Written questions

Asked by

Lan Pham

List MP · Green Party

• What is the Minister's response, if any, to the Environment Southland report on nitrate contamination in groundwater which shows that "approximately 1,530 people on private supplies and 13,632 on public groundwater supplies are served by…

Asked by

Lan Pham

List MP · Green Party

• How many mining and mining operations, if any, has the Minister approved access arrangements or concessions for on Public Conservation Land since becoming the Minister for Conservation?

Asked by

Lan Pham

List MP · Green Party

• Would the Minister consider regulations and/or education to encourage consumers to dispose of thermal receipts, which contain Bisphenol-A (BPA), as household waste (rather than paper recycling) to avoid BPA entering food via recycled…

Asked by

Lan Pham

List MP · Green Party

• What advice, if any, has the Minister received on the risk of products made from recycled soft plastics breaking down and spreading microplastics into the environment?

Asked by

Lemauga Lydia Sosene

Member for Māngere · Labour Party

• 36238

  Further to his reply to written question 30634 (2026), what was the total value of invoices, if any, for engineering services for Premier House paid between 1 July 2025 and 30 June 2026?

• 36241

  Further to his reply to written question 30634 (2026), how many invoices, if any, for engineering services for Premier House were received between 1 July 2025 and 30 June 2026?

• 36242

  Further to his reply to written question 30634 (2026), what was the total value of invoices, if any, for architecural services for Premier House paid between 1 July 2025 and 30 June 2026?

• 36243

  Further to his reply to written questions 30634 (2026), how many invoices, if any, for architectural services for Premier House were received between 1 July 2025 and 30 June 2026?

Asked by

Lan Pham

List MP · Green Party

• What advice, if any, has the Minister received about the environmental impacts and/or risks of thermal receipts?

Asked by

Lan Pham

List MP · Green Party

• What advice, if any, has the Minister received about the public health risks of thermal receipts?

Asked by

Lemauga Lydia Sosene

Member for Māngere · Labour Party

• Do his Ministerial Services officials use financial codes to record and monitor Ministerial Services related spending and if so, what are all of the codes and their descriptions of spending related to the refurbishment of Premier House?

Asked by

Lemauga Lydia Sosene

Member for Māngere · Labour Party

• Do his Ministerial Services officials have access to IT systems that allow for the recording, tracking and reporting of invoices received for Ministerial Services related budgets and spending and if not, why not?

Asked by

Willow-Jean Prime

List MP · Labour Party

• Have any winter energy payments been mistakenly cancelled for people entitled to them and receiving them; if so, for what reason?

Asked by

Willow-Jean Prime

List MP · Labour Party

• Have any winter energy payments been mistakenly cancelled for people entitled to them and receiving them; if so, how many people has this occurred to?

Asked by

Willow-Jean Prime

List MP · Labour Party

• Is automated decision-making used to cancel any income support entitlements for people receiving superannuation; if so, which entitlements?

Asked by

Willow-Jean Prime

List MP · Labour Party

• Have any people receiving superannuation had other forms of income support cancelled without a request from them to do so; if so, how many and why?

Asked by

Willow-Jean Prime

List MP · Labour Party

• Have any disability allowance recipients had their winter energy payments stopped without a request to do so by the recipient; if so, how many and why has this occurred?

Asked by

Willow-Jean Prime

List MP · Labour Party

• Have any recipients of superannuation had their winter energy payments stopped without a specific request from the recipient to do so; if so, how many people are affected and why has this occurred?

Asked by

Willow-Jean Prime

List MP · Labour Party

• How many sanctions, if any, were applied to working age main benefit clients in the quarter ending 30 June 2026; by MSD region and by benefit type?

Asked by

Willow-Jean Prime

List MP · Labour Party

• How many sanctions, if any, applied since 1 January 2024 were subsequently overturned on review or appeal?

Asked by

Lan Pham

List MP · Green Party

• Does the Minister believe agricultural land users who create pollution problems for downstream communities should pay for those pollution costs, in the same way that he believes that, regarding wilding pines, “if you’ve got seed source…

Asked by

Francisco Hernandez

List MP · Green Party

• How much, if any, is the total (finalised) budget in the Minister's departments, agencies, crown entities and any other bodies that the Minister is responsible for, if any, for the 2026/27 financial year on artificial intelligence-…

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• What further work, if any, has he requested from KiwiRail or from officials on options to lift passenger frequency above eight trains per hour south of Wiri station, and by what date is that work due to be reported to him?

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• What advice, if any, has he sought or received on rail freight scheduling practices in other jurisdictions, including Australia, where freight services are reported to run off-peak, at night, or on dedicated freight tracks?

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• 36278

  What directions, if any, has he given to KiwiRail in his capacity as Minister for Rail concerning freight movements on the Auckland metro rail network during weekday peak periods?

• 36279

  What expectations, if any, has he set for KiwiRail regarding the prioritisation of passenger services over freight movements during peak periods on the Auckland metro rail network, whether by letter of expectations, statement of corporate…

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• When does he expect eight trains per hour to operate south of Wiri station, and what advice, if any, has he received on that timeframe?

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• What funding, if any, has been allocated by the Government to date for an extension of the third main line or for a fourth main line on the Auckland metro rail network, and over what period?

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• What advice, if any, has he received on the estimated cost of extending the third main line, and on the estimated cost of constructing a fourth main line, on the Auckland metro rail network?

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• When did he first become aware that the trains-per-hour service levels initially anticipated for the City Rail Link would not be achieved at opening?

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• What reports, if any, has he received on the January test of City Rail Link services which reportedly found that the trains-per-hour service levels initially anticipated would not be achieved?

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• What analysis, if any, has he received on shifting weekday peak-period freight movements south of Wiri station to off-peak times, and what did that analysis conclude?

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• What advice, if any, has he received on the revenue KiwiRail would forgo, if any, were all freight movements on the Auckland metro rail network moved outside weekday peak periods?

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• What advice, if any, has he received on the effect of uneven headways between passenger services on public transport patronage in Auckland?

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• Does he agree with the Mayor of Auckland's statement that freight trains should not be running at peak commute times on the Auckland metro rail network; if not, why not?

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• How many freight train movements, if any, are scheduled south of Wiri station during weekday morning and evening peak periods under the City Rail Link timetable published by Auckland Transport?

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• What role, if any, did he or his office have in the negotiation or agreement of the peak-period freight slots on the Auckland metro rail network referred to publicly by KiwiRail's chief executive in August 2026?

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• What correspondence, if any, has he received from the Mayor of Auckland concerning freight trains operating at peak commuter times on the Auckland metro rail network?

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• What meetings, if any, has he held with KiwiRail since 1 January 2026 concerning the scheduling of freight services on the Auckland metro rail network during peak passenger periods?

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• Who advised him, and on what date, that the need to move freight trains south of Wiri station would result in uneven headways for passenger services on the Auckland metro rail network?

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• When was he first informed that passenger services between Pukekohe and the city centre would have uneven headways during weekday morning and evening peaks once the City Rail Link opens?

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• What advice, if any, has he received on the City Rail Link timetable published by Auckland Transport for the opening of the City Rail Link on 13 September 2026?

Asked by

Ingrid Leary

Member for Taieri · Labour Party

• Why are public officials, within organisations such as the Ministry of Health effectively investigating their own organisation regarding Wakari Hospital Ward 10A, rather than the independent NZ Police?

Asked by

Willow-Jean Prime

List MP · Labour Party

• Further to 34157 (2026), why did the Minister not review the CCTV footage?

Asked by

Ginny Andersen

List MP · Labour Party

• 36062

  Are all schools required to use the Reporting to Parents and Whānau progress markers and if so, under what regulation or authority is this requirement mandated?

• 36063

  Are all schools required to use the Reporting to Parents and Whānau progress descriptors and if so, under what regulation or authority is this requirement mandated?

Asked by

Mike Davidson

List MP · Green Party

• Has the Prime Minister directly communicated with Minister Peters or Minister Jones about the impacts of a proposed rates cap on the Regional Infrastructure Fund; if so, what were all the impacts canvassed in any such communications, and…

Asked by

Ginny Andersen

List MP · Labour Party

• How, if at all, will the SMART assessment tool be used in implementing the government’s new Reporting to Parents and Whānau expectations?

Asked by

Ginny Andersen

List MP · Labour Party

• What is the expected cost, if any, to schools of implementing the government’s new Reporting to Parents and Whānau expectations?

Asked by

Ginny Andersen

List MP · Labour Party

• Does the Ministry of Education have the authority to direct Student Management Systems providers about what schools can be charged for Ministry directed changes to student performance monitoring and reporting systems and if so, what gives…

Asked by

Mike Davidson

List MP · Green Party

• Will the Minister bid for increased central government funding for the Regional Infrastructure Fund (RIF) should the implementation of a rates cap reduce the amount councils co-invest into RIF projects?

Asked by

Mike Davidson

List MP · Green Party

• Does the Minister expect councils total co-investment into Regional Infrastructure Fund projects will reduce once a proposed rates cap is implemented; if not, why not?

Asked by

Mike Davidson

List MP · Green Party

• Did the Independent Reference Group that helped develop a rates cap policy recommend exactly what the Minister proposed in his 1 December 2025 press release?