van Velden BrookeBROOKE VAN VELDEN (Deputy Leader—ACT): Thank you Mr Speaker. Two dozen daffodils bloomed on my desk just this week and it's hard not to smile when you're looking at daffodils. They are beautiful. They're beautiful flowers. They spring up at just the right time to let us know that it's time to turn off the electric blankets that it's time to place our running shoes closer to the front door for that little bit of motivation for summer and it's time to start dusting off the barbecue for friends and family to come around and spend some time in the sun together. They represent new life new hope and resilience for a long winter that's just past. But these particular daffodils even though they're beautiful are hard to look at and it's because they're different. I was outside of Parliament last week and I saw flower growers who were sharing their story of the struggle that they have faced not being able to sell their flowers under the alert level restrictions.There are hundreds of thousands of flowers that have been dumped up and down New Zealand and have continued to do so in Auckland because they are the only primary sector producer and grower that is unable to sell their goods under level 4 conditions. They are really really struggling and that's because they're not considered an essential service. That's a little bit hard for these people to stomach especially when people are able to get ice creams and chocolate croissants delivered straight to their door. There are a whole range of different services but these particular people have not been deemed essential.We've heard from many other types of businesses that have been struggling because they've been forced to shut or they've been under restricted conditions up and down New Zealand and they're asking for more certainty and more logical rules for what is allowed to open and operate and under what alert levels. We've heard from butchers who are frustrated that people can go to their local dairy pick up some goods but they can't pop just next door and pick up meat at the same time. They have to drive further distances stand in line with more people at large supermarkets while these businesses suffer. And that's just not right. It's also surprising that the Government is not allowing these types of businesses to operate at the same time that they have an enquiry saying that there is not enough competition against the big supermarket chains. It does make you pause and question.We've also heard from cafe owners who are struggling with the last minute changes that they had to alert level 2. Even though they can operate the changes make it unprofitable even to do so with the minimum and maximum restrictions on how many people you can have. It appears that the Government just does not understand how businesses work and how they operate. The Government can print billions of dollars if it wants to but companies and small businesses can't do that. We know that there are a number of small businesses that took out loans in the last lockdown and don't have the ability even now to pay those back. Their banks won't allow them another loan.The rules are illogical. How is it possible that you can send wine to somebody special under alert level 4 but you can't send them flowers? Not only is it unromantic it is illogical. We need to have a better wellbeing approach for small businesses. We need to have it set out that businesses that can operate safely can do so not just using a blunt description of what is essential. The Government also knew about Delta months ago. They should have planned accordingly and not changed the rules at the last minute for businesses. They need to have these plans out in place earlier so businesses can plan their own business accordingly.These daffodils while a sad story show a blunt problem for business. What does the future look like? Hope and resilience can so quickly turn into withering on a compost heap.