Robertson GrantGENERAL DEBATEHon GRANT ROBERTSON (Deputy Prime Minister): I move That the House take note of miscellaneous business. I want to start my comments today by reiterating something I said in the House yesterday about the people of particularly West Auckland who went through the traumatic events related to the terror attack at the LynnMall and the LynnMall Countdown. This coming on top of being in alert level 4 will have added enormous stress to those communities. I want to say again on behalf of the Government that we express not only our sympathies to you but ask that if there is any help or assistance that is required particularly around issues to do with mental health that people do reach out to the services we have. I in particular draw people's attention to the 1737 service which you can free text or call in order to get immediate access to speak to somebody who is a trained counsellor.I also want today to thank the people of Auckland again for doing the heavy lifting for New Zealand in alert level 4. As we see alert level 2 roll out around the rest of the country it can only be hard for those who are in Auckland to see that and I want to send our thanks our aroha and our support to the people of Auckland for what they are doing.The good news is that alert level 4 is working. We are seeing the number of cases each day steadily coming down and with a Delta outbreak—the kind of outbreak which we have now which is so much more transmissible than we have seen in earlier incarnations of the virus—that result is one that shows that having an alert level 4 in our system makes a big difference. So we are asking a lot of Aucklanders but we also know that what they are doing is making a difference for all New Zealanders.I also want to acknowledge that times are tough for some businesses in particular in the Auckland region but also around New Zealand. That is why the Government has stepped up once again with the supports that we have—in particular through the wage subsidy scheme and in total the two schemes have delivered over $1.5 billion of support to 371224 organisations or individuals. In addition to that the resurgence support payment has now dispersed over half a billion dollars to businesses around New Zealand. We recognise that these payments do not pay the whole wage bill. These payments do not meet every single cost but they are the contribution that the Government can make on behalf of taxpayers to support businesses to support employees to stay attached to those businesses and to come out the other side of COVID-19.We know this works. We know this approach works because it's what we did in the first outbreak and what we saw as we came out of that first outbreak was the rebound in the New Zealand economy. That means unlike many other countries in the world we saw ourselves back with a rate of economic growth comparable to what we had going into COVID-19.We saw and we have seen unemployment peak at just over 5 percent and then settle at 4 percent—again the rate it was before COVID-19. All of that has been as a result of the fact that New Zealand has been able to stamp out COVID-19 and live lives of normality that other countries are only just now contemplating going into. We have had that period of time where we have been able to operate with relative levels of freedom and with relative levels of economic prosperity that are high compared to the rest of the world. It is that that we are striving for again—to make sure that we get on top of this outbreak and get ourselves back to a stage where businesses can operate and where people and communities can go about what they need to do. It's tough. It's hard out there for many businesses.As the Prime Minister said in the House today we continue to consider what further support we can provide. For those in the community who are struggling themselves there are support services available. Please get in touch with Work and Income. Work and Income is processing quickly applications for hardship grants and food support. We're working in combination with Whānau Ora providers with Pasifika health and community providers to make sure that that support reaches the people who are in need.Fundamentally we knew from day one in this outbreak that the best economic response is a strong public health response. New Zealand has benefited from that over the last 18 months and I am confident we will do so again. Economic forecasters from banks around New Zealand are expecting that we will see a significant dip in GDP in the September quarter given the circumstances we're going through. But they then are forecasting the same kind of rebound that we saw in the wake of the first round of COVID-19 in New Zealand and that is because the fundamentals of the New Zealand economy are strong. Our businesses are resilient no matter how tough these times are and the Government is stepping up alongside once again to provide the supports that we need to make sure our economy and our society gets through this.Just today the Minister of Education has announced further support for hardship funds for students to make sure that any students who are struggling through this period of time can be supported and they need to contact their tertiary provider. That additional $20 million comes on top of I think $30 million that has already been provided through those hardship funds. That is a recognition that for some students they will find themselves particularly challenged by this situation. I would also remind those who are in that position that employers can apply for casual workers under the wage subsidy. Many students are casual workers and there is support available if employers are prepared to apply on behalf of those casual workers through that scheme.The Government continues to stand ready to support New Zealanders through COVID-19 and again I particularly thank the people of Auckland for the hard work that they are doing on our behalf.