WEDNESDAY, 25 MARCH 2020
The Speaker took the Chair at 2 p.m.
Karakia.
MINISTERIAL STATEMENTS
COVID-19—Move to Alert Level 4 and State of National Emergency
Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN (Prime Minister): I wish to make a ministerial statement informing the House of a state of national emergency and the country moving to alert level 4. Having considered the advice of the Director of Civil Defence Emergency Management, the Minister of Civil Defence declared a state of emergency for the whole of New Zealand under section 66 of the Civil Defence Emergency Management Act 2002 on 25 March 2020 at 12:21 p.m. This is to manage the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic within New Zealand. The Minister of Civil Defence took this step because of the unprecedented nature of this global pandemic and because he considered the response required to combat COVID-19 is of such a degree that it will be beyond the capacity of local civil defence emergency management groups to respond to it on their own.
This pandemic also requires a significant and coordinated response by and across central and local government. Also, under section 5 of the Epidemic Preparedness Act 2006, yesterday I issued an epidemic notice nationwide to help ensure the continuity of essential Government business due to the unprecedented effects of the global pandemic COVID-19, which are likely to significantly disrupt essential governmental and business activity in New Zealand. This epidemic notice came into effect today, 25 March 2020, just after midnight, and it will remain for three months with ongoing review and from which now further epidemic management notices and epidemic modification orders can be given, particularly across local government, immigration, and social services, crucial services that now need flexibility to operate due to the effects of an epidemic in our country and an impending shutdown to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
At 11:59 p.m. tonight, we move to the highest alert level, 4, and we as a nation go into self-isolation. The trigger: early evidence of community transmission of COVID-19 in New Zealand. But unlike so many other gravely inundated countries, we have a window of opportunity to stay home, break the chain of transmission, and save lives. It's that simple. In this fight against the virus, we have some things on our side. We are moving into this next phase of our response early ahead of any potential overrun of our hospitals, ahead of any deaths on New Zealand soil, but that does not mean we should be complacent, and that's why we must take this period of self-isolation deadly seriously.
This means we will go about life very differently to help slow down the spread of COVID-19, and in that, we all have a role to play. Only those in essential services will leave home to go to work. All others stay home and stop interactions with those outside the home. Non-essential business premises close, events and gatherings are cancelled, schools close, public transport is reserved for those that are undertaking essential services and transport of freight, domestic air travel is very limited, and New Zealanders entering at our borders undergo strict measures to isolate or quarantine. From midnight tonight, we bunker down for four weeks to try and stop the virus in its tracks and to try to break the chain. Make no mistake: this will get worse before it gets better. We will have a lag, and cases will increase for the next week, or actually more. Then we'll begin to know how successful we have been.
I am fully aware that we have moved with huge speed. No other country in the world has moved to these measures with no deaths and infections at the level that we have. We currently have five people in our hospitals, none in ICUs or needing ventilators at this stage, but we have no time to waste. We could've waited to plan every intricate detail required to execute this closure till we could answer every single question or circumstance, but every hour we wait is one more person, two more people, three more people exposed to COVID-19. That is why we did not wait. We established an alert system with clear guidance on when we must act and why. We asked people to prepare and then move decisively. These moves will be enforced, and we will be the enforcer.
Yesterday, I issued the epidemic notice, and today the Minister of Civil Defence declared a state of national emergency, both of which provide us the powers for Government to move the country to level 4. This is the second time in New Zealand's history that a state of national emergency has been declared. The first was on 23 February 2011. It followed the 6.3 magnitude earthquake in Christchurch. It followed the death of many New Zealanders, the total destruction of much infrastructure, and the crippling of essential services. It was declared to allow the greatest possible coordination of local, national, and international resources to work on rescue and recovery. I acknowledge members on the other side of the House will know well the magnitude of that declaration at that time. Today, we put in place our country's second state of national emergency as we fight a global pandemic, as we fight to save New Zealanders' lives, to prevent the very worst that we've seen in other countries around the world from happening here, to protect our essential health services, to cushion the economic impacts of COVID-19—a state of national emergency to preserve our way of life.
Every person still at work interacting with others increases the risk of the virus spreading exponentially and means we could be in lockdown for longer. That means people will be out of work for longer, doing further damage to livelihood and lives. There will be no tolerance for that. We will not hesitate to use our enforcement powers if needed. Through the early and hard measures we've taken at the border, using the powers under the Health Act, the signing of epidemic notices now, and being in a state of national emergency, we have all of the legislative means possible, all the enforcement powers, all the tools we need to combat COVID-19.
Under the Civil Defence Emergency Management Act 2002, today's declaration of a state of national emergency will allow the Director of Civil Defence Emergency Management to direct, coordinate, and use the resources made available to manage and respond to COVID-19. The Director of Civil Defence Emergency Management may also control the exercise and performance of functions, duties, and powers of civil defence emergency management groups and group controllers across the country. While in force, it will allow controllers to provide for conservation and supply of food, fuel, and essential supplies; to regulate land, water, and air traffic; to close roads and public places; to evacuate any premises, including any public place; and, if necessary, to exclude people or vehicles from any premises or place. Those are the powers that sit alongside this declaration. This declaration helps us limit our exposure and the exposure of the most vulnerable members of the community to COVID-19.
An epidemic notice further strengthens our response. It does a number of things, including allowing for special powers for medical officers of health, and immediately unlocks powers under the Corrections, Health, and Electoral Acts. But, importantly, an epidemic notice sits as an umbrella over further notices that can now be issued and which have now been issued to change and modify specific parts of legislation in a common-sense and pragmatic way to keep our systems working in a time of shutdown and get rid of particular requirements that are impractical to comply with in a time of an epidemic and when in lockdown.
Specifically, that means, for our immigration sector, temporary visas are automatically extended to late September. This comes into effect from Thursday, 2 April 2020 and means travellers with a temporary work, student, visitor, interim, and limited visa expiring before 1 April 2020 who are unable to leave New Zealand must apply online for a new visa, and an interim visa will be issued. Travellers with a temporary visa due to expire between 1 April and 9 July 2020 will have their visas extended to late September. Confirmation of extensions will be emailed directly to all visa holders. Detailed information is on the Immigration New Zealand website and covid-19.govt.nz, but anyone concerned about their visa should contact Immigration New Zealand.
For our social service sector, an epidemic notice means the Ministry of Social Development can grant emergency benefits to people who would otherwise not be entitled to them, including temporary workers who lose a job. This sits as a necessary partner to the Government's multibillion-dollar economic assistance package, that aims to keep people in jobs and with an income, including wage subsidies for all workers working legally in New Zealand and redeployment packages to be utilised post this period. It also allows for extra flexibility in relation to the payment, reinstatement, grant, increase, cancellation, suspension, or variation of benefits.
These notices and the powers which they carry are not issued lightly. The restrictions in place on New Zealanders' movements are the most significant in our modern history. I do not underestimate the gravity of what is being asked of you, of everyone, but we have a limited window of opportunity. New Zealanders want to see that these measures are being complied with, but in a way that we're used to seeing as New Zealanders. As Police Commissioner Mike Bush said, the police and the military will be working together, and there is assistance at the ready if required. If people do not follow the messages here today, then the police will remind people of their obligations. They have the ability to escalate if required. They can arrest if needed. They can detain if needed.
SPEAKER: I can see that the Prime Minister's got a little way to go. In these matters, I am the sole judge of time, and what I'm indicating to the House, both to the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition, is I'm not watching the clock.
Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Thank you, Mr Speaker. I will now summarise.
These are all tools of last resort in a time when I know New Zealanders will rally, because that is what we do. So as we enter into a stage that none of us have experienced before, I want to share a few final messages. Firstly, you are not alone. You will hear us—all of us—and see us daily as we guide New Zealand through this period. It won't always be perfect, but the principle of what we are trying to do here is the right one. Secondly, success won't be instant. The benefit of what we do today won't be felt for many days to come. Expect our numbers to keep rising, because they will, but don't be discouraged. Over time, we will see change if we all stick to the plan. Thirdly, you may not be at work, but that doesn't mean you don't have a job. Your job is to save lives, and you can do that by staying home and breaking the chain.
Finally, if you have any questions about what you can or cannot do during this period, apply a simple principle: act like you have COVID-19. Every move you then make is a risk to someone else. That is how we all must collectively think from now on. That's why the joy of physically visiting other family, children, grandchildren, friends, neighbours—for many, that is on hold now, because we're all now putting each other first, and that is what we do so well as a nation. So, New Zealand: be calm, be kind, stay at home, and break the chain. 





Hon SIMON BRIDGES (Leader of the Opposition): We're in tough times as coronavirus sweeps our globe, taking people's lives and closing economies as it goes. The response around the world has varied. Some nations have been more effective than others. NZ, our country, Aotearoa New Zealand, has not been immune. We've seen numbers surge as the virus spreads and we test more. Today, we could look backward at what's been done well, and perhaps not so well; it's not a time for that. We are where we are and we're all in this together. And today, on the big questions in this House and in New Zealand, we agree. There's no National or Labour or Green or ACT or New Zealand First; just New Zealanders. We should be going to level 4 lockdown this evening, and we are putting in all the economic resources and investments required to defeat this common enemy. 
In regard to level 4, none of us can, of course, see the future. It's possible—though, I entirely agree with the Prime Minister, not at all likely—that we come through this somewhat quickly. Some will say, "Well, shutdown—it was an over-reaction." I'd prefer that that was the case, because it means people didn't die needlessly. But if the models and the charts and the workings that I've seen, that Jacinda Ardern's seen, and that this House is seeing are right, or even, actually, half or a quarter right, and if we follow the international examples to date, broadly speaking, level 4 and shutting down is clearly right. 
In relation to the Government's investments, huge investments—the sort of budgets we haven't seen ever, actually. We saved for a rainy day as a country and now it's come, and our aim must be, and I know the House agrees, to keep businesses in business and workers in jobs so we can come out of this sooner and stronger—out of the tunnel and into the sunlight again.
Last week, we stood here and said, "Lift the cap on job support." To its credit, the Government has. We called for bank guarantees and they are now being put in place. I acknowledge the difficulty of being a finance Minister today anywhere in the world, including in this little country, Mr. Robertson. Now we must ensure that on the things we agree on, we are all working together to ensure their effective practical implementation today, tomorrow, and in coming days and weeks.
In health, that involves us gearing up with urgency the masks, the ventilators, the beds, the spaces, the staff, the relief staff, the testing, and the tracing as they will be required. Economically, we must ensure that what we intend, what Grant Robertson and Jacinda Ardern and the Government intend hits the mark. We entirely support the intentions of the job support programme. We have questions on exactly how to ensure the support gets where it should. For example, my colleague Paul Goldsmith and I were talking yesterday and this morning about Germany, where they have an interesting model for paying for reductions in work from employers so workers are kept in their normal pay. But, Mr Speaker, fundamentally we stand with the Government on all of this as New Zealanders. 
This virus is of none of our making, but it will affect, for at least a generation, the health and wealth of us as a people. We are all in this together, united against COVID-19. We all have a month, dare I say it, at least a month, to self-isolate, to show social distance, to do—or, actually, probably more accurately, not to do—what needs to be done. This doesn't mean that National will always agree with our colleagues opposite, but it does mean that as this Parliament ceases to sit for at least a month, we will join with the Government in seeking to constantly improve our nation's response for the common good of our people. 
Our members of Parliament—and I say this, I'm sure, for all parties: as I speak here in this House with just a dozen or so National MPs, there are 55 in spirit here today. Our MPs will be the eyes and the ears and the advocates for our communities. In that regard I want to acknowledge our electorate agents—in my case, Marie and Sonia back in Tauranga, who aren't working in the electorate office but are working from home incredibly hard on all of the multiple issues that this virus has brought upon my local community: immigrant cases, those stuck offshore, those in Picton wanting to get home, and businesses and workers in need of financial support. I want to thank them. Use us as members of Parliament, staff, and Prime Minister, as we can help a lot in the shared effort for our country. 
I want to thank our supermarket workers, our petrol station attendants, our IT professionals, our essential infrastructure and health workers all over this nation, our police and defence and other first responders, plus many, many more keeping New Zealand going. You're heroes. I also thank all New Zealanders for following instructions as we head to lockdown tonight, and the Prime Minister has put some of those very well. I'm confident we can show our best natures as Kiwis in following the rules and the small acts of kindness through to those of us of faith praying for our communities and our nation at this tough time. He waka eke noa—a canoe which we are all in, with no exception. We are all in this together.





Hon TRACEY MARTIN (Minister for Children): I speak today on behalf of New Zealand First, on behalf of our leader, the Rt Hon Winston Peters, and to our role in this coalition Government. The most important role of any Government is protecting its people. Many great thinkers down through the ages have talked about the role of the State and the social contract it has with its citizens, but this isn't an academic discussion; this is about people's lives.
No matter what our beliefs are, our political colours or differences, everyone comes to this Parliament wanting to make people's lives better. Sadly, that's not why we're here right now. We're here because this coalition Government is doing everything it can to stop people's lives from getting worse.
We're seeking emergency powers to deal with an emergency situation. We're taking actions to stop the spread of a virus—COVID-19—that has killed tens of thousands of people around the world, and it will go on doing so. Everyone has seen the emerging evidence and pictures. This is not New Zealand's fault, but we don't want that happening here. We do not want growing numbers of people sick, we do not want New Zealanders—our friends, our parents, our neighbours, our whānau—to die. Those things are obvious.
If that was the only thing we were dealing with, this would be easy. But there are other things New Zealanders also expect and deserve of us. They want to have jobs. They want their businesses to succeed. They want to be able to pay their bills. They also want freedom to be able to travel, to see our friends and family, but many of these freedoms must now temporarily be constrained. We want our country to be fair. So that's what we've been discussing and debating and deciding around the Cabinet table, or, in some of our colleagues' cases, over the phone.
How do we best protect New Zealanders from coronavirus? How do we best protect our way of life? And how do we do this in a way that Kiwis—these wonderful, independent, innovative, freedom-loving, caring people—think is fair? If people think that what we're doing is fair and makes sense, then they will support it.
What we've seen is that New Zealanders understand what this Government is doing. They understand why. And so they've been preparing for a new way of living over the next few weeks. No one is welcoming this, but all of us are getting on with it. So people know what the decisions are. What we're debating here later on today are the laws that will allow them to occur. We thought it important to let the public know how decisions were made. Yes, we listened to experts, and we thank them. We owe so much to the quality of the advice and the quality of the people who advise and work for the Government. We are taking expert health and science advice, and we are watching very carefully what other countries are doing and what is working and what is not. But throughout this process—and it has been a fast one—we have had to decide what we will do, and when. We have had to decide what health steps to take to keep people safe, and think through how every one of those steps impacts on people's lives in some way.
We've had to make hard decisions and we've had to make them quickly, and we had to try and get them right. It is one of the strongest things of this coalition Government and Cabinet: as well as having professional, thoughtful advice from our departments and advisers, we have looked to each other, to our experiences, and at the people around us. For New Zealand First, this is about constantly asking about the practical impact of our decisions. What does this mean for children and parents and teachers and baristas and hairdressers and bus drivers and seniors? How will we explain this to our mums and dads and to our children? What will it mean for them?
Some of us have had experience in being in isolation recently. The Deputy Prime Minister has already mentioned how New Zealanders have responded to other great challenges, being a member of that generation raised in the shadow of the Depression and war. All of these things have shaped our Government's response: the best possible medical and scientific advice, the absolute desire to keep New Zealanders safe and healthy, and the equal desire to keep our Kiwi way of life—all of our experiences and judgments and an absolute belief in how good and how kind New Zealanders are. The measures that are being passed today will not matter if New Zealanders do not show this character and look out for one another by staying at home. And remember, we are all human. There will be mistakes. We might not get everything exactly right the first time, but we will learn from those and improve.
I also want to speak as the Minister for Seniors and the Minister for Children. To New Zealand: look out for yourselves, look out for each other, and please, especially, look out for people who are older and look out for children. I'm talking about the people in your life and family and also those you may never have met before. Be good neighbours, but, seriously, we must keep a two metre distance. That doesn't mean you can't talk over the fence or through a door or window, but keep to the advised two metre distance. This isn't a time to let people feel alone or isolated. This is a time for us to show our character.
Already we have communities setting up Facebook bear hunts, where neighbours in communities put teddy bears into windows facing the street so that children, accompanied by their parents and caregivers, can go out for a walk, following the social distancing rules we keep repeating, and find the bears—or the self-isolation support groups that are springing up around New Zealand via Facebook. Neighbours can sign on to volunteer to support those who are over 70 or immune compromised or vulnerable. All those that need support can register to receive it. Get on the phone or Facebook, all right, as I did recently with my mum; hook your loved one up to Skype and make plans to stay in touch with the 65-pluses you know, and make sure they're getting the support they need.
For our over 70s, we know you are the most vulnerable, but we also know that many of you are vibrant, with active lives. But you are at greater risk from this virus, so please be careful. Stay at home. To parents that are going to have their children at home—and I don't imagine anybody thinks that the next four weeks won't be without a tiny bit of strain—please take the following advice. Don't try to recreate the school environment at home, don't download the curriculum or set recess breaks, and don't break your house up into classroom areas. You're not being asked to home-school your children. The best thing to do is to do things with them. Play board games, do the dishes, sing a song, help with the laundry, give them alone time and some screen time. You need to show them that while things are not the same, they will be all right. You are not their teachers; you are their parents and their family members, their whānau—be a family, but follow the official advice.
Don't be hard on yourselves and don't be hard on others. But of course there is worry. And if the adults act like adults and follow the simple rules outlined again and again by medical experts, the command logistics team, the Prime Minister, and the Government, then we can minimise the impact on our communities and our country. This whole encumbrance, this massive challenge, this call to unity against an invisible enemy is designed to minimise the effect of an alien intruder and maximise our chances to get through this crisis together.
My grandmother on my father's side lost her father and her little brother in 1918 during the influenza epidemic, and then she and her sister had to stay with the Sisters of Mercy. These are the stories we don't want other families to have to pass down. Together we are stronger. This too will end. Please follow the medical advice.





Hon JAMES SHAW (Minister for Climate Change): Thank you, Mr Speaker. The former US Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael Leavitt said that everything we do before a pandemic will seem alarmist; everything we do after a pandemic will seem inadequate. We here all agree that the scale of what we face right now is unlike anything that we have seen in living memory. Overcoming it is now our common purpose. So, on behalf of Marama Davidson and the Green Party, I'd like to start by endorsing the statement made by the Prime Minister, the Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern.
Most of us, I'm sure, remember the people that walked alongside us, looked out for us, and cared for us at different moments in our lives. Well, from today, every one of us can do that for every one of us. Most people will know by now that tonight we move together as a nation to alert level 4. That means everything we do from now onwards we're doing to protect the people we know and love, and those that we don't.
The New Zealanders at home today, preparing themselves and their families for the weeks ahead, will occupy a unique place in our nation's history. It's the moment when every one of us—as parents, as friends, as New Zealanders—makes clear just what it is that we value above all else. It is a moment that generations of students and scholars will study to find out what it says about how we as New Zealanders cared for one another, and the actions that we were willing to take to care for everyone. Let's ensure that they tell the story of a nation whose people knew that together, by following simple rules and taking simple actions, they could protect others and shape the future of Aotearoa New Zealand.
Like everyone who works in this place, I came here to work for change and to build a better future for the generations that follow us. I never would have thought that I would stand here today and say that the best way to make that happen is to temporarily suspend politics as usual. But it is—it is the right thing to do for the health and the wellbeing of all New Zealanders. The step that we have taken today, though extraordinary, is in keeping with what New Zealanders sent us here to do: to protect their wellbeing, to keep them safe, and to provide support for those who need it the most.
When this Government walked through the door two and a half years ago, we said that we would go to work for the wellbeing of all New Zealanders. Over the last few weeks, the crisis of COVID-19 has challenged us like nothing that we could have imagined. From the outset, we have been absolutely clear about the need for quick, decisive, and comprehensive action. Any further delay would have been deadly. 
What we have seen around the world shows how lives are lost or saved depending on a Government's ability to understand risk and its propensity to act for the common good. We have been clear about the risk. We've acted rapidly to contain it and put in place a range of compassionate measures to support those most affected.
Declaring a national emergency is the necessary next step for keeping New Zealanders safe. We can now reassure people up and down the country that all our resources will be directed at efforts to solve this and to get back to normal as quickly as possible.
I'd like to take the opportunity, whilst I can, to commend the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance for their extraordinary leadership in this extraordinary time. In two and a half years, the Prime Minister has been tested like no other in living memory—and each time she has responded with absolute clarity and with compassion. She has reassured her nation that we were ready to do what it takes, even before this global crisis found its way to our shores. Thousands of lives will be saved as a result of the decisions that she has made.
I'd also like to acknowledge the words of the Leader of the Opposition. The Opposition has an extremely important job in the coming weeks: to keep an essential part of our democracy going, and to make sure the voices of all New Zealanders are heard when they look at whether the Government is getting its response right and how to improve it.
Like others, some of the most important people in my life—my friends, my colleagues, and my family—are amongst those most at risk. Like every New Zealander, there are people in my life who I love who are elderly. I took great pleasure recently in telling my mother that she's grounded. I have colleagues who come to work and dedicate themselves to improving the lives of others whilst managing their own compromised immune systems. I have friends who live their lives with long-term medical conditions. Never before have my conversations with these people needed to start by making sure that they have not left their home and that they have what they need to get through a period of physical isolation. Never before have I had to say to them that if we are going to laugh together, celebrate, and comfort each other in the future, then they must not be in physical contact with others. 
Over the last week or two, thousands of New Zealanders would have been having the exact same conversations with those closest to them, which is why, above all else, I would like to thank those who are working together in a safe and responsible way to support those most in need. Our nurses, pharmacists, doctors, midwives, paramedics, medical laboratory scientists, kaiāwhina workers, social workers, aged care and community workers and caregivers more generally, our police officers, customs officials, people providing emergency housing for others, our food suppliers and delivery drivers, supermarket staff and dairy owners: thank you. Thank you to every one of you for being there for us when we needed it the most.
But the truth is, though, on the front line those are not the only people who are keeping us safe and well. Businesses up and down the country are taking incredible steps to make sure that their staff and their whānau are safe and cared for, because work goes on, even if there are a few more children and pets in the video conferences we're holding.
We will beat this thing because of countless actions taken by all New Zealanders: people staying at home, shopping normally, and washing their hands. It is these actions that together will make the difference. New Zealanders can be the real leaders here by sticking to the rules that the Government has set and looking out for one another.
I trust the compassion and the thoughtfulness of New Zealanders to do the right thing. We are a nation of historical, spiritual, and cultural connection; of stories that cross thousands of miles and span centuries of history. We are a kind, compassionate nation that wants a better future not just for ourselves but for all people. We're a nation that understands that even though we may each tell a different story about who we are or where we came from, we all want the same thing: a better future for our children and for our grandchildren. We often talk about this better future as something that we need to work towards over long periods of time, but, today, if we just follow the rules, our better future can be a matter of weeks or months away. 
So to everyone: keep well, look out for each other, and keep your distance physically but not as human beings. Call people. Connect with friends online. Message your colleagues to make sure that they're OK, because now, more than ever, we need each other. Nō reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātou katoa.





DAVID SEYMOUR (Leader—ACT): Thank you, Mr Speaker. I join with my fellow New Zealanders and members of Parliament here today in welcoming the Prime Minister's notice under the Epidemic Preparedness Act. It has come not a moment too soon, when the stakes are high—they are literally life and death. We must now carry out the Government's strategy in order to make sure that we come out on the side of life.
We should acknowledge that we are fortunate to inherit a very sound set of institutions as a country. The Epidemic Preparedness Act, the Civil Defence Emergency Management Act, for instance, our civil service, and this Parliament allow us to face this crisis as a nation and as a team. I believe that our Government is doing the best it is capable of to address this crisis under trying circumstances, with limited information, high-stakes decisions, in a fast-changing situation.
It is critical that we all follow the game plan. Sometimes one does not like or agree with the coach's game plan, but we also know that if every player doesn't follow the plan, then actually we have no plan at all and, typically, in my experience, teams that do that lose. We as New Zealanders should not be aiming just to get through this; we should be aiming to get through it better than any other country, because that's who we really are—we are the people who moved further for a better life than any others on earth. If you doubt that, just look at the map; there we are, having moved the farthest.
We can, by sticking together and following the plan, do better than any other country. It's important that we each play our role. This Parliament has a role to play as well. We feed information from our electorates and from New Zealanders into the political process. It's critical that we continue to do that. My electorate office staff, as I wrote to Epsom electorate people, will continue working, even if remotely, no matter what circumstances obtain.
There are examples where, while we should be following the Government's plan, the Government has the opportunity to fine-tune it and improve it. Let me give one example of the kind of discussion that I think we need to keep having. The suburb of Parnell has a perfectly good fruit and veggie store and butcher; it has a dairy which will remain open. It makes far more sense for people to get their provisions at the Gladstone Road shops than leave Parnell—which is, effectively, an urban island—and go to much bigger stores in other suburbs. I hope that the Government will continue to fine-tune its plans and consider such anomalies, and that people, again, will follow the game plan.
Some people wait for the Government to act but, actually, each of us are able to choose how we act, and make our contribution to New Zealanders getting through this crisis better than any other nation. Many people have approached my electorate office in the past few days, seeking to interpret various criteria—"Can I do this? What is my particular business in relation to essential services?" I can understand that the Government couldn't have total clarity, and if it had waited till it had total clarity, it would have ignored General Patton's great maxim, "A good plan violently executed this week is far better than a perfect plan executed next week."
But as those clarifications come through, we have to make our own judgments. I've counselled people who have approached me with a simple bit of advice: this is a generational defining period. People will remember how you, your household, your business, your institution makes its choices at this time. They will judge and they will remember. I think the best way to make decisions, if there's any doubt about following the guidelines as they become clearer, and the right way for people to think, is "How will this look as people look back and judge?" With that, I commend the Prime Minister's statement. We are all in this together as New Zealanders. Thank you very much.





IMPREST SUPPLY (THIRD FOR 2019/20) BILL
Introduction
Bill introduced.
First Reading
Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance): I move, That the Imprest Supply (Third for 2019/20) Bill be now read a first time. 
Bill read a first time.





Second Reading
Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance): I move, That the Imprest Supply (Third for 2019/2020) Bill be now read a second time. 
This Government made a decision at the outset to go hard and to go early in the fight against COVID-19. We said we would do everything that it takes to protect New Zealanders' health and support everybody through this crisis. Our job as a Government is also to cushion the blow for workers, businesses, and the economy through this and to position our economy and our society to be in the best position to recover on the other side. 
I recognise that this is no ordinary imprest supply bill. At $40 billion of operating expenditure and $12 billion of capital, this is a large authority to spend. It should be remembered that this is in fact a technical exercise to ensure that the money is available. All expenditure will still be subject to further appropriation. But the scale of the spending is the price that we have to pay. It's the price of making sure our public health system can operate and support New Zealanders. It's the price of people keeping their jobs and keeping their homes. It's the price of cushioning the blow to businesses and of keeping them afloat, and it's the price of making sure that the core of an economy exists that we can build on to recover in the way that New Zealanders want us to do. 
The bill will not only approve the funding needed for the Government's significant actions to date in New Zealand's fight against COVID-19 but also provides for further substantial action as necessary. The actions we have taken so far have been significant indeed. Overall, the Government has already announced more than $20 billion of initiatives to cushion the blow of COVID-19 on Kiwis' health, jobs, businesses, and the economy. It is hard to believe that it is only just over a week since I stood in this House and talked about our $12.1 billion package. 
As part of that package, we provided an initial first addition of $500 million to support the public health response to the COVID-19 outbreak. We are already seeing the impact of those resources in building up our public health units, in the arrival of emergency testing centres, in the initial intensive care capacity that we've grown, in the provision of equipment for hospitals, and in the support for GPs and primary care, along with significant additional video conferencing and telehealth consultations and the significant increase in capacity for Healthline. All of the support for hospitals and community providers to deal with the surge of patients and support for advice for people caring at home—all of it—is only the beginning when it comes to what we need to do to support our health service. 
I want to take this opportunity to again pay tribute to every single health worker in New Zealand. As they go into this next four weeks, their lives will be quite different from our lives, and we need to think about that and thank them for that every single day. 
Over and above our increased support for the health system, we are providing significant support to New Zealand's jobs and incomes through this difficult period. We introduced a relief payment to incentivise self-isolation and protect those who were infected by COVID-19. We put in place the wage subsidy scheme that is available to all New Zealand businesses, sole traders, and the self-employed, and that is an important point when we look to other countries in the world who have not done that for the self-employed and sole traders, and they are many of the people who have taken up the scheme. Registered charities, NGOs, incorporated societies, and post-settlement governance entities are all included in the scheme. 
I hear the words of the Leader of the Opposition. We must continue to look at that scheme and ensure it remains appropriate to support New Zealanders as we move through the next few weeks. Alongside protecting Kiwis' jobs, we've also announced, alongside retail banks and the Reserve Bank, a six-month mortgage holiday for people whose incomes have been affected by COVID-19. This will mean people do not lose their homes as a result of COVID-19. 
It does mean they'll have to still pay their mortgage; it's just the payments are being deferred for now. I do ask today those who are in receipt of the deferred mortgage payment to think, if they are landlords, about those who pay rent in their homes and ensure that we are genuinely all in this together.
We have recognised that some of our most vulnerable will require further support and protection through this difficult period. That's why we permanently increased main benefits by $25 per week and doubled the amount paid through the winter energy payment for 2020 and are removing the hours test for the in-work tax credit. Today, this Parliament will also consider freezing all rent increases and extending no-cause terminations for tenancies. These measures are essential to support the most at risk, to support them to pay for their accommodation and their food and keep them warm over the coming weeks and months. 
Our response is also helping to cushion the blow of the global COVID-19 pandemic for businesses. Yesterday, I announced that the Government and retail banks are implementing a $6.25 billion business finance guarantee scheme for small and medium sized businesses. This is leveraging the Government's financial strength to allow banks to provide short-term credit to cushion the financial distress on solvent small and medium sized firms affected by the crisis. We've also introduced a raft of tax changes to help increase businesses' cash flows, including the reinstatement of depreciation deductions for commercial buildings, increasing the threshold for provisional tax, increasing the threshold for writing off low-value assets, and giving time-limited discretion to Inland Revenue to remit the interest on tax debt if a taxpayer is unable to pay on time due to the impacts of COVID-19. 
It's important to remember all of these measures today. So much has happened in the last week. I encourage businesses to look at the full package of measures that are available to them, to support them to continue and to support them to keep workers employed. These measures—keeping people connected to their jobs; supporting businesses to stay open, even if their place of work is closed; and making sure mortgage repayments can be suspended so people can stay in their homes—are all steps to ensure we are positioned for a recovery. 
I do say to all businesses today: do not lay off your staff if you can avoid it. Make contact with the Ministry of Social Development. Ensure that you and your people are able to come back from this. The Government is throwing everything we can at keeping the economy afloat, and we ask businesses to play their part to support workers in this extraordinary period of time of need. 
This bill will approve capacity for $52 billion of spending on our immediate COVID-19 response. This is, essentially, an emergency backstop, not a prediction of exactly how much will be spent, but it does demonstrate the level of commitment of this House and this Government to fighting the virus and protecting New Zealand from it. The money we set aside and spend on the response to this pandemic cannot just be looked at in terms of dollars and cents. The price we would pay as a country for not acting, for not putting aside this money, is absolutely unthinkable. It is prudent to provision for a wide range of potential scenarios now so that we can continue to respond swiftly and decisively to this rapidly changing situation. 
I've been asked quite a bit in the last few days: can New Zealand afford this? Of course we can, and we certainly can't afford not to do it. But here I paid tribute to Bill English and Sir Michael Cullen, in particular, as finance Ministers who ensured that we were ready for the rainy day. It's arrived, it's pouring, ladies and gentlemen, and we need to make sure we build off the benefits of that disciplined work that came before us, and indeed that of this Government during our two years. 
This won't be easy and it won't be fast, but New Zealand will get through it. As I've said previously, I take my lessons from Governments like the first Labour Government, who responded in a time of crisis with investment, pragmatism, optimism, and kindness. I've said before that this bill is the price of supporting our people and our economy. It's also the sign of a decent society. It's a sign of the importance of strong and compassionate Government and the power of the State and our collective will to do good. It's a promissory note, this bill, to the people of New Zealand about the importance of looking out for each other.





Hon PAUL GOLDSMITH (National): Thank you, Mr Speaker. The National Party stands to support this bill and the efforts of the Government to try and respond to this unprecedented challenge to our way of life and our health and our ability to earn a living and look after ourselves and our families. 
Many of us are looking forward to some quality family time over the next few weeks, and many households are figuring out how to manage that while parents work from home. Of course, many people aren't able to work because their jobs have gone and they're dealing with that very, very difficult set of circumstances, and we are also conscious of the many essential workers, the health workers, many in my family, out working hard, very hard at the moment in stressful and trying times—also supermarket workers, many who are increasing their own personal risk so that New Zealanders have access to food and necessities. So we're very conscious of all that effort right across the country and the fact that we're all doing our very best to get through this difficult situation the best we can. 
So when we look at this piece of legislation, of course, it's about the massive economic cost of this exercise: $52 billion, which is about 17 percent of GDP—as it was before the crisis; it might be a higher percentage now, who knows? So it does amount to the biggest blank cheque in the history of the country, and we give it to the Minister of Finance in the hope and aspiration that he won't need to spend all of it. He may or he may not, but we, obviously, back him in his wise decision-making about how that money is spent, bearing in mind that it will have an impact on generations to come in terms of the impact it will have on our economy.
So, look, the health response I won't go into in great detail, but, fundamentally, if it's a choice between half measures, and a very lengthy disruption for our country and our way of life, and more severe measures leading to a better health outcome and a shorter disruption and quicker restoration, then I think we all agree that the latter is preferable. And assuming that is the broad strategy of this Government, it makes sense. 
So we've gone for a lockdown, and obviously I'd echo the messages of many speakers before, and no doubt after, that as New Zealanders we all need to work together to ensure that that lockdown is as effective as it can be so that we can deal with this virus as quickly as we can and go back to our lives.
There are many challenges around being as effective as we can in the health response, ensuring that we continue to test as quickly as we can, get a real sense of how big the issue is, and get on top of it. The biggest economic priority is to reduce the damage as much as possible, the long-term damage. So that's going to be very, very challenging, particularly in the tourism and travel sector, where we would expect that we'll have massive disruption for quite a long time. It won't be instantaneous that it comes back whenever the actual virus pandemic is over. That particular part of the economy is dealing with large-scale layoffs right now and it's a very difficult time, and our hearts and our minds are with those many people.
For the rest of the economy, fundamentally, it's about ensuring that as many businesses and firms can survive, and keeping as many people employed or connected with those businesses as possible so that we can rebuild afterwards. Like most other MPs, I'm sure we've all been in conversation over the last few days with business people and owners. I won't forget the bewildered look in their eyes when I was in a business a couple of days ago, saying, "Well, I might not see you for a few months." and they said, "Well, if that's the case, you will never see me, because this business won't survive more than a month." This is something that that person has spent their lifetime building up—30 years building up a business, and to see it just disappear is a bewildering thing for many people. That's why we have to think as carefully as we can to ensure that those things that people have spent their lives building up—that we give them the best opportunity to survive through this period and to come back to life when things return to normal. 
So that's why we have supported the wage subsidy scheme. That's why we asked last week that it be broader and more generous above that $150,000 cap, and I'm very glad that the Government moved to do that. And I'd echo the thoughts of Simon Bridges to say, you know, we need to keep monitoring that very closely, because it certainly is working effectively and the money is getting out very quickly to some businesses, particularly smaller businesses, to get them through. 
Some of the larger businesses, it may not work well for them, and if we do see significant layoffs in the next week or few days, we may have to ask ourselves whether that needs adjustment. The New Zealand Initiative, for one group, have been advocating a move to a similar scheme to the UK's and Germany's, whereby more businesses are, effectively, mothballed and employees are put on furlough and a proportion of their wages, up to a limit, are covered. You know, that is eye-wateringly expensive and you couldn't do that for a long period of time, but it's something that we may have to consider if we find the subsidy scheme isn't achieving what it set out to achieve. So that's something that I just encourage the Government to keep flexible about over the next little while, and we would be supportive of any changes in that direction if required. 
The other bank guarantees for new lending, I think, is a sensible way to do it. Sharing the risk with the banks so the Government is taking on some risk but the banks are also having some direct risk, some skin in the game, is the best way. They know the businesses best. They understand what the issues are and what was a fundamentally sound business before the epidemic and what can survive afterwards. I do think it's also worth considering ramping up the access to professional advice to businesses. It would have to be over the phone, of course, but through the chambers of commerce and things like that, there are other things that could be done. 
The other point I'd make is that I do think it's important to encourage the Government to ensure that they have a general broad stream of economic advice coming through to them. The Government's not called on us directly for that, and that's fine, but I would encourage them to continue to talk right across the sector in the economy. I understand they've been doing that through Business New Zealand and the New Zealand Initiative and, presumably, the Prime Minister's business advisory group. I just encourage them to push that further and make sure that they reach out as far as they can, making use of the full capability that we have in this country.
I presume the message has been sent out and, you know, requests for proposals have been sent out to New Zealand businesses to produce protective gear or equipment or respirators or anything that we are short of across the economy. I haven't seen evidence of it, but I certainly encourage the Government to be making sure that we use the full capacity of New Zealand's ingenuity to get things in line and also to clear away regulatory barriers to getting on with stuff. 
We've got difficulty around directors' liability around trading insolvently or reckless trading. In these things you have to have an element of pragmatism there through the regulators; likewise with responsible lending codes for banks, and so forth. If you're trying to encourage banks to lend out, you've got to be careful about how that works in practice.
Now, the other point I'd make is that while this Government needs to make decisions day by day—big decisions around shutting down parts of the economy—on the fly, and we all understand the need for the urgency, I do make the point that as soon as we can, we need to start seeing the Government's assumptions, its plan, its framework, so that we can understand broadly what the plan is and how they will make decisions to open up as much of the economy back as quickly as we can, as quickly as we safely can, down the line. In a month's time, how will we balance the risks of further spread of the virus versus the risks of economic collapse—how we'll make those judgments. We're not quite there yet, but we can start shaping that discussion better and sending some signals about how the Government will make those decisions, which I think is important for the overall confidence and the ability of businesses and employers and jobs to survive so that we can come through.
And finally, I also think we should take the long view as well when we do rebuild this economy. What do we do to ensure that when we come out of this, we can come out stronger? Firstly, that's about, obviously, saving as many firms as we can and jobs as we can. But we also need to be thinking about getting shovel-ready projects for infrastructure under way now, and we'd support doing that quickly, not in six months' time or a year's time, but, you know, as quickly as possible—our digital infrastructure just as much as our physical infrastructure—and also getting on with the growth plan for the economy when we come out in the end. 
So all in all, it's an extraordinary piece of legislation that we're talking about here, and eye-watering figures which New Zealanders can pay because of the careful stewardship of previous Governments, both Labour and National, and we wish the Government all its wisdom over the next few weeks as it makes decisions that impact upon New Zealanders' lives and their ability to work and provide for themselves and their families over the weeks to come. Thank you, Mr Speaker.





Hon TRACEY MARTIN (Minister of Internal Affairs): I rise on behalf of New Zealand First in support of the Imprest Supply (Third for 2019/20) Bill in front of us today—as has been mentioned, $52 billion that the Government is, I guess, seeking from this House to ensure the work that the Minister of Finance and those supporting him have been doing to support New Zealand businesses, New Zealand's self-employed, New Zealand banks, New Zealand individuals, New Zealand homes, and New Zealand families while we deal with what we need to deal with to address COVID-19.
I want to pick up on something that Mr Seymour said and repeat it. There are 120 members of Parliament of this House. Our job is to make sure that we hear the voices of New Zealanders and to be there for them. We are their servants. So during this time, I hope that business and New Zealanders hear the full package that the Minister of Finance has talked about, that this bill will enable, and know that our email addresses still work. We may not be here, but we are still on the job, and so if you have difficulties, if you need information that you cannot find for whatever reason on the ministries' websites, whether that be the COVID-19 website or whether that be on the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment's website (MBIE)—wherever—then fire off an email. We are still working, we are still your servants, and as soon as we can, I'm sure that every member of Parliament will make sure that they find where they can direct you to so that you will be able to access or at least find out more information about the supports that the Minister of Finance has talked about today.
I also want to ask for you to be patient. I noticed up on social media that businesses have been trying to get through, whether it be to the Ministry of Social Development or whether it be through to MBIE. This is not a flash in the pan. The Government's support will be there for as long as it takes to bring us through COVID-19 and out the other side so that our country is healthy, just as much as we want our individual citizens to be healthy. So I ask you to be patient on the phones. I ask you to understand that this is an unprecedented event, that our public servants have been working from their homes 24/7, many of them, to make sure that the systems are in place to try and provide you with as much support and confidence so that during these uncertain times, you will know that your Government is here for you.
The one other thing I would like to talk about is I do want to acknowledge Fire and Emergency New Zealand, both the career and volunteers, who are also part of the essential services that are going to be on the front line after midnight tonight. I want to make sure that we acknowledge those individuals who also give up time and put themselves in the way of harm to support their communities, and the NGOs that are going to need support here.
Like my family, who has had two young people instantly find themselves unemployed, there are other families that are going to be in the same circumstances. My family can ride this through because of the level of income that we have had over a period of time. We're lucky. There are other families that do not have the level of income that they need to ride this through, so part of what the Government will do is to support those NGOs and those community organisations that we need to, to support those who will have and are having a more difficult time over the next four weeks and beyond that.
So on behalf of New Zealand First, knowing that this House wants to move forward and pass these so that the people of New Zealand can have confidence in the support from their Government, New Zealand First supports the bill.





Hon TODD McCLAY (National—Rotorua): I rise with the National Party supporting this legislation, and we do so knowing its importance but also the significant impact it will have on all New Zealanders for so very many years to come. The finance Minister in his intervention earlier said that this is about jobs—saving jobs—and about saving homes, and National agrees with him. Indeed, it's about giving certainty and surety to every single New Zealander and for them to know that this House stands beside them.
I have some particular comments in a moment about the level of expenditure, unprecedented for this House to take a decision on like this—the right decision. But before I do, I want to recognise the thousands of New Zealanders who are working today and will work tomorrow and in the days to come during the shutdown, to help others and to keep people safe and to keep them alive. I also want to recognise the parents and children of families who are scared and worried today, who are challenged by uncertainty these days and weeks that they will see before us. To those who will work, this House recognises them and thanks them and thanks them in advance for their many deeds of heroism that we will see and hear about in the weeks and months to come. And to those at home who are uncertain and distressed, do know that we are with you. Collectively, we can pull through this. 
Today, Parliament has decided to also work quickly to agree the Government can spend up to $52 billion, at least up to June of this year, to keep the country going, to keep people safe, and to ensure that households are provided for. In a small part, that's lifting the burden on so many New Zealanders who have questioned over the previous days exactly how they will provide for themselves. This is an unprecedented amount of money, and it will have an effect upon every New Zealander—every New Zealander for decades to come. And I say to the finance Minister, and I know he recognises this, but it must be spent expeditiously, but also responsibly, to help New Zealanders, knowing that it is they in future generations that will work hard to pay it back. 
The support will go to workers and to businesses, large and small, and when we talk about businesses, we are talking about the people that work in those businesses, that go home to their families every night to provide for them. It will provide for those who don't work and those who are no longer going to be able to work because their jobs won't be there. It will be spent to help our health system, our police and security, the supply chain, and many other functions that we have had the luxury of taking for granted but, in the coming period of time, we'll have to work so hard to support.
In health, the focus must be on the health service, but remember also mental health—those who are vulnerable and isolated. There will be so many New Zealanders who today are not sure how they will be able to function with so many changes. In law and order, our police will be dealing with the everyday duties, but an unprecedented amount of additional work and workload. These funds that we're spending on behalf of future generations must also be used for them. 
I'm particularly pleased that the support that has been announced previously has been expanded very quickly to help sole traders and the self-employed. It is important that we now see business and bank guarantees, but I ask the finance Minister as we move forward to also consider the work that he's doing around rents and for landlords so we can lift that burden and there can be less uncertainty. I think all landlords will work with the Government and will look to look after their renters, but it will be important that they, too, are given some certainty. 
We need to make sure that the funds to households are delivered quickly—so very, very quickly—and people who will need the support must know that the emails, the phone calls, will be dealt with as fast as they can be. I receive reports from my community in Rotorua that this is happening, but the workload I think will increase. The unemployment rate that we hear about, which often feels like just a number on our televisions, will no longer be that; it will be of our friends and our families and our neighbours who are no longer able to work—I fear that that rate will go to levels that few alive have ever known—and they need to know that this House will stand with them and work very hard to make sure that as we come through this as strongly as we can, there will be a future.
In tourism, as my colleague Paul Goldsmith mentioned, in Queenstown and Rotorua but all parts of New Zealand, particularly my hometown electorate of Rotorua, there are significant challenges. They will be with us for not months but years and years to come. We'll need to look at how we can rebuild industries like that and give people certainty: how to make sure that they have the work that they will require to provide for their families as quickly as they can. Mr Goldsmith has mentioned we need to, as we move forward through this, find projects in the wider community that can get under way very quickly. We no longer have the luxury—if it was a luxury—of waiting for years of planning and consents and so on to rebuild the country. The Opposition remains and stands ready to work with the Government to do these things. 
I ask the finance Minister to continue to engage widely with our banks and with our business community. They have the ability to help us get through this in a much stronger shape than we might need otherwise. He will have all of the wealth of officials available to him as we had when we were in Government, and I thank them for their work. But those who actually are representing the businesses on the ground will have as much input and as much to offer as our officials do—in many cases, actually, probably much more than some of our officials. 
Can I finish by recognising, as the finance Minister did, the hard work of previous members of Parliament here: Michael Cullen, Bill English and Steven Joyce, collectively, almost a decade in charge of the Government books and often through very, very challenging—[Interruption] Two decades, sorry, almost two decades—I almost forgot one decade—of stewarding the Government books so that we are in a position to weather the storm better than we might have otherwise. The country, as does this House, owes all three of those men a debt of gratitude. 
I also want to recognise those who were responsible, who worked every single day—Steven Joyce—for the leadership around the ultra-fast broadband programme that was rolled out in New Zealand. It means that actually we have a world-class communications infrastructure in New Zealand that will help people during the lockdown and the many months there afterwards. It's not actually just about the ability for our families, our children, to watch tonight Lightbox or Netflix; it actually means that in times when the cell phones have not worked as well as we need them to, as we saw just earlier in the week, data actually allows people to keep in touch and to continue to communicate. 
These are unprecedented times. This is an unprecedented amount of resource that the Opposition is joining with the Government to commit on behalf of New Zealanders. It is important that we support them—that they know that we are standing with them in these trying times that will be ahead. In the coming days and weeks and months, it will be important as a House that we find ways to continue to work together to help rebuild the country. Thank you.





Hon JAMES SHAW (Minister for Climate Change): I rise to confirm the Green Party's support for this imprest supply bill. It can be comforting to believe that big history is something that happens to other people in other places. You read about it in books, but you assume that it doesn't happen to you. We're very comfortable studying about the past in the abstract, but events in recent weeks, I think, have given us a chance to reflect anew on those blurry photos in textbooks and consider the role that we have here in shaping how future generations of New Zealanders will view the events which we are participating in today. 
It's matched, I think—exceeded, actually—by the vital work that's being done throughout Aotearoa by nurses and doctors and support staff in our hospitals, by the people stocking supermarket shelves, by those who are transporting food, and all of those people who are engaged in the simple act of caring for others. It's in these moments where we are learning more than ever that it is some of our hardest-working but lowest-paid workers who hold our communities together. 
Supporting the health and wellbeing of our whānau, our friends, our loved ones, and wider communities is at the heart of everything that we're doing as a Government in response to COVID-19. This is what motivated the Government's commitment to permanently increase benefits by $25 a week, to provide wage subsidies to ensure that workers will continue to receive an income over the coming months, and to invest $500 million in the healthcare system to manage the impacts in our hospitals and on our health services. 
Closing our borders, sending the country home for a month, spending tens of billions of dollars and counting, in the relatively short drop of a parliamentary hat—I can tell you as a Government Minister that these are all decisions that I would have said were inconceivable when taken individually, let alone as a whole and in such rapid succession. So we ought to pause here for a moment to reflect on what we're learning as this process rolls out and how we can continue to act in the long-term interests of communities around Aotearoa New Zealand. I think that we've got an opportunity to take stock of what we've done so far and to evaluate how we build better systems that put care of our people and our planet first. 
I think one of the most important things that we're learning, again, is the power of the Government balance sheet. Although I know for certain that it has given the Minister of Finance many sleepless nights the last few weeks, he has acted swiftly and decisively in opening the purse strings to soften the local effects of a profound blow that a shutdown in the movement of people and many goods has had on the whole world economy. I cannot overstate the importance of commitments such as protecting people's pay through wage guarantees, paid self-isolation leave, and mortgage freezes for the many hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders who face an uncertain financial future as a result of COVID-19. In a way, this is the Government fulfilling its most basic duty: stepping in when no one else can to ensure that families can keep food on their tables and a roof over their head. 
Now, one of the most remarkable things about this vast injection of money and the severely truncated process of which it was the end result is the near universal public support for the Minister of Finance's stimulus package. This morning, Stuff reported on a poll conducted over the weekend which showed 83 percent support for the stimulus measures taken out. As it turns out, there are no fiscal conservatives in a fox hole. 
New Zealand, of course, is not alone in going to extraordinary lengths to support local communities with COVID. Governments from around the world, from right across the political spectrum, have suddenly discovered the joys of Keynesianism, which in many ways even the great financial crisis was unable to elicit. Wage guarantees in the United Kingdom, a doubling of unemployment benefits in Australia, US Republicans voting for extensions to Government-backed paid leave—none of these sound like the actions of right-wing conservative administrations, and yet here we are at the dawn of a brave new world, a world where we put care and concern for each other at the centre, the deeply held human values of making sure that we're all OK. 
So given that the world has finally simultaneously learnt to love Government spending and investment in our communities, how can we ensure that we don't inadvertently reinforce mistakes that we've made in the past when responding to a crisis? I say that we need to have a vision of the kind of world that we want to pass on for future generations. The Green Party believes that the future economy has to be cleaner than today's, fairer than today's—an economy that supports biodiversity and a connected country with prosperous, vibrant communities, smart, low-carbon industries, a strong social safety net, affordable housing, and puts Te Tiriti o Waitangi at the heart of everything that we do. This is the vision that the Greens have always sought to represent in this House. It is a hopeful and future-focused vision, and I believe that it is a vision that New Zealanders need now more than ever. It is a new reality that we can imagine going forward.
This, in many ways, is an opportunity to reshape how we do things and to look past the status quo. The amount of money that we're likely to spend in the coming months and years to get New Zealanders back to work and the wheels of the economy turning again will be massive. We could spend that money locking in a high-carbon, wasteful economy where, despite the good work that this Government has done, the circumstances of your birth still dictate the outcomes of your life to far too great an extent. It would be all too easy, in our desire to have things just go back to the way they were before COVID-19, to repeat the mistakes of the past, to pump money into the old polluting economy, when we have the opportunity to create a different future. We can put that money to work on the process of creating something new. We could put it towards a cleaner, fairer future for our people and the land, where economic prosperity no longer means rising emissions, where nature is at the heart of what Government does, and where our investments in social support, in housing, or in preventing domestic violence mean that everyone has a decent shot at participating in society.
Now, I doubt that the sum total of anxiety in the world has been higher at any point since the 13 days of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Although extraordinary measures such as society-wide lockdowns are a vital tool in our fight against a deadly enemy, they do little to ease the sense that people have of living in uncertain and unpredictable times. The stress of living through a pandemic has multiplied for the tens of thousands of Kiwis who have or will become unemployed as a result of the crisis and of the responses taken. With events moving so quickly, it's easy to lose sight of the future in the constant scramble to stay up to date with the present. When you don't know what the next week holds, let alone the next year, it can be very easy to feel like you're living in the end times, and the scenes that we've seen in supermarkets around the country are just one symptom of those feelings. No one who truly believes that the future is going to be all right buys 200 rolls of toilet paper. People are looking to our Government for reassurance that we are going to come out the other side of this OK, and I want New Zealanders to know that we are looking out for them and we will do everything that we can to make sure that things are OK. 
As we pass a bill allowing the Government to appropriate $52 billion, I encourage everyone here to consider the long-term implications of what we spend that money on over the coming months, and the importance of presenting a future which can be a beacon to people locked nervously inside their homes over the coming weeks. I've been buoyed by the level of commitment across all parties in this House to ensuring that support flows quickly to those who need it the most. I hope that we can continue to work closely together in the months ahead to see that New Zealand comes out the other side. I truly commend this bill to the House.





DAVID SEYMOUR (Leader—ACT): Thank you, Mr Speaker. And as I listened to James Shaw, the leader of the Green Party, give his speech, I was reminded of one of those America's Cup races where someone sails across the line before the gun goes off. It is not time to start talking about what ideological flavour of recovery this country should have but to talk about having a recovery.
And what the Minister of Finance is proposing is to have the ability to spend $52 billion. Let's put that in some perspective. That is as much as all the tax paid by every household and business in New Zealand for a year. It is as much as all of the value produced by the whole country working for two whole months. It amounts to borrowing $10,000 for every single person, from newborn to centenarians, in this country. The interest, in current favourable terms, is about $200 per year per person; but, who knows, if interest rates return to historic norms, it's $600 a year in interest for every single person at normal interest rates.
That doesn't mean we shouldn't do it, but it does mean that if we're going to spend $52 billion, we should do it right. Some questions that the Government might want to ask itself, and this Parliament should ask, are: is this initiative that the Government is spending money on going to help us get to a COVID-19 recovery? It should be directly related to the goal, not trying to put in a kind of structural change that the Labour Party might otherwise want. That's why the changes to benefits were a mistake.
Another question is: will it help businesses keep together? As the recovery eventually comes, we need the nexus of skills and relationships and capital that make up businesses—whether it is the pizza joints on Manukau Road in Auckland or a much bigger business, it needs to be able to stick together. A suggestion on that for the Minister of Finance: he has got, I think, a very good scheme negotiated with the banks to help businesses struggling with credit—that's a good initiative. It works for those customers of the four big Aussie banks, but there are smaller local banks whose customers, for the most part, have less than $250,000 turnover, and they don't qualify. I think that that should be addressed.
People have been messaging me, I know, talking about personal protective equipment (PPE). They've seen videos from around the world, where all manner of people have much better PPE than even some healthcare workers—people in pharmacies who are on the front line of this crisis right now. A major priority for spending this money should be getting PPE in place.
The scheme to compensate workers—$585 for a full-time worker—is not a bad idea, but it's pretty blunt; it's pretty one-size-fits-all. I'd commend to the Minister of Finance—looking at what the New Zealand Initiative has proposed—copying the successful German policy out of the GFC: short-time work, where businesses that have to shrink their volume—say, a tourist business that's had a serious reduction in volume—have the ability to lay off workers and have a percentage of their wages paid by the Government for the interim. It allows them to scale up, it allows them to scale down, it keeps the businesses in place so that they can actually get back into business when there is a recovery. That's the kind of practical thinking that we need over the coming weeks as this Minister of Finance attempts to spend $52 billion, but, hopefully, not all of it.
Finally, there must be an increase in testing. I accept that there are practical constraints on how many tests can be done, but one of the most important things New Zealand can do in order to ensure that we get on top of this crisis is test, test, test. That is a place where this $52 billion—not all of it—should allow us to be among the leading testers in the world. We should be testing like South Koreans.
I want to finish by thanking all of those people—those people in supermarkets, those people in hospitals, many of whom have become front-line essential workers for reasons not of their own choosing. I think all of us as New Zealanders should have our thoughts with them today. Thank you very much, Mr Speaker, and good luck to Grant Robertson.
Bill read a second time.





Third Reading
Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance): I move, That the Imprest Supply (Third for 2019/20) Bill be now read a third time.
Bill read a third time.





COVID-19 RESPONSE (TAXATION AND SOCIAL ASSISTANCE URGENT MEASURES) BILL
COVID-19 RESPONSE (URGENT MANAGEMENT MEASURES) LEGISLATION BILL
Introduction and Passage through all Stages
Hon CHRIS HIPKINS (Leader of the House): Following discussions across the House, I seek leave for the introduction and passing through all stages of the COVID-19 Response (Taxation and Social Assistance Urgent Measures) Bill and the COVID-19 Response (Urgent Management Measures) Legislation Bill, and that there be no debate on the first and second readings, and no committee stage of those bills.
SPEAKER: Is there any objection to that process being followed? There appears to be none.





COVID-19 RESPONSE (TAXATION AND SOCIAL ASSISTANCE URGENT MEASURES) BILL
First Reading
Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance) on behalf of the Minister of Revenue: I move, That the COVID-19 Response (Taxation and Social Assistance Urgent Measures) Bill be now read a first time.
Bill read a first time.





Second Reading
Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance) on behalf of the Minister of Revenue: I move, That the COVID-19 Response (Taxation and Social Assistance Urgent Measures) Bill be now read a second time.
Bill read a second time.





Third Reading
Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance) on behalf of the Minister of Revenue: I move, That the COVID-19 Response (Taxation and Social Assistance Urgent Measures) Bill be now read a third time.
The Government's first priority is preventing and mitigating the health risks posed by the coronavirus, and to protect the vulnerable in our society. But we are also keenly aware of the need to prevent and mitigate risks to our economy. We must protect our economic health alongside our physical and mental health.
This bill therefore contains measures which aim to help New Zealand weather the economic storm, which we are already going through, and assist in the recovery. It proposes various measures to provide support through the tax system for businesses and for ordinary citizens. The bill also proposes a number of social assistance changes to ensure that those financially impacted by COVID-19 will receive the support that they need.
I'll provide a brief overview of those proposed measures. Firstly, reinstating depreciation deductions for buildings. Before 2010, the New Zealand tax system allowed for deductions for building depreciation, but this was abolished in 2010. We propose reinstating depreciation deductions for non-residential buildings. This is intended to support businesses with cash flow in the near-term and assist with the broader economic recovery by stimulating businesses' investment in new and existing buildings in the future. It is not a short-term measure. The recent Tax Working Group reviewed the international evidence and concluded that industrial and commercial buildings do indeed depreciate. The Government believes that the current policy setting for depreciation deductions puts New Zealand out of step with other countries, creates a distortion of the tax system, and, most importantly, discourages investment in buildings. 
Reinstating depreciation deductions is a positive step for business. It's going to encourage investment in the recovery phase, support productivity, and enable the capital costs of the seismic strengthening of the building to be depreciated. And, of course, by reducing tax for building owners, it will increase cash flow and stimulate the economy. This is not a temporary measure until we get back on our feet; it is, instead, a change to restore and correct policy settings.
Members are, no doubt, aware that provisional tax is paid in instalments during the year instead of a lump sum at the end of the year. This is paid by taxpayers who have a tax liability of more than $2,500 to pay in the prior year. We can relieve some of the cash-flow pressure and compliance costs for around 95,000 small taxpayers by allowing them to defer their tax payments. They would still be expected to pay income tax but would instead do so in one payment set in February following the end of the income year. The bill proposes to do this by increasing the threshold for provisional tax from $2,500 to $5,000. This, too, is intended as a permanent change, and will have effect from the 2020-21 and later income years.
The Government is also proposing to stimulate investment, reduce compliance costs, and increase cash flow for businesses by increasing the threshold for writing off low-value assets. Immediate expensing will allow businesses to fully deduct the cost of low-value assets when they are purchased, rather than spreading the deductions over many years. The threshold for the low-value asset write-off is currently $500. The bill proposes a one-year temporary increase in the threshold to $5,000 for property purchased on or after 17 March 2020, reverting to $1,000 for property purchased on or after 17 March 2021. The initial temporary increase provides for an incentive for businesses to bring forward purchases and to take advantage of this measure and thus provide further support to the economy in the recovery phase.
Other investment that we want to encourage is research and development. Like other businesses, research and development performers will be struggling. We want to ensure that these businesses continue to innovate. Such businesses will be part of our recovery. To help support businesses' research and development, we're proposing to bring the broader research and development refundability rules that would have applied from the next income year forward to this one. Without this measure, R & D performers facing a very difficult future might be forced to scale back their R & D programmes to stay afloat. The loss of these programmes would cost jobs and reduce innovation, and that would hinder our recovery once the global situation has stabilised. This measure will provide a much-needed cash injection to these firms and allow our R & D businesses and its sector to better weather the storm, protecting New Zealand jobs and ensuring a smoother recovery.
The Government is also proposing that the Commissioner of Inland Revenue should be allowed a time-limited discretion to waive use-of-money interest if a taxpayers' ability to make a tax payment on time has been significantly adversely affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. Taxpayers' use-of-money interest is when they underpay their tax. It compensates the Government for the time value of money lost because of the underpayment. The interest applies to all tax types administered by Inland Revenue, as well as underpayments of tax that are withheld at source and for Working for Families' debt. We know that people are going to be facing tough times, so allowing the IRD to cancel use-of-money interest provides targeted relief to directly affected taxpayers facing cash-flow pressures. This is a very important measure. It would apply for all tax payments due on or after 14 February 2020. 
At present, Inland Revenue shares specific information, such as contact details, with approved agencies for use of specific purposes such as preventing serious crime. This bill proposes an amendment to allow Inland Revenue to share information with other Government departments to assist those agencies in their response to the COVID-19 outbreak. This allows information to be supplied to assist the efficient and effective delivery of the Government's COVID-19 response. At the same time, the information sharing could be used for fraud prevention—for example, Inland Revenue will be able to alert the Ministry of Social Development to fraudulent claims for the wage subsidy. This ensures that the money made available in the Government's economic package will help if it goes where it is genuinely needed. The information-sharing arrangement is intended to get us through the current crisis, and it is time limited. 
The in-work tax credit is an income-tested cash payment to working families with children. To be eligible, families must normally work at least 20 hours a week if they're sole parents or 30 hours a week if they're couples. This provision allows recipients to keep receiving a tax credit over short periods with fewer hours worked, such as sick leave or vacation. However, that hours-worked requirement means that the tax credit is currently not available to workers with unpredictable or variable hours, such as shift workers, people with multiple jobs, or, as is very important in this situation, where their hours worked drop below the threshold. These workers are at risk. We know that people are likely to face a reduction in their hours in the wake of COVID-19. The Government therefore is proposing in this legislation to extend the tax credit to all families not receiving a main benefit and who have some level of employment income each week by removing the hours test.
Earlier this month, I announced emergency measures, including wage subsidies and leave payments, to help businesses stay afloat and keep people in jobs. We want businesses to get the full extent of that support we are providing. So an Order in Council was made to ensure that wage subsidies and leave payments would not incur GST as they would in the normal course of events. This order applied from 24 March 2020. However, the wage subsidy and leave payments have been paid out from 17 March 2020. To ensure fairness and consistency of treatment, the bill proposes that GST not apply to payments of the COVID-19 wage subsidy and leave payments from 17 March until the date in 2020 that the amendment order came into force.
Working for Families and emergency benefits: the bill proposes to allow people on a temporary visa, who wouldn't otherwise meet the Working for Families residency criteria, to qualify for Working for Families if they receive an emergency benefit from the Ministry of Social Development. This ensures that families on a temporary visa who receive an emergency benefit because of COVID-19 are able to access a comparable level of financial support to other recipients of main benefits.
The final measure that I want to mention is the winter energy payment. This is a benefit paid to help eligible people meet their household heating costs during the winter months. The rates for the payments have been doubled by Order in Council to $900 per year for single people with no dependent children, and $1,400 per year for couples and people with dependent children. However, this increase in rates is temporary and intended to apply for 2020. The bill therefore proposes to restore the winter energy payments from 2021 onwards to their current rates.
This is a good bill and one that is urgently needed. I want to thank all members of the House for their ability to work with us to ensure that it can pass through as quickly as possible. I commend this bill to the House.





Hon PAUL GOLDSMITH (National): Thank you, Madam Speaker. National will be supporting this piece of legislation, the COVID-19 Response (Taxation and Social Assistance Urgent Measures) Bill. Ordinarily, we wouldn't be wildly enthusiastic about rushing through legislation involving tax and social security changes. Ordinarily, you would want to spend many months having a select committee process and making sure that things have been done properly and we're not having unintended consequences, but we understand the need to move swiftly. This is part of the Government's COVID-19 response.
The broad point that we make is that most of the measures here are longer-term ones, which will be lasting either permanently, but will have an impact on business over the next four years, particularly in the Budget process. So they might have a very small impact: reducing the depreciation rates, for example, on non-residential buildings—a good idea. It was something that was taken away back in 2010 in the middle of the global financial crisis, and we're not opposed to restoring that.
It certainly is not something that is necessarily going to make the difference this week or next week over whether a company stays in business or not. It's not a short-term crisis response; it's a longer-term one. That's the case with a number of these things. So increasing the low-value asset threshold, which has been stuck at $500 for a very long time—that's absolutely totally appropriate to increase that. We support that, and we support the use of money interest remission.
The only point I'd make is that some of them have a time limit on them and some don't. I think the removal of the hours test for the in-work tax credits should have a time limit on it, if it is brought in, so families—working families—who have a reduction in working hours as a result of COVID-19 do not lose their eligibility. Well, then it should be a short-term thing rather than a permanent thing; the idea of the in-work tax credit was to encourage workers to have the in-work tax credit.
The changes for the Working for Families tax credit entitlement for emergency benefits, likewise, could be time-limited if the purpose of it is to deal with the response to COVID-19. So with those comments, we're supportive of it, but we make that point, that they should have been time-limited.
In terms of the winter energy payment, I'm sure that a lot of people will be happy to receive that. We'd just make the point that we believe the focus for the urgent spending that we're talking about in response to COVID-19 really should be on helping those who are in the process of losing their jobs, in particular, and on reducing the number of job losses so that more businesses can survive. That, I think, should be the absolute focus of the massively increased spending that we're seeing at the moment—trying to reduce the number of businesses that fall over through this period.
The only other point I'd make is that the Government has responded enormously quickly to make a number of changes to make it slightly easier for businesses to survive. I am disappointed that they haven't been prepared to postpone the minimum wage increase due on 1 April for a few months, because there'll be a number of businesses right now who are in a desperate, desperate situation, and they would be struggling to understand why the Government sees fit to increase wages on 1 April, right in the middle of the biggest existential business crisis that they've ever faced. But that is an anomaly that the Government will have to explain.
But, all in all, we support this bill and hope that it will make some step towards helping some businesses survive. Thank you, Madam Speaker.





Hon TRACEY MARTIN (Minister for Children): Kia ora, Madam Speaker. So I rise on behalf of my colleague Fletcher Tabuteau to contribute on behalf of New Zealand First to the COVID-19 Response (Taxation and Social Assistance Urgent Measures) Bill. New Zealand First will be supporting the bill. I know that Mr Tabuteau would like me to mention and congratulate the Minister of Finance. Eighty percent of the measures that are inside the bill were actually inside the New Zealand First manifesto, so Mr Tabuteau wanted me to make sure that I complimented Mr Robertson on what are practical, common-sense changes to support businesses and our families.
I don't want to take too much of the House's time, so just on two points, then: on the information sharing, it has been refreshing inside this debate so far that the House hasn't fallen to the lowest common denominator, which sometimes is what we do when we talk about taxation or spending or making decisions quickly or rushing things through the House, as we are, and we need to acknowledge that. It is important that we focus on those among us who might take advantage, the few among us who take advantage. So it is good that the information sharing between the Inland Revenue Department and other Government agencies will not only allow us to assist New Zealanders better, faster, more accurately, because we have got that flow of information, but it can also be used as a method to make sure that those who don't follow the rules, as such, and try to take advantage of what is an unprecedented situation in our country, know that there will be systems in place that, once we have got past the crisis that we are in at the moment, will make sure that the New Zealand taxpayers' dollars that have been used to support business have been used appropriately and not misappropriated.
The second thing I wanted to address was the winter energy payment. I take on board the comments by the speaker who just resumed his seat, Paul Goldsmith, and the suggestion that, actually, there were better things that the Government could have spent their money on. One of the things that we do know is, of course, seniors are among those who are going to receive the doubling of the winter energy payment in the 2020 year. That's been doubled by Order in Council to $900 per year for single people with no dependent children and $1,400 per year for couples and people with dependent children. So seniors will be receiving the doubling of that winter energy payment for the 2020 year. What that means, of course, is that the money that they have aside from that winter energy payment they can now use to go back into the economy. So right in this single moment, Mr Goldsmith himself pointed out that these were not necessarily urgent or immediate measures, but they were slightly more long term, looking more towards after the four weeks, after the six weeks, after when we start to pull back out of what has been the situation created not by a Government but by a virus. We need people to have money in their pockets that they can spend locally.
With regards to the $25 a week increase for beneficiaries, I don't think anybody can ignore the fact that the Welfare Expert Advisory Group has pointed out—and the members there, some of them having an epiphany after years of being in business—to us as a nation the truly difficult place that many of our beneficiaries have been in for some period of time. Right now, when our beneficiaries are going to be among the most affected by COVID-19, there's never been a better time to actually make sure that we let them know, through a $25 increase to their main benefits, that this Government is there for them. They are not going to be ignored or not be seen merely because of their circumstances but that we know they're there, and, like any other group that this Government has moved to try and support, they're supporting big business, small business, independent businessmen and women, employers, seniors, beneficiaries—all New Zealanders is where this Government is addressing its attention. So New Zealand First strongly supports the COVID-19 Response (Taxation and Social Assistance Urgent Measures) Bill.





Hon TODD McCLAY (National—Rotorua): Madam Speaker, thank you. The National Party also supports this legislation, and we do so because it's important that we can move on and people can have certainty.
What I'd like to say, though, is it's clear to us that two things are required: an economic package to deal with the emergency—we've dealt with some of that in the previous bill when it comes to the exceptionally large amount of money at the disposal of the Government to spend in the coming months to support New Zealanders, and then, secondarily, there will be a recovery package that's needed that will stretch over many years. In fact, it may well be a decade or decades.
This piece of legislation contains elements of both of those: some that will assist and help today, others that, actually, won't take effect until much later, and, indeed, won't have a significant impact upon businesses or the economy for quite some period of time. I give an example of this around building depreciation. It's a debate that the House has had over a period of time. In fact, when we were in Government we took it away. Not everybody agreed. It now has been brought back. For some businesses, that will be helpful, but I caution that there will be very, very few businesses in New Zealand that are actually going to have a profit in the coming years. Therefore, it's not a matter of how much tax they're paying in as far as the Government's concerned; it's how much tax they're not paying, because, actually, today what is needed is finding ways to keep them there: not keep the doors open but keep them so they exist so that as we come out of this, they have to consider the recovery, and, actually, there will be businesses there.
There are things that will assist at the moment: provisional tax thresholds. Actually, many of the small businesses around the country in my electorate are not paying tax this year, and so they would be dealing with a provisional tax they'd have to pay based on last year's income. It's appropriate that that is being set aside. The use of money interest: well, that's the same thing. There's detail here that for some in the community, it will have a meaning.
But what I did want to say is that we have moved so very quickly over the last week. Some of these things that the Government announced a week ago in the first part of the response to coronavirus could have been classified as "business as usual", others were, importantly, about what was needed on the ground right then. As we go forward and we see more announcements around the emergency response, they must be about helping mothers and fathers, everyday New Zealanders, businesses large and small to get through the coming weeks and the coming two or three months.
When it comes to the rebuild package, it can't be business as usual. It can't be the things that we would be doing anyway, that we were all going to be campaigning on this year; they must be things that are going to rebuild the economy, that give people confidence, that allow businesses to actually employ again, more quickly than they would otherwise, to build some semblance of confidence in the economy so that people are actually able to get out of their homes and back to work as soon as the restrictions, the shutdown, is over.
So I would implore the Government to say that whilst things have moved quickly and some of these measures today are not as important as they may have seemed a week ago—or ones that last week actually weren't important to the day are much more so. When it comes to the next stage of consideration of the House, how we rebuild this economy and how we support businesses—because businesses have people in them who work and provide for their families—much, much more will be needed from both sides of the House.
The final thing I would say to the last speaker, the Hon Tracey Martin—and it's not to quibble at all around the energy payment. That's of least importance, possibly, to the things we're dealing with here today, but, Ms Martin, it doesn't matter whether it is the public that's receiving money from Government and spending or it's the Government spending itself, it all ends up in the economy. It supports the economy and can help it grow. For the coming weeks and months, the only thing that will support this economy is the money that the Government is spending, and the money the Government is spending comes from the future hard work and earnings of everyday New Zealanders. It is important we support them in the coming weeks and months, but we must get back as soon as we can to making sure—[Interruption] No, no. I mean I'm being genuine here. I'm not quibbling with you. I'm just saying that, actually, whether it's the Government giving it or they're spending it themselves, what we have to do, once we get through this, actually, is ensure that we are spending taxpayers' money as carefully as we can.
I'm not saying we're not doing that today—we're supporting this completely—but we must spend as carefully as we can, because every time the Government spends money, the taxpayer is going to have to pay this back, and it's going to be many, many decades before, actually, we get through the economic harm that COVID-19 has caused. This is nobody's fault—it's not the Government's, it's not the Opposition's, it's not the people that are losing their jobs—but when we get through the importance of the emergency response that all parts of this Parliament are supporting, we will have an even bigger job to do in this House to make sure that we can help New Zealanders get back on their feet. Thank you.





Hon JAMES SHAW (Minister for Climate Change): Tēnā koe, Madam Speaker. I rise to speak on behalf of the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand on the COVID-19 Response (Taxation and Social Assistance Urgent Measures) Bill. Before I turn to the substance of the bill, I did just want to thank and acknowledge whoever wrote it. I don't know your names, but I do know that like many tens of thousands of public servants over the course of the last several weeks, your commitment to delivering this public service has been utterly vital, and I know that you have worked around the clock under horrendous circumstances to prepare this, and under a great deal of pressure. So I just wanted to commend you for your service. Thank you.
Turning now to the purpose and the intent of the bill, we know that there are a lot of New Zealanders who are extremely anxious as we enter this sort of brave new era of working apart but together to defeat COVID-19 and to stop the virus from spreading, and there's a lot of people who are worried about what it means for their health and their jobs and their livelihoods, even the security of their own homes.
We know that we won't be able to save every job with this bill, but, like all of the others that are proceeding through the House today, it does exemplify the measures that we're taking to cushion the effect. I do want to say that we know also that there are many people who won't be covered by the measures that are outlined in this bill, and so I just wanted to say to them that we hear you and this is only one of the sets of measures that we're doing to support New Zealanders through this.
In terms of the substance of the bill itself, there are a number of things that I just wanted to draw attention to. First of all, there's the winter energy payment, which has been mentioned already, helping to ensure that more people have support as we do go through these winter months, and of course people will be at home more; second of all, making sure that families can keep receiving the Working for Families tax credit even if their hours change, and of course that's highly likely given this scenario. There's also a series of technical changes, supporting people who are self-employed to delay paying provisional tax. We know there's been a lot of people, who, when they've heard about things like the wage subsidies and so on, have been worried that as sole traders or freelancers or self-employed in other ways, they may miss out. So there are some measures in here for that for them.
There's also, of course, supporting cash flow, which is incredibly important at the moment, by reinstating tax deductions for non-residential building depreciation. I do want to return to that point. There's also waiving interest on late tax payments if the taxpayer's been significantly affected, and also to ensure that research and development, which is often the first thing to go in a downturn, can continue.
I just want to start with the piece around the winter energy payment, and that is something that we're really strongly supportive of. My co-leader Marama Davidson, when the winter energy payment was first introduced by this Government, said that "The winter energy payment is going to some of our most vulnerable families, children, and people who are living alone, including elderly, who are struggling to pay lower power prices that are not just—that are unjust and are keeping people in hardship." This bill doubles the winter energy payment for this year, and I think that that is utterly critical during a period of time when, actually, the rates of respiratory illnesses and so on increase because the quality of housing in New Zealand is, in general, so poor. So very pleased that that's happening.
The second point is on the in-work tax credits. On that, we're supporting families by removing the "hours worked" test in the work tax credit. Of course, New Zealand actually has one of the highest rates of churn between employment and unemployment in the OECD, so people are moving in and out of employment a great deal, and, of course, we know that that is going to be a real feature of the coming months.
We know that there are going to be a lot of people who are doing fewer paid hours, and I think one of the things that we often lose attention to when we're looking at the unemployment rate is the under-employment rate, which is where a lot of these people are, and, of course, that is going to be significantly affected. So there will be people working fewer hours—those hours may become more irregular—so I think it's incredibly important that we introduce this change.
The third piece is around Working for Families—extending the Working for Families tax credit eligibility to those on a temporary visa. I think that extending kindness to those on a temporary visa just highlights how these changes reflect who we are as a country. We know that there are a lot people who are getting an emergency benefit; they also need to move on to the Working for Families tax credit—it's a logical move to do in these circumstances. But I think in both those cases this is something that is going to help to cushion the blow of the coming months.
The bill also features changes to depreciation, and this was a recommendation of the Tax Working Group. The changes reinstate the ability for depreciation deductions to occur for non-residential buildings. This is a good thing because it's going to help support businesses by freeing up cash flow in the short term, and encouraging building repairs and new buildings to occur when we move down from level 4. So it means that people know that we can start to do that. It also means, of course, that we're coming into line with much of the rest of the world. We know in New Zealand that the construction sector employs almost a quarter of a million people, and we want to make sure that when the lockdown does phase down and we can go back to work, those people are continuing to build, and in fact we need to build our way out of this recession.
It would be good if those upgrades could focus on energy-efficient buildings so that we're not making some of the same mistakes that we've made in the past; when we've had to rebuild in a hurry, we've often done so without keeping an eye on quality, and that has created yet more problems for us that need to then be cleaned up.
I would also like to see if we can find ways to encourage high-quality medium to high density housing through this measure, and that is something that I am a bit worried about with this, because of course this only applies to commercial building and not to residential buildings. That does create a discrepancy, which could incentivise the building of commercial buildings over multi-unit apartment buildings exactly when we need multi-unit apartment buildings more, in the middle of a housing crisis. Of course, if we were to apply it to multi-unit apartment dwellings, then that would create a discrepancy between the owners of apartments and the owners of the houses.
So it is a thorny issue, and we are moving through this in a hurry, but I am concerned that we are locking in with this piece of legislation something that will both create an incentive to build fewer apartment buildings, more commercial buildings, and create a discrepancy that we're going to need to clean up. So I would like to draw the House's attention to that, because I do believe that we're going to have to come back to that issue in the not too distant future, recognising constraints on the House's business for the foreseeable.
In research and development, there has already been an explosion of innovation in response to COVID-19. We're seeing micro-distilleries switching from the production of gin to hand sanitiser. That is a good thing right now.
Hon Gerry Brownlee: Speak for yourself!
Hon JAMES SHAW: Ha! Well, Gerry, you should probably stay off the hand sanitiser if you're not using it for your hands. Fisher & Paykel Healthcare I want to draw attention to—an iconic New Zealand business, with clients all over the world, who are providing absolutely vital healthcare equipment right now, not just to New Zealand but to countries all around the world, and are ramping up supplies of essential equipment. So it's important, obviously, that we recognise that. And so we want to make sure, as we go through this, that research and development continues through the tax credit changes that we're introducing in this legislation. So I wholeheartedly support that piece.
And, actually, I just want to take a moment to encourage businesses to do that, because, you know, these types of moments are often things where the first reaction of a business person is to cut costs and batten down the hatches; what can actually often happen is that they then spiral into a negative spiral which can lead to the closure of the business. Actually, it's during downturns that are ideal times, if you can, to invest in the future so that when things start to recover, you've got things in place.
Finally, the other thing I just wanted to draw attention to is around late payments—relaxing the rules of interest charges for late tax payments. You know, cash flow is going to be difficult for a lot of people, particularly the hundreds of thousands of small businesses in New Zealand, and this will give them room to put their businesses back on track. So I do want to stress that while we may be apart for the next month, we are apart together, and this bill supports that. Thank you, Madam Speaker.





DAVID SEYMOUR (Leader—ACT): Well, I was going to rise on behalf of the ACT Party in support of this bill, and then Tracey Martin got up and said 80 percent of it was New Zealand First policy. I thought about that for a while, and I've always said that if New Zealand implemented New Zealand First policy, we'd be in a state of national crisis, and in a roundabout way that's precisely where we've got to. So maybe this bill is worth supporting under these circumstances. It is a bill that I think has some near misses, it's a bill that's got a few hits, and a bill that's got a few things that we should just note and be a bit cautious of. 
One of the things that we should be a little bit cautious about relates to information sharing. I know that to talk about civil liberties at this time is not entirely fashionable, but one of the first battles that I was engaged in in Parliament was on the Finance and Expenditure Committee, when the Ministry of Social Development wanted to be able to access the IRD's information. As a select committee—particularly, I watched some of the more senior members of Parliament fight back against it, because they knew what it meant. They knew that the Inland Revenue Department has extraordinary powers to access people's information, and with that comes greater responsibilities for using information than other departments. I think it's OK in this instance because the information sharing only relates to COVID-19 and therefore it is time-limited, and let's hope for a very short time. But I want to flag that for the House. We need to be cautious about such matters that normally would be a major issue of people's privacy and civil liberty being dealt with at this time. 
There are issues such as the extension of the winter energy payment. I think it's important to put on record that initiatives taken through this time should be focused first and foremost at the public health aspects of fighting COVID-19, and secondly at ensuring New Zealanders' economic security. Now, people who are in receipt already of Government benefits, who are able to stay home thanks to Government benefits, first of all are not in danger like people who work are, and second of all are going to struggle to stimulate the economy from their couch. So I think it has been a misstep by the Government to increase transfer payments in those areas. 
On the other hand, the removal of the earned income tax credit for those who have fallen below the standard 20 or 30 hours required to get the earned income tax credit—through no fault of their own but because of COVID-19, the precise issue we are addressing right now—that is absolutely right and proper. The extension of more benefits to those on work visas who have also had their visas automatically extended is absolutely right and proper, because this country relies upon people on temporary work visas. Our economy wouldn't work if it wasn't for people that come from offshore and work in the New Zealand economy, in our firms, and so it is absolutely right and proper. The Government response to this time is to give some relief to those people who came to our country to help out and earn some money. They in turn, in return for the taxes they paid, need some help, and it's correct that they should receive it. 
There are other initiatives such as increasing the threshold for the provisional tax—again, an excellent initiative that will improve the cash flow of businesses affected by this crisis. It will mean that a lot of businesses whose tax bill is not so great will not have to pay provisional tax on a regular basis this year, and that is extremely helpful under the current circumstances.
Other issues—I said there were some near misses. I think while it's welcome that we are changing the depreciation rules around building, and while it's welcome that we are lifting the threshold from 500 to 5,000—another matter on this bill which I'd have to come back to; I don't have it in front of me—and they are sensible changes, it is not obvious why they're links to the current crisis. I say this and I want to record it in the House because the Government's going to have to make more decisions like this. They've just got, under the Epidemic Preparedness Act, the right to alter legislation just from the Prime Minister and the Minister and the chief executive agreeing to alter legislation by Order in Council. So it's worth, while we still have the House sitting, putting on record that the initiatives taken should be temporary and directly linked to the actual crisis. Some of the initiatives in this legislation are; others are not, and it's really important that we make sure that we adhere to the difference between the two. So without anything more from me, despite its alleged overlap with the New Zealand First manifesto, I'd like to commend this bill to the House.
Bill read a third time.





COVID-19 RESPONSE (URGENT MANAGEMENT MEASURES) LEGISLATION BILL
First Reading
Hon CHRIS HIPKINS (Leader of the House): I move, That the COVID-19 Response (Urgent Management Measures) Legislation Bill be now read a first time.
Bill read a first time.





Second Reading
Hon CHRIS HIPKINS (Leader of the House): I move, That the COVID-19 Response (Urgent Management Measures) Legislation Bill be now read a second time. 
Bill read a second time.





Third Reading
Hon CHRIS HIPKINS (Leader of the House): I move, That the COVID-19 Response (Urgent Management Measures) Legislation Bill be now read a third time.
We are well and truly in unprecedented times here in New Zealand. We're facing one of the greatest challenges in our country's short history. Our New Zealand Parliament has a duty to protect all of our citizens, and now is the time that we come together to do just that. Now is the time that we act. We have a duty to protect our people, not just from the immediate threat of COVID-19, but we've also got a duty to protect New Zealanders' abilities to feed and shelter themselves and their loved ones.
This omnibus bill amends various pieces of legislation to enable a more effective response by the Government to the outbreak of COVID-19. I'm sure members of the House will appreciate the bill's been pulled together at short notice, and I will read through some of the key provisions of the bill, because the bill hasn't been subject to the usual scrutiny process.
Firstly, the bill amends the Residential Tenancies Act of 1986 to freeze all rent increases and to protect tenants from having their tenancies terminated. Increases in rent are prohibited for the next six months for any reason. Landlords will be unable to terminate tenancies through the Tenancy Tribunal unless specific, justified reasons apply, such as substantial damage to the rental property. These termination protections for tenants will last for an initial period of three months. Both of these measures will be re-evaluated at a later date. New Zealanders need to stay in their homes as we go into this lockdown, and we cannot have families being made homeless and unable to self-isolate during that period of time.
Boarding house tenancies will be able to be terminated by the landlord by notice so that they can effectively manage the safety and security of issues for tenants who share a boarding house tenancy. If a fixed-term tenancy expires, it will convert to a periodic tenancy so that the tenants can stay in their rental property. It's critical from a public health perspective that we enable people to self-isolate in their homes by ensuring that they can stay in their rental properties for the duration of this crisis.
The Government's announced the most significant financial support package in our peacetime history, and that will help us to help people keep paying their rent during these tumultuous times: $9.3 billion in wage subsidy, meaning affected businesses receive support directly from the Government to keep paying their staff; $126 million in COVID-19 leave and self-isolation support for the people who are unable to work because they're sick, they're self-isolating, or they're caring for dependents; and $2.8 billion in income support for our most vulnerable.
The bill will also amend the Epidemic Preparedness Act of 2006 to allow judges of the District Court to list the persons that can alter the rules of the court when an epidemic notice is in force. Section 24 of the Act only allows a High Court judge, an associate High Court judge, a judge of the Māori Land Court, or a judge of the Employment Court to modify the rules of court to take into account the effects of a quarantinable disease. The majority of proceedings that will continue while the current epidemic notice is in force will be heard in the District Court, and they are focused on resolving matters relating to people's liberty, personal safety and wellbeing, and where resolution is time critical. So it's important that District Court judges have the ability to respond as issues arise.
The bill amends the Education Act of 1989 to give the Secretary for Education the power to issue binding directions to the governing authorities of education providers, and that includes schools, universities, and polytechnics. The secretary will be able to direct education providers to open and to close; direct how they operate, are controlled, and managed; and direct them to provide education in specified ways—for example, through distance or online learning.
Schools, early childhood education centres, and tertiary providers have been incredible in their response to COVID-19, and I want to thank them for all the work that they have done so far, but these emergency powers are required so that we can continue to ensure that there is a unified response to the outbreak of COVID-19. Given that there are over 2,500 boards of trustees and 4,000 service providers, we do need to be able to act quickly and with speed and with pace from the centre in order to be able to do this, and these powers are required to ensure that can happen.
Finally, the Local Government Act of 2002 and the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act of 1987 will be amended to enable local government and civil defence emergency management groups to attend meetings by audio or by visual link, and this will allow those meetings to continue during the lockdown period.
As I mentioned, these are very unprecedented times. I do want to thank all members of the House for their cooperation in progressing this bill through the House so that we can all do what we're asking the rest of the country to do and go into self-isolation from later on tonight, because we will all get through this if we all follow the rules.





Hon NIKKI KAYE (National—Auckland Central): Look, I just want to acknowledge all members of the House who are here today. It is unusual for people to be watching the television and to see our Parliament in diminished numbers. I want to do a call to all of the members of Parliament who are watching virtually who would dearly love to be here but for safety reasons are not. 
At 12:21 p.m. today, New Zealand declared a state of national emergency. I want to acknowledge all of the civil defence staff and all of the lifeline critical utilities, people who are in place currently doing everything possible to fight for the lives of New Zealanders. I think it is important, as our leader has done today, to acknowledge the fact that this is a global situation that has a complexity that is moving at pace and speed, and is like very little things in our lifetime. 
I acknowledge the other speakers who have acknowledged that this is far reaching—potentially, generations of impact financially, but also, potentially, in terms of loss of life. I think we do need to again reiterate what Simon Bridges has said today and what has been reiterated by many members of Parliament: there is no blue team, there is no red team, there is no yellow team; there is only the ability to put on the New Zealand jersey. I think every member of this House and every member of Parliament who is out in their community at the moment fighting to support people, to keep them safe, is putting on the New Zealand jersey. 
But I do want to make this point. We have a critical role in the Opposition to not get in the way of Ministers and a Government that are trying to do everything to save the lives of New Zealanders, but we do have a role to ensure that we do ask some questions where appropriate to shine a light on the response, because we also have the ability, if we do that in the right way—in a collaborative way, where possible, but also to raise the flag at various times—to save lives, and we will continue to do that in an appropriate manner. 
I want to acknowledge the significance of this threat and the challenge of an invisible, deadly threat and how you manage that as a country. We know that many countries have struggled and scrambled to do that. As has already been said by the Prime Minister but also many other people in this House, there is a need for New Zealanders to have personal responsibility and discipline, because what we know is that if you self-isolate, if you don't flout the rules, you can help us save lives. So that is our expectation of New Zealanders. 
We have a piece of legislation before us in our view that, of course, because this thing is moving so fast, we are all finding out about some of that legislation in a pretty quick way. So we're making fast decisions to support the Government to do what it needs to do in this emergency. I acknowledge what has already been said by the Hon Chris Hipkins. We're adding District Court judges to the list of those that can alter the rules of the court. It's very important in a time like this to ensure that our justice system has the resources that it needs to manage this response. We also are enabling our civil defence teams to be able to work effectively remotely via visual links, via audio links. That's really important because they are crucial in terms of the response to enable critical lifeline utilities to do what they need to do. 
We are enacting provisions around rent and eviction freezes. Again, the basic premise around this is that we need people to be at home able to be self-isolating and not being worried about being kicked out of their homes. We also have some provisions in here that are around our education system and are about ensuring that the Secretary for Education can direct any entity licence to operate, via the secretary, and impose conditions on any licence. The Minister of Education has already made comments on that. 
I want to take a few moments to mention a couple of other things that are really relevant to our response in this situation. I think the first is to say that this is moving incredibly fast, and it is really important, as much as possible—and my plea to the Government is that, while you are in a fast-pace situation, you're making decisions quickly, and we need to let you get on and do that—that we have maximum transparency around our critical lifelines, because that will help. There will be other New Zealanders separate to the Government and officials and the hundreds, actually thousands, of public servants that are doing an amazing job. As we can already see on our phones as members of Parliament, as we are directing people to the Government or communities are just coming up with solutions, we need transparency about what the Government might not have—whether that's personal protective equipment, whether it's testing kits, whether it's hand sanitiser, whether it's ventilators, or whether it's a secondary workforce for our health workers, who are, effectively, the soldiers of this war and need as much support as possible. We can't wait just for a top-down approach. So that transparency around critical lifelines at this time will actually help the other millions of New Zealanders be able to do what they can do remotely to try and help New Zealand fight this. 
I want to acknowledge all of our critical lifeline utilities, whether it is our health workers or whether it is the people who are delivering transport or logistics or the Air New Zealand staff that we all saw this morning. 
A couple of other points. This is catastrophic. We have to acknowledge that. I went, at a very large social distance, through my communities yesterday around Ponsonby, central Auckland, and through Waiheke. I looked in the eyes of a number of owners of businesses in communities who turned to me, many with tears in their eyes, and said that they may never ever open again. So we don't underestimate what many New Zealanders are going through, and that's why the fiscal package—and I'm sure there will be more—is crucial to ensure that we can enable people to get through this. First and foremost is the health response and the health of New Zealanders and saving lives; secondly, obviously, to make sure that people have food and water and the necessities of life; but, thirdly, as well—we are a nation of small businesses—to do everything that we can to support them through this. 
I want to acknowledge, again, everybody who is fighting this virus on the ground, all of the New Zealanders that are working hard. 
Finally, I want to make a few comments about our education system. Can I acknowledge the Minister of Education. Thank you for the work that you are doing through this period. As I've already said to you, I will walk over broken glass to do whatever you need to help you and support you and the many thousands of educators that are out there. 
A few points that some educators and parents have asked me to make today: I think the first is that safety is paramount. So I think, Minister, you have the support of education institutions all over the nation to move to closure. The point that's been made about being flexible in terms of arrangements is lots of schools have different situations in terms of holidays. You've already taken on board the importance of the remote learning package, which I know is coming. I just, obviously, make the point that there'll be the national support, but there are many schools out there that have huge innovation that want to reach out across to other schools to help them in that remote learning. Just also to make the point—to many parents, as they know, but also to many New Zealanders—for many teachers, they are working. They are choosing to virtually broadcast to many parents and children across the country. So we acknowledge you. Also, just to acknowledge the cost to teachers through this period, as they deliver from their living rooms core education provision. I know, Minister, you've got on your radar, the financial viability of early learning centres and other key institutions, and you're doing a huge amount of work in that area. 
Finally, in terms of parents, I just want to do a shout out to you. We are, obviously, making provisions in this legislation around education institutions. But you are dealing with the fact that you are, alongside your children, probably, cooking, cleaning, and being the mental health support person. As one parent who emailed me said, "Nikki, I am trying to help my young child. I am trying to help my university student. I'm trying to be a professor. I'm trying to do so many things." So I just acknowledge all of the parents and all of the teachers and educators out there that are doing so much. 
Look, thank you to all New Zealanders. Be calm. Be positive. We're in for a bumpy ride, but we're an amazing nation. We're a food-producing nation; we're spread out, so we have the ability to self-isolate; and we're very resilient, and we will get through this.





Hon TRACEY MARTIN (Minister for Children): Kia ora, Madam Speaker. I rise on behalf of the "black and white party"—nice to see the "green party" at the other end there. Sorry, we were just left out of the previous contribution around the fact that there are no colours here. So while we're in a Parliament together, we'll just make sure that we keep mentioning each other.
Just to talk to the COVID-19 Response (Urgent Management Measures) Legislation Bill, as has been said by previous speakers, some very practical steps need to be taken to make sure that certain things—particularly when we go into lockdown this evening—are able to be done. So we are adding District Court judges to the list of those that can alter the rules of the court; this will allow the court system to respond as necessary where issues are identified. As the Minister for Children, for example, if we still have to have court processes around some of our children, having the ability for the children to be able to be virtually in the court room, or that everything can be done on papers—these are the nuances that need to take place now when we still need to be able to manage Oranga Tamariki and the work that they have to do around families. We need to give the courts, however, the ability to change the system of working to fit the current circumstances.
To enable local government and civil defence and emergency management groups to attend meetings by audio and visual link and otherwise support the efficient and effective operations of these meetings—I mean, I think that's a no-brainer; it speaks for itself.
Enact rent and eviction freezes: now, particularly as the Minister for Seniors, I'm pleased to see that. There are many among us who think that all our seniors are in their own home, mortgage-free, life is great. Actually, that is just not true. More and more and more of our over-65-year-olds are renting or still have mortgages. So we can give them some confidence that their rents will not go up, even though their landlords have known or now know that their winter energy payment, for example, will be doubling just for this particular year, but that doesn't mean that people can actually put up rents, or that they can put through eviction notices. So that gives, again, that particular demographic that I am Minister for some certainty. So it's pleasing to see. The bill also enables the Secretary of Education to direct any entity licensed to operate by the secretary and impose conditions on those licences.
So to pick up on the contribution by the member Nikki Kaye, who just resumed her seat, certainly—talking about teachers—many, many, many people are working from home, and teachers are no different. I already have seen some innovation there, and parents should not, as I said before, worry that they have to be the teachers of their children.
Please be assured, as we move out of a full lockdown—at whatever day that is that the Prime Minister will announce, at a time in the future—that once your children are back to school, once your tertiary students are back in their education facilities, recognition of this time will be acknowledged around their learning. So don't be fearful. Certainly interact with some of the resources that the Ministry of Education has put online to help you keep your children busy and to help your family find things to do together that have an educational benefit while you are in the four-week lockdown, but, otherwise, don't concern yourselves overly. We will come out the other side of this, and many of these things can be addressed. New Zealand First supports the bill.





Hon MARK MITCHELL (National—Rodney): Look, of course I'm standing to support the COVID-19 Response (Urgent Management Measures) Legislation Bill. We recognise the importance of keeping the momentum going in terms of the response to COVID-19. I want to acknowledge the Leader of the House and the shadow Leader of the House, who have worked together to ensure that we can meet here today as our Parliament to advance and pass this legislation, which is critically important in terms of our response as a country to the current challenge. 
I just want to acknowledge very quickly some comments that the previous speaker, Tracey Martin from New Zealand First, made. I'm glad to see that she has diluted her comments a bit from her first contribution, and that is, quite simply, to parents: you are parents; you are teachers. Back yourselves. If you want to do some teaching at home, if you want to put some lessons together—[Interruption]—sorry, Mr Speaker, you're absolutely right—
SPEAKER: No, "we" are parents is all I'm saying to the member.
Hon MARK MITCHELL: —you're right: we are parents; I'm a parent as well—do that. You know, in terms of the response within our education system and the part in the legislation to respond to that, I just want to acknowledge our principals, our boards of trustees, all our teachers, and our parents who around the country have been planning for the last few weeks. My own daughter is a teacher at Whangaparāoa School, inside my own electorate. I know she's been testing with me, over the last few evenings, online learning for years five and six. I didn't realise it was so tough.
Hon Gerry Brownlee: How'd you go?
Hon MARK MITCHELL: Yeah, not that well! I was asked by the shadow Leader of the House how I went. 
In relation to the courts, can I acknowledge the Minister of Justice, who is in the House. When the House first sat today, he brought some hand sanitiser over to me to sanitise my hands.
Hon Member: We're all in this together. 
Hon MARK MITCHELL: We're all in this together—you're absolutely right. I'm not too sure now what was in the hand sanitiser, but I do appreciate the gesture. It's an important one, and I want to say good luck to him in the tough job that he's taking on. I am there to support, without a doubt. We're also there to test ideas, and I think that's healthy in our democracy. I acknowledge the committee that's been set up that will be chaired by the Hon Simon Bridges, and I know the spirit in which that committee will be chaired will be for the best of the country in terms of making sure that we stay on track and we test everything that we're doing in the coming days, weeks, and months. 
I would just like to say that in terms of our justice system, can I acknowledge everyone involved in that—our police, our corrections officers, our court staff, our judges, our JPs, and everyone that comes together to make what is a world-class justice system that rates constantly, in terms of public support, at the highest levels. I would say that in the coming weeks, we're going to have some new challenges that we don't normally face as a country, and that is because there's going to be enormous pressure coming on, and it's economic pressure, fundamentally. It's the pressure that people don't have freedom of movement any more. They're cut off from their normal support networks. We know for a fact that all those things combined mean that people act out of character and the stress levels go up, and so we're going to have to be very, very careful and make sure that we remain very focused in terms of our response now, as a country, and that we're able to deal with that, because I couldn't think of anything worse than us getting out through this current challenge focused on coronavirus and to look back and see that we've had some tragedies happen that were avoidable. So I'd say to the Minister: let's keep really focused on that, let's keep working on that, and making sure that we've got the best possible response in place for us as a nation in the coming weeks and months. 
But fundamentally, I'm very happy to stand and support this bill. It is important. Just very quickly, I think that the issue around making sure that people have got certainty and can comply in terms of the rented accommodation—I think this was very important. But the other point that I want to raise is that it's very good that you have contained inside the bill the fact that landlords still do possess some control over their property, because there are a very small percentage of renters that tend to abuse that situation and do wilful, intentional damage to genuine landlords' properties. I think that it's very important that the spirit of this bill is not taken and abused. There are still remedies available within the bill for landlords to be able to protect their property rights—and, by the way, for anyone out there that does want to go out and somehow think that they now have a licence to create as much damage or intentional damage to a property as they can, there are still very clear rules inside our Crimes Act in which the police can act on that.
So I think that it's been very important that we actually secure people's accommodation at this time. This bill has done that, but at the same time it's also protected some fundamental property rights. So I'm very happy to stand and support this bill. Thank you.





Hon JAMES SHAW (Minister for Climate Change): Thank you, Mr Speaker. Our primary responsibility as a Parliament and as a Government is to keep the number of New Zealanders with COVID-19 as low as possible, and what that means, obviously, is that people need to stay in their homes. 
Today, more than a third of New Zealanders will be preparing to self-isolate in a house that they rent. The amendments that are in this bill are significant and necessary protections so that people who are renting can stay in their homes no matter what for an extended period of time. New Zealanders also need certainty and certainly, given the number of New Zealanders who are renters, it is right now an absolute no-brainer to say that this is no time for rent increases. There will be very few Kiwis who will be asking for a pay rise over the coming months, and I think it makes no sense for landlords to ask people to pay more rent either at that time. So what this bill does is it gives people certainty by protecting them from unfair eviction. 
There will be many, many New Zealanders over the coming weeks who are facing a significant reduction in their incomes, and that will put many of them at risk and it will mean that many of them struggle to make their rent. And at this time of crisis, no one should lose their home through no fault of their own because they're struggling to pay rent because the circumstances of the crisis have put them in that position. So I'm very glad to say that this bill will ensure that if someone or a family cannot pay their rent for 60 days, then they will not be evicted. Even then, the Tenancy Tribunal will have new powers to consider the circumstances under which a tenant was unable to pay the rent and to take those into consideration before any decision is made around terminating a tenancy. I think that that is absolutely critical and New Zealanders need to know that. People will go to work when they can; people will therefore be able to pay rent when they can. 
The bill also protects people who pay rent by preventing a landlord from evicting a tenant for the next three months on the basis of simply wanting to sell the property or if they just want to move back into the property themselves. Also, if someone is unwell due to COVID-19, then they have the right to stay in that home. So that cannot be an excuse for an eviction of someone from the house that they rent. 
Those things should almost go without saying. I mean, this is an extraordinary time, so I'm very pleased that we're introducing these measures. Many MPs, particularly constituency MPs, have been receiving a lot of questions from people who are very worried, of course, and a lot of them don't actually understand what these measures are. So I think it's important for all of us to start to communicate with people as much as we can, to say, "Here are the measures that are being introduced: if you're renting, you will be protected. If you're a landlord, here are what the constraints are during the course of this time of crisis." You know, New Zealanders have always supported each other during times of crisis. This is a very critical way of doing that. 
Of course, if you can keep paying rent, do keep paying rent. That is important. Having people who pay rent means that people can pay rates. That in turn funds essential council services like picking up the rubbish and making sure that we get water, which is what we all need to keep going. Rent also, of course, pays for emergency repairs and maintenance on the house that you live in. It provides an income for other people who need to get through this. 
But the same goes for landlords. If the people who are living in the house that you own lose a significant amount of income, they will need your help and attention and your understanding. So in that situation, it really is important for tenants and landlords to work together to find a solution, and it will work out as long as we trust each other as people and as long as we work together. Those are the measures that I think are the most critical parts of this bill, and I'm very proud to support them.
I do just want to draw attention also to some of the education measures that are contained in this bill, which I know is dear to your own heart, Mr Speaker. There are 2,500 school board entities and 4,000 early childhood education centres around the country, and many of them have wanted to close early or haven't known what the situation is and have been saying, "Where can we get some advice on this?" It makes absolute sense right now for that decision to be made centrally or to be able to be made centrally and to provide that certainty to all of those boards and to all of those organisations around the country. 
I know, having been in a number of conversations with the Minister of Education over the course of the last several weeks, that it was not a decision made lightly to close the schools and early childhood education centres around New Zealand. It's not as straightforward as just saying, you know, that there is a risk here and we need to close that down. There are huge social equity issues at play. There are inherent risks, also health risks, of closing schools, and all of those I know the Minister of Education grappled with before coming to the decision that was made on Monday. It does, of course, make perfect sense for that then to be carried out around the country, and it is important that this bill allows that function to occur and to let the Secretary for Education decide, rather than allowing individual boards of trustees to make those decisions in this time. 
The third thing that I just wanted to draw attention to in this bill is that many New Zealanders are now discovering the joys of video conferencing, and many of its—
Hon Chris Hipkins: Or the hazard.
Hon JAMES SHAW: —or the hazard—frustrations as well. It is, obviously, really critical in a lockdown situation to enable decision makers to be able to video conference to carry out their decisions. And of course, Parliament is no exception to that and we're introducing things like video conferencing for select committees in the future, and so on. So those are good. This is the age of Google Hangouts and Zoom calls. I will just say that Zoom calls work extremely well when it comes to the operating of a business, and so on and so forth, but gamers will be particularly delighted that Google Hangouts has created a d20 dice rolling function actually embedded in the software. So people are going to be using Zoom during the day when they're working before switching to Google Hangouts in the evening in order to stay connected with each other that way. I think that the changes that are introduced into this bill to enable decision makers to meet virtually is important as well. 
Like I said, I just want to reiterate, the most important thing is that the bill provides safety and certainty to people who rent their homes. It introduces necessary changes to enable the Secretary for Education to be able to handle the crisis that we're going through and also makes sure that decision makers are able to meet virtually as well as in person. So it is a very sensible bill and I'm very pleased to commend it to the House.





DAVID SEYMOUR (Leader—ACT): Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. I rise on behalf of ACT to take a very short call in support of this bill. It makes a number of changes that have been well outlined. I'll just make a couple of comments about what it means for people.
The amendments to the Residential Tenancies Act mean no rent increase—which I have to say I think was unlikely anyway, given the economic conditions—and it reduces the grounds on which somebody can be evicted from a tenancy. I know that landlords will, in some cases, be alarmed by this. What I would say is that it's temporary, and that people's behaviour towards their landlords—and their tenants, for that matter—will be remembered. As I said earlier, people will judge and remember the way each of us behave and the choices that we make through this crisis, so it would be a mistake for somebody on either side to take advantage of that.
The Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act: the changes there that local government can satisfy its requirements for transparency digitally—again, it's very sensible. Amending the Local Government Act so that councils and local boards can have their meetings and meet quorum with people being present digitally—again, that is sensible; however, I'd also say that I think it's a misstep that they have not been included in their democratic functions as an essential service. If we can have the Waitakere Licensing Trust stores open, I think it's important to recognise that local democracy is something that is also very important and can—with suitable, sensible steps—continue in spite of the current crisis. So I think it's important that they are being empowered to do it. I think it's a mistake that they haven't also been deemed an essential service—councils and local boards, that is—because they are an important part of our society.
The amendments to the Epidemic Preparedness Act—and we understand that it's going to be District Courts making many of the important decisions here, and so that was absolutely the right thing to do.
When it comes to the amendments to the Education Act—effectively, giving the Secretary for Education, the Ministry of Education, tremendous power—I would caution the Secretary that with that power over schools comes enormous responsibility. I know many people who operate schools—and I assume this includes independent schools—who are very well connected to their community, who are very competent operators, and they will have important things to say. There are clashes between them and the Ministry of Education bureaucracy and the Secretary at the best of times. In using those powers, I would hope that the Secretary is going to be very cognisant of the local knowledge and the mana and sovereignty that principals and boards have over their schools.
But on this theme of education, I finally want to say something for the younger New Zealanders, because we've had so much debate today; a lot of it has been about older New Zealanders, and quite rightly so, given the characteristics of this virus. There's been a lot of talk about business. There hasn't been a lot of talk about younger New Zealanders, and in response to the fact that we are changing the way that schools operate, I want to say to those younger New Zealanders that there's going to be a lot of anxiety, changed routines, and uncertainty about the future. I want to say we've got this. I think New Zealand is rallying better than any other country, and it's going to come through this well, so we can be confident.
The second thing I'd say is that just because you're not at school doesn't mean that you shouldn't learn. In fact, Mark Twain once said you shouldn't let your schooling get in the way of your education. This could actually be a great opportunity. By the way, to people a bit younger than me, education is not just digital. I know there's going to be great innovation around digital, but there's never been a better time to take up the habit of reading books. The problem with book reading is that it consumes a lot of time. The great news is you've got a lot of time.
This is a time for younger people to be leaders. There's going to be tension and pressure in households. Young people have the ability to be leaders, to be kind, to choose how they respond to situations. I think it's really important that this generation of young New Zealanders, actually, in a way, will grow up faster as a result of this crisis, and it's not entirely a bad thing.
Finally, there's never been a better time to call your grandparents, because they're not always the most digitally able, as we all know. And yet, one of the things I've found already in the Epsom community is that older people, while they may be well supported physically—and are being taken food, and so on—are getting incredibly lonely. So there's never been a better time for younger New Zealanders to get on the phone and call your gran. Thank you, Mr Speaker.
Bill read a third time.





STANDING ORDERS
Sessional—Epidemic Response Committee
Hon CHRIS HIPKINS (Leader of the House): I seek leave to move the Government notice of motion in my name to establish the Epidemic Response Committee.
SPEAKER: Is there any objection to that course of action being followed? There is none.
Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: I move, That the House establish an Epidemic Response Committee to consider and report to the House on any matter relating to the Government's management of the COVID-19 epidemic, and that—(a)the committee have the power to send for persons, papers and records:(b)the committee be chaired by the Leader of the Opposition:(c)in addition to the chairperson, the committee consist of 10 members to be nominated in writing by parties to the Speaker as follows: New Zealand National four, New Zealand Labour three, New Zealand First one, Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand one, and ACT New Zealand one:(d)a member nominated to represent a party may be permanently replaced by another member of that party, by that party's leader or whip notifying the Speaker in writing:(e)the committee have the authority to meet at any time while the House is sitting, except during oral questions, during any evening on a day on which there has been a sitting of the House, on a Friday in a week in which there has been a sitting of the House, and outside the Wellington region during a sitting of the House, despite Standing Orders 191, 193, and 194(1) and (3).
I'm pretty passionate about this place. It was a bit of a career highlight for me to become a Minister and to become the Leader of the House. I have to say, I didn't imagine during that time that one of the acts I would do is move a motion—as I will do shortly—to shut the place down. I don't do so lightly. I passionately believe in the role of Parliament in scrutinising the actions of the executive and running a very fine ruler over any law changes that take place in this country. And to be in an environment where that won't be able to happen in the way it normally would for a period of time is one that certainly makes me very uncomfortable, as I think it will make many members around the House feel uncomfortable, but I think it's a sign of the extraordinary times that we find ourselves in.
There are New Zealanders up and down the country right now doing things that make them feel very uncomfortable. There are people who don't know where they'll be when this period ends, and Parliament, to some extent, finds itself in that position as well. So I do want to acknowledge that. I want to acknowledge that scrutiny during this unprecedented time, when the Government is placed in the position of exercising such extraordinary powers, has never been more important.
I also want to acknowledge the members opposite. I sat over there for nine years, and, during that time, this Parliament and the Government of the day faced some pretty extraordinary circumstances and situations. As an Opposition, we often found ourselves in a position of having to ask questions, but when it was uncomfortable to do so, and where, perhaps, there wasn't always public acceptance of our need to do so. But that, actually, again, is where that scrutiny is often at its most important.
So the motion that's before the House today puts in place a mechanism, whereby the Opposition in particular, will be able to continue to scrutinise the Government and the actions that the Government is taking, even though the House will not be sitting. A special select committee is being established. It will have an Opposition majority, which recognises these extraordinary circumstances we are in. It will be chaired by the Leader of the Opposition. It will have the power to require people to appear before it—albeit digitally, rather than in person. They will be able to request and receive information about the use of the powers that the Government has been exercising, and I think those things are vitally, vitally important in our democratic system.
I want to thank the shadow leader of the House and the Leader of the Opposition for their very constructive approach over the last 24 hours to finalising this proposal and to bringing it before the House. I also want to restate the commitment in public that I have given them in private, which is that I will do all that I can to facilitate the smooth operating of that committee, and that includes helping to facilitate access to Ministers to ensure that they are doing their bit to appear before the committee, and to make sure that they are subjecting the decisions that they are making to the committee's scrutiny, and to ensuring that the relevant officials who are exercising the powers on behalf of Government are also made available so that the committee can scrutinise those.
I want to thank the Opposition for their ongoing commitment to helping to make this process run as smoothly as we can, in the circumstances. The committee will do its meetings digitally, and we'll be working together to make sure that there's transparency around that—that it's up online and through other communication channels so that people can see that the Opposition is doing its job and that the Government is doing its job as well.
The one thing I'd like to say, finally, with regard to this particular committee and the establishment of this particular committee, is I think we do all need to acknowledge that we are all making decisions at pace, and we're all making decisions with imperfect information. Mistakes will happen. It is undoubted that mistakes will happen, and I think that's one of the reasons why scrutiny, I think, is so important—so that where those mistakes happen, they can be picked up and they can be remedied. And so I do want to commend this resolution to the House and thank, again, the members for their cooperation in these extraordinary times. I do say, again, I think it's important that we all lead by example. I'll be going home and staying home, as we're asking all other members to do. That doesn't mean I won't be doing my job; I'll just be doing it from a different place.





Hon GERRY BROWNLEE (National—Ilam): This is, I think, a very good motion that recognises the fact that all Governments take their legitimacy from Parliament—all Governments, that is, in democratic countries. So what we are going to see here is, firstly, today, the extraordinary availability of funds voted by the Parliament for the Government to deal with this crisis, and now, as the Parliament is likely to agree to adjourn very shortly for a longer period of time, a committee that during that time will be able to scrutinise the activities of the Government in the expenditure of that money, and in particular to ensure that there is a focus, as I think is the will of the whole House, on the wellbeing of New Zealanders who are most adversely affected by this virus and its fallout.
These are extraordinary times; no doubt about that. None of us really knows what a chart forward is going to look like. No one can be certain that in four weeks' time, we'll be resuming the way we always have, so to be able to have this committee sitting regularly is, I think, a good opportunity to ensure that the sort of circumstance the Leader of the House just mentioned—rapid decisions designed to fix something here but perhaps creating another problem over here—can be discovered early, can be sorted out. So while it is also a role for scrutiny, alongside that will be the role to listen to what New Zealanders are saying and to, hopefully, encourage solutions or find solutions to those emerging problems, because nothing is going to be as it was before as we go into this next four-week period. It's going to be really odd. It's going to be like four weeks of Anzac Day mornings, where everything is all quiet but then at midday, everything fires up. This time, that midday firing up is going to be about 28 or 29 days away—so a very, very difficult sort of circumstance for us to even contemplate, let alone deal with.
I hope there is good compliance with the requirements to self-isolate across the country, but I would say to those who are charged with making sure that people are encouraged to comply with those directions that there is not a trampling on what would be considered normal civil liberties. This is not a time to have a new paradigm of how there is an interaction between authorities of the State and citizens in the State. It is very much an occasion—or a circumstance, I should more correctly say—where we would expect to have a high degree of cooperation from the general public. I think it'll be there, but we will also, therefore, need to have, as, inevitably, frustrations start to rise, an opportunity for people to feed in those frustrations and, hopefully, get some answers.
I am pleased that the Government has made it clear that Ministers who are called to have discussions—and I want to use that word "discussions" with the select committee in the most appropriate way, because that's how it really should be conducted. Rather than being totally inquisitorial, it should be a discussion about what's happening, about what's going on outside, about what people are observing, etc.; then I think it will be a useful thing. But for the Government to have said Ministers will be available I think is extremely encouraging. I would hope that State officials also recognise their obligation to accept the call that comes from the select committee to appear from time to time—not only them but also, perhaps, industry leaders and all sorts of people who have other NGO roles as well.
These are quite uncharted times. This select committee fills a void that would normally be occupied by question time or, perhaps, written questions or something else. It will, in my opinion, be a little stronger than both of those provisions, but with a great deal of cooperation, that's been talked about by everybody across the House today, it should work in the best interests of all New Zealanders.





Hon TRACEY MARTIN (NZ First): Thank you, Mr Speaker. New Zealand First supports the creation of the Epidemic Response Committee. We agree with Mr Brownlee and, obviously, with the contributions by Mr Hipkins: the Opposition has such an important role inside New Zealand's democracy. All of us have been on one side or the other side of the House, and so each one of us, each side of the House, plays such an important role in what is a highly recognised democracy around the world. And we don't want that to fall over because of COVID-19. We don't want to give anything away of the strength of that because of the circumstances that we find ourselves in.
I agree with Mr Brownlee: most select committees are apolitical when they talk about a piece of legislation, when they talk about decisions of Government, and their role is to make things better—if we get away from the annual reporting sort of stuff—so when we actually get into legislation, that's what select committees do: they make it better for the people of New Zealand. And that is, I believe, the goal of this select committee: to replace the scrutiny that is required of any Government, particularly when we're making decisions as quickly as we are and putting pieces of legislation through the House—and, as others have said, spending this much of taxpayers' money—but also to actually bring together the collective wisdoms across the Parliament. By doing that, when we find those issues that are a bit gnarly, or when we, as Mr Brownlee said, are able to bring to the attention of Government problems and possible solutions from across the House, it can only be good for New Zealand and New Zealanders.
I believe that my colleague Fletcher Tabuteau is going to be the New Zealand First person who will be on the select committee. I had hoped to be there myself, but I'm a Minister of the Crown, so I understand that's not allowed. So fair enough—and I'm sure that there will be others that will be pleased that it's not me and that it will be Mr Tabuteau. But that's my understanding at this time—it will be confirmed in writing with the Speaker, I believe, later on.
So, again, New Zealand First says thank you very much for this opportunity to all those that worked across the House to bring this together. It's a big step for the New Zealand Parliament, both to adjourn and to have a select committee like this, and I hope that it will give us what Mr Brownlee has outlined as the possibilities—which is such a strong oversight and the ability to combine our collective wisdoms to make things better for New Zealanders. Kia ora.





Hon JAMES SHAW (Co-Leader—Green): Thank you. The decision to adjourn the House and to set up a special select committee was not taken lightly by anyone, and I do want to acknowledge the words of the Leader of the House in terms of the personal journey that he's had to go to in order to arrive at this point. 
This is the last speech that I will give in this House for at least a month—a month where we were supposed to have been sitting under normal circumstances. The Green Party does believe and has always believed very much in a robust democracy, a democracy where the actions and the decisions that the Government is taking can be scrutinised and therefore improved. That is not possible in the current circumstances—for normal parliamentary process to continue—and so the Epidemic Response Committee, we think, is a practical and it's an innovative solution to the problem of maintaining accountability in Parliament at a time of a public health emergency. Marama Davidson, my co-leader, will be representing the Green Party on the Epidemic Response Committee from her home in Manurewa, so we're going to have one co-leader who is a member of the executive and another who is going to be scrutinising those. 
People often say that Aotearoa has, sort of, a very practical, pragmatic, incremental approach to constitutional issues, and that is true, but our proudest moments, actually, when we've made changes to the constitution, have actually been on fairly pioneering matters: so the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, for example; He Whakaputanga, the 1835 Declaration of Independence; the first country in the world where women won the right to vote; the proportional representation system that we've had now for something like almost 25 years; the establishment of the Waitangi Tribunal to help to guide our country and knit it back together. The moment in our history now that we face, where we're facing this pandemic of truly epic global proportions, also requires innovation and also very practical thinking as well, so I think that the Epidemic Response Committee will enable a constructive parliamentary check on the urgent work that the Government is doing. 
I think it's a good thing that it has an Opposition majority and that it will be chaired by the Leader of the Opposition. I think that that will help to strengthen it in terms of its design and the role that it's intended to play. It does have some powers—actually, I would argue that it may, in fact, be able to have more of a parliamentary accountability check than regular parliamentary question time, where the current Opposition and the previous Opposition frequently express frustration at the extent to which question time is able to perform that function. 
Of course, this new committee will be live-streamed, and whilst I frequently question the life choices of people who choose to spend their time watching parliamentary television, I have to say we are all about to have oodles of time, and this is a time where I think the citizens of New Zealand probably really ought to be paying more attention than they might regularly do to what it is that their Government is doing. We all do have parts to play in fighting COVID-19. The Government has its part to play. This new special committee has an incredibly important part to play. Every New Zealander has a part to play in this and the function of parliamentary democracy, and I do want to encourage New Zealanders to pay attention to what it is that we are doing. 
As I sign off, I do have one final message from this House, I think, to New Zealanders. As a nation, it is a time when we have to be physically distant from one another. We are going to be apart, but we are going to be apart together. We do not need to be distant as humans. Let's take this time to reach out to all of those in our communities, and our whānau, and our friends—online, on the phone. Let's look out for people who are most vulnerable, and let's get through this together. Ka kite anō.





DAVID SEYMOUR (Leader—ACT): Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. I reluctantly join in support of this motion to form an epidemic committee. Let me put that in the context that New Zealand is one of only seven countries to have maintained democracy throughout the entire 20th century. Our Parliament did not stop sitting for world wars. For the Parliament to adjourn for a national emergency is not only unprecedented but it is, perhaps, a bad time to do it, because at this time the Government has just taken more civil liberties than at any peacetime juncture in our history: freedom of association and freedom of movement. Now, don't misunderstand me, they're necessary. It's the right thing to do that people stay home and keep distant in order to beat this virus, but it's still a fact.
Further to the civil liberties that have been lost, we have a Government empowered by the Epidemic Preparedness Act to alter legislation, for instance, at a pen stroke with the agreement of a Minister and the Prime Minister. These are times, and it's actually anticipated in the Epidemic Preparedness Act, that parliamentary scrutiny is more important than at any other time. It's evident from the fact that we're sitting today that it was possible for Parliament to continue sitting, taking proper precautions in a way that is consistent with our goal of beating the COVID-19 crisis.
I have heard it said that other parliaments are actually adjourning for longer than ours. I don't think that's leadership. I don't think any leader aims to be the world average or worse. Thankfully, into a vacuum has emerged excellent leadership. I'm very pleased to hear the superb speech by the Leader of the House when he said that he understands the importance of this place but we must innovate. Businesses up and down this country are engaging in innovation. They are using digital technology, new ways of working, and even converting the kinds of products they produce. Some whisky distillers are now producing hand sanitiser, as we've heard from the Greens. It is right and proper that this Parliament should now introduce its own innovation to continue scrutinising the Government while doing everything we can to reduce the risk of transmission of this virus we are all committed to beating. That is absolutely the right thing to do. It means that we will, effectively, have a new type of Parliament, chaired not by you, Mr Speaker, but by the leader of the National Party. I think given the circumstances, given the amount of power that the Government has, that is actually right and proper that we innovate in this way.
I leave one final thought for the Leader of the House. I think it is unfortunate that democracy and, in particular, MPs' electorate offices have been left off the list of essential services. Don't misunderstand me; we will do everything we can to comply. But I can tell you that we're getting bombarded at the moment with people who see us as, naturally, their democratic input into the political system. I think to have a status quo where it seems to the public reading that being able to get liquor within a liquor trust area justifies keeping liquor stores open in those areas but a local MP's office is somehow not on the list—I would put it to the Government, that that is an oversight. It's not that we think we're different. It's not that we think that we're above the law. I think it is the fact that New Zealanders who have elected representatives deserve to be able to access them. I can tell people in the Epsom electorate—and from the responses I'm hearing from people around the Chamber, it's not the only electorate—that we will continue to serve. Of course, we're going to do it in a way that complies with the rules absolutely wherever possible. But we will still be there on email and phone.
So I commend this motion to the House, and I look forward to a new world of democracy. Our country goes forward. Thank you, Mr Speaker.
Motion agreed to.





Sessional—Times for Replies and Government Responses
Hon CHRIS HIPKINS (Leader of the House): I seek leave to move the motion in my name relating to the sessional order on written question times for replies and Government responses to committee reports.
SPEAKER: Is there any objection to that course of action being taken? There is none.
Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: I move, That the following sessional orders be adopted: 
TIMES FOR REPLIES AND GOVERNMENT RESPONSES1 Time for replies to written questions(1)Despite Standing Order 382(4), the reply to a written question must be lodged no later than the tenth working day following the day on which the question was published.(2)Any written question that has been lodged before the day on which paragraph (1) ceases to have effect under Rule 3, remains subject to the time-limits set out in that paragraph.2 Time for Government responses to select committee reportsFor the purposes of Standing Order 252(1), a working day does not include any day in the period commencing with 25 March 2020 and ending with the day on which this rule ceases to have effect under Rule 3.3 Cessation of effectRule 1(1) and 2 cease to have effect on 28 April 2020, unless the Business Committee determines otherwise.
This is a very straightforward resolution. The issue that we're really grappling with here is that we're all moving to new ways of working. The written questions system is an integral part of our means of accountability, of our scrutiny function as a Parliament. It's important that members who are not part of the executive can continue to ask questions of those who are, and written parliamentary questions are a good way to do that. Unfortunately, at the moment, getting replies prepared in an environment where everyone's working from home, setting up their offices from home, trying to find new ways of working within the time frames that are currently required just isn't possible. This gives people a bit more time. It's not a huge amount of time, but it is a bit more time to allow us to do that.
The second part of the resolution is, of course, making sure that the Government replies to select committee reports aren't due until after the House has resumed.





Hon GERRY BROWNLEE (National—Ilam): This is a very sensible move, well supported by the Business Committee. These are—as we've all been saying, over and over—unusual times. It's good that the written question process will continue. The extra days will make a difference. I think, even beyond that, there will need to be a little bit of tolerance as people do set themselves up.
I also, perhaps, foreshadow from the Government that with 80-odd MPs at home in lockdown, the flow of questions might somewhat increase, meaning there will be greater pressure on those who answer them on behalf of Ministers.
But it's a good move, an appropriate one, and, quite clearly, the extension of select committee deadlines and other such is simply practical and the right thing to do.
Motion agreed to.





OFFICES OF PARLIAMENT
Address to Governor-General
Hon CHRIS HIPKINS (Leader of the House): I seek leave to move the Government notice of motion in my name that a respectful address be presented to Her Excellency the Governor-General.
SPEAKER: Is there any objection to that course of action being followed? There appears to be none.
Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: I move, That a respectful Address be presented to Her Excellency the Governor-General commending to Her Excellency the alterations to the appropriations for the 2019/20 financial year in respect of Vote Audit, Vote Ombudsmen, and the estimates of expenses and capital injection for the 2020/21 financial year in respect of Vote Audit, Vote Ombudsmen, and Vote Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment.
Motion agreed to, and Address agreed to.





ADJOURNMENT
Hon CHRIS HIPKINS (Leader of the House): I move, That the House do now adjourn until 2 p.m. on Tuesday, 28 April 2020. 
Today has been a day in this House like none of us ever thought that we would see, as New Zealand faces a great threat to its wellbeing—the greatest threat most of us will have experienced in our lifetimes.
I mentioned before that I'm pretty passionate about this place. One of the things that, from time to time, I like to do is wander in the lobbies, and in the lobbies you'll find the Hansards of every speech that has ever been delivered in this House. I was out in the lobby before, just having a little bit of a stretch after doing a three-hour session in this House—three hours might seem like a long time, but when you look at how much legislation we've passed in the House, it may well be unprecedented.
As I was walking through the lobbies, I noted the Hansard from 1918. You'll find only one volume of Hansard from 1918. That year was significant in New Zealand for two reasons: it marked the end of the First World War, but it also marked the outbreak of the Spanish flu, the Spanish flu pandemic. The jubilation over the end of the First World War was somewhat overshadowed by that. You'll only find one volume of Hansard from that year. If you find most other years, there are volumes and volumes of Hansard. Parliament did not sit much during 1918 due to the combined factors of the war and, of course, the pandemic. Eight thousand, six hundred - plus New Zealanders lost their lives in the Spanish flu pandemic. A third to a half of the entire population of New Zealand was infected by it.
The reason that we are now going into recess, the reason that we're adjourning, and the reason that so many businesses and other organisations up and down the country are closing down from midnight tonight is so that we can ensure that we do not see devastation on that scale again in New Zealand. The lives of up to 60,000-plus people would be at risk—they may well die—if we do not do this. It is important that we do it, and it's important that we get it right.
So we in this House must also go home and stay there, just as we are asking other people in New Zealand to do. We need to lead by example, and that is exactly what we are going to do. We've put in place the means by which Parliament can continue to scrutinise the Government and hold it to account, and it is critical that that continues to happen. I do not believe that there is any appetite for business as usual on the part of Government. I don't think there is appetite from the New Zealand public to see us meeting here and passing the legislation and having the debates that we would normally have in normal times, and that is one of the reasons why, among others, we are now adjourning until 28 April. That means that two sitting weeks that had been scheduled will be lost. I certainly hope that we will be in a position to resume on 28 April.
I want to wish all members, their staff, and everybody who works here at Parliament my very best wishes and the very best wishes of the Government. Stay safe and healthy until we reconvene. Finally, as this will be my last speech in this House for some time, I do want to acknowledge the supermarket workers, the refuse collectors, the transport personnel, the utilities workers, the police, the emergency services, and, of course, those working in the health sector who are on the front line. All the very best. You will be in our thoughts over this coming time. You all have very critical roles to play. What we all do over the next few weeks will be remembered for a lifetime.





Hon GERRY BROWNLEE (National—Ilam): Mr Speaker, quite obviously the National Opposition will be supporting the motion moved by the Leader of the House. As he has just said, these are extraordinary times; we'll all be judged in the future by how we handle things moving forward.
There's no real need, I think, for me to say a great deal more other than to agree that we should acknowledge all of those essential service workers who are out there, particularly those in the health field; but then all those others who do jobs that aren't often all that glamorous, that just make life a little easier for us when it comes to providing services around sanitation, clean water, and those types of community things that are so important. There'll be a number of people who think that they should be on the essential services list, and they will probably make a case for them to get on that essential services list. I don't think the Government will be closed to looking at whether or not there should be some changes to that as needs arise. But when we look today at the model that—based on the experience in Wuhan and in Lombardy in Italy—sees us at an alarmingly escalating rate of infection, then this is absolutely the right thing to do. No question. And so by closing the House down for just 28 days, for having a process that is a new innovation for keeping that scrutiny, then this place is showing the rest of New Zealand what needs to be done at a time like this.
But there will be pain—an enormous amount of pain. While we're all sort of saying, "Let's go back to our homes and isolate with our families, but not communicate too much or too closely with other people," there are groups in our society who could be left out and left in quite miserable conditions. So we will probably use the select committee process to find out what is happening for those who, for example, are homeless; people who are living in circumstances that really are only suitable for going home and having a sleep and then going back to work; or people who are disabled in some kind of way. These are all the things that we need to look at, because, while we don't want the potential death toll to come from the virus, we also don't want people's lives to be compromised to that extent because of the other choices that we have to make as a nation.
So we support the motion by the Leader of the House. We salute all of those who are going to keep the place—that is, the nation—ticking over in the meantime and look forward to a point when we can put all of this behind us and enjoy what will be the innovations that come from these next four weeks of isolation.
Motion agreed to.





SPEAKER: Members, as we go to the adjournment, I want to thank all members for their contributions today. It's been an unusual sitting. We have got some things right and some things wrong—we never quite got the date changed on the wall—but I do want to thank the very skeleton staff who have helped us through today, both from the Parliamentary Service and the Office of the Clerk, and indicate that I think all of them knew that there was some risk involved in doing it. I want to say that both the Clerk and the CEO of the Parliamentary Service will be available through this entire period by phone and by email, and possibly by Zoom. I am in the same category, although I wouldn't recommend a Zoom conference with me; I think a phone call is probably a better approach.
The House adjourned at 5.31 p.m.