Hipkins ChrisCOVID-19 ORDERSApprovalHon CHRIS HIPKINS (Minister for COVID-19 Response): I move That this House approve the following orders made under the COVID-19 Public Health Response Act 2020: COVID-19 Public Health Response (Air Border) Amendment Order (No 3) 2022 (SL 2022/76) COVID-19 Public Health Response (Vaccinations) Amendment Order (No 3) 2022 (SL 2022/77) COVID-19 Public Health Response (Protection Framework) Amendment Order (No 5) 2022 (SL 2022/83) COVID-19 Public Health Response (Protection Framework and Vaccinations) Amendment Order 2022 (SL 2022/89) COVID-19 Public Health Response (Air Border) Amendment Order (No 4) 2022 (SL 2022/91) COVID-19 Public Health Response (Self-Isolation Requirements and Permitted Work) Amendment Order (No 3) 2022 (SL 2022/106) and COVID-19 Public Health Response (Protection Framework) Amendment Order (No 6) 2022 (SL 2022/107).I think the Parliament is now well acquainted with the process of approving orders made under the COVID-19 Public Health Response Act. As the Minister responsible for that Act I sign orders that implement the Government's decisions when it comes to COVID-19 restrictions and policies or the removal thereof. They then come into immediate effect or almost immediate effect and then the Parliament has to approve those by motion in the House within 90 days. Today's motion approves seven orders that come into force on various dates or that came into force on various dates between 23 March and 14 April. As normal I want to as I have been congratulate and thank the Regulations Review Committee for their thorough and diligent scrutiny of them. I'm pleased to say that this particular block of orders did not raise any concerns from the Regulations Review Committee and I actually think that that is a marker of success in the sense that we have worked very collaboratively with the Regulations Review Committee to take on board the feedback they've given us throughout the process of putting these orders in place to try and make the law as easy as possible to follow and to try and iron out inconsistencies or any issues of technicality that the committee has raised. So I thank them for their ongoing work. I think that that process has worked very well and should a future Government find itself in a position where a similar legislative provision is required I'd encourage them whenever that may be to continue to follow this approach. Some of these orders that we are confirming today have helped us to take pretty big strides in reconnecting New Zealand with the rest of the world. We've removed many of the restrictions that have been in place over the last two years. One of the orders that we're confirming today moved New Zealand from the red to the orange sittings in the COVID-19 Protection Framework. Another helped us to introduce the new traveller declaration system that requires people travelling to New Zealand to make a declaration and to have a traveller pass before they arrive here. The order also removed vaccination requirements for arrivals from the Ukraine to be vaccinated and have a pre-departure test recognising that those coming to New Zealand from the Ukraine at the moment would possibly find it very difficult to comply with that requirement. Another one of the orders removed the requirement for certain persons to be vaccinated something that has been the subject of a lot of discussion. It removed vaccination certificate rules it removed outdoor capacity limits but it did retain the requirement for a number of workers to wear medical-grade face coverings and it extended the face covering requirements to workers at indoor events requiring certain workers to wear medical-grade masks. Those are the ones that we typically call the medical-grade masks—they're the paper ones that have a blue outer which people should also be familiar with. It requires people to wear those at an orange setting. Other orders before the House today made minor changes to rules for managed isolation and quarantine vaccination combinations vaccination requirements for travellers from some Pacific countries and changes to the red setting which no longer apply. The Health Committee is currently considering another notice of motion which is relevant to this one which would extend the COVID-19 Public Health Response Act 2020 for a further six months. I'll be appearing before the Health Committee tomorrow in order to answer questions on that and other aspects of the COVID-19 response. I note that this will be my 10th appearance before the Health Committee on COVID-19 measures and in passing I do note that so far over the last year Ministers have made 126 appearances before select committees to discuss whatever matters those committees have wished to raise with them. A lot of those appearances have of course canvassed COVID-19 measures. I do note that that is somewhat of a contrast to the 39 appearances made by National Ministers in the last full year that they were in Government in 2016. It is my intention or my hope that I won't have to bring many more of these motions to the House for approval. We do need to recognise however that the global pandemic still continues and that things continue to be unpredictable. The COVID-19 Public Health Response Act has underpinned our ability to respond quickly as new events have emerged and as the situation has required that. It has allowed us to emerge from the early stages of the pandemic with a strong economy record low rates of unemployment and a number of businesses still operating that might not otherwise had they not been able to be supported in the way that we have. We still don't know what's around the corner so we've still got a little bit of water to flow under the bridge yet but I am feeling relatively confident that we won't see the speed of change and the rapid nature of the orders process that we saw in earlier phases of the pandemic and that things should be a little more predictable from here forward. And so I commend this particular motion to the House.