7. Question No.7—Prime MinisterDAVID SEYMOUR (Leader—ACT) to the Prime MinisterQuestion No.7—Prime Minister7. DAVID SEYMOUR (Leader—ACT) to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by all her Government's statements and policies?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN (Prime Minister) (remote): Yes. In particular I stand by our announcement of a $100 million investment to support specialist and acute mental health needs. As you've heard from the Minister of Health today this will fund community-based crisis services delivering intensive support specialist child and adolescent mental health and addiction services and more funding to develop our specialist workforce.David Seymour: Does she agree with the statement by the Minister for COVID-19 Response that pre-departure testing for people entering New Zealand—its days are numbered" and if yes can she tell the House on what day people will be able to enter New Zealand without a pre-departure test; in other words how many days do we have to count?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Yes. I do support the statement made by the Minister for COVID-19 Response. In fact the member may recall that last Wednesday when announcing the final phase of our reopening strategy we talked about the return of those from non - visa waiver countries in July and at that point stipulated that we did not expect—in fact were committed to pre-departure testing being removed at that time in July. Whilst I can't give the member a specific date work has been done as we speak to ensure that we have in place all of the preparations for the removal of pre-departure testing.David Seymour: Does the Prime Minister also stand by the Minister for COVID-19's statement at the select committee this morning to the effect that pre-departure testing is making little difference to New Zealand's COVID response and if she does stand by that statement why is she going to make people go through it for another two and a half months?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: The first point that I would make is that New Zealand is not alone in the fact that there are still entry requirements from around the world. The world has not gone back to normal. Even the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have requirements for entry into the United States. Japan hasn't allowed tourists to return. There are a number of countries that still have entry requirements some of which may be considered more stringent than New Zealand. So what the Minister would have been referring to is that probably the more effective and important ongoing policy we have is the screening regime we have once people arrive. But at the same time we do need to make sure we have in place infrastructure should we at any time in the future need to return to a period of using pre-departure testing.David Seymour: Can the Prime Minister reassure middle New Zealand that the Budget will help them with their household budget even if they don't receive a benefit or tax credit but instead rely on something called "working" to earn more and pay their bills?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I would refer the member to the fact that 60 percent of families in New Zealand do receive and have done for a number of years the tax credit known as the family tax credit—60 percent of families receive that tax credit. And as a Government we have been focused on using tools like that to ensure that we're supporting New Zealanders from low and middle income families. And I would point the member to the fact that families even on a combined income of say over $100000 in certain circumstances will be in receipt of the family tax credit. It reaches a number of households and has been an incredibly useful tool for us as we've sought to increase the disposable income of low and middle income New Zealanders. David Seymour: Can the Prime Minister reassure young New Zealanders that this Budget will do something different from prior ones to reduce the income gap with Australia that has grown by $6600 per year since she's been Prime Minister or will this become known in history as the "Brain Drain Budget"?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I would first of all point to our record. Since we have been in office wage growth has outstripped the increases in inflation since the time that we took office with the exception of 2022 when we were seeing the entire world including Australia go through an inflation spike during this period. So I would reflect on our record and I would even reflect on the fact that even in this period of time we're seeing wage increases above 4 percent. The second point I would make is that one of the very tools that is being pointed to when you analyse the difference in New Zealand's wage growth over a number of years relative to Australia is sector-based bargaining. It is one of the issues that many analysts point to as to a difference to New Zealand's wage rates and Australia and I note the member is opposed to it.Barbara Edmonds: Does she stand by her Government's policy the winter energy payment that assists over 1 million New Zealanders to heat their homes over the winter months?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Absolutely and that payment was obviously introduced by a Labour Government and kicked in from 1 May supporting low-income families but also superannuitants. Just this morning I received correspondence from someone who pointed out that it enabled their family to use their heat pump more during the winter particularly given they have a family member who suffers from frequent illness. We know it makes a difference. It's a shame the member opposite is so diminishing of the impact that it has on people's lives.David Seymour: Will a worker on $70000—for example a nurse in the middle of the income band—be $2300 better off under her Government's Budget as they would under ACT's alternative budget for real change?SPEAKER: The Prime Minister can answer the first part of the question; she has no responsibility for the second.Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Obviously I'm not going to speak to the Budget which the member only has to wait one more sleep in order to see the results of. But what I will point to is our record where the member who asked the question believes in cutting the number of nurses that we have in the first place because he believes there's been too much growth in front-line public servants. Well I would question whether or not he believes in dealing with pay parity or pay equity issues. But in this Government we have a proud record of progressively improving the incomes of for instance the likes of our nurses which on average have seen a 20 percent increase for some of our nursing workforce. And if you can peer back an experienced nurse at a base level for instance who had received in 2017 an income of $66000 they're now $16000 better-off as a result of this Government.SPEAKER: I think the member is aware that tomorrow is Budget day; therefore the ACT Party gets fewer questions than they do in a normal week. He's used all his questions.David Seymour: A point of order Mr Speaker. So much steam! I seek leave to ask an additional supplementary question of the Prime Minister.SPEAKER: Is there any objection to that? Yes there is."