McAnulty KieranKIERAN McANULTY (Labour—Wairarapa): It's hard to believe that in about a week's time it would be a year since New Zealand saw its first case of COVID. What a year it has been! So around about a year ago we saw cases popping up in Australia in the UK in the US and all around the world. We went into lockdown quicker from that point that we got our first case to when we responded than those other countries that we compare ourselves to. We stand here and we still hear the National Party trying to correct the record but they cannot back it up with facts. We've heard their leader Judith Collins try this in numerous general debates—does not stack up with reality.We have heard them try it in the general election. Well we saw how that went for them because we know deep down that New Zealanders are grateful to be here. They only need to look overseas to see what the alternative could have been. And they only needed to watch during the Epidemic Response Committee to see what the response would have been if it were the National Party in charge: every single day calling for New Zealand to open its borders; every single day saying stuff that countered what the experts were saying. That is the key point. At this very moment Cabinet is discussing what to do with the current outbreak in Auckland specifically around alert levels. New Zealanders know that Cabinet will as they always have throughout the last 12 months be listening to the experts and taking on their advice. There is unity here not just on this side of the House and in this Government but across the country. Every single member of Parliament would have gone around their home patch and talked to locals over the Christmas - New Year period before resuming to work. They would have heard I'm sure what I heard consistently: people that were happy with how we as a country responded.I stand here today proudly as the member of Parliament for Wairarapa. Wairarapa was the region that saw the first case of community transmission in this country. Wairarapa was also the first region to rid itself of COVID and stay COVID-free and I am proud of that. The work that our essential workers and our health force did to get to that point was extraordinary. I want to take the opportunity not only to thank them but to thank those that continue to work across the country to help us keep the level of safety that we have and that we enjoy here.As Cabinet deliberates on the decision—the difficult decision—that they have to make there have been countless people investigating and providing information to the experts so that they can provide up-to-date advice to Cabinet. I have absolute faith in that evidence-based advice that Cabinet will make the right decision for this country. We can compare that approach that consistent approach that's been the case for 12 months to the approach that we've seen just this week from the National Party. I would have thought that they would have learnt the lesson that was given to them at the general election. I will acknowledge actually the leadership that some of their members are trying to show on that side of the House by talking about solutions. But they just can't bring it together. They have a situation where Michael Woodhouse fresh from chasing a mythical homeless man in managed isolation and quarantine is now talking about the fact that we are going to have to get used to perhaps following a herd immunity approach in this country—Just get used to it. We're sick of lockdowns. We're just going to have to get used to it." We hear their leader Judith Collins saying that if there are no cases today we should open up. Since when has she been the expert? What she should be saying and what New Zealanders want to hear from their leaders is that we have experts they are evidence-focused and they will provide the best approach. Now I saw a definition of a word this morning. It came up on Twitter—Susie Dent from 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown—and it is "ultracrepidarian". It is a presumptuous critic one who loves to give opinions on matters they know very little about. How appropriate for that to pop up on my feed today. New Zealanders are sick of politicising this. What they want to see is what they've seen from this Government for the last 12 months. We know what we've got to do. We've done it before. Let's just get behind it and get it done."