Russell DeborahDr DEBORAH RUSSELL (Labour—New Lynn): I want to cast my mind back to a year ago today. A year ago today my husband and I were frantically trying to arrange an airfare home for our 18-year-old daughter who was in the United Kingdom on what was supposed to be her gap year. I remember it very clearly. About 4 o'clock this time a year ago we got the news that we had a flight for her and the next morning she was on a flight home.We got her home safe to New Zealand where she has been safe ever since—safe from this virus that is creating enormous hardship and misery around the world with an astonishing death toll. But here in New Zealand we have been very much safe from this virus and that has been because of the stunning and superb response to the virus by this Government a response that has been lauded around the world.A year ago today we also had the announcement of the emergency response package. We knew that we would need to support New Zealanders through the pandemic through what was becoming a very worrying situation. We knew that we would need to support businesses. We knew that we would need to support people to remain in their jobs. That was what inspired the wage subsidy to keep people attached to their jobs and to help businesses to keep going. We had the Small Business Cashflow (Loan) Scheme all sorts of measures to help businesses. But all along we knew that the best economic response was to have an excellent health response in the first place so that we could keep going. And that response has been acknowledged around the world.But of course we have had to keep on using those tools of lockdown and most recently in Auckland which was locked down in level 3 again for a week. I was there during the lockdown. Actually I was out of town the day that the lockdown was announced but I knew I had to get back to my own electorate. So I went back to Auckland so that I could be there as all of us MPs were to support our constituents.We did all of that support work as best we could. But last week and earlier this week I went out and door-knocked our businesses in Avondale actually in Auckland. So we've had previous speakers here talking today about the feeling in Auckland and how people got through it. Here's what people told me. So Sok and Theara who run a cafe in Avondale were very grateful for the support they got from the Government. They had to close their doors entirely for that week three; they didn't particularly do the takeaway business. But they were grateful for the resurgence payment and for the wage subsidy that has helped them to get through this last most recent lockdown. Nainesh who runs the dairy just along from my electorate office his turnover was well down. He could stay open but nevertheless because people weren't on the street his turnover was well down. But he was able to get the resurgence payment and the wage subsidy and that has helped him to keep going. That was the story that I got from the business people on the streets in my electorate. And I suppose that's the first bit of news that came out from it. They were very very grateful for the resurgence payment and for the wage subsidy. It made a real difference to them. We know that something like about 37000 businesses in this country have accessed the wage subsidy or the resurgence payment or both.The second thing was that most of them actually found the IRD website to claim the resurgence payment and the wage subsidy pretty easy to navigate. So the payment was available to them and it was easy for them to access.But the third thing I found from my local businesses was a sense of nervousness a sense of worry that the virus would get in again. They were grateful for the borders that were being kept very very tightly controlled. They wanted the virus kept out. They wanted to make sure that our borders were very tightly controlled so that they would stay safe so that we could continue to live fairly much as usual within New Zealand itself. So they had a strong sense of nervousness about that. But they knew that the Government would do their best to help them get through. Amongst that gratefulness was a sense of reassurance that the Government was on their side and doing the best we could to help our local businesses. That's what we need to do: keep on doing our bit to keep all of us safe to keep us going to keep New Zealand COVID-free and successful.