Parliament - Live Stream and Question Time

Question Time.

Questions to Ministers BROOKE VAN VELDEN to the Minister of Housing: How many Kainga Ora homes in new developments would not meet the requirements of the Healthy Homes Standards heating formula, as mentioned in a Cabinet paper released on 3 December 2021, and how much extra funding, if any, would it cost to bring these developments up to the standards required by the heating formula? HELEN WHITE to the Minister of Energy and Resources: What action is the Government taking to decarbonise Auckland's harbour ferries? CHRIS BISHOP to the Associate Minister of Housing (Public Housing): How many people are on the State housing waitlist now compared to September 2017, and has she received advice on when that number will return to the levels of September 2017? GLEN BENNETT to the Minister for Social Development and Employment: What recent announcements has she made about Care in the Community? Hon LOUISE UPSTON to the Minister for Social Development and Employment: Does she stand by all her statements and actions? ARENA WILLIAMS to the Minister for Maori Development: What reports has he seen on education and employment outcomes for rangatahi Maori? Hon MARK MITCHELL to the Minister of Police: Does she stand by her statement, "I reject the premise that gang tensions have increased under this Government's watch"? TEANAU TUIONO to the Minister for COVID-19 Response: Does he remain committed to ensuring that the Government's response to COVID-19 is informed by the best available scientific evidence; if so, what is his response to an open letter by more than 150 doctors and scientists calling for additional protections, particularly in schools? MARJA LUBECK to the Associate Minister of Education: What recent announcements has the Government made about supporting regular attendance and engagement in education? PENNY SIMMONDS to the Minister of Education: What, if any, is the net financial deficit of Te Pukenga forecast for 2022, and how much more or less is it than the actual Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics sector deficit in 2019 prior to the establishment of Te Pukenga? GREG O'CONNOR to the Minister of Transport: What recent announcements has he made about supporting greater access to driver licensing testing and training? TONI SEVERIN to the Minister of Corrections: Is he confident in the performance of Corrections; if so, how does he explain a 29 percent increase in prisoner-on-staff assaults from November 2021 to February 2022, despite there being a decrease in sentenced prisoners?

Questions to Ministers 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? ANGIE WARREN-CLARK to the Minister of Energy and Resources: What action is the Government taking to support businesses to cut their emissions? JAN LOGIE to the Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety: What new actions, if any, will he take in light of Mind The Gap's research which concludes that pay gap reporting is likely to close Aotearoa's gender and ethnic pay gaps by as much as 40 percent and increase pay by as much as $35 per week for the average worker? RACHEL BROOKING to the Minister for Building and Construction: What are the trends in building consents granted since 2017? NICOLA WILLIS to the Minister of Finance: Does he consider the Government has done enough to alleviate the cost of living crisis facing New Zealanders, and will he rule out measures to provide them income tax relief in the upcoming Budget? RACHEL BOYACK to the Minister of Local Government: Will the Three Waters reforms benefit smaller communities; if so, how? Dr SHANE RETI to the Minister of Health: What is his target, if any, for the reduction over the next 12 months in the number of people waiting more than four months for a first specialist appointment, and what specific steps, if any, will he take to achieve this? GINNY ANDERSEN to the Minister of Police: What recent reports has she seen regarding the disruption of organised crime? Hon LOUISE UPSTON to the Minister for Social Development and Employment: Has MSD been enforcing work-related obligations for the 176,763 jobseeker support recipients since work-related obligation failures were suspended between 23 March 2020 and 27 May 2020; if not, why? WILLOW-JEAN PRIME to the Associate Minister of Housing (Maori Housing): How is the Government partnering with iwi Maori to deliver new homes for whanau who need them most?

Questions for Oral Answer.

Hon EUGENIE SAGE to the Minister of Foreign Affairs: Has she taken advice to Cabinet regarding an international moratorium on seabed mining; if so, what did the advice say? ANNA LORCK 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 her statement that "We've been a Government focused on doing what we can to ensure that Kiwis' wages are increasing, including relative to the cost of living"; if so, does she accept that inflation is rising faster than wages, so real incomes are falling? CHRIS BAILLIE to the Minister of Police: Does she stand by all her statements and policies? Dr ANAE NERU LEAVASA to the Minister for COVID-19 Response: What recent announcements have been made about the COVID-19 Protection Framework setting? NICOLA WILLIS to the Minister of Finance: Does he share concerns about New Zealand's economic outlook expressed by BNZ that "business confidence is shattered, uncertainty is very high and leading indicators of growth are weak"; if so, how does he think these factors will affect New Zealand households over the next 12 months? SARAH PALLETT to the Minister of Health: What recent support has been made available for New Zealand's health system to learn from our response to COVID-19? Dr SHANE RETI to the Minister of Health: What is the total list value of non-COVID vaccines that have expired in the past five years, and how many 15 to 30 year olds to date have received a vaccine as part of the measles catch-up campaign launched in July 2020? SHANAN HALBERT to the Minister of Transport: How is the Government supporting the provision of public transport services across Aotearoa New Zealand? Hon LOUISE UPSTON to the Minister for Social Development and Employment: How many people, if any, were on jobseeker support for two years or more in the December 2017 quarter, and how does this compare to the equivalent figures in the December 2021 quarter? IBRAHIM OMER to the Minister for Veterans: What recent changes have been made in support of New Zealand Vietnam veterans affected by chemicals like Agent Orange during the Vietnam War? Hon MARK MITCHELL to the Minister of Police: How many more gang members are there on the National Gang List today compared to October 2017, and how many shootings related to gang activity have police recorded, if any, over the same period?

Questions for Oral Answer 12 April 2022.

Questions to Ministers ANGELA ROBERTS to the Minister of Education: What is the Government doing to encourage healthy drinks in schools? DEBBIE NGAREWA-PACKER to the Minister for Social Development and Employment: Does she agree with the Child Poverty Action Group, who said in October 2021, "in the face of abundant evidence that the stop-gap measures initiated in the first 2020 lockdown for low-income families were nowhere near enough, this year, unbelievably, the Government has done even less"; if not, why not? NICOLA WILLIS to the Prime Minister: Does she have confidence in all of her Ministers? BARBARA EDMONDS to the Minister for the Environment: What announcements has the Government made about supporting the restoration of waterways? CHRIS BISHOP to the Associate Minister of Housing (Public Housing): How many people were on the Housing Register in September 2017 compared to today, and what is the median wait time for people on the Housing Register to be housed in public housing? Dr EMILY HENDERSON to the Minister of Internal Affairs: What work is the Government progressing to reduce gambling harm in vulnerable communities? Hon MARK MITCHELL to the Minister of Police: Does she stand by her statement regarding the reported blowout in police response times, "I am not over the detail of that"; if so, why? KAREN CHHOUR to the Minister for Social Development and Employment: Does she believe that jobseeker beneficiaries who fail to meet their work obligations should have their benefits reduced; if so, why were work-related benefit sanctions in the last quarter of the last year less than half what they were in 2019? SHANAN HALBERT to the Minister of Transport: What updates has he seen regarding the Government's Clean Car Programme? ERICA STANFORD to the Minister of Immigration: Are there migrant doctors or nurses currently in New Zealand who are not eligible to apply for the 2021 Resident Visa, and, if there are, will he change the criteria so that all migrant doctors and nurses are eligible to apply to stay in New Zealand? NAISI CHEN to the Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs: What recent announcements has he made regarding business transparency? CHLÖE SWARBRICK to the Minister of Housing: Does she agree that rent prices are contributing to hardship; if so, what steps, if any, will she take to lower them?

Questions to Ministers CHRISTOPHER LUXON to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by her statement that "we have a responsibility to do our very best as a Government through trying times to ensure that we are lifting the outcomes" and "This has been our focus the entire time we've been in office"? 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: Does he agree with ANZ's view that "Concern about the domestic economic outlook is rising, and is the top factor constraining investment by quite some way", and is he concerned that the cost of living is growing faster in New Zealand than in Australia? ARENA WILLIAMS to the Minister of Energy and Resources: What recent announcements has the Government made on renewable energy for Maori and public housing? DAVID SEYMOUR to the Minister of Finance: What was core Crown tax revenue forecast to be for the financial year to June 2021 in the 2020 Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Update, and how much tax revenue was actually collected for that year? CHLÖE SWARBRICK to the Minister of Conservation: Does she stand by her statement yesterday that "The Department of Conservation has advised me that there are currently no burrows with any sign of korora in the rock wall at Putiki Bay"; if so, what does she say to the Protect Putiki group, who documented footage of korora at Putiki Bay last night? Dr LIZ CRAIG to the Minister for COVID-19 Response: What recent changes have been made to vaccination requirements in New Zealand? ERICA STANFORD to the Minister of Immigration: Does he stand by his statements and actions? RACHEL BROOKING to the Minister for the Environment: How is the Government improving the planning system to build more houses and infrastructure? Dr JAMES McDOWALL to the Minister of Defence: Does he stand by his statement that "We've already put towards Cabinet a number of options, which include some lethal support"; if so, what lethal support was included? Hon MARK MITCHELL to the Minister of Police: Does she stand by her statement, "I reject the premise that gang tensions have increased under this Government's watch"; if so, how does she reconcile that with reported police intelligence, which states parts of the country have experienced unprecedented levels of gang violence in the past year? CAMILLA BELICH to the Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety: How will Fair Pay Agreements improve outcomes for those on lower incomes?

Questions for Oral Answer for 5 April 2022.

Questions to Ministers MARK CAMERON to the Minister of Climate Change: Does he stand by all his statements and actions? NICOLA WILLIS to the Minister of Finance: Does he stand by his statement that the Government is "making sure that we do support those on low and middle incomes, who are the most affected by rising prices"; if so, what level of income does he consider qualifies as "middle income"? RACHEL BROOKING to the Minister of Energy and Resources: What evidence has she seen that consumers are benefiting as a result of the Government's action to cut fuel excise by 25 cents a litre? Dr SHANE RETI to the Minister of Health: Does he stand by his statements and actions around the July 2020 measles catch-up campaign that was paused 8 months later in March 2021? RICARDO MENÉNDEZ MARCH to the Minister for Social Development and Employment: Does she agree with Fairer Future that incomes of some beneficiaries are up to $300 behind the actual cost of living for families, and that further increases are needed so that the 1 April changes do not lock whanau into poverty? ANGIE WARREN-CLARK to the Minister for Social Development and Employment: How will New Zealanders benefit from the 1 April changes to benefits and payments that come into effect tomorrow? DEBBIE NGAREWA-PACKER to the Minister for COVID-19 Response: Does he stand by the decision to loosen protections under the COVID-19 traffic light framework, when Aotearoa's COVID-19 daily mortality rate has for the first time passed the daily mortality rate for the United States? PAUL EAGLE to the Minister of Health: What medicines has the Government recently secured access to that support New Zealanders against COVID-19? Hon PAUL GOLDSMITH to the Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety: How will Fair Pay Agreements help New Zealand businesses and workers to meet the challenges and opportunities presented in a rapidly changing world of work, and has he taken on board advice, if any, during the development of the Fair Pay Agreement framework? GINNY ANDERSEN to the Minister of Police: What reports has she seen regarding diversity in the New Zealand Police workforce? SIMON O'CONNOR to the Minister of Corrections: Is he satisfied New Zealanders are getting value for money from the prison system; if so, why? TANGI UTIKERE to the Associate Minister for COVID-19 Response: How is the Government ensuring remote communities can readily access rapid antigen tests?