12. Question No. 12—Ethnic CommunitiesMELISSA LEE (National) to the Minister for Ethnic CommunitiesQuestion No. 12—Ethnic Communities12. MELISSA LEE (National) to the Minister for Ethnic Communities: Does she stand by all her actions and policies for New Zealand's ethnic communities?Hon JENNY SALESA (Minister for Ethnic Communities): Yes in the context that they were given.Melissa Lee: What steps if any has the Minister taken to mitigate panic and fear among New Zealand's ethnic communities regarding COVID-19?Hon JENNY SALESA: As was covered by the Minister of Health earlier on we have this big Unite against COVID-19 PR that has just been delivered as of yesterday. As part of that the main messages are to be kind wash and dry your hands self-isolate and stay home if you're sick. That information is also translated into ethnic community languages: Chinese Indian—you name it.Melissa Lee: What steps has the Minister taken to promote or distribute information about COVID-19 to Samoans Tongans and other Pacific peoples now that we have potentially exported COVID-19 to Samoa?Hon JENNY SALESA: I'm the Minister for Ethnic Communities; the Minister for Pacific Peoples has responsibility for that question. However I can say that Unite against COVID-19 is translated to Pacific languages as well.Michael Wood: Does the Minister stand by her policy of increasing the Ethnic Communities Development Fund which supports the resilience of ethnic communities to over $4 million after it had been frozen at $500000 since 2008?Hon JENNY SALESA: Absolutely. Our Government has increased the Ethnic Communities Development Fund eightfold from $520000 to $4.2 million each year and it does absolutely assist our ethnic communities on the ground.Melissa Lee: Is the Minister concerned that statements such as—and I quote—Our kids are facing bullying at school because of the virus and the parents are not getting enough information from our Government." are circulating within New Zealand's ethnic communities; if so what efforts is she taking to address those concerns?Hon JENNY SALESA: One of the things I did last year as Minister for Ethnic Communities was I went around the country and had a consultation to find out what the main issues are that our ethnic communities are facing. Bullying and discrimination and bias were some of those issues that came through loud and clear. We are in the process of addressing that. One of the reasons why we increased the Ethnic Communities Development Fund is because we know that these are issues the community raised with us and we know that they are best at helping the Government to address these issues.Melissa Lee: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. The Minister actually addressed my question with an answer relating to her work last week. My question was quite specific relating to bullying because of the virus COVID-19 and she hasn't actually addressed that.SPEAKER: Well I think it's fair to assume that the general matter of bullying does include specific bullying and if she says she's working on that that addresses the question.Rt Hon Winston Peters: Can I ask the Minister: in terms of ethnic communities' interests is she aware of the amount of money the Government is putting into the Pacific—the Realm countries Tonga Samoa and the wider Pacific—to ensure that we can help those nations through the coronavirus attack that's happening in our part of the world?Hon JENNY SALESA: Yes—historic amounts. I also want to remind the House that one of the reasons why we've got such strict border measures is to ensure that COVID-19 doesn't go through as a gateway from New Zealand to the Pacific."