SpeechDr GAURAV SHARMA (Labour—Hamilton West): Tēnā koe Mr Speaker. Tēnā koe e te Whare. It's my great pleasure to speak in the House today in reply to the Prime Minister's statement in our first sitting week of 2022. I want to start first of all by wishing everyone a happy New Year and also by thanking those of you who sent your well-wishes last year when I had some health issues. Exactly one year ago yesterday I stood in this exact spot to give my maiden speech in Parliament. I was surrounded by friends family my former school teachers and medical colleagues along with volunteers supporters and mentors in the gallery.I started that maiden speech by asking He aha te mea nui o te ao? He tangata he tangata he tangata." What is the most important thing in the world? It is people it is people it is people. And this is the question that every single member of the Labour caucus and this Government ask ourselves each and every day. People are at the heart of every policy every decision this Government and the Prime Minister has made over the last four years. Throughout the pandemic the Government has worked relentlessly to save as many lives as possible and to protect jobs and cushion the blow to the economy.At every turn the Government's goal has been to do what is right. We have acted early and decisively to prevent the worst impacts seen elsewhere. And this approach has worked. We have a very highly vaccinated population with over 95 percent of Kiwis double vaccinated 60 percent of people have now had their boosters and over 40 percent of children have now had their first dose. Our confirmed cases hospitalisations and deaths have been the lowest in the OECD for each of the last two years. As a former medical doctor who worked in the local community as a GP in Hamilton I'm incredibly proud of this Government for what it has done in achieving for myself my family my patients and my community in keeping us safe.I know the Opposition likes to criticise the Government's response for the sake of opposition but I can't fathom where the country would be if the National Party and their friends were in charge. Every time the Opposition had a new leader their policy on COVID changed drastically. One day they wanted the borders open; and the next day with a change in leadership they wanted the border to be closed again. But this isn't a pattern in their COVID policy only. One day the National Party was in Government and they denied the housing crisis the climate crisis the looming transport crisis due to significant underinvestment in public transport; and the next day they're in Opposition and all their policies and stances have changed.The Opposition now criticises this Labour Government on the pandemic response but one of the issues we do have in New Zealand is that sometimes we can forget how well we have done collectively as a team of 5 million. It is very easy to ignore the death and destruction that we have been able to avoid which has wreaked havoc around the world. The Lowy Institute has just ranked New Zealand No. 1 in our pandemic response. Not a day goes by when I don't receive a text or a call from someone overseas who reminds me of how well the New Zealand Government has done when compared to the rest of the world. And the credit for this goes to the Labour Party to the leadership of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her Cabinet as well as the 5 million Kiwis who have played their part and not been distracted by the Opposition's changing rhetoric every time they change their leader.Thanks to our front-line healthcare workers who have stepped up to keep all of us safe. These front-line workers include not just doctors nurses public health specialists and contact tracers but also supermarket workers cleaners and managed isolation and quarantine personnel amongst many others. This Government has provided stable united leadership throughout the most challenging times New Zealand has had to face in modern times. The path ahead is still challenging with Omicron but I know that under the leadership of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and the watchful eyes of many New Zealanders who have put their hopes and faith in us we will be able to stand up to our next lot of challenges with the same determination focus and empathy that we did through this global pandemic.This Government has a plan that keeps us moving forward. This Government has acted in the last two years which has kept us moving forward. Hoake tonu tātou. [Let's get moving.] Let's get moving."