Edmonds BarbaraBARBARA EDMONDS (Labour—Mana): Thank you Mr Speaker. I rise in support of the Prime Minister's statement and categorically do not support the amendments put forward as it is clear those amendments are fundamentally wrong and miss the point. For example on the other side of the House perhaps the member Mark Mitchell who said he knows the police portfolio would have a look at the 2018 Budget and see that in 2018 New Zealand Police received the biggest investment it has ever had of over $500 million. If he knew the portfolio he would have a look at those papers because this Government does deliver.Another case in point: last year our Prime Minister made it clear that one of our priorities was the vaccine to ensure the vaccine was accessible to our communities to keep our people safe. That is still our priority in 2022. Keeping people safe and accessibility of vaccine is grounded in what this side of the House stands for. As articulated by a very good friend of mine and colleague the Hon Dr Ayesha Verrall Labour is in the fight against COVID because we believe that people's lives are worthy of protection because our old young or disabled are equally members of our community as the economically or politically empowered."As the Deputy Prime Minister said earlier in this debate "There are no easy decisions in COVID-19. At each and every stage we have been presented with difficult and worse options. We've had to shift and adapt but New Zealanders know that we have kept to our word that we would save lives and we would save livelihoods." This is what we have done and this is what we will continue to do.I remember standing here as the last speaker in 2021 in the adjournment debate giving my thanks to the hard-working teams in our vaccination and health centres across the country for their work in administering what is now over 10 million doses. Today my thanks remain. As the Prime Minister set out in her statement our high vaccination rates have defied predictions of a summer surge and prevented the Delta destruction that health systems across the world have faced. We turn now our focus on ensuring our people are prepared to encounter Omicron to face COVID-19 for the first time on a scale we have not yet experienced as we see that today with record numbers.Over this last week while others were putting their energy to occupying the front lawns and surrounding streets of this House principals teachers Tiaki—which is our care and community lead in Mana—health providers Whānau Ora providers community leaders our local supermarkets and my electorate team were putting their energy into dealing with positive cases in our community including in four of our schools in Porirua. Teachers were preparing for online learning and school packs to deliver to children who had to isolate so that they could still learn. Food packs and care packs were delivered to positive cases and those in isolation. Schools that were safe to remained open and like this Government schools know that to close their doors is a decision that is finely balanced. When I spoke to these school principals they were grateful for the support they were receiving from the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health. I thanked those leaders for the work and the energy they are pouring in to keep their doors open to keep their schools safe and provide assurances to their students and family.I finish my contribution by going back to the case in point where this Government has delivered and it is keeping our people safe. Over the summer I lost my 93-year-old grandmother. She was the last matriarch of her generation. My grandmother was born in the time when Samoa was recovering from the 1918 influenza pandemic that wiped out almost a quarter of their population. She was a survivor. She became a solo mother of 10 and was one of the hardest workers I know.My last thanks goes to the people of Aotearoa especially of Māngere South Auckland where she lived for 30 years. Because you followed the rules over the last few years it prevented the spread of COVID and my grandmother got to live the last few years of her life in dignity. Because the majority of us had vaccines we were able to hold her funeral under the COVID protection framework and have people visit our family at home and in church to pay their last respects. Although we didn't have all the grandchildren here in New Zealand when the borders opened for a short period last year my cousins were able to come over here and kiss their grandmother farewell. These are the freedoms that are afforded when we set policies to keep people safe.Labour is in the fight against COVID because we believe that people's lives are worthy of protection because our old our young or disabled are equally members of our community as the economically or politically empowered. We on this side of the House will keep fighting for that and we will never take people's lives for granted."