Mooney JosephJOSEPH MOONEY (National—Southland): Thank you Mr Chair. I just wanted to take a moment to acknowledge the incredibly hard work and the hard times that the tourism sector has been through over the last two years. It's an industry that made a significant positive impact to New Zealand's economy delivering $40.9 billion—our largest export industry pre-pandemic. They have taken a huge hit for New Zealand so that New Zealand could protect itself during the pandemic and now we're seeing the first green shoots of being able to have people from visa-waiver countries and from Australia returning to New Zealand. That is a great positive.I do want to ask the Minister: has he turned his mind to the issue of workforce and is he advocating lobbying with his colleagues to solve this issue? I note that in the first 12 months after borders closed four out of every 10 tourism jobs were lost. There was an average 40 percent reduction in staff numbers since New Zealand's borders closed in the first 12 months and the lower South Island saw the biggest workforce drop down 53 percent.I noted with interest the Minister's speech to the Otago University Tourism Policy School on 25 March 2022 a few weeks ago where he said Our legendary hospitality in no small way helps to shape these positive impressions and we benefit from sharing our stories and places with these visitors in ways that are more than purely financial … Because if we don't 'live the brand' we will never be the premier destination we desire to be. If we are mediocre in our service delivery no amount of crazy scenery and breath-taking experiences will lift us above many other destinations around the world."Now as the member of Parliament representing Queenstown and Te Ānau I've seen first hand the impact on that industry. I've seen first hand the efforts that businesses have taken and most of them small businesses to try and keep going taking mortgages on their homes in many cases and sometimes second or even third mortgages to keep the doors open and keep their staff employed. They've been working very very hard. However the consistent message I've been getting is that they hear a message from the Government that they need to improve conditions need to up their salaries need to make it more attractive and I keep on hearing "Well that would be fantastic. We're trying to do that but the workforce just isn't there."I note that we've got record low unemployment in New Zealand now of 3.2 percent. In fact there's an article out in the Otago Daily Times today from the Hilton Queenstown general manager who has said occupancy levels at the hotels are "being restricted across the board by accommodation providers because of a shortage of staff to service rooms … many hotels were not cleaning rooms for the duration of a guest's stay." He says "I'm not going to name names but some of the five-star hotels are not offering a five-star experience — I can't lie [we're] struggling". And he said "It's not through a lack of salary there's just a lack of people. Salaries are going up and up and up but there's still a massive massive shortage [of willing workers]."I note another local business in Queenstown put a post up a few days ago where they said "Sadly we were forced to close again yesterday due to lack of staff. If you know anyone keen to ski or snowboard this season send them our way. We're offering competitive wages along with a season pass for those willing to help us out. We need kitchen and front-of-house staff members to start immediately." These are just two examples of many many many I'm hearing in my region and I'm asking the Minister: what is he going to do to help this sector who desperately wants to offer a first-class experience for our international visitors but simply don't have the staff?"