Sepuloni CarmelHon CARMEL SEPULONI (Minister for Social Development): Madam Chair I won't speak for long today in order to ensure that there is time for robust discussion. However I do want to give a brief statement to acknowledge what has happened in the last year in the social development space and in particular the support that has been provided to New Zealanders in response to the unprecedented impacts of COVID-19.As I'm sure you would all agree the team at the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) and all of our NGOs have gone above and beyond in the time of crisis. I want to acknowledge Debbie Power the chief executive of MSD all the MSD staff our essential social services and our community groups who are all working to ensure New Zealanders are getting the support they need during the lockdown period.I'd also like to extend my thanks to my colleagues the Hon Grant Robertson the Hon Stuart Nash the Hon Phil Twyford and the Hon Iain Lees-Galloway for their support in the design and implementation of the wage subsidy and leave payment schemes as well as staff at Inland Revenue the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment and Treasury. It's been a big year for our welfare system so far and because of some of the changes we have already started making our system is fairer and more accessible for the New Zealanders in need of support. Budget 2019 saw an investment in 263 additional employment-focused front-line staff and invested in programmes that support people into work upskilling and training. As you will have seen in the select committee report in the 2018/19 financial year MSD had nearly 25000 people in employment programmes. For the first time in our history we have now indexed main benefits to average wage increases. We repealed section 192 of the Social Security Act 2018 or what was formerly section 70A which reduces a client's benefit if they do not name the other parent of their child and increased main benefit abatement thresholds to match increases in the minimum wage over the next four years to enable people to earn more before their benefit is reduced.Building on this we have continued to improve support through our welfare system in response to the impacts of COVID-19. We removed stand-down periods to ensure people out of work could access support as soon as possible. As part of our $12.1 billion phase one economic stimulus package we invested main benefits by $25 and will be doubling our winter energy payment for 2020. This package was about protecting New Zealanders' health protecting the vulnerable protecting livelihoods and ensuring the quickest recovery possible on all fronts.Last year MSD worked with approximately 1.25 million people. These are a huge range of New Zealanders including disabled people those with health conditions those who are out of work older New Zealanders sole parents students and low-income working families. We know that this year MSD will be working with even more people. Over the last week to Friday 17 April 7600 more people have signed up for our jobseeker support. The increase in benefit numbers that we are seeing was expected. It's a global phenomenon. We're already seeing dramatic increases in unemployment in countries around the world countries like Australia the UK and the USA.One of the most important schemes we as a Government put in place was the wage subsidy. This has supported around 1.7 million New Zealanders. The wage subsidy has enabled New Zealanders to stay connected with their employer during this difficult economic time helped businesses survive through the lockdown and beyond and ensured families still have a similar level or a level of income. We've also already been helping New Zealanders back into work. Before New Zealanders went into level 4 alert the Government worked quickly to stand up rapid response teams from MSD across the country to work in regions immediately affected like Tai Rāwhiti. These teams have been helping to connect people out of work with employers in some of our most hard-hit sectors. In alert level 4 MSD's employment focus continued. MSD placed 6648 clients into employment in March and so far despite it being a difficult month this month MSD has placed 2478 people into work.Yesterday we announced a new suite of employment services to help New Zealanders with their job hunting. This includes a Keep New Zealand Working online recruitment tool that connects jobseekers directly to the employer—[Bell rung]CHAIRPERSON (Hon Anne Tolley): Another call?Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: Yes please Madam Chair—making it quicker and easier for people to find work and 35 new employment centres across the country. MSD has gone to great lengths to also adapt its core services to ensure it continues to be responsive to people across COVID alert levels. They have streamlined benefit application processes so people could apply and be approved online or over the phone and continued to redeploy people into work where possible. Since 18 March an additional 279 front-line staff have been employed. We are at a place now where we have a welfare system that is ready to support New Zealanders impacted by COVID-19 and ensure those who are able can get back into employment. We are focused not only on providing support and financial assistance for those facing hardship during this time but also on re-engaging people with employment opportunities. So far we have been able to respond to the needs of New Zealanders by working hard and being adaptable and we will continue to develop our medium- and long-term response with the same dedication and resilience to keep New Zealand working. Thank you Madam Chair.CHAIRPERSON (Hon Anne Tolley): Just for the benefit—before I call anyone—of those who weren't in the House yesterday: I am in the Chair the Mace is down and we have the Minister sitting in their own chair in order to maintain safe distances.