Little AndrewHon ANDREW LITTLE (Minister of Health): Thank you Madam Speaker. I'm intrigued by the member who's just resumed his seat Andrew Bayly whose complaint seems to be about the lockdown in Auckland most recently that Look—they took action because there was something wrong and it worked." That's his complaint. I don't get it. I don't understand it. It did the right thing. It stopped the infection spreading. That's why we do those lockdowns and fortunately we're so good at it we can limit it to level 3. People have to stay in their homes there's a limited amount of business that can be transacted but we can very quickly get out of it and go into level 2 and then down to level 1 which is what happened. That's actually good management of COVID-19 and the risk associated with it.I remember this time last year when the precautions were starting we were being told to wash our hands. I remember being at the WOMAD event the last big mass event before lockdown happened and we were told we weren't allowed to shake hands. We had to do this thing with our feet that made the whole thing look like a rendition of Riverdance. We had to sort of bump our elbows. But that was the start of taking precautions to keep New Zealand and New Zealanders safe.I'd like to acknowledge the work of some real heroes during this time. The Ministry of Health who really had to pull out all stops and so many officials from the Ministry of Health and so many people from our health sector who had to get on board and do new stuff do extra stuff do stuff we'd never heard about or planned for before and get stuck in. In that respect I acknowledge the director-general Ashley Bloomfield; the Director of Public Health Dr Caroline McElnay; and the incredible work they did in laying out the strategy giving confidence to people communicating to New Zealanders every day along with the Prime Minister and other Ministers to give people confidence to get through what were very very difficult days.I want to acknowledge the nurses and the doctors and all those healthcare workers who had to suddenly change what they were doing make sure patients were safe make sure that the hospitals were ready in case there was a surge and that we were all prepared and ready to go make sure that we got our personal protective equipment out and that those on the front line were kept safe. I want to acknowledge those who've been working in our managed isolation and quarantine facilities the extra staff that have been brought in the defence personnel the health personnel who have had to work there as well. I want to acknowledge our amazing Minister for COVID-19 Response Chris Hipkins who has really you know grabbed the nettle by the horns—does a nettle have horns? Anyway grabbed the nettle grabbed the bull by the horns—grabbed both of them if necessary—and really worked since July to manage intensively all the necessary responses as we've relaxed the lockout procedures had to beef up what we do on the borders.That's been tough stuff because it hasn't all been plain sailing. It hasn't all happened in a straight line. Things have gone wrong and there've had to be responses and we've had to work up new ways of responding as well—so making sure the contact tracing is in place making sure the COVID-19 app is working and functioning and new functions are added to it making sure that—would you believe you know when everybody's describing us as being up that proverbial creek that we're actually testing the waste water and we've been doing that? Who gets to do that job? Not many people in that queue for that job but we've been doing that. All that stuff is helping us get information get data—that is all about helping to keep us safe. That is about New Zealand and New Zealanders rising to the challenge. And it has been tough; those members opposite are right. It has been tough on businesses because they've been thrown into uncertainty and a sense of insecurity but that's why the Government's impetus and investment regime has been so important. That's what's giving certainty. The wage subsidy package that came out—$14 billion as the Minister of Finance has talked about today—that's actually what's helped keep so many businesses together.Then there's the other stuff we've had to do the ongoing investment in social support as well in education—and we heard my colleague the Hon Aupito William Sio talking about the extra support that was given to keep Pasifika students in our schools focused and learning because if that disruption continued for too much longer if they didn't have that extra support that affects their life chances. I know in health more money went into supporting folks through this very anxiety-ridden time this time that has caused more people to feel less happy to feel a little depressed. So we put more money into mental health made mental health and talk therapies available through 1737 and other 0800 numbers so that that was there.All of this has been done I might say—the step up by our health ministry and health sector—after years and years of underfunding by the previous Government and they've really had to pull out all stops not only to keep business as usual going keeping everybody healthy and safe but actually to step up to this new challenge of this new pandemic in a way we've never seen before. So I take my hat off to our health practitioners mental health practitioners—all those across the board who've done such a terrific job in trying times."