5. Question No. 5—Prime MinisterDAVID SEYMOUR (Leader—ACT) to the Prime MinisterQuestion No. 5—Prime Minister5. DAVID SEYMOUR (Leader—ACT) to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by all her statements and policies?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN (Prime Minister): Yes particularly the Government's decision to request the Commerce Commission undertake a market study of the residential building supplies market. There have been longstanding concerns about potential competition issues particularly due to the highly concentrated nature of some markets in the supply chain. It's clear a significant portion of the costs associated with building residential housing is tied to building supplies and the study will allow the Commerce Commission to investigate any factors that may affect competition for the supply or acquisition of key building supplies. The Commerce Commission will present its final report on residential building supplies in December 2022.David Seymour: Does she then stand by her Government's policy of the Commerce Commission doing a market study into petrol supply where Minister Faafoi claimed it would reduce petrol prices by 18c to 32c and if so how's that one worked out?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Obviously we're seeing significant issues in the fuel market at the moment which are not just down to those issues inquired into by the Commerce Commission.David Seymour: Does she stand by her policy of making New Zealanders returning from Australia isolate in managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) for a week and if so can she explain why it's OK for people who have tested positive for COVID-19 to isolate at home but not fully vaccinated Kiwis coming home for Christmas who have tested negative for COVID-19?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: As I have said to the other Leader of the Opposition we as a Government are considering changes to our MIQ system as we speak. We've already indicated that it will change. We have made domestic changes to the domestic settings but of course the next step is around the overseas border.SPEAKER: I was waiting for a point of order. I know the Prime Minister is aware of our constitutional arrangements whereby there is only one of that category and I think it was a deliberate act on her part. Therefore she will withdraw and apologise.Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I withdraw and apologise.David Seymour: Does the Prime Minister stand by her statement in question time earlier today under questioning by the Leader of the Opposition that she believes Queensland will open to travel from other states of Australia on or about 17 December and if so what has the Government of Queensland done to prepare for that that her Government has not done and therefore keeps New Zealand closed to all those other states of Australia?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Obviously if you want to make comparisons then the comparison would be the preparation around the lifting of the Auckland boundary and the preparation that we have undertaken—because the member is making comparisons around domestic border changes. The preparation we have made around that is a testing and vaccination requirement. We are easing our restrictions domestically. That is not to say that we will not ease our restrictions internationally—we will—but we need to step into these changes carefully. We do not want a situation where they are removed in such a way that we see dramatic changes to our ability to manage COVID-19 domestically and that we are unable to then put in place again measures that we may need the protective factors from. Finally I would say the member only need look at—yes we are in summer; that places you in a different position but we only need look at Europe right now where the World Health Organization is warning about potentially half a million deaths in a region that has access to vaccinations in the same way we do. And in parts of Europe there are vaccination levels we would consider high that are moving into lockdown. We need to continue to listen to the best research and advice possible and that is what we are doing.David Seymour: What could go wrong with the vaccine certificate trial in hairdressers in Auckland from Thursday that prevented the Prime Minister including the long-suffering hospitality sector in that trial too?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: That wasn't the basis of decision making. The basis of decision making was of course that we are then looking to ease an area sooner than we otherwise might. The COVID-19 Protection Framework kicks in from 3 December and that's when everyone moves into that model. We expect to have even higher vaccination rates and protective factors than we do now at that point. The basis of the decision was: if we are to move early what presents the least risk? Hairdressers and barbers were on that list for the very fact that unlike hospitality small numbers in spaces—they are by default very easily able to separate out individuals. They had public health requirements like for instance mask use that obviously when you're in an eating and drinking establishment are different which is why we have used them.David Seymour: Does she stand by her decision to introduce the COVID-19 Response (Vaccinations) Legislation Bill today and if so why has it taken 277 days since the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine was administered in New Zealand to get the legislation ready for Parliament leaving only 10 days for businesses to adopt before the traffic light system is scheduled to come into effect?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Firstly on the latter part of the member's question he appears to misunderstand the tool. There is no obligation on an employer to utilise the tool. So there is no 10-day deadline that the member is referring to. At any time an employer could determine that they wish to use the assessment tool to ascertain whether or not they would like to put in place a vaccine mandate in their workplace. So that's the first thing I'd just quickly correct the member on. Secondly around the legislation and the 200-plus days the member is referring to the member seems to believe that every country around the world has gone into this pandemic believing that they would either use mandates or passes—that has not been the case. Many countries have worked iteratively through the pandemic putting in place tools that they believe will help their situation. Some countries are still not using mandates; many are using vast ones including Austria who are looking to mandate everyone in-country from February. We have always looked of course to use the tools that make the most sense for us domestically based on the uptake that we've been able to undertake voluntarily but also undertaking a public health and safety risk assessment and that is how we'll continue to progress.David Seymour: Can she explain what will happen under the COVID-19 Response (Vaccinations) Legislation Bill introduced to Parliament today if an unvaccinated employee takes four weeks off paid by their employer then decides after all that they will get vaccinated and come back to work but the employer counterclaims that it would be an unreasonable disruption to their business; would the person get their job back or not?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: If in that intervening period an employer for instance believes that the individual has given their undertaking that they will not be vaccinated they've had their four-week stand down and they go out and employ someone else that could for instance be considered to be an unreasonable disruption for that business.