Omer IbrahimIBRAHIM OMER (Labour): Thank you Mr Speaker. I too want to pay my tribute to the great people of Afghanistan for the unexpected development in the last few weeks shocked us all and what we have seen in the Kabul airport which seems to be a thing that we only see in the movies. And so my heart goes out to the great people of Afghanistan especially our vibrant Afghani community here in Aotearoa.I'm grateful for an opportunity to speak in this special debate. COVID-19 is wrecking the world infecting and killing people. As I speak now in the last 24 hours more than 600000 new infections more than 9000 new deaths—just in the last 24 hours. A lot of countries in the last few months have made progress using a combination of public health and the vaccines and then they dropped the ball. They became so complacent and now because of Delta their health system is struggling and they are a mess. Their economies are also struggling—the economy they always wanted to protect.So Delta is tricky and our doctors told us consistently—I love the description of our Prime Minister of Delta Delta has changed the rules … [so] we have changed our approach too." A lot of the countries that I mentioned failed to do that. Simply they either didn't know how to do it or they didn't want to do it and now they're paying the price and that's not where we wanted to go.I too also wanted to add my voice to other voices—our essential workers; they are the unsung heroes. Two weeks ago when we all rushed into our level 4 lockdown many of them went out risking their lives even though they knew that they were likely to get a virus if Delta continued to rage. And they did that by putting their lives in danger but also the lives of their loved ones as well. Many of them are on low wages and I have been talking to them in the last few weeks just to thank them for their contribution for what they do for us. And many of them also appreciate what this Government has done for them because for the first time in many years I think we have a Government that actually focuses on the low-paid workers. We do have a minimum wage lifted to $20 we've got a lot of our contracted workers in the core Government sector on a living wage and they do appreciate that. And one of them told me that "At least we've got a Government that appreciates and that pays us well." So that goes to show that we've got a Government that never leaves anyone behind.Just as I made my way to Parliament the taxi driver who has been working throughout level 4 told me "Why are you going to Parliament?" Well I told him "We have been called."—the Government. So he said "Well we all are staying home so why are you guys doing this?" And I told him the Opposition refuses to accept for Parliament to reconvene through Zoom or through a virtual and he said "That's just selfish." I think as the Deputy Prime Minister said it's just selfishness.I also wanted to talk about my migrant and refugee communities and I also want to commend their contribution throughout not only this lockdown but since last year. As a part of the team of 5 million they have played their role. They volunteered they distributed food to those who are vulnerable and now they are very grateful for the roll-out of the vaccination. A lot of our community members have their families back home and they desperately wanted the world to be open but at the same time they also get the risk of rushing into opening the borders because then Minister we could go back to the zero square.I am one of those people and in 2019 I was reconnected to my family after 18 years and I promised my ageing parents to see them every year after 2019. Now I can't see them. This is the sacrifice that we all make to keep our team of 5 million people safe. So this Government had a plan to protect the country and now it has a plan to reconnect New Zealand to the world. Kia ora."