Brownlee GerryHon GERRY BROWNLEE (National—Ilam): Well there we have it from the Minister. This part is totally the Henry VIII" provision—no consultation required by the Prime Minister just wake up in the morning bit of a whim and we'll shut a few things down. Now that might be a massive oversimplification but it is the reality of the power that's contained in this particular provision. If it is—well I see one member over there laughing but I know what that member's electoral fortunes are going to be in a few months' time as a result of that sort of laughter.Let me be very clear—let me be very clear. This bill confers an enormous amount of power on one person effectively the Prime Minister. Everybody else is a step down from that and everybody else loops back to the Prime Minister. Now Prime Ministers do eventually have to make calls; no one is going to dispute that. But there is normally a process that's much more defined than we've got in this case. There's no need for the Prime Minister to consult with anybody. But what would be so hard with actually saying "The circumstances in the country from a health perspective are so dire we now need to introduce even more stringent measures." Because that's really what this is about.Yes it does make legal what this level 2 arrangement is about but it will circle back on level 3 or level 4 if that's required. So what is so hard in that circumstance to consult with the Leader of the Opposition? What is so hard about that? Doesn't mean the Prime Minister has to do what the Leader of the Opposition tells her or him whoever it might be; it simply means that the Opposition is informed.Now there could be some reasonable discussion about what eventually goes into the section 11 notices that are part of this part. Section 11 notices can be incredibly Draconian. We're seeing what has happened to small businesses. You know people driving past the butcher the baker and various other small businesses to go to the supermarket apparently to stay safe but by congregating in a place where everybody is touching everything and bluntly the ability for people to maintain social distance was difficult. But that can happen again: preference effectively for one delivery service over another.If there is a view—and it's just stated here—that there could be the spread of the virus or there could be an exacerbation to the pandemic level then in that event why not consult with the other side of the House? No one's going to do or recommend anything that said that's crazy or anti or not going to be in the best interests of New Zealanders. But I do think this is far too restrictive in its conference of power effectively to make these decisions on one person. So I'd like to ask the Minister to just run through again what he thinks the process would be when the Prime Minister reaches a conclusion that there is a risk of an outbreak or the spread of COVID-19 and has decided to authorise the use of section 11 notices. Because it looks light—it looks light.The interesting thing is that one of the things that can be done is that once the Prime Minister makes that decision by Gazette notice it's the Minister of Health who steps in to do these things and that Minister may have regard to any decision by the Government on how to respond. In other words it is proof positive written in the law it all goes back to the Prime Minister. I think that's dangerous in a free country.We have a Westminster democracy. It does work; it means we have to go through processes. Everyone doesn't get what they want. But a Government that's duly installed is able to pass laws as long as they can keep their own people onside or their coalitions onside. That's how it works. But they do have to go through a process except in this case. To say "Well look we've now agreed that there's a three-month review." Well that's good; it's great there's a three-month review. All that will do is notify the public about why things are continuing in a formal sense. No one should be under any illusion that there will be some kind of free vote in the House."