Edmonds BarbaraBARBARA EDMONDS (Labour—Mana): Today 17 February marks four months since the general election. Around this time four months ago I was with my hairdresser Chrissy a proud Mana small-business owner. I was discussing with her my nervousness around the election results that you can never count your chickens before they hatch and the benefits of having a curl versus a straighten. But besides the skill that hairdressers and barbers possess I've held a belief for a long time that hairdressers and barbers are a good gauge of the temperature within their community; the stories the secrets and the number of clients that they must counsel over the years are worthy of a TV show. Chrissy and I would have regular catch-ups every six weeks and she would share what she was seeing as a small-business owner in the COVID world what she was hearing from her clients and overall what the sentiment on the ground was. Since the election I've met many Chrissys many small-business owners in Mana and the overwhelming sentiment has been The wage subsidy saved my business the lockdown was tough but it was needed and thank goodness we live in New Zealand and have Jacinda as Prime Minister". Now fast forward four months. I'm taking my first call in a general debate in alert level 2 with two new community cases of COVID. We on this side of this House do not underestimate the impact of an alert level 3 lockdown in Auckland. That's why we need to have a system that responds quickly and if it needs to be tweaked that it is done so. When new cases of COVID-19 emerge in the community we are ready and able to respond with a Kiwi business package. Policies and payments such as the new Resurgence Support Payment that was passed through the House—again I acknowledge the Opposition for their support of that bill yesterday—the short-term absence payment to cover eligible workers who need to stay home when they're awaiting a COVID-19 test and the COVID-19 Leave Support Scheme to help businesses pay workers who have to self-isolate because of COVID-19. We will continue to support Kiwi businesses and workers to help them through the economic impact of this virus. So thank you to our businesses in Auckland and to those across the country who've been affected by this alert level 3 lockdown. We're doing as much as we can to support our country through the economic impacts of this virus.I also want to give my thanks to those who have contributed to the COVID response particularly those at the border. Thank you. Thank you for the sacrifices that you make daily to keep our country safe. I've heard stories that some of you are refraining from going to church the gym and major events. You're going that extra mile and we thank you on this side of the House. Today I met with a Mana constituent who was based in London in March last year. He was a fit young 20-something Pacific Islander professional who really got sick. He woke up one night with fever and aches—he had COVID. He thought initially it was like a bad flu but it actually got worse. Almost a year later he is back in New Zealand and he is seeing a specialist for his new heart condition. He has long-haul COVID. He's also seeing a counsellor to help his mental wellbeing as the impacts of watching those die around you in hospital while in the UK while you do not have your family and your friends to support you provide scars that cannot be seen. He has a message to his family and his friends and to those who are wary about the vaccines coming in the future. His message is: "Please take COVID seriously. We don't know how lucky we are in New Zealand."So we on this side of the House are taking COVID seriously. Our approach of going hard and going early is why we can pride ourselves on our resilience our unity and our resourcefulness as a country. We've beaten COVID-19 before when they said it couldn't be done and we're taking the right steps to beat it again. So thank you to all the New Zealanders and our team of 5 million for playing your part in this country's COVID-19 response. I finish my contribution with a personal story of "Papa Joe" Williams one of the victims of COVID-19 who was a South Auckland doctor. When I was a university student and I was taking my children to see Papa Joe he was a huge encourager and a huge person within the Cook Island community for encouraging Pacific women and men to study tertiary education. Every time I went and saw Papa Joe he was always saying to me "How's your studies going? Do you need any support? Make sure you go to the PI network over there at Auckland University and you make sure they give you the support you need." Papa Joe was one of our victims of COVID-19 in this country. Papa Joe was the face of COVID-19 to him and his community both here in New Zealand and in the Cook Islands. So I finish my contribution with a thank you Papa Joe for your kind words."