SpeechHon Dr DAVID CLARK (Minister for the Digital Economy and Communications): Thank you Madam Speaker. I think we've just had an illustration of the old saying that one should never let the facts get in the way of a good story. The member opposite talking about the economy—such doom and gloom. I mean you wouldn't think that New Zealand had had one of the highest growth rates in the OECD for the past year listening to that member speaking—4.9 percent growth over the past year which isn't to say that some sectors haven't been doing it tough because they have. Let's be honest COVID has brought incredible challenges globally but the New Zealand economy overall has proven more resilient than most and I do want to acknowledge the extraordinary leadership of our Prime Minister through this period in inspiring the confidence in our economy and of our Deputy Prime Minister and finance Minister Grant Robertson. The settings that they have led have ensured that we have had that economic growth that we have been able to take advantage of the global opportunities presented to New Zealand with those record international commodity prices and so on.But fundamentally the success has lain in the collective effort of New Zealanders. The leadership which said the best health approach is the best economic approach has proven to be true but New Zealanders have got behind it. Kiwis have said We will do our part. We will work together and we will look after each other." And that has put us in a position to respond so well to a one-in-100-year global pandemic.If we look at the facts we'll see that New Zealand of course has had the lowest hospitalisations and deaths in the OECD. The prior member will talk down that achievement. He will say it was inevitable but there is nothing inevitable. We've seen such differing responses around the world and New Zealand has retained that health approach and with it the extraordinary growth really in the global conditions that we've faced. We've got record low unemployment—record low unemployment. Again that is all credit to the collective effort of New Zealanders who have worked together to make sure that we build back better to make sure that we take advantage of the systems that have been set up to support businesses through the challenges that they've faced in the lockdowns that we've had.So I do want to also acknowledge that in the collective response that there's been we now have 1.9 million New Zealanders who have received their COVID-19 booster. Every DHB has reached the target of 90 percent first doses for COVID protection. We've had Pfizer vaccines to 95 percent of our population—and double dose. We are better protected than others and that has been through careful management and through New Zealanders stepping up to play their part in making sure that those around them are protected those who are vulnerable are protected by reducing the likelihood of transmission and severe illness by keeping our hospital systems able to operate through a global pandemic that continues to go on. It's years long and our hospital systems have continued to be able to operate and the health workers I've spoken to—the doctors the nurses and allied health workers—have said how grateful they are to not be in hospital systems that have been overrun by COVID during the past few years. And that has all been deliberate on the part of New Zealanders choosing to be a part of a collective response to look after fellow citizens to look after themselves to make sure they are doing what they can do to keep us safe and to provide the opportunity for us then to build our economy back in a way that we would want to see it.We do want to build our economy back in a way that positions New Zealand well for the future too building a high-wage low-carbon economy making sure that we have a robust economy that is diversified and protects us in good times. I want to say a little bit about some of the work going on in the area I'm responsible for with our digital technologies. We've consulted on our plan to put together a digital economy plan a strategy for the country and we've received feedback on that. Later this year we will launch that digital strategy for Aotearoa New Zealand; again something the Prime Minister saw as an opportunity with the creation of a portfolio that brings together the digital economy and communications for the first time in order to position us well as a country to take advantage of the connectivity that we've got. Now we're up to about 85 percent of New Zealand connected or able to connect to ultra-fast broadband (UFB). We are aiming to have 99.8 percent connected before too long to better services than they used to have. The rural broadband initiatives have made huge gains during our time in Government. We've seen a huge uplift in the connectivity stats in New Zealand—I'll come to them a little later on. But in laying out a strategy so that we have a coherent vision as a country to take advantage of the opportunities we are looking at making sure we're doing inclusion well to make sure that we are building on our reputation as a trusted nation internationally. Our cyber-security companies do well internationally; overseas capital looks to buy them up because our brand as a country is so trusted. To make sure our own citizens trust technology and are able to leverage the benefits for them personally and to make sure we get the economic growth opportunities in a part of the economy that is growing at nearly twice the rate of the general economy—that is the opportunity we have here: high-value jobs sustainable jobs low carbon footprint. We want more of these jobs. And toward the end of last year I was able to announce a border class exception for 600 much-needed tech specialists because we want to grow our capability here. There are vacancies in that workforce and with those people able to come in they can support the tech development that we need also amongst our own citizens.The tech sector itself NZTech I do want to take my hat off to them for their work on our industry transformation plan (ITP) and the leadership they're providing in building skills across New Zealand. They have said industry needs to play a greater role in making sure we've got the right talent and skills coming through our school system through our educational institutions and their words around this are that New Zealand doesn't have a skills shortage what it has is a skill mismatch and we need a deliberate plan to build that back better. And Minister Nash spoke about the ITP that I'm leading in this area and I do want as I say to acknowledge the sector and the work that they have done particularly in the education space and the steps that are moving forward there. There will be more announced around next steps on that to come.So that class border exception for specialist tech workers further steps on that will be announced shortly if they haven't already by NZTech and the sector making sure that those who are going to be brought in through that border exception have salary requirements met. They have to be good paying salaries. They have to be rare skills that we're bringing in. And then there is a pathway to bring more folk in through that channel.And of course connectivity—I mentioned that I did want to say a little bit more about connectivity. I had the privilege a couple of months ago to travel to the Chatham Islands and to see what a difference connectivity is making there. Their first cell tower with 4G has gone in there and it has been transformative. The mayor shared with me stories of people who had what seem to us commonplace stories now you know; one story about somebody finding a phone on the beach and being able to ring up the person whose phone it was and tell them "I found your phone." Things that seem so intuitive to us now but indeed when you're first encountering that technology on a widespread basis are fantastic. Another story of somebody phoning to check out the technology on Pitt Island and not being able to connect. And it turned out that the phone they had was from the mainland what they call "New Zealand" and was very dated technology and obviously needed to be upgraded. But it's transformative over there transformative round the country: 416 marae are now connected across the country to UFB as a part of an initiative led by this Government.The increase in connectivity provides opportunities for our citizens and that's what we want. We want to see more New Zealanders taking advantage of the jobs in this sector and we think particularly of software as a service which is being promoted as one of the big opportunities under our digital strategy–cyber-security also and the gaming sector which has enjoyed some extraordinary growth in New Zealand due to some very committed Kiwis and some very successful firms that are selling their products to the world.There is huge opportunity in this sector. I want to thank all of the workers who continue to bring the inspiration develop the products and make sure that we grow off that $6.6 billion base to continue to grow that sector because the opportunity for weightless exports makes a big difference if you're a small trading nation a long way from market—high-value jobs that transform our sector and transform our country and boost our economy so we can continue to enjoy the kind of economic growth that has been made possible under Grant Robertson's leadership as our finance Minister. Kia ora koutou."