6. Question No. 6—Prime MinisterDAVID SEYMOUR (Leader—ACT) to the Prime MinisterQuestion No. 6—Prime Minister6. DAVID SEYMOUR (Leader—ACT) to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by all her Government's statements and actions?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN (Prime Minister): Yes.David Seymour: Does she stand by her statement from yesterday that We also want to increase our testing of people who are crossing the Auckland boundaries to ensure we don't see any spread beyond Auckland." and if so why hasn't saliva testing been rolled out more widely in Auckland and at its boundaries?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Yes. To answer the second half of the question as we speak the Ministry of Health is working on contracting a provider to support border testing with saliva testing. The one point I would make though is that the ability to do border testing is in no way contingent on having saliva testing. Yes it's fantastic to have it available. It's being used both in our managed isolation facilities where we have a contract for a provider there and also it's being used by a number of firms privately. Border testing is not contingent on having it but it is something that the Ministry of Health is contracting for.David Seymour: How is it possible that just 800 saliva tests are currently being done each week when the Government signed a contract for 20000 a week all the way back in May?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Again keep in mind that saliva testing that we've contracted to be provided is doing exactly the same job as the nasal swabs albeit obviously through collecting in a different way. So it's not as if by not having that scaled up somehow we have lost something. It is an extra additional tool that gives some choice to staff members around the way that they're being tested because we totally understand—and anyone who has been swabbed will know—how uncomfortable it would be to have that done on a regular basis. So the reason for the numbers they've had is simply for uptake in the way it's being rolled out but we are looking at using it for returnees as well so I expect those numbers will only continue to increase. As I say we're contracting separately for border testing as well.David Seymour: So is saliva testing a very good thing when the Government contracts 20000 saliva tests a week and not really necessary when it's only doing 800 a week?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Again if the member wants the intricate details on how the Ministry of Health intends to scale up to what they've contracted to I invite the member to ask the Minister for COVID-19 Response or feel free to put a question like this on notice and I will happily bring down some of the plans that the Ministry of Health have around scaling up for their contract because it's just not information I have in front of me and I'm sure the member would appreciate that.David Seymour: Does the Prime Minister stand by her statements earlier this afternoon about how difficult and complex it is to negotiate a vaccine swap with another country?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Yes. I only said it this afternoon and I still mean it.David Seymour: When did she realise it?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Again also the member wasn't obviously listening to the entire stand-up because this notion of vaccine swaps are still actually sale and purchase agreements individually. They're just in both directions if that is indeed what people do.Hon Member: Interesting.Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: So just—SPEAKER: Can the member just stop the noise? It seems weird through a mask.Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I don't think the quality of the interjection was either lowered or raised by the fact that a mask sat between it. So look that was just a commentary on that. As I've said we've been working on some of these arrangements over the past couple of weeks.David Seymour: Is the Prime Minister saying they only started to negotiate a swap of vaccines with other countries in the past couple of weeks?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I've already corrected the member on his assertions around swaps and if the member listened to the exchange between myself and the actual Leader of the Opposition you would have heard me answer the questions around supply."