Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers

Yes, although there is always room for improvement.

💬 Simon Power: How can he continue to have confidence in his department, when Department of Corrections officers are taking inmates to the beach, rewarding them with porterhouse steak, ice cream, chocolates, fizzy drinks, and lollies, and showing pornographic videos in their cells at night, or is this what the Government meant when it said it was getting tough on criminals?

I will always support a system within the prisons that incentivises good behaviour. However, the incidents the member refers to are outside prison protocol. Disciplinary action has been taken, and they will not occur again. I would like to remind the member, regarding the steak incident, that we feed prisoners for $4 a day or thereabouts, and steak is not normally part of their diet.

💬 Simon Power: Does he have confidence that his department has the capacity to improve its efforts at rehabilitating prisoners, when only 65 inmates have been placed in drug treatment units in the last 7 months, out of an annual target of only 174—a number the Ombudsman condemned as “extraordinary”—and when 83 percent of the prison population has a history of or a current drug and alcohol problem?

I do not think we are doing well enough in the area of drug and alcohol treatment. We will be reviewing, and are reviewing, those programmes and we will be delivering better programmes to more prisoners in the future.

💬 Simon Power: Can he give an assurance that the new rehabilitation programmes announced yesterday will include dedicated drug and alcohol programmes, in light of the fact that the number of positive tests for methamphetamine use in prisons has, according to his own answers to written questions, increased from five in the 1999-2000 year to 66 in the 2004-05 year; if not, why not?

I accept that the increase in incidents of P usage within prisons reflects the increase in incidents of P usage in the general community. That is a sad indictment of our society, and we must do everything we can to stamp out the use of P. I have every confidence that the new programmes we have in place—the new ones to replace the ones cancelled yesterday—will offer better drug and alcohol treatment for those inmates.

💬 Simon Power: Can he give an assurance that none of the inmates of the 60-bed unit at Christchurch Prison who allegedly watched pornography in their cells at night were sex offenders?

I am not aware of that and I cannot answer the question. I would be more than happy to provide that information to the member if he wishes to write to me.

💬 Simon Power: How can the Minister continue to have confidence that there is no need for an independent and wide-ranging inquiry into prisons when even the Corrections Association, which represents prison workers, has said in recent days that it supports an inquiry?

The Corrections Association of New Zealand has not said that it would support an inquiry at all. The member should check with the association to get clarification on that point. We are dealing with a very difficult environment. We are not running kindergartens. We deal with over 50,000 new sentences each year in this country and with over 9,000 new people going into prison. I think that the Department of Corrections does an excellent job in a very difficult environment.

Organics Industry—Support

10. DAVE HEREORA (Labour) to the Minister for Economic Development: What steps is the Government taking to increase the level of support available to the organics industry?

The Government is providing $1.5 million to Organics Aotearoa New Zealand.

💬 Dave Hereora: Why has the Government increased its level of support for the organics industry?

Because it is a small but important sector that is growing, especially in the United States and European markets.

💬 Hone Harawira: E aha ana ia hei whakatau i ngā āwangawanga o tōna Hoa Minita kua kī mai, ko te kaupapa ā-moana he wawata noa iho, ā, ko tōna mutunga hei whakakāhore i ngā whakahiato whai rawa?

[An interpretation in English was given to the House.]

[What steps will he be taking to address the concerns of his Associate Minister that the oceans policy was just a dream and would undermine economic development?]

When he approaches me on that, I will consider it.

Elective Surgery—Service Provision

11. Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN (National—Northcote) to the Minister of Health: Is he concerned about the Government’s ability to meet New Zealanders’ need for elective surgery; if not, why not?

While I am delighted that the number of elective surgery procedures has increased by 12.6 percent on a case-weighted basis under this Government, and by more than that when our patient procedures are taken into account, there is always more to be done. This Government will never be complacent.

💬 Dr Jonathan Coleman: Can he explain from behind his statistical smokescreen why the Auckland District Health Board—

💬 Hon Trevor Mallard: I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. Ironic expressions in questions are forbidden by the Standing Orders. That is about as clear a case of one as one can get.

💬 Madam SPEAKER: Yes. Would the member just ask the question, please.

💬 Dr Jonathan Coleman: Can the Minister explain why the Auckland District Health Board performed 813 coronary bypass operations in 2002, yet 3 years later, in 2005, less than half that number—394—were performed?

No, I cannot, because the member did not give me any notice that that was what the question was to be about. So I am not able to answer him. If the member wants to hide behind a bland primary question, then his supplementary question will not get a good answer. What I need to do is to take a bit of a guess. All I can say is that around the country, and therefore, I assume, in Auckland as well, coronary artery bypass grafts are giving way to another form of surgery, an earlier intervention known as angioplasty, which reduces the need for coronary artery bypass grafts—which I would have thought a doctor would know about.

💬 Maryan Street: By the end of last year, how many more people had commitments for elective surgery compared with the year prior?

In December 2005 there were 4,600 more people with commitments for elective surgery than there were in December 2004. That is 4,600 more people who were benefiting from this Government’s work to create a fairer, more transparent, elective surgery system. The days when people were left on waiting lists with no guarantee of treatment, as was the case under a National Government, are gradually coming to an end.

💬 Dr Jonathan Coleman: Will the Minister accept that the number of angioplasties that he mentioned only rose from 930 to 1,080 during the period under discussion, which in no way explains the massive drop in open-heart operations; and will he also accept that 133 people who have been seen by an Auckland District Health Board heart surgeon are sicker than the threshold for treatment, yet have been given no commitment that they will actually receive an operation?

Again I say to the member that because he does not give notice of what his deep, dark question is to be about, an informed answer cannot be given. So I shall have to make a guess at this one, as well. The member has done the classic thing: he has quoted the Auckland District Health Board without recognising that the Waitematā District Health Board and the Counties Manukau District Health Board have, over recent years, significantly increased their surgical procedures. Has he drawn that fact to the attention of the House? No, he has not. Why has he not done that? Because he prefers to obfuscate. That is not a good look.

💬 Dr Jonathan Coleman: Would the Minister be so—

💬 Madam SPEAKER: The question will be heard in silence.

💬 Dr Jonathan Coleman: Would the Minister be so eye-poppingly angry if—

💬 Madam SPEAKER: I am sorry but the member already been warned. Just ask the question without a comical comment, please.

💬 Dr Jonathan Coleman: Would the Minister further explain why, as of January 2006, a further 140 sick people in the Auckland District Health Board area had been given a commitment to open-heart surgery, but had been on the waiting list for over 6 months?

I do not know, because the member did not indicate at the beginning of the question what the question was to be about, and that is where the matter rests.

💬 Dr Jonathan Coleman: Will the Minister be embarrassed if patients on the heart surgery waiting list of Auckland District Health Board are advised that the district health board cannot give them any assurance of when their operation will take place, and that they should consider all options, including going private if they can afford it?

Certainly, people who can afford to go private will consider that as an option, but the public health system in this country is dealing with more and more elective surgery cases each year than the year before—more and more New Zealanders are getting their elective surgery. What is more, the number of New Zealanders who have crossed the treatment threshold but have not received their surgery has dropped by one-third in the past 18 months.

💬 Gerry Brownlee: I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. Firstly, let me observe that today we had a member of our caucus thrown out of the House as a result of that member’s considerable frustration at the way in which a question was being answered. When you consider the answers that Mr Hodgson has given, I think you can get a sense of just how that frustration builds. This question dealing with elective surgery has been on the Order Paper since 11 o’clock this morning. The Minister has repeatedly said: “Oh, there’s more elective surgery going on in the country than ever before.”, but every time he is confronted with some appalling statistics showing that that is not the case he simply says: “I don’t know.” and “The member should have asked a more specific question.” I do not think that helps order in the House, and I do not think it brings this Parliament into great respect. I ask you to consider perhaps ruling that Ministers should answer questions, or, at least, address questions that are on the Order Paper. Saying “I don’t know.” would stand as an answer, but to go on and give some speech of qualification behind why the Minister does not know that seems to be a condemnation of the person asking the question is just unacceptable.

💬 Hon Trevor Mallard: It has been a long tradition in this House that—and I can remember my predecessor, the Hon Fraser Colman, using the phrase—if a member wants a specific answer to a detailed question, the member either asks a written question or gives proper notice of the nature of the specific detail required. That has been the history of the House, and I think new members have to understand that if they do want details that drive right down to the number of open-heart surgeries in a particular hospital, they have to be more specific in the original question, or give notice.

💬 Madam SPEAKER: I understand the points of order, and I thank the members. I am not clear exactly what the point of order was, because the Minister did address the question, and that is a common way to address questions of that nature—to ask for notice to be given of the specifics. If members want the rules changed, then they should take that matter to the Standing Orders Committee and we can review those rules.

💬 Ron Mark: Given the National Party’s new-found interest in cardiothoracic issues, I seek the leave—

💬 Madam SPEAKER: Would the member please get to his point of order without interpolating. Would Mr Mark just state his point of order, please.

💬 Ron Mark: I seek the leave of the House to table a series of newspaper articles from 1997 to 1998—

💬 Hon David Carter: Ha, ha!

💬 Madam SPEAKER: I am sorry, but members are on notice that when points of orders and questions are being given, they are to be without interruption. Would members please respect the member asking the question, and would the member please put his point of order.

💬 Ron Mark: I seek the leave of the House to table a series of newspaper articles from 1997 to 1998, when New Zealand First was seeking to have a cardiothoracic unit built in Christchurch, and it was consistently fought and opposed by Gerry Brownlee, David Carter, and Bill English. Fortunately, we won and it was established.

💬 Madam SPEAKER: Leave is sought to table those documents. Is there any objection? There is objection.

💬 Gerry Brownlee: I seek leave to table a series of newspaper articles from the same period of time that show that the money that had been previously allocated for a heart unit in Christchurch was snaffled by New Zealand First to fund Aotearoa Television.

💬 Madam SPEAKER: Leave is sought to table those documents. Is there any objection? There is objection.

💬 Rt Hon Winston Peters: I seek leave to table countless press statements in respect of Aotearoa Television, which was the brainchild of one Maurice Williamson, the then Minister of Broadcasting. Those are the facts.

💬 Madam SPEAKER: Leave is sought to table those documents. Is there any objection? There is objection.

Pacific Island Affairs, Ministry—Policy Effectiveness

12. TAITO PHILLIP FIELD (Labour—Mangere) to the Minister of Pacific Island Affairs: What are the main conclusions of the latest Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs report on the effectiveness for Pacific Island people of Government policy?

The report shows that, as a result of initiatives, including the Work and Income Pacific Wave strategy, there has been a 53 percent decrease in Pacific people receiving the unemployment benefit in Auckland in the last 2 years to June 2005. The report also shows that 140 Pacific people received TeachNZ early childhood education scholarships in 2004—an increase from 37 in 2000—which has strengthened Pacific participation in early childhood education.

💬 Taito Phillip Field: What does the report say about Pacific economic development, and what is the Government doing to further strengthen Pacific economic development?

Government has an increased focus on economic prosperity for Pacific people through initiatives such as the Pacific Economic Action Plan. More Pacific people than ever before are in jobs, but we realise there is still more work to be done. It is about turning the one-day stalls at the Pasifika festival into ongoing sustainable economic businesses.

Dr the Hon Lockwood Smith: Did the report examine any allegations of misuse of the Samoan or Pacific Island immigration quota system and the effects of such misuse on Pacific Island people and the integrity of the Government’s Pacific quota policy?

No.