Oral Questions for Tuesday 20 August 2024

Questions to Ministers CHLÖE SWARBRICK to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by all of his Government's statements and actions? Rt Hon CHRIS HIPKINS to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by all his Government's statements and actions? STUART SMITH to the Minister of Finance: What recent reports has she seen on the economy? Hon BARBARA EDMONDS to the Minister of Finance: Does she stand by her statement, "We've acted swiftly to root-out waste, reduce bureaucracy and move resources from the back-office to the front line"; if so, is she confident New Zealanders have gained more from the tax cuts than they lost from the Budget 2024 baseline savings exercise? KATIE NIMON to the Minister of Finance: What recent reports has she seen on the banking sector? RICARDO MENÉNDEZ MARCH to the Minister for Social Development and Employment: Has she read the analysis in the Welfare Expert Advisory Group's 2019 report that "There is little evidence in support of using obligations and sanctions (as in the current system) to change behaviour; rather, there is research indicating that they compound social harm and disconnectedness"; if so, what specific evidence, if any, has she seen that benefit sanctions support people into employment? Hon CARMEL SEPULONI to the Minister for Disability Issues: Does she stand by all her statements made during the Disability Issues Estimates hearing at the Social Services and Community Committee on 19 June 2024? DEBBIE NGAREWA-PACKER to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by all his Government's statements and actions? Hon WILLOW-JEAN PRIME to the Minister for Children: How many Oranga Tamariki community service providers, if any, have had their funding increased, and by how much, if anything, as a result of the Budget 2024 Reduction in Contracting Service Costs? JOSEPH MOONEY to the Minister for Social Development and Employment: What recent announcements has the Government made about supporting people on the jobseeker benefit into work? Hon GINNY ANDERSEN to the Associate Minister of Justice: Does she stand by her statement, "Good legislation involves everybody, and bad legislation is usually when somebody goes off and does something by themselves ... I'm never going to be arrogant enough to think that I have the answers to everything"; if so, why? Dr HAMISH CAMPBELL to the Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology: What recent announcement has the Government made about gene technology?