1. Question No. 1—Prime MinisterDAVID SEYMOUR (Leader—ACT) to the Prime MinisterORAL QUESTIONSQUESTIONS TO MINISTERSQuestion No. 1—Prime Minister1. DAVID SEYMOUR (Leader—ACT) to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by all her Government's policies and actions?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN (Prime Minister): Yes. In particular I stand by this Government's decision to reconnect New Zealanders with the world as our public health advice confirms it is safe to do so. That is why on advice from the Strategic COVID-19 Public Health Advisory Group and the Director-General of Health the Government has removed the requirement for fully vaccinated travellers to self-isolate. In addition the Government has announced it will bring step 2 forward so that New Zealanders from the rest of the world outside of Australia will be able to return home after midnight this Friday. We're expecting advice shortly on whether we can bring forward the remaining reconnecting steps including international tourism. Managed isolation has been a crucial factor in our success as a team in responding to COVID-19 and I want to take this opportunity to thank all of the managed isolation and quarantine workers who for almost two years have worked so hard to keep us all safe. David Seymour: Can the Prime Minister tell the House how many COVID-19 cases and hospitalisations will result from her decision to allow New Zealanders to enter the country without isolating from this week and how many cases would have arisen from a decision to let foreigners enter the country without isolation from this week and if she can tell us—SPEAKER: Order! Order! That's two questions.David Seymour: It's one question Mr Speaker. SPEAKER: It is two questions.David Seymour: It's a contrast between two figures.SPEAKER: It doesn't matter where your brackets are. The member's asked for two different numbers; that's two questions. David Seymour: Thank you Mr Speaker. I—SPEAKER: No the member's finished his question.Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: If the member would be so—if I could so put it—brave or bold to put his questions on notice I would be happy to provide the specific modelling that we receive as a Government when making these decisions. However—Hon Gerry Brownlee: Brave or bold—brave or bold?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: However Mr Brownlee for step 2 of the reconnection under self-isolation requirements we could expect between 100 and 485 cases to enter into New Zealand. However that is with an estimate of 65 percent of cases being impacted by self-isolation. So when it comes to the number that would come in without self-isolation you can assume it will be higher and of course higher still if you have more than say 10000 entries which is what that modelling is based on. David Seymour: Is the Prime Minister seriously telling New Zealand she just decided to let New Zealanders in—but not foreigners—without isolation she doesn't know what the impacts of those decisions will be on case and hospitalisation numbers but if David Seymour put the question on notice at question time she would know that critical information?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Perhaps the member would choose to listen to the answer. With 10000 arrivals in New Zealand we have an estimate of between 100 and 485 cases coming in at the border. However that is modelled with seven days of self-solation so you would expect a higher rate of cases if you were not to have self-isolation. You would expect even further cases if you have not just 10000 entries but tens of thousands of entries. We have asked our experts to consider what the likely impact would be of bringing forward tourism and a wider reopening. As you will have heard Professor David Skegg say yesterday his initial response to that question is that you would wish to wait until after New Zealand has come through the peak of Omicron to ensure that New Zealanders in-country have the ability to get the response from their health system they need while we experience this significant pandemic. David Seymour: So how many cases would New Zealand expect and how many additional hospitalisations if the border was to be opened without isolation and based on that answer has she considered the cost—SPEAKER: That's two questions again Mr Seymour. David Seymour: —of keeping the borders closed to New Zealand business? Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I'm not going to traverse the answer for a third time because I don't wish to waste the member's supplementaries. On the last part of his question—have we considered the cost of business—of course at all times we consider the impact on the likes of tourism on the likes of our regional economies but we must also factor in the impact on our health system. Our health system is doing an extraordinary job at present but we do have close to 400 hospitalisations at the moment and we have not yet reached our peak of this Omicron wave. To simply carte blanche open the borders—as the member is suggesting and as the member has suggested consistently through this pandemic might I add—would be at a great cost potentially to New Zealanders and we're not willing to do that at this time. David Seymour: If the Prime Minister can't put a number on additional cases and hospitalisations from letting foreigners enter the country without hospitalisation then how do people avoid the conclusion that she's just making it up and the decision making is now not based on evidence but entirely political?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I utterly reject the premise of that member's question and if he had listened to Professor Skegg yesterday he himself made the point that the reason they have given the advice that we can open up at this stage to New Zealanders and those who are otherwise eligible is because of the Te Pūnaha Matatini modelling that suggests that the numbers we would have are numbers that we can manage in-country at this point. He also went on to suggest that a wider reopening would be something that you would wish to consider after you've come through the wave. I would also acknowledge Philip Hill who is a member of that advisory committee. He believed that we should actually wait to even reopen to New Zealanders without self-isolation until after the peak. I'll finish with a quote from Professor Skegg's letter: In November 2021 for example there were concerted calls to drop all quarantine requirements for most vaccinated people arriving in Auckland on the grounds that such travellers were less likely to be infected than Auckland residents at this time. This would have led to a major increase in Delta cases. Fortunately the Government did not yield to the pressure so our Delta outbreak was brought under control before the arrival of Omicron. In Australia hospitals were still struggling to deal with the very large number of sick patients infected with the Delta variant when the Omicron outbreak took off." That is sage advice from a public health expert and we will continue to seek the advice of experts before making such significant decisions rather than the view of that member.David Seymour: Does the Prime Minister accept that every time I've put down a specific question to her on notice this Parliament she has transferred it to another Minister to answer and regardless of her answer to that question will she commit to answer questions put to her in future?SPEAKER: Order! No that question is ironic.David Seymour: Point of order. Mr Speaker—SPEAKER: The Prime Minister has no option but to answer questions which are put to her in this House. That is an obligation of the Prime Minister. For the member to suggest that she doesn't is wrong. The member knows it's wrong and he's being deliberately disorderly. If he continues this I will regard him as being grossly disorderly.David Seymour: Point of order. Mr Speaker if I can clarify—I have no intention to be disorderly. The point I'm making is that the Prime Minister—and you accepted the answer—criticised me for not putting a more specific question on notice. I was simply asking her if in the future if I put specific questions on notice will she not transfer them to other Ministers as she always has? I think people have—SPEAKER: Order! The member has now said that four times. Does the member want a further supplementary?David Seymour: Of the 344 people reported to be hospitalised yesterday with COVID-19 how many were admitted with COVID-19 and how many were admitted for another reason and then tested for COVID-19 once in hospital?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Speaking to that question directly we have asked a number of times whether or not it's possible to provide a breakdown. We've had the clinical leads in the Northern region give us their estimates. It is not at all the majority—the vast majority are admitted for COVID—but there is a portion who may for instance come in for broken arms appendicitis who are tested as part of the surveillance testing at A & E and picked up for having COVID. But it is as I say not the majority of cases. I'd also point out that actually that is the case for most countries we would compare ourselves to. They also record everyone with COVID. So if you're comparing hospitalisation rates we are still comparing apples with apples. To conclude I look forward to answering that member's question at No. 9 specifically on notice on Ukraine as the Prime Minister—untransferred.SPEAKER: The Prime Minister will put her mask on and then I'll call someone else."