Oral Questions for Thursday 11 May 2023

Questions to Ministers NICOLA WILLIS to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by all of his Government's statements and actions? RACHEL BOYACK to the Minister of Housing: How is the Government working with the community housing sector to increase the supply of public homes? NICOLA WILLIS to the Minister of Finance: Is he confident that every dollar appropriated in the 2023 Budget will be spent better by the Government than it could have been spent by hard-working New Zealanders enduring a cost of living crisis? ANGELA ROBERTS to the Minister of Education: How is the Government supporting teachers to prioritise maths and literacy teaching? DAMIEN SMITH to the Minister of Statistics: What was the total cost, if any, of the One NZ Warriors census promotion, including free tickets, $25 food vouchers for the game, and a draw for a holiday to Australia as an incentive for completing the New Zealand census, and how many entered the draw? ERICA STANFORD to the Minister of Education: Whose authority were her staff acting on when they sent an email on 9 February 2023 to the Ministry of Education stating that "FYI, the Minister's office are looking to potentially release the Term 3 attendance data early next week", when the Ministry of Education had scheduled the data to be released on 22 December 2022, and does she still believe that the ministry's plan to release that data before Christmas would have been cynical? RICARDO MENÉNDEZ MARCH to the Minister for Social Development and Employment: Has she seen the New Zealand Food Network's statement, "We're seeing people having to cut their food budgets in order to pay for housing and rental hikes, increasing fuel costs and power bills"; if so, what actions will her Government take in response, if any? TANGI UTIKERE to the Minister of Justice: What announcements has she made about trading hours for licensed premises during the men's Rugby World Cup? SIMEON BROWN to the Minister of Transport: What is the total amount of unspent revenue collected from the Auckland regional fuel tax, and how much revenue has been collected from the Auckland regional fuel tax to date? JAMIE STRANGE to the Minister for the Public Service: What updates has he received on the progress of pay equity settlements? 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? ANGIE WARREN-CLARK to the Minister for Disability Issues: What recent announcements has she made about New Zealand Sign Language?