1. Question No. 1—Prime MinisterHon JUDITH COLLINS (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime MinisterORAL QUESTIONSQUESTIONS TO MINISTERSQuestion No. 1—Prime Minister1. Hon JUDITH COLLINS (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by her statement that if we were going to do something so significant as asking hundreds of thousands of people to be tested … we would not leave a message as significant as that to a website to a Twitter account or Instagram" and that only Ministers should be relied upon to deliver "significant" COVID-19 updates?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN (Prime Minister): That wasn't quite the statement that I made. In a stand-up I was asked several questions about the testing message. My full response was "You'll find that what we've said has been utterly consistent and I can assure you that if we were going to do something so significant as ask hundreds of thousands of people to be tested you would hear that from us and not from a Twitter post or an Instagram post or from a website. We would be sharing that information. And actually what I think is key here you've heard utterly consistent messaging from the Director-General of Health from all the Ministers who have taken to the podium." I stand by those statements. My point of course was that while we will of course not be the only source of information if it was such a significant ask as to have hundreds and thousands of people requested to be tested that is of course a message that we would have been sure to amplify and not leave to social media.Hon Judith Collins: Is she saying that the New Zealand public cannot and should not rely upon the messages put on the official Government Unite Against COVID-19 websites Facebook Twitter and Instagram accounts?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: No. As I said in my primary answer my point was that of course there is more than one source of information but if it were a message as important and as significant as an expectation to test hundreds of thousands of people in that way that is something that we would not leave to a website or an Instagram or a Twitter post. It would be something that we would amplify if that was the advice of the Director-General of Health and something that Health wished to have as a message and request of the public.Hon Judith Collins: So how many Government staff are currently working on communications for the all-of-Government response COVID-19 websites and social media accounts?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: If the member wished to have an exact number in that regard she would know to put that in writing or as a primary question. I can tell the member that of course the all-of-Government group and the Ministry of Health as you would expect are looking into what exactly occurred in order to allow incorrect information of this nature to have been made available to the public.Hon Judith Collins: Why did it take her Government nearly four days to react and remove information it had published on its official COVID-19 social media accounts asking everyone in South and West Auckland to get a COVID-19 test?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: As I've just said the all-of-Government group in the Ministry of Health are looking into precisely what has occurred in this situation. As I said at the time as soon as I was made aware of it I directly alerted my team who directly alerted the team who are responsible. That was on Sunday morning and of course it was removed that day. As I know all members in this House wish for members of the public to have information that is accurate and reliable again I always implore all members regardless of the side of the House that you're on to continue to share messaging around getting tested particularly for those who have cold symptoms or flu symptoms or are in any way associated with the sites or cases we're currently dealing with. Those are the individuals I seek the support of all members of this House to encourage to be tested.Hon Judith Collins: Why was the same incorrect information asking everyone in South and West Auckland to be tested that had been posted on the official Government Unite Against COVID-19 accounts then posted on the Ministry of Health website on Friday?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Actually I believe it might have actually been on the Ministry of Health website first and as I have said the Ministry of Health and the all-of-Government group are currently looking into exactly what happened here. I think the important point to make here is this obviously was never the official advice of the director-general or obviously advice that ever came to Government or a decision that was ever made—something of that nature you can imagine that we would have been amplifying. Again you would have heard I believe—25 August I believe it was from memory. [Interruption] The Minister of Health was very—SPEAKER: Order! Order! No I am going to ask both the deputy leader of the National Party and the Minister of Finance to be quiet. Invitations of the sort that were made in my experience lead to trouble.Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: It was I believe on 25 August—so prior to that incorrect information being posted on that website—that the Minister of Health talked about the work that was being done to achieve 70000 tests over a seven-day period to make sure that we did have some asymptomatic surveillance but that we were primarily targeting those with cold and flu symptoms and of course those associated with the cluster we had. That advice was shared alongside the director-general just the day before the unfortunately incorrect advice was posted by the ministry.Hon Judith Collins: If she was so "incredibly angry" about the incorrect messaging on the official Unite Against COVID-19 social media platforms why didn't she use her 16-minute preamble at the press briefing on Sunday to correct the record and instead waited until she was asked questions about it from journalists?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I knew in the 45-50 minutes that I often spend in those stand-ups that certainly I would have the opportunity to correct that. Look whether I included it in the preamble or otherwise I knew that opportunity to correct that information would be provided. What I chose instead to do was use the preamble to share the correct advice and the correct information which—again—is that with cold and flu symptoms we want people to be tested—Hon Dr Nick Smith: You should have been upfront.SPEAKER: Order!Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: —and anyone associated with any of the sites or contacts within our current outbreak and I really would appreciate the support of all members in continuing to share that information and advice.Hon Judith Collins: If she was so "incredibly angry" about the incorrect messaging on the official Unite Against COVID-19 social media platforms why is it that despite making it clear on Sunday morning that the messaging needed to be fixed it was still up on social media platforms at the time of her Sunday press conference and media outlets such as the New Zealand Herald received no formal correction notice from her officials?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I wouldn't necessarily expect a correction notice to be given to individuals around a corrected Instagram or Twitter update. I expect instead just the correct information to be posted. I understand that the post was taken down at 1.37 p.m. Hon Judith Collins: Does she stand by her statement on Sunday that "We are not asking every single person in west and south Auckland to get a test. That is not our ask … It's wrong. It was oversimplified and we're working very hard now to deal with what that's created with the community."; if so why didn't she start her press conference on Sunday saying exactly that?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Again the suggestion somehow that we weren't willing to acknowledge the incorrect posting of information. We are constantly available every day to answer questions about our COVID response. We're here to be accountable on our COVID response. We never shy away from that duty. If the member somehow has an assumption that because I wanted to share correct information in my stand-up as opposed to incorrect information that is for the member's own interpretation. But I simply do not accept that we would ever put ourselves in a position to not front up because we do it every day."