1. Question No. 1—Prime MinisterHon JUDITH COLLINS (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime MinisterSPEAKER: E noho. The House is resumed.ORAL 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 decision to take the next steps in our plan to reconnect New Zealanders to the world. Today we announced that Kiwis and other eligible travellers will be able to enter New Zealand from Australia without the requirement of managed isolation that we have been operating for some time now from 11.59 p.m. Sunday 16 January 2022. Following that Kiwis and other eligible travellers will be able to travel to New Zealand from all other countries from 11.59 p.m. Sunday 13 February. Our cautious plan to reopen the world including the use of self-isolation allows us to balance the need to reconnect while ensuring public health measures are maintained during an ongoing global pandemic. We only need look at the rest of the world to see why that is necessary. We know the last two years have been incredibly difficult especially for those separated by borders. But with today's announcements you can see a change in border restrictions is in sight.Hon Judith Collins: Why is it safe for a vaccinated Kiwi to come home from Queensland on 16 January but not before Christmas?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: As I mentioned to the member yesterday but as I'm happy to restate in this House today we are going through significant changes in the way that we are managing COVID-19 in New Zealand. It falls upon us to ensure that we do that carefully and responsibly. That means that we have the change to the Auckland boundary that is occurring in the middle of December and from there we want to then take a phased reopening for the rest of the world but do so cautiously. I would also note for the member that until recently of course up until we've used managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) all returnees have been coming in at Auckland. With these changes there will be returnees across New Zealand. That is also a step change and whilst we will have self-isolation there will be cases that will be ceded as a result of these changes and we need to be prepared for that.Hon Judith Collins: So why will a fully vaccinated Kiwi coming home from overseas in February be allowed to self-isolate but a fully vaccinated ICU nurse from the UK will have to find a spot in MIQ?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: As the member knows of course the length of time that we'll be asking people to isolate will be the same but we've been pragmatic about the fact that those who are returning home by default have a home to return to. Many of those critical and essential workers will not necessarily be well established and have the ability to do that. So this enables them regardless to be able to come through the system. The other point I'd make is that we have specially designated space in MIQ for critical health workers. In fact in the latter part of this year we have had hundreds coming into New Zealand via that designated space to make sure that they can be prioritised.Hon Judith Collins: Why is her Government not prioritising the highly prioritised ICU nurses?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I totally reject that statement from that member. We have actually been working with DHBs and where they have identified that they have critical health workers that they have employed and that need support to come into New Zealand that has been provided. As I say my recollection is we've had somewhere in the order of 300 or so designated for that purpose.Hon Judith Collins: Has the Government finished developing the traffic light system it plans to implement next week; if not why not?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: The member will be aware of the system because it was released at the end of October.Hon Judith Collins: So will businesses in Taupō be operating under red or orange next weekend?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Well I can tell the member that every business in Taupō that is open now will be open under the traffic light system. The whole point is that under this system there is certainty for businesses that they will all be able to open and operate albeit with a requirement to use vaccine certificates. What we have said is that the level that parts of the country will be in will be determined by the latest public health advice which will be based predominantly on vaccination status. But any business in Taupō can plan around the COVID protection framework which has already been released and if the member were to look at that framework she would see that we are currently in alert level 2. It is very similar to red so therefore there is no additional restrictions that someone would likely face as a result.Hon Judith Collins: If the Prime Minister can't be certain whether Taupō will be under red or orange next weekend then how can business owners be expected to be certain whether they'll be under red or orange?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Again let me step through this—again—for the member. Regardless of the level they will be able to operate as they are now with of course vaccine certificates and we have signalled that since October. The difference between those levels is simply around things like gathering limits. Now most businesses have had to operate or create procedures to deal with that since the beginning of the pandemic. The reason we have not given the specific level that each part of the country will go into at this stage is because we want them to be at the lowest level of restrictions possible. That means vaccination levels being as high as possible. So we will make those judgments closer to the time based on public health advice.Hon Judith Collins: So is there a minimum vaccination rate before a region can be considered for a move to green?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Again as we've said one of the things that will be primary in the minds of the public health advice that we are provided—because it's not of course a decision made solely by Cabinet; we act on public health advice—is vaccination levels and the level of protective factors in the community will be part of it. But as the member can also see it will also be dependent on the level of community transmission whether or not there is pressure on our public health system and on our hospital system.Hon Gerry Brownlee: Then South Island green!Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Because though we are in a situation Mr Brownlee where we are transitioning into the new system we have already indicated that when we first move no part of the country will be in green initially.Hon Judith Collins: Will any region be allowed to move to green before the end of this year and if not when is the earliest date she will consider moving any region in New Zealand to green?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Two responses to that: we have already said that in the first review of course we will announce the decisions on 29 November for where the country will move in. We will at that point set out the timetable for how regularly we will be reviewing the settings for all parts of the country and the cycle that the member can expect from there. But what I would say is that it's important to note that with this new framework there is much more flexibility than we've had previously. So even if we've got a region in orange events go ahead hospitality goes ahead and there are no limits on gatherings for vaccinated people. There is much greater movement and much more freedom from restrictions at orange than even we currently have.