O'Connor GregGREG O'CONNOR (Labour—Ōhāriu): I'm not one given to superlatives but it really does give me pleasure to stand and speak on this bill because being a Wellington MP I've been lucky enough to be able to come into the House as we've passed and debated various legislation. This is a very key piece of legislation that when we look back in history—just look at the name of it: the COVID-19 Public Health Response Bill. It sums it up. And every speaker and every commentator understands that this is a crucial time in our history. Whatever else happens I don't think the country will ever be quite the same. Many of the things that happen in future—whether it's our children who have had a new-found understanding of our Government systems of our civil systems through daily watching at 1 o'clock our medical director of health and the Prime Minister working out; whether it's our children understanding what's happening around the world comparing numbers in Germany in Belarus in Taiwan—it's a stage in history that we'll look back and say it was an excellent time; it was excellently handled.I've heard the speakers in the Opposition today. I liken it: the Prime Minister has led this fantastic ship of State. There's a saying I'm fond of using is which is No one ever learned to sail on a still lake." Well we have had a storm come through on our lake and we all as a nation have become better sailors. I liken the Opposition and even the previous speaker to those little fizz boats that come around—maybe the odd canoe—that is really having no effect on what's happening but boy they make a lot of noise. But what they do is highlight just how steady the ship of State has been—DEPUTY SPEAKER: It would be preferable if we could get off the boat and on to the bill.GREG O'CONNOR: This bill the COVID-19 Public Health Response Bill is the very bill that could almost be the tiller of this boat because this actually shows us right now what we need to do to keep New Zealanders safe to keep New Zealanders in the future. And this extremely dangerous virus—you would listen to those speakers opposite and think we're talking about the common cold we're talking about things that don't matter. Can they just be reminded can they just watch what's happening around the world and just temper their accusations temper their speeches accordingly? This is very serious.I'd just like to go to the enforcement part of it. This looks terrible. We've had someone in East Coast Bays talking about apparently she has got a tinnie house or a drug house—no doubt full of cocaine in that part of the world—but somehow this is comparable with a children's birthday party. Just have a look at what the enforcement powers are. It just allows the police where they believe people have gathered in contravention of an order—an existing order an order which already exists—to ensure we remain safe for the purpose of giving people a direction to comply with the order; that's what it does. It's means that police officers—I mean I've been a police officer for 40 years. This is a very pragmatic workable piece. It is not going to be used to stomp on the civil rights of New Zealanders at all; it is pragmatic because the opposite is that so called children's birthday party. For the police to have to go and get a search warrant to actually go in there to prevent this virus being moved around—just the share practicalities of that because that's what the Opposition are asking for.This is pragmatic. It means that where police—and I'll tell you what every one of us here as electorate MPs will be getting calls over the weekend where there are such gatherings. And there'll be people who are obeying the law who will be very annoyed about what's happening three doors down because they will know it will not be a group of school children there; it will be a group that probably through intoxication will be putting us all at risk. And it will be we as MPs who will be getting complaints that the cops didn't do anything or that the cops took five hours to go away and get a search warrant before they were actually able to enter the premises and then next week we'll have the same people whinging and whining here because the cops didn't do anything about it on the weekend.I have no hesitation in commending this bill to the House. It is a very pragmatic piece of legislation. It is one that will enable our ship of State—this Government—to ensure that we continue the business of looking after New Zealanders today and into future. This is a good bill."