Tinetti JanHon JAN TINETTI (Minister of Internal Affairs): I'm delighted to take a call in this debate in support of the Prime Minister's statement but I want to start like many have done before me by acknowledging the people of New Zealand who have risen to the challenges that this global pandemic has imposed upon them. COVID-19 has not been easy but the way that New Zealanders have risen to this challenge to fight for each other and joined together in unity has been inspiring. I want to thank everyone from the scientists to our vaccinators to our public servants to our Kiwis who have just stayed at home and followed the rules because they know that by doing that and putting people in their thoughts at the centre of what they do they are saving lives.It is through the leadership of our Prime Minister that our country has united to be a world-leading nation in the fight against COVID-19. Throughout this pandemic the Government has worked relentlessly to save as many lives as possible and to protect jobs and to cushion the blow to the economy. At every turn we are focused on what we can do to do the right thing. We've acted early and decisively to prevent the worst of the impacts that we have seen elsewhere in the world. Listening to some of the contributions from the Opposition here today and over the past few days you might think that they didn't even know what was going on in the rest of the world. It has been horrific and horrendous and that is why I am very proud of the approach that this Government has taken. Our approach has worked. Our confirmed cases hospitalisations and our deaths have been the lowest in the OECD for each of the past two years and unemployment levels have been at record lows. These results are a powerful confirmation of our collective effort and I think we really need to emphasise that. This has been a collective effort of the vast majority of New Zealanders. The measures we have taken have saved lives. Our policies have protected jobs and saved businesses and the plan we have followed has worked. We now face the challenges ahead in a better position than many countries in the world.It is great to see our highly vaccinated population: almost 4 million New Zealanders double vaccinated and over 200000 children have had their first dose. Over 1.9 million New Zealanders have received their COVID-19 booster vaccinations and uptake is rising rapidly. Our vaccination rates and the COVID-19 protection framework defied predictions of a summer surge and prevented the Delta destruction seen around the globe. It's something that is not talked about very much but we did defy what was seen around the rest of the globe. We can draw confidence from our position confidence that with a clear plan good scientific advice and a unity of purpose New Zealand can chart its own path and together we can do this.I particularly want to acknowledge our educators: our teachers our school principals our support workers our teacher aides and all of those who work in education to contribute to educate and inspire our young people. I can only imagine how challenging it must have been to replicate the learnings of the classroom in an online environment something that is completely unfamiliar to most teachers but I also want to thank the families who played their part and will play their part in the future in supporting their young people's learning at home. It has been challenging for our learners. I think about our 6- and 7-year-olds particularly our 7-year-olds who would have been 5 in 2020. A vast proportion of their education has been spent in an online environment particularly during the lockdowns and the uncertainty of that going forward although we do hope and we have put the framework in place that that will be minimised.For those preparing to leave school and sit their final NCEA exams the last couple of years spent away from their peers would have been tough. And close to my heart is the learning support students—those students that need a little bit of extra support—but our amazing learning support professionals did everything that they could during those lockdowns to support them. All of these sacrifices were necessary in order for us to save lives but it wasn't easy and we heard the call from the sector that investment from the Government was necessary and urgent and we responded. The Government supported teachers during lockdown through the delivery of learning packs TV learning channels resources and devices. We also provided substantial support to help re-engage students after lockdowns particularly in low-decile schools from deciles 1 to 4 and our approach was to get those students back in front of their classrooms and back learning.Through all the challenges that COVID-19 posed for education there are also opportunities for learning around doing things in a new way. COVID-19 has been a huge disruptor but sometimes with disruption comes opportunity and many of the schools that I have engaged with over recent weeks are well supported to look at the next phase and how they can provide flexible learning environments for the young people in their school. But many of them go beyond that. Many of them are excited about different ways of working around how we can change up what school and what education can look like for our young people and that's a really exciting place to be. We can rethink what great educational delivery can look like.We also know that during lockdowns and throughout the COVID journey to date stress associated with this has had a big impact on mental health particularly for our young people and the Government is working to address this. For the first time ever 141 primary intermediate and small secondary schools throughout Aotearoa now have access to counsellors. This is expected to reach 24000 young people with access to counselling support at school and all—that's all"—large secondary schools have had an increase to their counselling staff allocation. Mana Ake the mental health and wellbeing programme that is in partnership with Health or led by Health in partnership with Education is being rolled out into another five regions across New Zealand. We know that learners who are happy and healthy learn better. That is why over the last few years this Government has taken a range of work to support the wellbeing of learners to ensure that our kids get the best start possible. We've looked at and implemented healthy lunch programmes and the provision of free period products in schools and this is a testament to this Government's commitment to barrier-free access to education.Just in my last couple of minutes I also want to acknowledge the work that we are doing as a Government to ensure that an opportunity exists to address historical and persistent inequalities in the labour force for women. That is why as Minister for Women I am working to deliver New Zealand's first ever women's employment action plan and to look at the immediate and long-term actions needed in changing the labour market to get disadvantaged women into work and to support them to stay in work. It is of course also important that women feel safe and supported within their work environment and that they are paid fairly and equally to their male counterparts. That is why I am proud to be part of a Government delivering on pay equity settlements across many workforces lifting the minimum wage which will have a massive positive impact on women increasing sick leave and requiring better work conditions for hard-working New Zealanders.So this Government has provided stable and united leadership in a time that has been one of the most challenging in New Zealand's recent history. We have invested in our young people in our education system in our workforce and we have done so while continuing to make progress on the long-term challenges New Zealanders face. We will continue to make pragmatic progress to make the lives of all New Zealanders safer healthier and happier."