1. Question No. 1—Prime MinisterTODD MULLER (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime MinisterWEDNESDAY 17 JUNE 2020The Speaker took the Chair at 2 p.m.Prayers.ORAL QUESTIONSQUESTIONS TO MINISTERSQuestion No. 1—Prime Minister1. TODD MULLER (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime Minister: Does she have confidence in her Minister of Health?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN (Prime Minister): Yes. We are both clear that what has happened was utterly unacceptable. This was a failure of the system which has not met the expectation of Ministers including Dr Clark. Minister Clark is working hard to fix the issue and make sure it does not happen again. This needs to be considered within the context of New Zealand's COVID-19 response to date. With Minister Clark as Minister of Health we have now reached roughly 47 days since the last recorded case of unknown transmission. No other comparable country has achieved the same consistently low case numbers as New Zealand and there are still over 100000 new cases of COVID-19 every day globally.Todd Muller: Is she confident that the Hon David Clark impressed upon the Director-General of Health the significance of ensuring COVID-19 testing and quarantine criteria were followed with no room for error because of the stakes being so high?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Absolutely. In fact he was given an assurance around the testing regime for those in quarantine and managed isolation.Todd Muller: How can she have confidence in the Hon David Clark when two people can leave managed isolation without being tested as required by the Ministry of Health protocols putting the entire country at risk?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: For the very reason the member has set out: because this did not meet the stated protocols of the Ministry of Health or the expectations of the Minister of Health. This has been a clear failure of the system one that we are actively seeking to address. For now that includes suspending the ability to access compassionate leave and we have called in the Assistant Chief of the Defence Force to make sure that we can have confidence and rigour in the system. [Interruption] SPEAKER: Order! I just want to say to members that when a Minister is answering a serious question where I'm sure just about everyone wants to hear the answer having members from both sides of the House—very senior members—having a separate barracking of each other is not helpful.Todd Muller: Does she not see the Minister of Health as being responsible and accountable for the performance of his ministry?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: We absolutely have to fix what happened here; that is undeniable of course. But the Minister's job is to make sure that the protocols are in place; that the responsibility and protocols are being fulfilled. He has set down his expectations. They were not met. That is a clear failure of the system.David Seymour: What message does the Prime Minister have for bereaved and grieving New Zealanders who will now be denied a compassionate exemption because her Government couldn't do simple things right such as testing?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I would again point out that we have to make sure that we have a rigorous and robust system at the border because it is our biggest vulnerability. Testing is just one part of that. I know the decision to suspend compassionate leave will not be popular but it's the right one. We have to be assured that we are keeping New Zealanders safe and that everything is being done within strict protocols.David Seymour: How can the Prime Minister speak of aspiring to have the world's smartest borders when simple things such as testing travellers before they go driving across the North Island appears to be beyond her Government's Ministry of Health?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Again as I've set out the protocol was clear. An error has occurred. Our job is to fix that. We brought in the Assistant Chief of the Defence Force to make sure that we have a rigorous reliable system that New Zealanders can have confidence in. I would also point out that throughout this entire time there has been extraordinary pressure to loosen up border controls. We've had members from the Opposition calling our regime stupid for how rigorous it was. I stand by it. We now have a clear demonstration of why it is so important.Todd Muller: Has the Hon David Clark told her why the two women who tested positive for COVID-19 weren't tested for the virus upon entering managed isolation?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: There is no excuse to be provided. It should never have happened.Todd Muller: So why doesn't she turn to her Minister and say Own it. Step down. I'll put someone in charge who's competent."?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Because he is the Minister who has overseen over 40 days without us having unknown transmission in New Zealand. We have as a team of 5 million produced extraordinary results—[Interruption] SPEAKER: Order! Order! Sorry I apologise for interrupting the Prime Minister. I'd like to remind the two members quite close to me on my left that I have two mikes that are open their leader has a mike that is open and the Clerk has a mike that is open and when they make noise at that volume then I can't hear the Prime Minister. It may be that others can but I can't.Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Because the Minister of Health has been utterly clear that the border has to be rigorous it has to be robust and it has to keep New Zealanders safe. There has been a failure that was not within our clear expectations. On the other hand the member may wish to talk to his own members—member Goldsmith who claimed that our border controls were fluffing around; member Collins who called our border restrictions appalling; and member King who said our restrictions were stupid because they should be opened up.Rt Hon Winston Peters: Could I ask the Prime Minister as to whether a protocol demanding testing on day 1 and then on day 14 as was stated by the Leader of the Opposition on Morning Report yesterday for a boat demanding to come into Nelson actually worked?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: No that would not be the appropriate point in time for testing. The advice we have is that evidence suggests days 3 and 12 which exactly was our expectation.Todd Muller: Has her health Minister advised her on whether any other people have not been tested when they should have been since the 8 June protocol was established?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: The Director-General of Health advised us that the expectation was that anyone who had been granted compassionate leave should have been. He is now with the Ministry of Health working through whether indeed that expectation was met.Todd Muller: Does she have any advice that suggests that there are more people that should have been tested on arrival in this country and who now you have been told have not been tested?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I just answered that question.Todd Muller: Has the Prime Minister received advice as to whether any incoming passenger into this country has not been tested when they should have been tested?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I advise again the Director-General of Health directly advised the Minister and myself this morning that the protocol would have required anyone granted compassionate leave which those members have lobbied for frequently and often would be tested before having been granted it. He is now working through individual cases to assure himself that that has happened. I would remind the member that since this protocol has been in place there are no known cases connected to anyone from managed isolation passing on COVID to anyone else.Todd Muller: Why two hours after Dr Ashley Bloomfield updated the nation on the latest COVID developments was her health Minister unable to answer basic questions on those cases in a radio interview because he hadn't been briefed?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I reject the assertion that the member is making.SPEAKER: Yes and I probably should not have allowed the question.Todd Muller: What does it say about the state of the relationship between the health Minister and her most senior health official that her Minister was not briefed on cases announced two hours before he did a radio interview?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I'm rejecting the assertion of that statement. What is very clear here is that the Director-General of Health and the Minister of Health are saying exactly the same thing: protocols were in place they had not been upheld it is not acceptable it is being fixed.Todd Muller: What level of incompetence needs to be served up by her Minister of Health before she finally sacks him?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: The Minister of Health isn't the one saying we should open the borders.Hon Chris Hipkins: Would we be more or less likely to see more of these types of cases if we moved with urgency to reopen the border with countries like China as she has been urged to do?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: On the day that this issue happened the Leader of the Opposition criticised the Government for not opening the borders. I stand by the fact that we have taken an incredibly cautious approach at the border—it's the right thing to do. There has been a failure in the system. We will fix it. We are fixing it."