Strange JamieJAMIE STRANGE (Labour—Hamilton East): Mr Speaker thank you for the opportunity to take a call in this debate. I'd also like to begin by acknowledging those who are in Auckland who are either watching this or who are listening to this debate; I acknowledge the challenging time for individuals in Auckland and also for businesses—particularly small businesses up in Auckland at the moment.I stand by this Government's COVID response. As a backbench MP in this Government I acknowledge the work of our Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern; our COVID Minister the Hon Chris Hipkins; and the other Ministers for the decisions that they have made throughout this COVID pandemic. If we compare the situation we are in in New Zealand to the situation other countries are in I think it's quite clear that this Government have made good strong decisions on COVID based on health advice—putting the health response first.But what seems to happen is the Government does a good job on COVID and then all of a sudden the Opposition—the National Party and the ACT Party—turn around and say Let's open borders up. First of all let's open them up to Australia." We're like "Well hang on a minute let's just be careful let's just tread carefully." And we carefully moved through. Then all of a sudden things tend to settle down a little bit and again "Open them up." Things start to settle down the vaccine starts rolling out "Open them up." That sort of haphazard approach is not the approach we need to COVID. We need to take a careful cautious health response to COVID; that's what has served us well.So it came as no surprise when we heard the announcement from the National Party: "Open. Throw things open." Well that's not the kind of approach that this Government is taking. We're taking a careful considered approach putting the safety and health of New Zealanders first.I'd like to touch on the announcement recently by the Hon Kris Faafoi in terms of Government support particularly around the commercial rent. Now before this announcement I heard from quite a few business owners who were having a challenging time paying their rent—obviously in terms of COVID—and then working with their landlords. The discussions were in a difficult place. They were telling me "We need some support from the Government" in terms of working through the situation.I'd like to give a couple of local examples. One Hamilton accommodation provider during the previous lockdown—I'm going back to last year—this person engaged with their landlord and basically the landlord just said "Look I won't talk to you. There's no discussion to be had." The landlord actually issued them with an eviction notice whereas the tenant all they were asking for was to be able to sit down and have a conversation to work through it. Another one was a bar owner; similar situation. So what the Government have done is put some supports in place whereby these business owners can have constructive conversations with their landlords taking into account COVID. Because the reality is when these leases were written no one predicted a global pandemic and people being locked down businesses being shut. It was probably the furthest thing from people's minds when these leases were written. So I appreciate the leadership that the Government are showing in that space and those business owners who have been talking to me also appreciate that.I'd like to touch on the New Zealand economy. I think it's quite clear that we have seen the resilience of the New Zealand economy during this time. Yes we've been underpinned by a strong agricultural sector which is certainly appreciated by this Government and also a tech sector which really hasn't missed a beat—a growing tech sector. I read some reports which say that the tech sector is our second biggest contributor to exports at the moment behind agriculture. It's a sector that is growing very quickly and there are more opportunities every day in this sector. So the diversification that's been happening in the New Zealand economy over recent years under successive Governments has certainly held us in good stead.In my final few seconds I'd just like to touch on the support the Government have given the New Zealand economy through infrastructure investment and that has also helped us through this COVID time. Whether it's infrastructure investment in schools hospitals; whether it's the Provincial Growth Fund the Infrastructure Reference Group funds. So this Government instead of looking at an austere model instead we've been investing—we've been investing in the key areas that create jobs and keep our economy going. I'm proud of the response of this Government and we will continue to take a careful cautious approach putting New Zealanders first.The debate having concluded the motion lapsed."