Oral Questions for Thursday 15 February 2024
Questions to Ministers Hon CARMEL SEPULONI to the Minister for Child Poverty Reduction: How many more children are forecast to be in poverty as a result of her Government's decision to change the indexing of benefits from wage growth to inflation? Hon MARAMA DAVIDSON to the Minister for Social Development and Employment: Does she accept the statement in the Salvation Army's State of the Nation 2024 report that says that "in 2023 for households relying on welfare benefits, income levels continue to fall significantly short of what is needed for some level of participation in society"? NANCY LU to the Minister of Finance: What recent reports has she seen on the Crown accounts? Hon GRANT ROBERTSON to the Minister of Finance: Does she stand by the commitment in the coalition agreement with ACT to "restore mortgage interest deductibility for rental properties with a 60 per cent deduction in 2023/24, 80 per cent in 2024/25, and 100 per cent in 2025/26"; if so, what is the estimated cost to the Crown of this commitment? DAVID MacLEOD to the Minister of Local Government: Does he stand by his statement, "The Government will restore council ownership and control of water assets"; if so, what actions has he taken to fulfil this commitment? TANGI UTIKERE to the Minister of Transport: Does he stand by all his statements and actions? LAURA TRASK to the Minister for Children: What are her priorities for the Children's portfolio? CARL BATES to the Minister of Education: What reports has she seen about the introduction of the policy to remove the distraction of cellphones at school? Hon JAMES SHAW to the Minister responsible for RMA Reform: Does he have confidence that the proposed approach to fast-track consenting will protect due process for consideration of environmental effects? CUSHLA TANGAERE-MANUEL to the Minister for Maori Development: Does he stand by his statement, "What we're really focused on is delivering outcomes and working with communities - Iwi communities, Maori communities and others - to make the changes to the inequalities we see on a daily basis"? TOM RUTHERFORD to the Minister for Building and Construction: What reports has he seen on the cost of building in New Zealand? INGRID LEARY to the Minister for Mental Health: Does he stand by his statement, "under this Government, mental health will be a priority"; if so, what actions, if any, has he taken to make mental health a priority?
