Clark DavidHon Dr DAVID CLARK (Minister of Health): Thank you Madam Speaker. The Government has announced today our commitment to protecting New Zealanders' health through an initial dedicated $500 million fund. We are backing our health professionals to combat COVID-19. I say this more in sadness than anger—to borrow a phrase from the Opposition health spokesperson—it is very sad today to hear politicians in this House second-guessing the clinical judgment and scientific advice that has driven the decision making of the Government around this disease.We have a plan—we have a plan. We are well prepared. We have been working since 6 January off the pandemic plan that was revised in 2017. The members opposite know it well. It has been already tested through exercises under this Government. We are well prepared and we've been operating off that plan and looking at the stages and phases of that plan.The early and decisive action—and here I want to acknowledge the Prime Minister for her leadership and the Minister of Finance also for his. They have been clear from the start that financial resources will not be a constraint here. That was made abundantly clear to me right from the start. As Minister of Health that has given me the permission to say to the health professionals the DHBs the primary care people to the lot of them We must do what we need to do."We have an $18 billion health budget. We have had the two largest health budgets in New Zealand history under this Government. We can move that money around to prioritise it for COVID-19. This is what we need to do.I want to thank those outstanding health professionals in our public health service who have over many years worked in stretched environments for the way they step up in times like this. It gives me the confidence that we are as well prepared as any country in the world for COVID-19. We have health professionals who understand the nature of the task ahead.Because of the early and decisive action we took as a country—if we think right back to 3 February when we moved to put restrictions in on people coming in from China; when we took the decisions around Iran and South Korea; and when we took the decisions around north Italy; in those three latter examples we moved ahead of Australia to put in place early and decisive actions that restricted flow from the hot spots around the world on COVID-19—it has given us the time to plan and prepare according to the template laid down in the pandemic plan to adapt it to what we are learning about the virus as the days go by as the new science emerges and as the medical experts can advise us on what the best way is to respond.The health of New Zealanders has been our primary consideration from the start. That is why we have taken those measures. That is why we have ensured right from the start that we had health information available. That was the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendation: to make sure that people coming through our boundaries early on in this epidemic had the information should they become symptomatic later on so that they would know what to do. As we saw early cases come in we saw those people respond—they called the helpline then they called ahead to the hospital to make sure that people were ready to receive them; they have done things right and that is because we have supplied that information at the border. We are working to that plan.I want to cover off just one or two other points raised by the Opposition before I move on to the more substantive parts of the package. The idea that the flu vaccines were not already in train that the Opposition spokesperson tried to introduce is deluded if he thinks that. We have already secured supply 30 percent above the record amount of flu vaccine that we had last year.Also of course I think Opposition members know that having temperature checks at the airport in the way that they are suggesting is not supported by the evidence. Having nurses there available to take the assessment is the thing that we can do best; not give people a false sense of hope when they may be coming through our borders yet to develop symptoms. We are taking the advice of medical experts and scientists at every point and informing our decisions—and that has proven to be the right course of action.Two hundred and thirty five million dollars of that fund has already been allocated and actions are already under way. The rest of that $500 million is available immediately and as it is required. The Minister of Finance has been clear with me all along that more will be available if that is requested.Our health response—the response of our health professionals has been world leading. By taking those hard decisions early and acting decisively we've ensured that we are well placed to combat COVID-19. It is the best protection for New Zealanders and the best protection for our economy. If we take action to keep people safe that will also be a part of our front-line economic response. Our people are our economy. We've also made those record investments—as I've touched upon—in previous Budgets to make sure that our health system is preparing and ramping up.Today is the right day to be spending an additional half a billion dollars on health; it gives the certainty to those who are already taking actions to ensure that our health system is learning from the latest evidence and making the preparations that we need to make because we will inevitably see more cases sporadically arrive in this country. I want to congratulate and thank the public health officials who to date have been able to complete 100 percent of contact tracing.Again we've heard today from the WHO that testing tracing and self-isolation are the priority in those countries that have been successful. That is the strategy we are pursuing.We're determined to seize the moment. We're determined to act in the window of opportunity that we have to continue our preparedness so that we continue to be one of the best-placed countries in the world to keep COVID-19 at bay. That decisive action has served us well so far and will continue to serve us well into the future.In global terms we of course know that the economic package announced by the finance Minister is one of the largest. I believe that the finance Minister has got this right and history will show that this has been a visionary and correct approach to the headwinds in this global situation that we are facing.Nearly half of the fund—as I've said the $500 million—is immediately unlocked and the rest is available as required.I want to talk a little bit about the public health units. We know that those staff are our first line of defence and they are the ones who manage the notifications of suspected cases and confirmed cases; they do the contract tracing; for the close contacts they assess and advise on the public health risks in front of us; they manage the border control operations at airports and seaports. Protecting New Zealanders is their number one priority as it is our number one priority. That is why we are putting more than $40 million immediately—immediately—into public health with a strong emphasis on contact tracing. That investment nearly doubles our annual budget spending in that area for the current year of $46.7 million on core public health services. Of course the investment was already being shifted to go in there; this gives them the certainty that we will continue to back them in their efforts that are so vital for containing COVID-19.We're also strengthening primary care—recognising that our GPs our nurse practitioners our nurses and our iwi and Pacific providers are there at the front line. Primary care is receiving an additional $50 million including for community-based assessment centres equipment and logistics. This means that more people will be able to access GP care for testing when required minimising the impact on those visiting the GP for other issues—because of course there will be other issues and our health system needs to continue while we are managing COVID-19 as well.More resources will go into Healthline which has been an important source of advice for the public. They are facing unprecedented levels of demand. They've already boosted staffing by more than 100 and are currently handling more than 5000 calls per day. The $20 million boost for Healthline will mean more doctors and nurses can be hired to provide clinical advice over the phone to deal with those technical important issues that members of the public are raising. The last component of the fund that I'd like to touch on is the $15 million boost for psychosocial support. We know that the global COVID-19 outbreak has been an anxious time for many people and this boost will support our psychosocial response and recovery plan to boost the wellbeing of New Zealanders. It will mean easy and immediate access to trained counsellors through the 1737 helpline. We'll also be developing and promoting online resources to help those who have or develop mental illness as we go about facing this global challenge. I do want to thank everyone in the health sector as I close for the contribution in working to protect New Zealanders in the midst of this global pandemic. I also want to thank those who are in self-isolation who are taking the steps to keep everyone safe those who are upping their hygiene practices—you are all doing your best to keep COVID-19 at bay."