Menu:

General Debate 26/08/2009
 
Hon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON (Attorney-General) : Mr Jones was slow off the mark this afternoon, but he proved once again that empty vessels make the most noise. That is the same Mr Jones who said that he and the Labour Party did not support Māori seats for Auckland. But I do not want to waste my time on Mr Jones.
 
 
Hon SHANE JONES (Labour) to the Minister of Māori Affairs: Does he stand by his statement: “It’s definitely a sort of inherent sort of institutionalised racism, in that you’ve accepted one way of doing things, and not respected another cultural norm. They have no right to do that and we will oppose that. I’ll oppose that as a Minister of New Zealand’s Government”, and does he think that opposition to the Māori seats on the Auckland City Council is an example of “institutionalised racism”?
 
 
KEITH LOCKE (Green) to the Minister of Foreign Affairs: Has he received any advice on whether a law curtailing women’s rights in Afghanistan has been “brought into line with the expectations of the international community” as he was promised by Hamid Karzai; if so, what was that advice?
 
 
Hon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON (Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage): I move, That the Cultural Property (Protection in Armed Conflict) Bill be now read a second time. New Zealand ratified the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict on 24 July last year. The convention was established in response to the widespread destruction of cultural property during the Second World War. It provides for the protection of things like movable property, such as works of art, manuscripts, books, scientific collections, and archives; monuments and archaeological sites; museums and libraries; and centres containing a large amount of cultural property.
 
General Debate 05/08/2009
 
Hon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON (Attorney-General) : I will tell the House about two really inspirational events I have attended in the last few days—not just the National Party conference.
 
 
Hon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON (Attorney-General) : I move, That the Limitation Bill be now read a first time. At the end of this debate, I intend to move that the bill be referred to the Justice and Electoral Committee.