4. Question No. 4—Prime MinisterDAVID SEYMOUR (Leader—ACT) to the Prime MinisterQuestion No. 4—Prime Minister4. DAVID SEYMOUR (Leader—ACT) to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by all of her Government's statements and policies?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN (Prime Minister): Yes. In particular I stand by the actions of this Government that have seen the gender pay gap drop to its lowest level at 8.6 percent. This is the direct result of many efforts made. We're also seeing the unemployment rate for women dropping to 3.4 percent—the lowest in over a decade—and the under-utilisation rate for women drop to an equally historical low of 10.9 percent. We know more needs to be done. We've got further work to go on reducing the pay gap for Māori Pacific and Asian workforces but this demonstrates that reducing the gender pay gap is possible with concerted effort and with the Government public services and unions working together.David Seymour: Why does she believe those employment statistics when unemployment keeps going down at the same time that the number of people on the job seeker benefit and the amount spent on welfare keeps going up?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Actually we have seen declines across job seeker relative to early on particularly in the COVID-19 pandemic.David Seymour: Does she believe her Government implements its policies competently and if so why is it now using debt collectors to recover up to $36 million worth of managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) fees it didn't collect when the guests stayed—something that every private sector hotel in the world somehow manages?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I would refer the member to the fact that—if I recall correctly—we've had something in the order of $99 million worth of MIQ costs paid by individuals who have come through the system. Over the course of the programme we have altered the invoicing system to ensure that we obtain greater efficiencies around it but it's not unfair to have an expectation that people pay the bill that they were fairly issued as part of our border protection framework.David Seymour: Which of her statements more accurately describes the Government's policy for vaccination targets: is it her own 14 September statement that we've not given a specific number" or her 22 October statement that we'd need a "90 percent fully vaccinated [target set] across each DHB region" before the rest of the country moves into the new traffic light system?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Of course the member well knows that we've said all along that we want the highest rates of vaccine in New Zealand possible—the highest rates. In fact Dr Bloomfield himself has continually talked about milestones. There will never be an endpoint for us so long as there are individuals in New Zealand who are eligible to be vaccinated who are not vaccinated. Every single percentage is an extra layer of protection for the country and I would hope that we can all agree on that. The member has asked a question around when we would alter our COVID strategy as a result of vaccines. Yes we've given an indication that the COVID protection framework—indicatively we'd want high vaccination levels in order to move into it. We've got a decision-making day with Cabinet on 29 November and we have indicated that we will be pragmatic around some of those calls relative to our vaccination levels.David Seymour: Does she stand by her statement that "There's a strong view coming through from the Ministry of Health that we should consider moving to the protection framework or traffic light system earlier because it provides greater protection." and if she does stand by that statement at what level of vaccination is the traffic light system safer than the alert level system?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Yes I do stand by that statement and—as I said in an earlier response to the Leader of the Opposition—it does require though of course it to be coupled with high rates of vaccination. Ultimately though the higher the rate the greater protection we have as a whole. The COVID protection framework then uses that layer of protection via vaccine passes. There is a balance to be struck in there though. You do want to make sure that you've got enough people who are vaccinated to fairly and equitably still be accessing parts of the sector who will be relying on vaccine passes to operate.David Seymour: So at what rate of vaccination does it become true that the traffic light system offers more protection than the alert level system?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: The traffic light system offers protection by ensuring that only vaccinated individuals are accessing certain facilities. If you do not have COVID in your community then actually that becomes a moot point but we are starting to see COVID cases that need to be managed and that we need to protect people from. The COVID protection framework allows you to do that without having to have people in level 3 restrictions.David Seymour: So at what rate does the traffic light system offer more protection than the alert level system and does she understand that New Zealanders would really like to know that because it would explain when a move might be safe to make or is it actually the case that—SPEAKER: Order! Order! The member's had two legs.Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I've already responded to the question. The COVID protection framework cannot operate unless you have vaccinated individuals in the community. That is why on the advice of experts—they've said the higher the rate the better the protection. They have said that a target of preference of 90 percent—we've said that on 29 November we'll assess our rates at that point and make decisions about the movement into the framework.David Seymour: Is not the real problem that the law and the software for the COVID protection framework are not ready yet and the vaccination rates are not the problem; she's just buying time for the software—SPEAKER: Order! Order! The member will resume his seat.Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Absolutely not. In fact one of the concerns—until you have high vaccination rates if you choose to no longer use some of the blanket restrictions we've had available to us there is concern of course that outbreaks both because you don't have high enough vaccination rates and because you aren't using widespread restrictions get out of control. That is why you have to have both good vaccination rates and a framework that utilises those vaccination rates to maximise the safety for the whole population. I'm happy to have the member receive a personal briefing on some of the decisions that have been made to date on the COVID protection framework if he so chooses.David Seymour: Well thank you for that offer. Does the Prime Minister agree with the statement "Climate change is my generation's nuclear-free moment." and does she stand by her Government's policies where New Zealanders face higher electricity prices rising carbon emissions and record imports of Indonesian coal or was the nuclear-free moment always meant to be coal-powered?SPEAKER: Order! Before the Prime Minister answers I am going to remind members in the gallery that their interjections count in the same way as those on the floor do.Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Yes I do and the point I'd make to the member is that without considerable investment—for instance if we continue to simply rely on the 80plus percent of renewable electricity generation we have today and do nothing about the fact that we have no renewable solution for when we have a dry year—then yes we will continue to be relying on fossil fuels which is why we've made investments to try and overcome that issue alongside the work that we're doing with the private sector to decarbonise energy generation in those fossil fuel - dependent industries. I note that the member would choose to do nothing in that regard."