Kerekere ElizabethDr ELIZABETH KEREKERE (Green): Kia ora tēnā koe e te Mangai o te Whare tāloha ni. I rise on behalf of my colleague Teanau Tuiono for the Green Party to oppose these COVID-19 public health response orders. They're about winding back most of the protection framework including mask use household isolation requirements and restrictions for air travel across the border. We note that these orders were presented to the House in September and are of course in effect.Our concerns are about how winding down the protections is not being done alongside stronger public health measures that are needed to protect our immunocompromised and disabled whānau—measures that put the needs of Māori Pasifika and disabled communities at the heart of the ongoing pandemic response. COVID cases are on the rise again proving that this virus is here to stay and that we'll be living with new waves of infection for a long time to come.So we just want the focus to return to slowing the spread through long-term protective measures such as sensible masking—not masking all the time I'm really glad we're over that—and for example we've long advocated for measures around ventilation air filtration and mask use in schools to help decrease in the incidence of COVID and other contagious illnesses for tamariki and taiohi.It's a matter I raised actually with the former Minister for COVID-19 Response Hon Chris Hipkins to the Health Committee at one point. At the time he responded that opening a window or a door was actually better than having an air filter. As someone who grew up with windows open and doors unlocked I fully support the fresh air is best" approach however that is not always possible; that is not always practical. Where immunocompromised people often have limited options of how they can keep themselves safe such as on a plane these measures mean that when you're on a plane you don't have to use any masks. The scientific advice that we have received is that once you're on the plane they actually have really good ventilation they have great air filtration but it's the getting to and from the airport and sitting on the tarmac that is the problem.In terms of the air border to justify opening up more I recall when the Minister provided us with statistics that showed how low the incidence of transmission was that was coming through the border—as opposed to the community transmission which was rife at the time—so we totally agreed that we should open our borders. We wanted our people to be able to come without the cost that was so prohibitive to so many people. I will always be thankful that I wasn't one of those whānau that had to suffer through a funeral online. So many people that couldn't be together—families split up for years because of that.We just want to have something that's a little bit sensible so that—because at the moment with these measures being changed when you come in not only do you not need to be vaccinated but you don't even need to be asymptomatic. So you can come in coughing and spluttering with whatever and that's not a worry—but for some of us it's a little bit of a worry.Those travelling by air—it affects their whole country whenever they come in here. They go out to wherever. But when people are coming in by sea it affects particular communities. I live in I come from a seaside town and so people have come to me and said "What about cruise ships? They're coming in and then a whole pile of people are coming off the ship and then they're going right through town and then they leave again." They're just worried that there's nothing they can do to keep themselves safe so it just becomes them individually. They've just got to look after themselves and all those beautiful things—the team of 5 million our communities working together—just starts to really break down.We know that opening our borders would bring illness through. That's fine we accepted that; that was the risk for all the good things that came from opening our country back up to the world. That was always going to be fine so long as our health system was managing. What we know of course and some of my other colleagues have identified is that our health system is not managing. It's not managing well at all with massive queues at emergency departments increased waiting lists and chronic understaffing. We're concerned that variant-specific boosters are not available yet in this country—we hope the Government will soon indicate when those can be rolled out.We do note that one of the orders removes the traffic light protection framework and we're really happy about that. We were not fans. We're pleased it's gone. But that is the same order that removed all of the mask requirements except for certain people who work in certain health environments.So public health measures work best when they become part of our everyday lives when it's not a burden when it doesn't restrict us from the things we need to do in our life. As a minimum we think the Government should be able to guarantee clean air inside buildings through air quality monitoring strong ventilation standards and air purification.There's no doubt that COVID hit some communities far worse than others. We just want those communities to be a part of the decisions that are made around that response. For immunocompromised people in many parts of our community we just know that this has not happened so we do not support this bill. Kia ora."