Hipkins ChrisADJOURNMENTHon CHRIS HIPKINS (Leader of the House): I move That the House do now adjourn until 2 p.m. on Tuesday 28 April 2020. Today has been a day in this House like none of us ever thought that we would see as New Zealand faces a great threat to its wellbeing—the greatest threat most of us will have experienced in our lifetimes.I mentioned before that I'm pretty passionate about this place. One of the things that from time to time I like to do is wander in the lobbies and in the lobbies you'll find the Hansards of every speech that has ever been delivered in this House. I was out in the lobby before just having a little bit of a stretch after doing a three-hour session in this House—three hours might seem like a long time but when you look at how much legislation we've passed in the House it may well be unprecedented.As I was walking through the lobbies I noted the Hansard from 1918. You'll find only one volume of Hansard from 1918. That year was significant in New Zealand for two reasons: it marked the end of the First World War but it also marked the outbreak of the Spanish flu the Spanish flu pandemic. The jubilation over the end of the First World War was somewhat overshadowed by that. You'll only find one volume of Hansard from that year. If you find most other years there are volumes and volumes of Hansard. Parliament did not sit much during 1918 due to the combined factors of the war and of course the pandemic. Eight thousand six hundred - plus New Zealanders lost their lives in the Spanish flu pandemic. A third to a half of the entire population of New Zealand was infected by it.The reason that we are now going into recess the reason that we're adjourning and the reason that so many businesses and other organisations up and down the country are closing down from midnight tonight is so that we can ensure that we do not see devastation on that scale again in New Zealand. The lives of up to 60000-plus people would be at risk—they may well die—if we do not do this. It is important that we do it and it's important that we get it right.So we in this House must also go home and stay there just as we are asking other people in New Zealand to do. We need to lead by example and that is exactly what we are going to do. We've put in place the means by which Parliament can continue to scrutinise the Government and hold it to account and it is critical that that continues to happen. I do not believe that there is any appetite for business as usual on the part of Government. I don't think there is appetite from the New Zealand public to see us meeting here and passing the legislation and having the debates that we would normally have in normal times and that is one of the reasons why among others we are now adjourning until 28 April. That means that two sitting weeks that had been scheduled will be lost. I certainly hope that we will be in a position to resume on 28 April.I want to wish all members their staff and everybody who works here at Parliament my very best wishes and the very best wishes of the Government. Stay safe and healthy until we reconvene. Finally as this will be my last speech in this House for some time I do want to acknowledge the supermarket workers the refuse collectors the transport personnel the utilities workers the police the emergency services and of course those working in the health sector who are on the front line. All the very best. You will be in our thoughts over this coming time. You all have very critical roles to play. What we all do over the next few weeks will be remembered for a lifetime.