Robertson GrantHon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance): Well it's clear that in the caucus meeting yesterday when Chris Bishop got rolled on vaccine certificates the booby prize was leading off the general debate with a call for the fact that you're judged on what went before and what comes next. Well I'm judging the National Party on what went before what's happening now and if that's what comes next they're in trouble.I want to reiterate again the thanks of all members of this House to the people of Auckland and the people of Waikato for the work that they're doing to ensure that the rest of New Zealand stays safe. I also want to especially acknowledge the progress that's been made in all of the Auckland DHBs in reaching towards the target of 90 percent vaccination rates. There are now only 9904 people who need to be vaccinated in one of those DHBs to reach that first dose of 90 percent and begin the next movement forward. That is fantastic progress and we want to thank every single person in that region who has done that.Alongside that the Government is putting more resources into supporting making sure New Zealanders get vaccinated. I want to particularly acknowledge our Māori health providers. They have been doing the heavy lifting around New Zealand to make sure we lift Māori vaccination rates. I believe we are making good progress there but more needs to be done and that is why the Government established the $120 million fund that we did on Friday to push on to push those rates up.There are no easy decisions when it comes to COVID-19 and one of those was the one that the Government has made around vaccination mandates. But we know that it's the right thing to do to provide certainty to businesses certainty to workers and certainty to New Zealanders about what is needed to keep them safe and that is what the vaccine mandate has been all about. Certainty is what matters here but certainty was the one thing lacking from the Opposition's response to vaccine mandates yesterday. By my count in the last 24 hours the National Party have had four positions on vaccine mandates and if you want this summed up it's the following quote from the Leader of the Opposition this morning: If you look at the policy that we released about a month ago it was very clear: 70 75 percent you can end nationwide lockdowns but we've said you've got to get to 85 percent double vaccination rate across the country and then you get 80 percent in every DHB." One interview: 70 75 80 85. Will someone give me 90? Well actually we did on this side of the House but not over there because there is no clarity in that vaccine certificate position on that side of the House.But perhaps we have a better insight into the Opposition's position from an earlier interview today from the Leader of the Opposition when she said referring to COVID "Well we just believe there needs to be an end time for this. There has to be some sort of let's say when it finishes." So we get on the phone and we give COVID a call and we say "When are you finishing? When is it over?" Actually I'd be quite surprised if COVID could keep up with the National Party's positions on the vaccine certificate so fast are they moving.But this is what happens when it comes time to get your strategic advice about what to do on COVID-19 and you turn to the strategic geniuses in your caucus: Simeon Brown and Chris Penk! Because if they're your strategic guides you're in trouble. And Chris Bishop behind the mask smiles because he knows National is literally making this up as they go along. They made this decision at caucus yesterday about what to do about vaccine certificates. That's why Judith Collins ended up with four positions in one day on vaccine certificates because actually she didn't listen to what Chris Bishop had been saying. He's at least had some consistency when it comes to vaccine certificates and wanting them to be used. But not Judith Collins not Chris Penk not Simeon Brown. Now Matthew Hooton who knows a thing or two about this has a name for the people in the National Party caucus that he uses to describe them. It's not a word I would use but the word is the "Taliban" inside the National Party caucus—the fundamentalists who come along every week to that caucus and push the National Party further and further away from where New Zealanders are. Well on this side of the House we know that we have to give New Zealanders certainty. We have to give them confidence. We have had a plan from day one to save lives and livelihoods and we have done that. One of the lowest mortality rates in the world one of the lowest hospitalisation rates in the world one of the lower unemployment rates in the world and one of the higher rates of economic growth. This is not easy for anyone especially those in Auckland but if we stick to the plan New Zealand will come through this strong and that is what the Government is leading."