10. Question No. 10—Prime MinisterDEBBIE NGAREWA-PACKER (Co-Leader—Te Paati Māori) (remote) to the Prime MinisterQuestion No. 10—Prime Minister10. DEBBIE NGAREWA-PACKER (Co-Leader—Te Paati Māori) (remote) to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by all her Government's statements and actions?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN (Prime Minister): Yes in particular our recent announcement to provide $140 million of extra support to Māori and Pacific communities to help them respond to the Omicron outbreak. This funding will focus on supporting 160 Māori and Pacific health providers to support their communities to respond to Omicron. We know Omicron is likely to have a disproportionate effect on Māori and Pasifika and we know our targeted funding today has made a huge difference in lifting vaccination rates and reducing the vulnerability of whānau which is why we're continuing to build on this approach and continue to directly support our Māori health providers.Debbie Ngarewa-Packer: Why has the Director-General of Health decided to use rapid antigen testing as a diagnostic rather than just a screening tool despite earlier criticising the reliability of rapid antigen tests?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Because as the member has pointed out in the question one of the reasons it's been used as a diagnostic tool is simply to ensure that we can get the scale reach and immediacy for this period of the outbreak. In the beginning of course we were continuing to run an elimination strategy which meant precision was key. We're now at a point where we're continuing to manage down as much as possible to reduce the impact on the health workforce so it means you have a greater tolerance for the fact that rapid antigen testing has an error rate of between 80 percent and above. For surveillance it's because of that error rate that you do rely on using them for those that you've identified as household contacts or for those who are symptomatic.Debbie Ngarewa-Packer: Isn't this U-turn on rapid antigen testing and failure to order tests early enough the direct reason why so many of our people such as kura kaupapa and iwi are struggling to access tests as we speak?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I would actually refute the premise of that question. We have in our Omicron response plan embedded rapid antigen testing from phase 2. At the time that we did that we had millions available. The access or the number of rapid antigen tests has not been an issue unlike in the likes of Australia where at a critical point they did run out. We've had 10 million arrive recently another four—there is wide availability. But the question we've asked—Hon Member: No shortage?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: If I may I know that audio is difficult when there is interjection for a member.SPEAKER: I did make that point earlier to members and that is that for people who are participating remotely the level of interjection interferes more than it does otherwise and if some of the dials are at 12 it then means we get other interference. The Prime Minister.Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: To respond to the member's specific question on accessing kōhanga reo or in kura this is an issue that's been raised with us. I understand that Minister Davis has asked Ministry of Health officials to engage directly with leaders in the field. There was a hui I believe yesterday. We are really wanting to support and encourage greater availability of rapid antigen in those areas so we hope that will ensure that that is happening as soon as we can.Hon Peeni Henare (remote): Tēnā koe Mr Speaker. Thank you very much. What reports has she seen about the recent Government announcement supporting the Māori response to the Omicron outbreak from Māori and/or Pacific health providers?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I've seen a range of reports but if I perhaps reflect on one from at least one of our Māori providers who has said I just want to start by saying no other Government leadership would provide the type of targeted funding to Māori and Pacific organisations as this Government has." and that was a statement made by John Tamihere; or the South Seas chief executive who said "We can pay for more staff. We can pay the coordinators at churches who organise." We want to make sure that we have a step change in the way that people access their healthcare and particularly our Māori and Pacific communities and we are doing that through this COVID response.SPEAKER: Further supplementary Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and I'll just indicate to members participating remotely that we tend to do these in twos. So you automatically get two and then anyone else will have a go.Debbie Ngarewa-Packer: Thank you; very keen to hold on to all of mine—thank you Mr Speaker. Will the Prime Minister support an independent inquiry into the Ministry of Health's handling of rapid antigen tests' roll-out; if not why not?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: As you will have heard the Associate Minister already reference in her response we had rapid antigen tests available within phase 2. That was the point at which the expectation was as the positivity rate increased that you'd see that flip from PCR into rapid antigen. Unfortunately there are some individuals who during that transition were waiting just too long for their results and that's been acknowledged and as you would have heard the director-general say he is looking back at what happened during that transition. But now the rapid antigen tests we have—[Interruption]SPEAKER: Order!Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: We have plentiful stock available. It is now about making sure that we have access at those collection sites that are most convenient particularly for our rural and isolated communities. We have hundreds of collection sites now; those will continue to increase next week but I would of course say as the Associate Minister of Education has already encouraged we do want a specific solution for the likes of kōhanga reo.Debbie Ngarewa-Packer: Does the Prime Minister accept that thousands of whānau across the country are struggling financially and mentally in isolation due to her Government's failure to implement a Māori home isolation strategy with targeted support.Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Actually I am going to push back on that. Over $250 million has gone into funding a response that supports our Māori communities through COVID-19 because we recognised from the beginning the disproportionate impact this pandemic would have on Māori communities and Pacific communities. And we've worked very closely on our care in the community model and what demonstrates the impact that that model is having most is the fact that overall relative to other countries we have not seen the scale of loss of life through that care in community model that we have elsewhere. Are there things that we could improve on? Almost always and certainly and we'll continue to work alongside our providers to make sure we're reaching whānau who need support as we navigate this pandemic."