1. Question No. 1—Prime MinisterHon JUDITH COLLINS (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime MinisterORAL QUESTIONSQUESTIONS TO MINISTERSQuestion No. 1—Prime Minister1. Hon JUDITH COLLINS (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by all of her Government's statements and actions?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN (Prime Minister): Yes. In particular I stand by this Government's announcement yesterday that vaccination will be required for all workers at businesses where customers need to show COVID-19 vaccination certificates such as hospitality and close-contact businesses. I also stand by the Government's announcement of a clearer and simplified risk assessment process for employers to follow when deciding whether they can require vaccinations for different types of work. To facilitate this employers will be required to provide paid time off for workers to get vaccinated as well. This side of the House knows that in a pandemic it is vital to have a clear concise position on the use of vaccination certificates and on vaccine mandates.Hon Judith Collins: Does she agree that Auckland is likely to be in level 3 lockdown for at least four more weeks; if not how long?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I note that member has said that Auckland wouldn't move into any changes under her plan until 1 December. What I would note is actually under the targets that we've set there is the ability for Auckland to move you know potentially earlier if we see the double dose at 90 percent target reached by each DHB. As I've said we're now I believe roughly 10000 first doses away just under reaching that first dose target. Three weeks out from that they'll then likely be able to reach the second dose target.Hon Judith Collins: When will she travel to Auckland to see for herself the impact that 71 days of continuous lockdown is having on Aucklanders?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I take that as therefore support from the Opposition for me to be not present here for a time because that has been one of my concerns. If I were to do that I then run the risk of not being present in this House and available as I'm called upon to be available for the ongoing scrutiny of the press as well. It is something we've given consideration to. The one thing I would say is that equally I would need to make sure that I'm following all the rules in Auckland. Most of the meetings I'd likely engage in I'm doing remotely here as well with business organisations and our public health providers. But it is something that I'm looking at.Hon Judith Collins: When Auckland moves to the traffic light system will the Auckland border be removed?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: As the member may have heard me say on Friday the traffic light system itself doesn't incorporate the use of hard borders. We see the hard border we have at the moment as being a reflection of the transition that we're in presently. It is helping to prevent the wider spread to areas that are currently COVID-free which is why we're maintaining it but it is not in our view something that in the longer term when we're all in the traffic light system is likely to be part of our long-term future.Hon Judith Collins: How many weeks does she expect Tairāwhiti District Health Board—which is currently at 76 percent first dose—will take to reach 90 percent first dose?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I see that as of Tuesday they are now at 77 percent. Of course you have in that stat that it's currently the DHB with the lowest first dose rate but of course everyone in this House and I think all of us wish to see those vaccination rates move as quickly as possible. Some of the extra funding we are supplying but also extra support that we are providing from the centre we believe will continue to help make a difference. But it's very difficult with any certainty to be able to model when those DHBs will hit that 90 percent because so many things make a difference including for instance the use of mandates or for instance the use of vaccine certificates.Hon Judith Collins: When does she anticipate announcing an end date for her traffic light system?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I'm not sure that it would necessarily be wise based on what we see with other countries to put an end date on the use of public health measures. I notice that even for instance the UK who have tended to be one of the more liberal managers of COVID-19 have still maintained the position that given winter they may yet move to what they've called their Plan B" which does bring some public health measures including the possible use of vaccine certificates back. So I do think that we would be wise to continue to wait and see what happens over the ongoing trajectory of the pandemic particularly once countries who are vaccinated with high rates move into a winter period.Hon Judith Collins: So what are the criteria for ending the lockdown in Waikato?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Of course you'll see with the low rates there that our ability to extinguish that outbreak continues to exist. What we want to make sure though in the meantime is that we don't see that outbreak prolonged by contact—moving too quickly into levels that would create additional contacts. So there is a view that with our current rates of vaccination we still have the ability to extinguish and then move into lower alert levels. But of course if you want the greatest certainty of all it would be high vaccination and moving into the new traffic light system.Hon Judith Collins: Why did she wait until month 20 of the pandemic to "set out a plan to accelerate Māori vaccination rates" as she described it and wouldn't it have made more sense to have done that at the start of the vaccine roll-out rather than near the end?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Well the first thing I'd point out is the member is counting back to the beginning of a pandemic when we didn't even have vaccinations. The second point that I would make is that right from the very beginning we have specifically funded Māori vaccination initiatives to support the roll-out. The additional funding that we announced on Friday is on top of the $87 million that was put specifically into such campaigns. The second point I would make is that we also even when we had limited supply and we were working through a process of targeting those most at risk of mortality if they got COVID-19 we still then put specific vaccination doses aside for Māori providers and we took a whānau-based approach and we put in a lower age level for Counties Manukau that we considered to be particularly at risk. So I actually completely reject the suggestion the member has made.Hon Judith Collins: Then why has it been such an unmitigated failure?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I also reject that. That does a complete disservice to the providers who have been working so hard across New Zealand to ensure that they reach everyone including in our most rural and isolated communities. What is an indication of what we are able to do across every age group is what has happened with our over-65s and now increasingly our over-50s where the rates there are high and strong. What we need collectively is to drive those same rates amongst our young rangatahi and one of the issues we know is that they are more likely to be targeted by disinformation and we all have a role to play on that.Hon Chris Hipkins: Is she proud of the fact that New Zealand's vaccination programme has achieved a higher rate of vaccination than Australia the US the UK Germany Israel and a whole host of other OECD nations?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Yes. We should all acknowledge the rates that we've been able to achieve thus far. But of course New Zealand has always said we will base our pandemic response on our situation and on our population and on our values. Those all speak to the fact that we need an equitable roll-out and one that reaches different parts of the country. So if that member wants to take a position on equity then you don't pick a date to simply shift your settings; you actually work hard to ensure that you reach as many people as possible.Hon Judith Collins: Does she believe that 60 out of 67 local councils are wrong to oppose her three waters plan?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: What I believe are the facts and the facts say that 64 percent of councils do not have water revenues to meet the full cost of running water services and assets. I believe that 34000 New Zealanders get sick from drinking water every year and in the 2019-2020 year there were over 3000 overflows from sewerage networks. No one would say that that is OK or right or can continue. We need a plan. It so happens that this Government is willing to progress one even if members on the other side know nothing about what the opportunities or costs are other than to say they oppose it."