Clark DavidMINISTERIAL STATEMENTSCOVID-19—National Transition PeriodHon Dr DAVID CLARK (Minister of Health): On behalf of the Hon Peeni Henare Minister of Civil Defence and the coalition Government I wish to make a ministerial statement under Standing Order 356 in relation to giving notice of a national transition period over the whole of New Zealand under section 94A of the Civil Defence Emergency Management Act 2002.The national transition period will come into effect when the state of national emergency currently in place for all of New Zealand expires at 12.21 p.m. on Wednesday 13 May. At 12.21 p.m. 25 March 2020—having considered the advice of the Director of Civil Defence Emergency Management and in consultation with the Prime Minister under section 66 of the Civil Defence Emergency Management Act—the Hon Peeni Henare Minister of Civil Defence declared a state of national emergency for the whole of New Zealand to help manage the impact of COVID-19. The Minister of Civil Defence has since extended this state of emergency six times. Minister Henare did not make these decisions lightly but it was the Government's judgment that extraordinary measures needed to be maintained to support nationwide efforts to combat the virus and to break the chain of infection across the entire country. Since then New Zealanders through their efforts have made great strides in combating the spread of COVID-19. This is clearly evident in the numbers of new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 which continue to slow and decline. With the relaxing of restrictions provided for under alert level 2 and the decreasing numbers of COVID-19 cases it is now appropriate to lift the state of national emergency. But while the trends are positive level 2 is not a return to business as usual. Putting a national transition period in place will help support a nationally consistent and coordinated approach to civil defence emergency management activities. The Minister of Civil Defence is satisfied that a national transition period is both in the public interest and necessary or desirable to ensure a timely and effective recovery from the impacts of COVID-19. The national transition period will cover all of New Zealand including the Chatham Islands Stewart Island and other offshore islands. It will remain in place for 90 days unless it is extended or terminated earlier. A national transition period supports a transition from an emergency response into the initial recovery phase. A national transition period provides the national recovery manager and others access to special powers designed to assist with recovery rather than response. This includes for example powers to enable the conservation and supply of food and essential supplies or the ability of recovery managers to require information from persons. New Zealanders can be confident in the very clear checks and balances on the use of these powers set out in the Civil Defence Emergency Management Act. These powers can only be used if they meet both the tests within the power and the three overarching legal tests. The person exercising the powers must be satisfied that these are in the public interest that they are necessary or desirable to ensure a timely and effective recovery and that their use would be proportionate in the circumstances. The lifting of the state of national emergency and the move to a national transition period does not signal that New Zealanders should stop being vigilant. It is essential that all New Zealanders follow the alert level requirements to ensure we do not lose the gains we have made. On behalf of the Minister of Civil Defence and the coalition Government I reiterate my gratitude to each and every New Zealander volunteer group community organisation local government civil defence emergency management group Government agency and business across the country for their outstanding and extraordinary efforts in response to COVID-19.