Parker DavidHon DAVID PARKER (Attorney-General): Today I want to cover two topics: fresh water and COVID. Before doing so can I also pay my condolences to the survivors and families of those killed in the Christchurch attacks as other members have done.In respect of these two topics—fresh water and COVID—the choice for voters is clear. I'm sure some of the members here have already read the magnificently written words of Marina Hyde in the latest column in The Guardian. She injects some levity into some of these issues undoubtedly one of the world's best political writers and today's contribution is truly sublime. She has a serious message described acerbically and she unpicks some leading Republicans not as halfwits but as quarterwits and it really is worth a read; I'd say google it. This is the same week that the New Zealand Herald of course published this photo of the Hon Gerry Brownlee and his doppelganger Ronnie Barker. Of course Ronnie Barker's the fullwit; the other one is Gerry the purveyor of conspiracy theories. Marina Hyde of course says—Hon Gerry Brownlee: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. It's somewhat unusual but I must reflect on the imagery that Mr Parker has used in the House today. Firstly it's interesting that it's allowed. All I can say is that come the election I suspect it'll be goodnight from him.Hon DAVID PARKER: Thank you Mr Brownlee. We've had a history of interchange in this House that I've always enjoyed.But Marina Hyde says that quarterwits are worse. They would seek to undermine public confidence in current managed isolation and quarantine that safely managed 40000 through the border. They would say there'd be no mistakes under them and they'd deny any prison breaks when there have been dozens. They'd put out a press release in their own name saying that they've backed every bit of COVID legislation when they didn't just vote against the COVID-19 Public Health Response Act; they voted against its renewal. They'd roll a leader on 35 percent saying that was intolerable and take them to 25 percent because they're accident-prone. Today they've blamed Labour for the USA not being in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership when the USA pulled out under National. They've said that the freshwater reforms will be gone by lunchtime. Well that worked really well for Don Brash didn't it? He was on the wrong side of history and so is the person who said that today. She thinks she would know better than the prior leaders who've studiously stayed away from this because they know that the population is with us and that we need much better water quality policy in New Zealand. What will be gone by lunchtime if the other party were to be elected would be rivers that are clean enough to swim in. They prefer a licence to pollute.So we've got an accident-prone leader on the other side who's plunging in the polls and she's judged it wrong again. Instead of appealing to her voter base it's evaporating and her vote's shrinking instead. Marina Hyde's got a lot better puns than these but I think New Zealanders essentially get the point. The equivalent of the Republican Party on the same part of the spectrum in New Zealand is actually National and Judith Collins displays many of the temperaments that are criticised over there and I don't think New Zealanders will want a bar of it.I want to end on the serious topic of COVID. Since COVID erupted in the world in March we've stood up amongst the best systems in the world and our outcomes which have been more personal protective equipment hundreds of thousands of COVID tests managed isolation and quarantine track and tracing border testing vastly improved processes more ventilators bespoke legislation and more training for staff—all of these things have meant that we've had a better outcome than the whole of Europe better than the whole of North America South America Asia Africa even Australia. This is something that New Zealanders can be proud of and they know that it's still a difficult journey.Now New Zealanders know this is hard notwithstanding the fact that we've all rallied together as a country and that we've had supports for businesses—the small business loan guarantee the wage supports the loan scheme. Notwithstanding that we know it's a difficult and perilous journey. I reckon it'll be about June next year by the time there's a vaccine being rolled out around the world. From March to June next year is about 16 months. We're already a third through it. By the time of the election we will be halfway through it. But it is still a difficult half to go. I think we might have seen the worst of it. I hope we never get back to level 4 but the country can rely in a Labour Government on an issue well-managed as evidenced by the fact that we have—albeit not perfectly—done better than just about anywhere else in the world. That is my serious message for today.I was on Duncan Garner's show the other day and Mark Richardson was there and I made the point in his presence that if you're in the middle of a difficult test series you don't change the captain halfway through. If you're winning you keep going. That is the choice for voters at the election.