent disadvantage; if so, will he commit to making the changes needed to end persistent disadvantage in New Zealand? INGRID LEARY to the Minister of Finance: What recent reports has he seen on the New Zealand economy? NICOLA WILLIS to the Minister of Finance: What advice, if any, has he sought from Treasury in the past six months on specific matters relating to New Zealand's current tax settings, and what specific tax changes, if any, were considered as part of the Budget process? NAISI CHEN to the Minister of Energy and Resources: What actions is the Government taking to drive the uptake of hydrogen? BROOKE VAN VELDEN to the Minister of Health: What are the subspecialties to which the wait-list equity adjuster was being rolled out in the wider northern region, and how, if at all, is ethnicity being used as a factor in prioritising access to health treatment outside of the equity adjuster tool? DR SHANE RETI to the Minister of Health: How many people on surgical waiting lists have had the equity adjuster applied, and how many received an improved prioritisation with a contribution from the ethnicity component? VANUSHI WALTERS to the Minister of Defence: What recent defence arrangements has New Zealand made with Fiji? HON MARK MITCHELL to the Minister of Police: Does she stand by her statement, "It is my view that New Zealanders feel safer"; if so, why? ANGELA ROBERTS to the Minister of Forestry: How is the Government empowering communities when it comes to the planting of forests? PENNY SIMMONDS to the Associate Minister of Education: Is she confident that the Government's early childhood education announcement on Monday has adequately responded to the concerns of the sector, who had previously described it as "unworkable"; if so, why? GLEN BENNETT to the Minister for the Digital Economy and Communications: What progress has been made on the Game Development Sector Rebate?

Questions to Ministers: DR EMILY HENDERSON to the Minister for Social Development and Employment: What recent reports has she seen on the effects of changes to the welfare system since 2017? RAWIRI WAITITI to the Minister of Corrections: What actions, if any, is he taking in response to a recent report from the independent Office of the Inspectorate which found that 29 percent of all prisoners experienced solitary confinement over a 12-month period, seriously impacting on the wellbeing of people in prison and their families? CHRISTOPHER LUXON to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by all of his Government's statements and actions? DR ANAE NERU LEAVASA to the Minister of Health: What recent announcement has the Government made about increasing the number of first-year medical school places? NICOLA WILLIS to the Minister of Finance: What was the change in GDP per capita in each of the past two quarters, and does he agree that, by that measure, the New Zealand economy is going backwards? HON PHIL TWYFORD to the Minister of Forestry: What recent forestry announcement has the Government made regarding the New Zealand emissions trading scheme? DR SHANE RETI to the Minister of Health: How much weighting will be given to the ethnicity component of the equity adjuster for surgical wait-lists, and what other parts of the health system, if any, has she looked at applying the adjuster to? NICOLE MCKEE to the Minister of Police: Does she stand by her statement that "It is my view that New Zealanders feel safer with a Government on track to deliver 1,800 extra police"; if so, why, when gangs have recruited close to twice as many members in the nearly six years it took to recruit those extra police? CAMILLA BELICH to the Associate Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety: What recent announcement has she made about more financial support for parents? HON PAUL GOLDSMITH to the Minister of Justice: Does she stand by all her statements and actions? INGRID LEARY to the Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs: What recent announcement has he made on market studies? HON MARAMA DAVIDSON to the Minister of Finance: Is he concerned at the findings in the Productivity Commission's A fair chance for all report that approximately 1 in 5 New Zealanders experience persistent disadvantage; if so, will he commit to making the changes needed to end persistent disadvantage in New Zealand?

Questions to Ministers NICOLA WILLIS to the Prime Minister: On what dates, if any, did the Cabinet Office communicate with the Prime Minister or the Office of the Prime Minister since November 2020 regarding Hon Michael Wood's shareholdings? Hon AUPITO WILLIAM SIO to the Minister of Energy and Resources: How is the Government supporting communities to be more energy resilient? Hon PAUL GOLDSMITH to the Minister for Auckland: Does he stand by all his statements and actions? Hon MEKA WHAITIRI to the Minister of Housing: Does she have confidence in the operations of the Temporary Accommodation Service in Hawke's Bay following Cyclone Gabrielle? DAVID SEYMOUR to the Prime Minister: On what specific dates since November 2020, if any, did the Cabinet Office communicate with the Prime Minister's office regarding Hon Michael Wood's shareholding in Auckland Airport, and who in the Prime Minister's office, if anyone, was aware of the shareholding prior to last week? CHLÖE SWARBRICK to the Associate Minister of Housing: Is she satisfied that the UN-recognised human right to adequate housing of the approximately 1.4 million renters in this country is being met? IBRAHIM OMER to the Minister of Research, Science and Innovation: What announcement has the Government recently made about investing in the science system? Hon MARK MITCHELL to the Minister of Police: Does she stand by her statement, "It is my view that New Zealanders feel safer"; if so, why? ARENA WILLIAMS to the Associate Minister for Social Development and Employment (Maori Employment): How is the Government supporting rangatahi into training and employment opportunities? TONI SEVERIN to the Minister of Corrections: Does he think that assessing a prisoner's psychological state when they enter prison is important for understanding their rehabilitation needs, and does he also think that assessing a prisoner's literacy and numeracy skills is important for understanding their educational needs? ERICA STANFORD to the Minister of Education: Does she stand by all her statements and actions? JAMIE STRANGE to the Minister for Emergency Management: What recent announcements has he made on emergency management?

Questions to Ministers Dr ANAE NERU LEAVASA to the Minister of Health: What recent announcement has she made about curbing youth vaping? NICOLA WILLIS to the Prime Minister: On what occasions did the Cabinet Office ask Minister Michael Wood whether he'd divested his shares in Auckland Airport and, in each instance, what commitments, if any, did the Minister make to the Cabinet Office about any next steps he would take? TERISA NGOBI to the Minister for Regional Development: What announcements has she made about investment into our regional economies? DAVID SEYMOUR to the Prime Minister: Is he confident that officials and Ministers are making decisions transparently and impartially? DAN ROSEWARNE to the Minister of Defence: What progress has been made on the procurement of Bushmaster protected armoured vehicles? Hon PAUL GOLDSMITH to the Minister for Auckland: Does he stand by all his statements and actions? Hon EUGENIE SAGE to the Minister for Oceans and Fisheries: Is she confident that the vision that "New Zealanders work towards zero fishing-related seabird mortalities" in the National Plan of Action - Seabirds 2020 is resulting in significant progress to protect our seabirds; if not, will she ensure stronger action is taken? ANNA LORCK to the Minister for Rural Communities: What recent reports has he received on Government support to cyclone-affected rural communities? ERICA STANFORD to the Minister of Education: Does she stand by all her statements and actions? GLEN BENNETT to the Minister for the Digital Economy and Communications: What recent announcements has the Government made about boosting our digital workforce? Dr ELIZABETH KEREKERE to the Minister for Land Information: Does he agree with the New Zealand Geographic Board Te Rautaki Strategy 2020-2025 vision statement, "We continuously improve our capability and processes to achieve our goals and objectives"; if so, what changes, if any, have been made to improve processes for Maori participation? Hon MARK MITCHELL to the Minister of Police: Does she stand by her statement, "It is my view that New Zealanders feel safer"; if so, why?

Questions to Ministers Dr ANAE NERU LEAVASA to the Minister of Health: What recent announcement has she made about curbing youth vaping? NICOLA WILLIS to the Prime Minister: On what occasions did the Cabinet Office ask Minister Michael Wood whether he'd divested his shares in Auckland Airport and, in each instance, what commitments, if any, did the Minister make to the Cabinet Office about any next steps he would take? TERISA NGOBI to the Minister for Regional Development: What announcements has she made about investment into our regional economies? DAVID SEYMOUR to the Prime Minister: Is he confident that officials and Ministers are making decisions transparently and impartially? DAN ROSEWARNE to the Minister of Defence: What progress has been made on the procurement of Bushmaster protected armoured vehicles? Hon PAUL GOLDSMITH to the Minister for Auckland: Does he stand by all his statements and actions? Hon EUGENIE SAGE to the Minister for Oceans and Fisheries: Is she confident that the vision that "New Zealanders work towards zero fishing-related seabird mortalities" in the National Plan of Action - Seabirds 2020 is resulting in significant progress to protect our seabirds; if not, will she ensure stronger action is taken? ANNA LORCK to the Minister for Rural Communities: What recent reports has he received on Government support to cyclone-affected rural communities? ERICA STANFORD to the Minister of Education: Does she stand by all her statements and actions? GLEN BENNETT to the Minister for the Digital Economy and Communications: What recent announcements has the Government made about boosting our digital workforce? Dr ELIZABETH KEREKERE to the Minister for Land Information: Does he agree with the New Zealand Geographic Board Te Rautaki Strategy 2020-2025 vision statement, "We continuously improve our capability and processes to achieve our goals and objectives"; if so, what changes, if any, have been made to improve processes for Maori participation? Hon MARK MITCHELL to the Minister of Police: Does she stand by her statement, "It is my view that New Zealanders feel safer" if so, why?

Questions to Ministers DAVID SEYMOUR to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by all his Government's statements and policies? CHRISTOPHER LUXON to the Prime Minister: Does he have confidence in all of his Ministers? RACHEL BOYACK to the Minister of Energy and Resources: How is the Government extending the Warmer Kiwi Homes programme? NICOLA WILLIS to the Minister of Finance: Does he agree with Westpac senior economist Satish Ranchhod that "the pressure on households' finances will become increasingly stark over the year ahead", and how long has inflation been outside of the Reserve Bank's target range? RICARDO MENÉNDEZ MARCH to the Minister for Social Development and Employment: Does she think current income support levels allow everyone to live without debt and out of poverty? DR EMILY HENDERSON to the Minister for Regional Development: What progress has been made on water storage projects in Northland? RAWIRI WAITITI to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by all his Government's statements and actions? INGRID LEARY to the Minister of Tourism: How is the Government supporting better education and career opportunities in tourism? HON PAUL GOLDSMITH to the Minister of Transport: Is he confident that all real or perceived conflicts of interest relating to the Transport portfolio have been appropriately managed, and how many times, if any, has he or his predecessor met with Auckland Airport leadership? NAISI CHEN to the Minister for Small Business: What further support is the Government providing to help keep small retailers safe? HON MARK MITCHELL to the Minister of Police: Does she stand by her statement, "It is my view that New Zealanders feel safer"; if so, why? LEMAUGA LYDIA SOSENE to the Associate Minister for the Environment: What announcement has she made regarding the Government's Waste Minimisation Fund?

Questions to Ministers NICOLA WILLIS to the Minister of Finance: Has he received any advice from Government officials in the past year that included proposals for reducing the income tax paid by New Zealanders; if so, has Cabinet given consideration to any of those proposals? ANNA LORCK to the Minister for Cyclone Recovery: What announcements has the Government made about support for severely affected locations in the wake of the Auckland Anniversary weekend floods and Cyclone Gabrielle? CHRIS BISHOP to the Minister of Housing: Is she satisfied with the performance of Kainga Ora? VANUSHI WALTERS to the Minister of Police: What progress has been made on the Government's target of 1,800 additional police officers? Hon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE to the Minister for Economic Development: How much money, if any, has been spent on consultants and contractors working on the Government's Industry Transformation Plans since 1 July 2020, and how much is expected to be spent on consultants and contractors in the next financial year? MARJA LUBECK to the Minister of Health: What announcement has the Government recently made about reducing pay disparity between community and hospital nurses? DAMIEN SMITH to the Minister of Revenue: How many people earning less than $180,000 a year with a family trust will pay the 39 percent rate of tax on any income they earn from that trust, and does he think it is fair for someone earning $80,000, such as a hairdresser, mechanic, or butcher, to be subject to the top tax rate if their business is held in a trust? SORAYA PEKE-MASON to the Minister for Whanau Ora: How is Budget 2023 supporting the kaupapa of Whanau Ora to improve whanau wellbeing? STUART SMITH to the Minister of Energy and Resources: Does she agree with the Prime Minister that the tone of the Government's campaign suggesting New Zealanders take shorter showers is "a bit off"; if so, does she think spending $2.8 million on that campaign is acceptable during a cost of living crisis? RICARDO MENÉNDEZ MARCH to the Minister of Housing: Is she committed to ensuring the Kainga Ora build programme will deliver enough housing for everyone currently on the waiting list and for projected future needs? LEMAUGA LYDIA SOSENE to the Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs: What announcements has he made recently about supporting competition and better deals for consumers across the economy? CHRIS PENK to the Minister for Cyclone Recovery: How much of the cyclone recovery funding provided to the Hawke's Bay region for business support grants has been allocated to date, and can he confirm whether any funding that has not been paid out in grants will be returned to the Government?

Questions to Ministers Dr TRACEY McLELLAN to the Minister of Health: How has Budget 2023 reduced the cost of healthcare for New Zealand households? CHRISTOPHER LUXON to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by all of his Government's statements and actions? TEANAU TUIONO to the Minister for the Environment: Does he have confidence that the approach to regulating wastewater discharges to the coastal marine and estuarine environment is fit for purpose, taking into account environmental and Te Tiriti o Waitangi values? NICOLA WILLIS to the Minister of Finance: Does he stand by his statement yesterday that "the operating allowances are designed to enable us to achieve particular fiscal goals. We have been able to achieve those goals, including keeping debt low and including our return to surplus", and how have those goals changed since he became Minister of Finance? PAUL EAGLE to the Associate Minister of Education (Maori Education): How is Budget 2023 supporting Maori education? ERICA STANFORD to the Minister of Education: Does she agree with the principal of New Zealand's largest high school when he described the Government's roll-out of the NCEA changes as creating a "ridiculous" situation which "doesn't make any sense" and as "harming student outcomes", and has she heard of any other schools that are planning on dropping NCEA level 1 next year because of similar concerns? IBRAHIM OMER to the Minister for Trade and Export Growth: How will the New Zealand - United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement benefit New Zealand? Hon MARK MITCHELL to the Minister of Police: Does she stand by her statement, "It is my view that New Zealanders feel safer"; if so, why? MARK CAMERON to the Minister of Agriculture: What official discussions, if any, has he had with his ministerial colleagues about a levy on nitrogen fertiliser used in agriculture, and what advice, by date and title, if any, has he received about a levy on nitrogen fertiliser used in agriculture? ANAHILA KANONGATA'A to the Minister for Disability Issues: How does Budget 2023 support disabled people? DEBBIE NGAREWA-PACKER to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by all his Government's statements and actions? SIMON WATTS to the Minister of Statistics: Does she stand by her statement to media when asked if she would stake her job on a 90 percent census collection rate, "Absolutely", and does she stand by all her statements and actions relating to the 2023 Census?