Stanford EricaERICA STANFORD (National—East Coast Bays): Well if there was ever a speech that completely missed the mark and was completely out of touch that was it from Chris Hipkins. He's talking about economic indicators and OECD averages and inflation and unemployment when people out there don't want to hear that because they are deciding whether or not they can afford to buy a meal for dinner tonight or a raincoat for their kid or some shoes or fill up the car with gas. That's what they're thinking about. They're not worried about OECD averages Mr Hipkins and I'll tell you what else they're worried about. They're worried about whether or not they turn up at the emergency department waiting area and whether or not they'll be seen or whether or not they'll be turned away to die as it turns out. Last week there was a question from a poor mother whose baby had died in utero—she had to wait 48 hours to give birth to her stillborn baby. That's what people are worried about at the moment because of our crumbling health system because of a Government that cannot prioritise getting nurses into the country and no one on that side of the House can tell us why we are not prioritising nurses on the fast track to residence. All the Prime Minister could do today was to say that they are on the fast track to residence. Well here is some information for the Prime Minister.There is a green list that this Government has created. There is a fast track. There is a work to residence two-year track. The nurses are not on the fast track. It doesn't matter how many times she says it they're not on it. But I will tell you who is on that fast track. If you take a look at the green list you will see a multi-media specialist". I will tell you what a multi-media specialist does. They create and manipulate computer games animation audiovisual graphic files. An alternative title is that they are a specialist electronic game developer. That's who this Government have prioritised on the fast track straight to residency list. They put nurses on a two-year wait for residence and they put multi-media specialists—electronic games developers—on a fast track to residence. That is the priority of this Government. Meanwhile we've got people waiting in emergency departments who are not being seen and are being sent home to die while we have game makers being allowed into the country and getting residence immediately. How is that even possible?We are 4000 nurses short. I don't know how many times we have to say it on this side of the House. I said it a year ago in Opening Up National's plan to tackle COVID-19. I said a year ago that nurses need to be fast tracked to residence and the Government didn't pick it up. What have they done? They've put them on a two-year go-slow. Why does that matter? It matters because Australia has them on a fast-track to residence immediately so they can go to Australia and that's exactly where they will go. We are not putting ourselves in a competitive position around the rest of the world. We're putting ourselves at a competitive disadvantage. Nurses will choose to go to Australia where they're paid more and where they can get residence immediately. Here they're treated like second-class citizens to multi-media specialists who make games.Why this matters also is because midwives are on that slow-track list. We are 300 midwives short in this country; 24 percent of the workforce is not able to be filled right now. That—24 percent—is the highest of anyone of doctors of nurses of anyone. They are on the most critical skills shortage list yet we are putting them on a two-year wait to residence when in Australia again they can go straight to residence. So what are we doing? We're putting mothers and babies at risk; not only people who need urgent care and turn up at the hospital—those people who need elective surgeries and are being bumped down—but mothers and babies. We are putting mothers and babies at risk. Why is it? This Government hasn't been able to tell us why there's a two-year wait. We've asked so many times. I've asked Chris Hipkins. We've asked the Prime Minister. No one has been able to tell us. Firstly they told us it was the sector bodies they talked to. Well the Aged Care Association said "Well it wasn't us." Then they said it can't be the DHBs because they don't hold that information. Kris Faafoi said it wasn't the DHBs and Andrew Little has come back saying it definitely wasn't the DHBs either. Then they said it was the Nursing Council and the Nursing Council came back and said "It wasn't us. We don't hold that information." The Prime Minister again today was saying it was the DHBs when we've had written questions back from the Minister of Health to say the DHBs don't hold that information and haven't provided it. No one has provided that information. The reason is because it's not true—migrant nurses do not turn up in New Zealand after years of qualifications experience and after paying $10000 for a clinical nursing competence course get into nursing get their residence and then say "Hey I think I'll go and start a restaurant." They don't do that and there's no evidence of it so why are they still sticking to their guns? They need to just admit they made a mistake and fix it because lives are at risk."