Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers

I had great pleasure today in launching the New Zealand Injury Prevention Strategy. The strategy has been developed after extensive public consultation and input from many people involved in injury prevention in our communities. It has two key goals of achieving a positive safety culture in New Zealand and creating safe environments.

💬 Helen Duncan: How will the strategy help to reduce injury rates?

The strategy will enable better collaboration and integration of effort between a wide range of agencies and organisations. It will ensure there are no gaps in injury prevention activity. It will help to strengthen the capability of the injury prevention workforce, and will promote better quality and dissemination of injury information.

💬 Dr Paul Hutchison: Why, despite her Government saying for the last 3½ years that it would focus on accident prevention, do the death rates of motor accidents in New Zealand remain over 50 percent higher than those in Britain, and why did moderate to serious injuries rise by 14,000 between 1999 and 2002; and why should anyone believe her new measures are any more effective than her past failed rhetoric?

As the member should know—because I am sure he is a member who does read the information provided to his select committee—in fact the number of road fatalities has gone down. However, the number of serious injuries—that is, people who have been involved in serious incidents, and have perhaps permanent or complex injuries—has increased, and that is due to a variety of factors. The member should also note that in some of the accounts, because of the classification of injuries, the fact that the number has gone up is not necessarily a reflection of the fact that the rate of injuries has increased. The significantly increased participation in the paid labour market since the election of the Labour-led Government is a clear example of why that is the case.

Taxation—Food Tax

7. HEATHER ROY (ACT NZ) to the Minister of Health: Will she rule out proposing a “differential food tax”; if not, why not?

Yes. There is not even a “fat” chance that that will happen.

💬 Heather Roy: Why is the public health directorate working on a tax that the Government has no intention of introducing, or is that just another example of how, under this Minister, precious health dollars are being wasted?

A public health discussion document was released in October 2002 to look at new legislation for public health. Submissions were called for in that document. A number of submissions said we ought to impose a “fat tax”. The Ministry of Health is providing advice on those submissions.

💬 Hon Dr Nick Smith: Can the Minister explain the difference in the Government’s approach to proposals by officials of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry for a flatulence tax—which have been heartily endorsed by the Ministers concerned—and the proposals by officials for a “fat tax”?

No, I cannot explain why there is a difference, other than to say that the Ministry of Health and the Minister have no interest in a “fatulence” tax.

💬 Sue Kedgley: As part of her Government’s strategy to reduce the amount of high-fat, high-sugar food that children eat, will the Government be developing a healthy eating policy for schools that asks them not to sell, promote, or sponsor the high-fat and high-sugar foods that undermine our national nutritional goals; if not, why not?

Yes, that work is well under way. The member, I know, is aware that health-promoting schools in New Zealand have already undertaken a lot of work to ensure that the food that tuck-shops sell, and the food brought in children’s lunches, is healthy food. That work is also backed up by the Healthy Eating – Healthy Action plan that was released only a few months ago.

💬 Judy Turner: Has the Minister considered funding parent education as a positive strategy for addressing child obesity issues?

A number of parenting classes are funded—particularly by organisations like Plunket. Schools also carry out classes for parents in healthy eating. I do not have specific funding for such a programme, but a number of agencies already provide it.

💬 Hon Dr Nick Smith: Why is it now OK to buy sex, but not McDonald’s?

💬 Mr SPEAKER: That is not the Minister’s responsibility.

I have never made any claims on that matter, at all.

💬 Heather Roy: On what date did she learn that her officials were working on proposals for a differential food tax—as she confirmed in a written parliamentary question—and has she definitely put a stop to it?

The Ministry of Health is not working on a Government proposal for a “fat tax”, and the member should be very well aware of that. I have been aware for some time that the ministry has been working on the submissions on the public health discussion document since those submissions were first received.

Drugs—International Trafficking

8. CLAYTON COSGROVE (NZ Labour—Waimakariri) to the Minister of Customs: Is the New Zealand Customs Service doing its part to stamp out the international trafficking of illegal drugs across the borders of our major trading partners?

Yes, New Zealand Customs Service drug investigators recently responded to a call from Australian authorities in the investigation of large-scale cocaine trafficking into Australia, possibly using New Zealand as a transit point. The operation resulted in the arrest last week of 20 people in Sydney, Denmark, and the United States for conspiracy to import cocaine.

💬 Clayton Cosgrove: Is there evidence that New Zealand is being used as a transit point to get drugs into other countries, and what additional support is the Government providing in the fight against international drug trafficking?

Yes, intelligence available to the Customs Service shows that New Zealand continues to be used as a transit point for bulk drug shipments into larger drug markets such as Australia and the United States. This Government has allocated an extra $1.9 million in this year’s Budget to boost a customs drugs team in Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch—which means 12 specialist investigators and four intelligence analysts to help combat the worldwide drug problem.

💬 Hon Peter Dunne: Is the Minister concerned that rising instability in the Pacific—as the current situation in the Solomons demonstrates—is hampering efforts to curb international drug trafficking in our area; and if he shares that concern, has he made specific proposals to his colleague the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade about ways in which New Zealand might act to alleviate that problem; if so, what are they?

The issues raised by the member are of concern. As yet, we have nothing to suggest that the instability in the Pacific has had an impact on the drug trade in New Zealand. However, New Zealand and Australia continue to work through customs organisations—for example, the Oceania Customs Organisation—to help ensure the quality and integrity of customs organisations throughout the Pacific.

Prostitution Reform Bill—Policing

9. Hon TONY RYALL (NZ National—Bay of Plenty) to the Minister of Police: What reports has he received from the New Zealand Police regarding the ramifications of the passing of the Prostitution Reform Bill?

During the course of the debate on the Prostitution Reform Bill, the New Zealand Police provided the Minister with four papers on the bill, dated between April 2001 and February 2002. Those reports were all provided to the select committee.

💬 Hon Tony Ryall: In the light of the concerns reportedly expressed by a Tauranga prostitute called Sabrina, who predicts increased gang involvement and the likelihood of more women working as prostitutes to support hard drug habits, what specific parts of the Prostitution Reform Bill will prevent gangs from becoming involved in the vice industry; particularly, what will prevent the Mongrel Mob from using a front-man without convictions to set up a brothel?

It is noteworthy that the police report to the select committee made the point that there was already extensive gang involvement in prostitution. I can table the document if the member who shakes his head wants that; I have it in front of me. I shall answer the second part of the member’s question by saying that the amendment to the bill in the name of the member for Mt Roskill sets up a certification process that excludes from operation of places of prostitution anyone with gang offences or with serious criminal convictions. I refer the member to the definition of “operator”, which, under the amendment, not only deals with the front-person, but the people who pull the strings behind the scenes. That amendment has been very welcomed by the New Zealand Police.

💬 Sue Bradford: Can the Minister assure the House and the public that there will be no more police raids, arrests, or prosecutions relating to soliciting or brothel-keeping offences pending the implementation, very shortly, of the Prostitution Reform Act.

Of course I cannot give that assurance. First, I do not direct the police on operational matters, and, secondly, it would be improper to direct the police not to enforce the law as it is until the law changes.

💬 Larry Baldock: What guarantees can the Minister give that the police will be able to keep gangs and criminals out of the brothel business—which the Minister of Justice considered to be unconscionable—given that they have not been able to keep them out of the massage parlour industry; and will he commit additional resources for the police to be able to monitor the new industry, or will it be left to local government to take care of?

It will not be left to local government. The only role that local government plays is in terms of the location of any such brothel. The assurance I can give to the member is that the legislation has been drafted quite skilfully to ensure that not only will anybody who controls a brothel as an operator be committing an illegal act, but also the people with gang affiliations who stand behind that individual, and there are severe penalties for it. The bill has the additional advantage that at the moment police have control only over massage parlours, where half of prostitution takes place; they have no control at all, for example, over escort agencies. Under the new bill, they do.

💬 Peter Brown: Specifically, does the Minister believe that this Act will create a greater demand for police resources, or a lesser demand?

I think it means that we will have a redirection of police resources away from simply dealing with soliciting—which will now be legal under the law—to actual crimes, including those crimes committed against prostitutes, which are often very severe, and the member knows that well. Now when prostitutes are raped or seriously assaulted, they will have no fear of coming forward and being charged with other offences that were prostitution-related. That must be a good thing for New Zealand.

💬 Hon Tony Ryall: I seek leave to table a report in which the president of the Police Association labels the Goff amendments as unworkable and very, very naive.

Document, by leave, laid on the Table of the House.

💬 Peter Brown: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I asked a specific question whether there would be a requirement for more police resources or less police resources. The politics in the Minister’s answer did not come anywhere near addressing that question.

💬 Mr SPEAKER: No. I thought the member addressed the question perfectly satisfactorily. In fact, he gave a lengthy answer that was probably too long.

Petrol Tax and Road User Charges—Revenue

10. PETER BROWN (Deputy Leader—NZ First) to the Minister of Transport: How much has been collected in petrol tax and road user charges since February 2002 and how does this compare with the previous sixteen months to February 2002?

The figures I will refer to are for 15 months, because the figures for June are not yet in. I am advised that since February 2002 approximately $1.4 billion was collected from petrol taxes, compared to approximately $1.2 billion in the previous 15 months. I am also advised that since February 2002 approximately $817 million was collected from road-user charges, compared to approximately $721 million for the previous 15 months.

💬 Peter Brown: Noting that answer, is it the Government’s intention to reduce or remove the 4.7c per litre petrol tax imposed on motorists in February last year, when it promised it would be in existence for only 16 months?

No, because we never said any such thing.

💬 Hon Roger Sowry: How does the Minister reconcile Labour’s pledge-card promise of no extra taxes with work that he has going on in his ministry to impose a new petrol tax of up to 10c a litre?

Easily, because we said there would be no rise in income tax for those earning under $60,000.

💬 Dave Hereora: What has the increase in funding since February 2002 been used for?

I am advised that since February 2002 the extra funding has gone to improve the transport infrastructure, including an extra $94 million for road construction; $30 million for regional developments, such as logging roads, and an extra $36 million for passenger transport.

💬 Jeanette Fitzsimons: Which New Zealanders will benefit from the extra funding spent since the moving-forward package?

All New Zealanders.

Boating—Safety

11. H V ROSS ROBERTSON (NZ Labour—Manukau East) to the Associate Minister of Transport: What steps is he taking to enhance boat safety in New Zealand?

This month I launched a new maritime rule requiring all recreational boaties to have a suitable life jacket for every person on board. Last year 18 of the 25 deaths that occurred during recreational boating could have been prevented if life jackets were worn. I believe that adherence to this new life jacket rule, along with other safety measures, will have a significant impact on recreational boating incidents.

H V Ross Robertson: Acknowledging the large number of deaths caused through not wearing life jackets, can the Associate Minister tell the House what other steps the Government is taking to reduce deaths in recreational boating?

The Government recognises that in themselves the new maritime rules will not guarantee a change in behaviour. However, the Maritime Safety Authority continues to work hard to educate the boating community on the importance of life jackets, through a television campaign run over the past 6 months. We are now able to add “and it is the law” to that message.

H V Ross Robertson: Is there anything proposed to enhance safety in wakas?

The requirement to carry personal flotation devices does not apply if the training or the ceremonial event is supervised and if a support vessel is able to assist in an emergency, remains nearby, and carries enough personal flotation devices for everyone on board—in this case, the waka. In practice, the national waka safety guidelines established jointly by iwi and the Maritime Safety Authority in 2001 have meant that the use of support craft and the implementation of safety plans have become routine.

Prisons—Protesters at Northland Site

12. NANDOR TANCZOS (Green) to the Minister of Corrections: Does any agreement exist between the Department of Corrections and the protesters who have been occupying the proposed Northland prison site regarding the terms on which the occupation would be permitted to remain?

No, not since the protesters broke the agreed terms.

💬 Nandor Tanczos: Does the Minister accept that the terms of the agreement were that the occupation must be peaceful, must not impede traffic into and out of the site, and must not create a public safety hazard; and can he explain how the actions of one individual in burning a disused ute in the middle of a field—actions that have been repudiated by the occupiers—break the terms of that agreement?

Since the occupation, I am advised that protesters have set fire to a car, blocked the access way, cut fences, blocked the main highway, and ignored hygiene issues. The protesters were advised that they no longer had permission to be on the site, and they were asked to leave. They refused. They were then advised that they were trespassing. Trespass notices were posted, but were torn down. The police have now been asked to remove the protesters, and they will be removed.

💬 Georgina Beyer: What positive benefits will there be for the community with the establishment of the Northland Regional Corrections Facility?

There will be many benefits for the local community with the establishment of this facility, including the creation of 180 new jobs once the prison opens. It is expected that most of those jobs will be filled by local Northland people.

💬 Nandor Tanczos: Can the Minister confirm that despite attempts by the occupiers to achieve some mediation between the Department of Corrections, the police, and Te Taumata Kaumātua o Ngāpuhi nui tonu, the department has refused to take part in such mediation; and will he guarantee that no action will be taken to evict the occupation until the kaumātua have had an opportunity to hui, which is expected to be next Wednesday?

No. Everybody’s patience has run out.