12. Question No. 12—HealthSIMON O'CONNOR (National—Tāmaki) to the Minister of HealthQuestion No. 12—Health12. SIMON O'CONNOR (National—Tāmaki) to the Minister of Health: Does he stand by the restrictions for alert level 2?Hon Dr DAVID CLARK (Minister of Health): Yes. In particular I stand by the precautionary approach we are taking. Nobody wants to see us return to alert level 3 or 4.Simon O'Connor: Which part of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act relating to the freedom of religion did he consider when agreeing to the restrictions on all religious practice—in particular the very small quote Every person has the right to manifest that person's religion … in community with others"?Hon Dr DAVID CLARK: My understanding is that the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act vet was mindful of those particular issues and worked through them.Simon O'Connor: Would the Minister like to reconsider his answer considering that the legal advice given to the Minister and in regards to the COVID-19 Public Health Response Bill explicitly did not mention the right to religious freedom at all?SPEAKER: I don't think you can explicitly not mention something but anyway.Hon Dr DAVID CLARK: I apologise if I misspoke. It's certainly something that I'm aware of and it is certainly something that has been discussed.Simon O'Connor: Will he be having conversations with the Minister of Justice or the Attorney-General or officials to complain and point out the glaring lack of any mention of the right to religious freedom in the advice given to Government?Hon Dr DAVID CLARK: Certainly at different times when I have received or seen advice around these issues what has been made clear is that what is being considered here is a proportionate approach whereby people can still meet—obviously in groups of up to 10—to practise their religion in a normal way. They can also of course use online tools as are being used by many churches and mosques and other religious faiths. And of course if they are appropriately social distancing people can use freedom of expression in public places too.Simon O'Connor: In light of proportionality is the Minister aware that strip clubs are allowed to open during alert level 2 but churches are not and if so why is one deemed so much safer than the other?Hon Dr DAVID CLARK: I think the member will understand—[Interruption]SPEAKER: Order! Order! Please I don't want to show any personal interest in the answer to this but I would like to hear it.Hon Dr DAVID CLARK: I think the member will understand—both he and I are people that have interacted with churches; that I know—that people often attend services of worship for fellowship reasons. They are there to worship; they are also there to mix and mingle with others.Hon Simon Bridges: What are they at the strip club for?SPEAKER: Order! Order! I don't expect that to be answered.Hon Dr DAVID CLARK: The purpose of having rules around gatherings—places people gather to intermingle—is precisely to ensure that we are keeping the space for people the appropriate social distance and keeping the virus out. In commercial premises there will be requirements on people of course to make sure that different groups are not mingling together. That is a different purpose that people go to restaurants and clubs and pubs for and that is the issue at hand here. I think the member will understand that I have no desire to keep people from engaging in their religious freedoms any longer than is necessary but I also know that all New Zealanders do not want to see us go back to a previous level. All New Zealanders want to bank the hard work and sacrifices they have made and that is why we want to keep moving forward and slowly but surely in a safe way make sure that we are opening our economy and doing so in a safe way.Simon O'Connor: Can the Minister advise the House whether receiving bread and wine as communion at church will mean that it could be classified as a restaurant and therefore allow 100 attendees or should it remain a church and be restricted to 10.SPEAKER: No. Order! Order! I consider that ironic and some people would find it offensive.Hon Michael Woodhouse: Can the Minister confirm that faith-based organisations are persons conducting a business or undertaking under the Health and Safety at Work Act and why does he not believe they can discharge their responsibilities under that legislation safely?SPEAKER: Order! That is not an issue for this Minister. The supplementaries have now all been used.Hon Michael Woodhouse: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. Just in respect of that question it was the Minister himself that pointed out that the obligations on strip clubs were different from churches and I was simply—perhaps I should not have inferred from that answer that he was referring to their obligations to provide a safe premise.SPEAKER: I think he was probably referring to the obligations under the various pieces of legislation that we are passing—or are before the House at the moment. He certainly as the member is aware is not responsible for workplace safety matters."