SpeechDr ELIZABETH KEREKERE (Green): Aroha mai for before; I had a mask malfunction so tēnā koe e te Māngai o te Whare.I rise on behalf of the Green Party to support these COVID orders that were presented to the House between 30 November and 9 December are already in effect and as my colleague here as mentioned have already been superseded. It's always interesting when we consider these motions because we do them in blocks because of how far we've moved since those things happened. Alert levels seem like a distant memory when Omicron is setting new records every day and we have a super-spreader event happening on our front lawn.The Green Party acknowledges the efforts of those keeping us safe: from contact tracers and border workers to researchers and vaccinators. We have always supported a response to COVID-19 that is equitable and keeps people safe. We're guided by our commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and we recognise the importance of Māori-led strategies for Māori. We also acknowledge the disproportionate effect of COVID-19 on Pasifika communities especially in South Auckland. We support a Pacific-led response for their communities. Finally we acknowledge the particular toll this pandemic has had on immunocompromised people and people with disabilities who deserve the very best care we can give.These orders include moving away from alert levels to the traffic light system. We were wary of this approach as we were staunch supporters of the elimination strategy and we know our low rate of hospitalisations and deaths were absolutely because of it. But as the virus evolves then so must we. We're still not big fans of the traffic light system. It might have worked well as a transition from the elimination but even the red light has proved to be no match at all for Omicron. We're heavily relying on our vaccinations and boosters to see us through. That's a worry for some of our communities because still unfortunately only three out of 20 DHBs have got over 90 percent of double vaccinations for Māori. So the high rates of boosters that we're hoping to see are a very very long way away.The biggest risks remain in our communities for our children and for the many of us with underlying health conditions so these orders also include the mandates that many New Zealanders have been concerned about. We recognise the inconsistencies for how these have been rolled out. There is huge confusion out there of what it means for marae for businesses for workplaces. You know people think they're following the rules and at the last minute something changes. People think Can I work here; can I not?" People are finding out a week later they can go back to their jobs. It's really really difficult. We fully support the science. We have always supported the health advice to vaccinate. We've maintained though that those who are unvaccinated for whatever reason should not be second-class citizens in this country. But that is what we're seeing.We support widespread access to rapid antigen tests so people can work and attend events with a negative test and free masks. The investment in prevention is always going to be worth it. And coming back to the orders perhaps the Government might like to develop one to deal with violent protests triggered by COVID mirroring protests that we've seen in other parts of the world because yet again we see the double standards of the police response: a huge police presence at real occupations such as Pūtiki where the protectors were dragged out and arrested or at Ihumātao where guardians were pulled from their beds whereas here indecision reigns because the protesters wouldn't leave when they were asked to.The Greens are a party of activists and we support protests. We support people coming out and saying what they need to say. We believe in non-violent solutions. We do not want any violence happening out there. We want approaches that absolutely de-escalate any tension but we'd still like to see a solution and we haven't got any clarity on what that might be because we know that there are people out there with very legitimate concerns about mandates and what that actually means for them in their lives in their whānau and in their work. I think if we are able to have a conversation we could come to some sort of solution.But as someone who has been a lifelong activist myself and been involved in many many protests there's some tips I would like to offer. If someone wants to be heard clarity of message is important. If they want to negotiate leadership is important. If they want to be taken seriously perhaps don't associate with right-wing extremists white supremacists and people threatening to execute MPs. If they want to call for freedom awesome; do that. Perhaps don't trample on the freedom of someone else who wants to wear a mask; who wants to safely access their own workplace; who wants to catch public transport; who wants to safely walk to school without a security guard which is what St Mary's just up the road has now had to do because their kids are not safe walking around this block; or to present a petition. Save the Children were forced to go to the back of Parliament House not have their democratic right to come to their House of Representatives and present a petition to MPs. Our co-leader the Hon Marama Davidson Jan Logie and our colleague Harete Hipango from National went to receive that petition at the back of the House. They were still interrupted. They were still yelled at. So absolutely call for freedom but no one else's freedoms should be compromised.It's been all through this pandemic that we see this this balance of freedoms. The freedom of health constricting our freedom of movement requirements to wear masks—all of those things. We're doing it in that bigger belief of our collective health and wellbeing but people's patience is so strained. We look forward to the day when COVID does not govern every aspect of our life when it's not in every conversation you can hear people talking about as you walk down the street. In the meantime these orders are already there. I look forward to the time when we're just doing our normal legislation and we don't need to worry about urgency for how we deal with this pandemic. Kia ora."