Sio Hon Aupito WilliamHon AUPITO WILLIAM SIO (Minister for Pacific Peoples): When that last speaker Chris Bishop began his speech I was nodding in agreement but then he suddenly went into this inane diatribe of abuse and tirade—just the usual pattern of criticism of whining of whinging—and it just reveals what's happening on that side. They're living in a bubble. They're living in a bubble of unhappiness of woeful disconnection from reality.What people need to be aware of is that when the announcement was made by our Prime Minister and Mr Hipkins that we will be opening up the border on 19 April there was joy that swept through from Northland to Invercargill. This morning businesses from all over New Zealand were celebrating the news that we're now able to have this quarantine-free zone between New Zealand and Australia something that is a testament to the leadership and the strategy of this Government: that we went hard and early and that we believe strongly the best economic response is a strong strong health response. That's why we're here.Chris Bishop: Can't you speak in more than clichés?Hon AUPITO WILLIAM SIO: If we had ever followed any of that inane criticism from there it would be much much worse. It would have been much much worse.Chris Bishop: Why aren't you in Cabinet?Hon AUPITO WILLIAM SIO: Listen to that—listen to that diatribe. No one—no one—out there in the real world believes anything that they say.We are safe. We are safe only because of the elimination strategy of this Government and what a wonderful joy it is to be a member of the Government that prioritises people's lives and their livelihoods. Because if we had followed their example our hospitals would be inundated. I suspect the fatalities would have been much much worse as we've seen in other nations who have taken the approach that they advocated for from the beginning because they did not see people as a priority. Well the news reveals it on the airwaves on our social media.I'm really pleased also because there's a family in Fiji—the Johansson family. Elder and Sister Johansson have been living in Fiji for quite some time on a church mission. They will be returning to New Zealand this Thursday and they have been called on another mission in Australia. They are embracing this news with much delight because they'll have an opportunity to visit with their families in Māngere and then they'll be travelling to serve out a period of several years in Australia.But that's not all. I have heard today how our Pacific communities are relishing the opportunity to be able to visit like others family members sons and daughters uncles and aunts. I have warned some of our families: flyer beware and that it will probably be much safer if they're staying with relatives—just in case—because whilst we're saying we can move with confidence the virus is still ravaging worldwide. We're still seeing numbers of deaths numbers of infections spreading internationally and so we move with confidence but we've always needed to be alert and to be vigilant.I want to say I've heard criticism also about why we have not opened it up to the Pacific. We are working apace in order to work with the Pacific to make sure that they are receiving the vaccination that we're able to provide support on. But I think when the Opposition are calling Why are we not opening up the borders to the Pacific?" it also reveals their ignorance of where the Pacific are because the diaspora in New Zealand are very conservative. They have played this role of keeping New Zealand safe in a huge way. They've played their part as members of the team of 5 million New Zealanders because if you look at the test rates of Pacific peoples they had the highest test rate of any other population cohort. That's a significant indication of how much they have valued the leadership and the direction that has come from Dr Ashley Bloomfield our Prime Minister and those Ministers responsible for the roll-out of messages around COVID-19.So even those countries Realm Island countries—Niue for example—they're not wanting to open up their borders; they're wanting to follow the example of New Zealand. And though Samoa Fiji Tuvalu and Tonga have all indicated they want to be able to vaccinate their population they're not rushing to open up their borders at all and the diaspora here have also been quite strong in that message: we do not want to be responsible for exporting COVID-19 to the Pacific which is relatively COVID-19 - free. So I think again the opening of the borders in Australia is a signal and a strong testament that the strategy of elimination has worked—that the strategy and the strong leadership that has been advocated strongly by our Prime Minister and this Government actually is working. So I think the result speaks for itself of what we have seen right throughout yesterday today and I suspect all week through.I know that many of my cousins out in Victoria have had a struggling time because of the number of waves and the community transmission that has happened there. Whilst we're looking at Australia as one country what we've also got to be mindful of is that Australia has its own governance structures in terms of the different states and so we do need to be vigilant. I'm really pleased at the measures of protection and the layers of protection that our officials have been working really really hard at to make sure that our borders—the people arriving at the airport the separation of travellers from other parts of the world—are going to be significant. I'd be keen to travel myself if the whips will allow me a couple of weeks off at some stage to test out the borders. But I am not intending to do that. But it is a good sign. It is a good thing that is happening here but whilst we open that up and whilst businesses are relishing that idea I think I would just simply say that we need to be cautious.I think the good thing for New Zealand is we have now rolled out the vaccine to our border workers our front-line workers and their families. I know that Minister Hipkins Minister Little and my other health Ministers have all been vaccinated to give confidence to that border workforce. I will take the jab tomorrow afternoon. I've always hated needles and am not looking forward to that needle but I believe it's important to give confidence to what's happening and keeping New Zealand safe. I think it's also important to give confidence to the rest of our population who constantly ask me "Is the COVID19 vaccine safe?" I will say "Absolutely it is safe. Absolutely it is safe." It's the first time ever that you've seen global coordination global collaboration of our scientists as well as the United Nations come together to rapidly produce a set of vaccines that are safe. But more importantly for us in New Zealand we have our Medsafe our regulator of all vaccines which has also given its approval for Pfizer and is working through the process of giving approval to the other vaccines. That's going to be important for us to continually build our confidence in moving around.But to the Pacific communities who are looking forward to travelling to Australia stay safe. Travel with confidence but always remember the mask. This is a different world that we live in and so the social distancing the wearing of masks the washing of hands—that has to be the new pattern of how we conduct our affairs. And as much as we celebrate our festivals with confidence—and Pasifika is this weekend—again it's a word: remember the mask. If you're sick stay home and that means to my father you don't need to travel at this time—just simply stay home until you're well.Anyway it's a great day. It marks a significant success in our strategy of elimination but there's still much much more to do this year. As our Prime Minister said it's the "year of the vaccine" and we've still got to stay on course.The debate having concluded the motion lapsed."