2. Question No. 2—FinanceBARBARA EDMONDS (Labour—Mana) to the Minister of FinanceQuestion No. 2—Finance2. BARBARA EDMONDS (Labour—Mana) to the Minister of Finance: What economic support has been provided to businesses since the Delta COVID outbreak alert level changes announced on 17 August?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance): The Government has moved quickly and decisively to provide significant support to protect New Zealanders' lives and livelihoods in response to the Delta COVID-19 outbreak. The wage subsidy scheme and resurgence support payment were reactivated following the rise in alert levels along with existing supports such as the leave support scheme the short-term absence payment and the Small Business Cashflow (Loan) Scheme. In total since 17 August the wage subsidy scheme and resurgence support payment have paid out over $3 billion to New Zealand businesses made up—as the Prime Minister's just said—of around $2.3 billion in the wage subsidy scheme and just over $800 million in the two resurgence support payments. This is about providing cash flow and confidence to help protect jobs and support New Zealand businesses. We recognise that this has been a tough time for many businesses and we are here to support them.Barbara Edmonds: What changes have been made to the support available to businesses?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: As we have done throughout the COVID-19 pandemic we have updated and expanded our support in response to the needs that arise. The resurgence support payment which helps businesses with costs—like the cost of rent for example—and is available at alert level 2 or above was amended to ensure that it included new businesses. The time required for a business to be eligible for the payment was lowered from six months to one month. Businesses can also apply for further resurgence support payments to recognise the effects of an extended period of alert level restrictions. The payment was initially intended as one-off payment but we have now made it—as the Prime Minister has just said—into a three-weekly payment in recognition of the pressure that some businesses are under. We will continue to work alongside sectors to ensure we provide support as we can.Barbara Edmonds: What reports has he seen on how businesses are responding to Delta COVID-19?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Last week the ANZ bank provided a preliminary look at business confidence in September which found firms remained resilient amidst higher alert levels. Business confidence actually rose 7 points in September to a net 7 percent of respondents expecting the economy to deteriorate compared with August while firms' expectations about their own trading activity was mostly unchanged. Employment and investment intentions were a little softer but remain at higher levels. ANZ examined whether there was a split between Auckland and the rest of the country on these matters but the differences were very small. This suggests that firms are well positioned to deal with this latest lockdown and are expecting a return to strong demand as restrictions are lifted.Hon Michael Woodhouse: What does he say to Hospitality New Zealand CEO Julie White who described the new condition on the wage subsidy as cruel and heartbreaking."?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: What I'd say to Julie White—who I have met with in recent times—is that those conditions around the wage subsidy scheme have been in place since last year. It has always been the case that alert 3 and alert level 4 conditions are the determinant of the receiving of the wage subsidy scheme."