(ed:..i will post a commentary at the close of proceedings..)
Questions to Ministers
1)..GRANT ROBERTSON to the Prime Minister: Does he have confidence in the Minister of Education; if so, why?
robertson and joyce (answering for key) wrangle over education…
2)..JAMI-LEE ROSS to the Minister of Finance: What steps is the Government taking to get the Crown accounts back into surplus?
(plug-head/the clayton-cosgrove of national..(should we call him ‘clayton the younger’..?) serves up a patsy for joyce (answering for english..)…
joyce then trys to slag/mock the idea of manual workers getting an earlier retirement…
3)..Hon DAVID PARKER to the Minister of Finance: Did he say Budget 2011 built “a platform for faster growth, more jobs and higher incomes”; and if so, did his forecasts in Budget 2012 show faster growth, more jobs and higher incomes than his Budget 2011 projections?
..(joyce decides on a new/novel tack…he blames labour..)
..joyce then slags (rightwing) political commentator fran o’sullivan..
it’s parker vs joyce…joyce tells parker he ‘is in la-la-land..
4)..KATRINA SHANKS to the Minister of Justice: What steps is she taking to improve access to criminal history information for New Zealand employers?
collins announces information sharing with australia…
5)..CATHERINE DELAHUNTY to the Minister of Education: Does she stand by her statement that “schools will therefore be given a guarantee that their staffing entitlement will not be reduced by more than two full-time teacher equivalents over the next three years”?
no..no guarantee will be given…
parata is trying to defend the mess she has made of the slashing of education…
(delahunty is getting a series of lessons from the speaker..on how to ask questions..)
(and parata is fast becoming an expert in just banging on..and not answering questions..
..both hipkins and delahunty are having a go..to not a lot of avail..)
6)..KANWALJIT SINGH BAKSHI to the Minister of Police: What recent investments has the Government made in new police stations?
tolley try to claim credit for the local version of the international drop in crime phenomenon..
(and of course this govt responds to that drop in crime by building more police stations/prisons..)
7)..CHRIS HIPKINS to the Minister of Education: Did she ask for, or receive, a list of the schools that would lose or gain more than one teacher as a result of the new ratios, prior to taking the policy to Cabinet for approval; if not, why did she not ask for that list?
hipkins trys again..and parata again endlessly bangs on..and dosen’t answer the question..(speaker has to force her to answer..)
8)..Dr PAUL HUTCHISON to the Minister of Health: What progress is our public health service making in achieving the Government’s health target of shorter waiting times for cancer treatment?
ryall cites greater efficiencies in cancer treatments…(and credit where credit is due….ryall has been teflon-man in the health portfolio..)
9)..ANDREW WILLIAMS to the Minister of Veterans’ Affairs: What progress has been made by the Government to implement the recommendations in the Law Commission report A New Support Scheme for Veterans: A Report on the Review of the War Pensions Act 1954, published on 1 June 2010?
chris hayes asks a question:..’who?’..i hear you ask…indeed..!..
10)..CHRIS AUCHINVOLE to the Minister of Civil Defence: What progress is the Government making on preparing New Zealanders for earthquakes?
(aww..!..heckle and jeckle just answered questions in sequence..)
11)..Dr DAVID CLARK to the Minister of Finance: Does he stand by his statement regarding changes to the child tax credit that “if it’s interest on their savings or other means of payment they won’t pay any tax”?
..tax cuts for the richest total $11 billion…
(12)..Dr KENNEDY GRAHAM to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Will New Zealand promote immediate negotiations on a Nuclear Weapons Convention prohibiting their development, production, stockpiling and use?
..mccully brings proceedings to a close…with a butt-kiss of key of such depth..there are trans-ideological hoots of laughter..
summary:..an indifferent questiontime..
..notable for the evasions by parata…and little else..
..avoid..!
..(a 1/10 questiontime..)
