Little AndrewHon ANDREW LITTLE (Minister of Justice): That speech by that member the Hon Gerry Brownlee pretty much epitomises the state of the National Party Opposition till now. There he was telling a story and we were waiting for the punchline and he didn't have a punchline. That is pretty much where the National Party is at now. Nothing they say or do lands with any relevance to New Zealand at the moment. I want to say that this Government can take considerable pride in rising to some of the greatest challenges that this small but well-formed little country at the bottom of the world has had to face for a long long time.Put aside the rebuilding of the health system the education system and actually getting our economy back on track actually rising to the challenge of COVID-19 like every other country in the world has posed an enormous challenge to this Government and to this country. New Zealanders have risen to the challenge with the outstanding leadership of the Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. But it hasn't been easy. This Government has provided a rapid a focused a science and evidence - based and a resolute response to the arrival of that vicious little virus in our beautiful little country and we have been more successful than just about every other country in the world.Now let's be clear: there is no room for backslapping and self-congratulation. That's why this Government has been very clear in the last few weeks and months that we have to be ready for the possibility of community transmission. Even though we had got to the point where we knew we had eliminated it the risk was very real and it was still there. But what did the Opposition say when we pointed out that risk? What did they say when there were shots of the Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield taking a test? What did they say when the Government started talking about getting ready for masks—You might want to think about wearing masks."? They said it was scaremongering. They said there was no basis for it because somehow they knew best. Just like when they said "Don't close the borders. Open the borders."—"Oh whoops we got that wrong. Close the borders again." Then they said "Can we have more students?"—"Oh no we don't want the students anymore." Then they said "Will you stop borrowing money."—"Oh we'll borrow money. You can't borrow money. We won't borrow money. You—" Oh they got so mixed up. They don't know what to do. They have not had a coherent rational response all the way through. That is the state of the Opposition. No wonder Gerry Brownlee forgot his punchline. He's got no punch any more—he's got no punch any more.This is it—the reality is and we have been on notice—we have to be vigilant about the possibility of this virus returning and it has returned. Look at the response we've had: instant rapid focused determined just as we did the first time and we are now starting to see the dividends being paid. Yes there are people who are doing it tough businesses who are doing it tough families and communities who are doing it tough. I think this resurgence—the re-arrival of COVID-19 in Auckland and some of those communities in Auckland—has probably had a harder effect on people psychologically and emotionally than anybody sort of ever expected to begin with. But there is support there and there is understanding and that's why the messages from the Prime Minister and from the Minister of Health the Hon Chris Hipkins each day and through the Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield and others is so important. There is one place where you can get accurate information and that is from those sources and from Government sources.Not the kind of conspiracy theory muckraking that we've seen from the Opposition—none of that sort of nonsense. That is not helping. At a time when communities and families are feeling fragile and are needing reassurance going down that path is simply not helping; and in fact it's the opposite: it is quite destructive. There is one ray of light on members opposite and that is Dr Shane Reti who at least seems to understand the challenge that this Government is trying to rise to and that there will never be a perfect response but there has to be a response based on science based on evidence and that has people at its heart. I'll come to that point. Like everything this Government does it is about the wellbeing of New Zealanders—the wellbeing of New Zealanders collectively—doing the right response and making sure people are looked after and taken care of. That's what we have sought to do.We've tightened up the borders. We've had 40000 people coming across the New Zealand border just since the lockdown—40000 people—and we've had one or two escapes and we've had one or two very strange people trying to break into those facilities but actually 40000 people have gone through the isolation and quarantine facilities and come out the other side. That's been a hell of a challenge for a country like ours with the facilities that we've got getting the logistics right getting the personnel in place to enable that to happen so that Kiwis abroad can come home and know that they will be safe and enjoy the safety that this country offers. That's what we have been doing—that's what we have been doing.So I think this is a time when we've all been somewhat shaken out of what looked like a cruise mode—notwithstanding the warnings the Government was giving about being ready and being prepared. People have now understood why it is important that we take the right health measures that we get our masks ready that we do the right thing. But we are not going to go into the flip-flop mode of the Opposition and say one thing one week and say the opposite the next—go down a conspiracy theory sort of rabbit hole one day and then come out the next and say "No we didn't really mean to be conspiracy theorising but actually what are they hiding from us?" That's what we've had. It hasn't been reassuring to the public and that's what New Zealanders need and deserve most right now."