Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill

I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. Given Conservation Week and the Minister’s enthusiasm for marine protection, I seek leave of the House for my member’s bill, the Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill to be introduced and set down for first reading on the next members’ sitting day.

Is there any objection to that course of action? There appears to be objection.

Question No. 11—Health

11. to the Associate Minister of Health: Does she stand by her statements in relation to the measles outbreak, “There is no shortage of vaccines” and “there’s no issue with supply”?

Yes, in the context they were given.

💬 Matt Doocey: When the Minister said there is no shortage of vaccines, is she confident the latest order of 52,000 measles vaccines will be sufficient to last until the end of January, when the next lot of vaccines is due to arrive, given that 54,000 measles vaccines have been given out so far this month?

💬 Hon JULIE ANNE GENTER: The member may not have seen a Ministry of Health statement that has just been released, saying that approximately 100,000 additional measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines have been secured and will be arriving in the coming weeks. So I would also let him know that 175,000 vaccines have been delivered this year—that’s an 86 percent increase on the same period last year, in which 94,000 were delivered. We have the additional 52,000 which have arrived and are being distributed this week. And just today, the ministry has announced 100,000 additional vaccines have been secured.

💬 Matt Doocey: In light of that answer of the new 100,000 vaccines, why have 1.3 million New Zealanders aged between 30 and 50 no longer been prioritised to receive the measles vaccine?

💬 Hon JULIE ANNE GENTER: The member will be aware that children under the age of two are the most likely to be hospitalised when they get measles. During a significant outbreak, children must be the priority for vaccines, for this reason.

💬 Matt Doocey: In light of the answer of the new 100,000 vaccines, why are there over 1 million New Zealanders aged between 15 and 29 who are no longer being prioritised to receive the measles vaccine as of Monday?

💬 Hon JULIE ANNE GENTER: As I said to that member, children under the age of two are the most likely to be hospitalised. Children must be the priority for vaccines. The guidelines issued by the ministry were subject to additional supply being available. So once the 100,000 are in the country, there will be changes to the prioritisation.

💬 SPEAKER: Can I just ask for a little bit more good taste to be applied by way of interjection during this question. This is a matter that a lot of parents take very seriously.

💬 Rt Hon Winston Peters: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. The first objection that I have is that I don’t believe there are a million New Zealanders between the ages of 15 and 25, which is what the member asserted in this House.

💬 SPEAKER: Well, I apologise for not being quick enough to pick the member up. I should have ruled the question out, if that’s—

💬 Matt Doocey: Responding to that point of order, Mr Speaker.

💬 SPEAKER: No, no. It’s well gone. Sit!

💬 Matt Doocey: It was the Parliamentary Library that gave us that. Could the Minister tell the House today that, now with the 100,000 extra vaccines that will appear, there will no longer be the reprioritisation of the age groups mentioned in previous supplementary questions?

💬 Hon JULIE ANNE GENTER: I will do no such thing. We are going to follow expert advice on how we’re going to protect the most vulnerable New Zealanders during a measles outbreak. I don’t think this is a time to be creating a panic for the purpose of politics. New Zealanders have to have confidence in our public health system. I have confidence in the clinicians who are carrying out tens of thousands of vaccinations, and I thank them for their work protecting the most vulnerable New Zealanders.

💬 Melissa Lee: If there are no supply issues with the measles vaccine, and if children are in fact the priority, what does the Minister say to the parents of Malaysian Chinese children who were turned away from their GP yesterday because they were not Māori or Pasifika?

💬 Hon JULIE ANNE GENTER: The ministry and DHBs are actively managing the distribution throughout the country to ensure it is going to where it is needed most—that’s all children. Primary care has been issued with advice to contact a nominated DHB stock manager about vaccine distribution. Fifty-two-thousand additional vaccines have arrived in the country and have yet to be distributed. There will be another additional 100,000. But we need to focus on the most vulnerable and at-risk people if we are to respond to this outbreak responsibly. I would ask the Opposition to be a little more responsible.

Question No. 12—Transport

12. to the Minister of Transport: Does he expect the Civil Aviation Authority to act in an open and transparent manner?

Yes. My primary expectation of the Civil Aviation Authority is that it is a high performing, risk-based regulator focused on the civil aviation system. As part of being a good regulator, it should be as open and transparent as it can be, given its role.

💬 Lawrence Yule: Does he think it open and transparent that the Civil Aviation Authority is withholding information from individuals requesting it when that information is about the individual, and the Privacy Commissioner has ruled there is no proper basis for doing so?

💬 Hon PHIL TWYFORD: It’s very difficult for me to venture any kind of opinion—sensible opinion—on that very vague, hypothetical question from the member. If the member wants to be more specific or follow the convention in this House—and that is, following a very broad primary, to not ask a very specific supplementary and expect a detailed answer—if the member wants to put it down in writing or in a primary, I’ll be very happy to respond fulsomely.

💬 Lawrence Yule: Does the Minister have any concerns that the Civil Aviation Authority would be withholding information when the agencies charged with ensuring transparency and fairness in New Zealand are being blocked?

💬 Hon PHIL TWYFORD: I expect the Civil Aviation Authority to follow the law and to deliver on its role and my expectation that it does a good job as an aviation safety regulator, and like all modern public service organisations it respects the Privacy Act and it acts in an open and transparent manner, that it treats people with respect and dignity. As I said in my answer to the previous question, if the member’s got a particular case he wants to put to me, give me the details and I will respond.

💬 Lawrence Yule: Has the Minister been briefed by the Civil Aviation Authority CEO Graeme Harris on the reasons why personal and private information is being held from requesters where it has been found that there was no proper basis for doing so?

💬 Hon PHIL TWYFORD: I’ll say again to the member: if he wants to provide the details of an actual case, I will respond fulsomely, rather than repeatedly asking hypothetical, generic questions.

💬 Lawrence Yule: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. My question was: have you been briefed on that issue?

💬 SPEAKER: Well, I certainly haven’t been, but I think he means “Has the Minister been briefed?”

💬 Hon PHIL TWYFORD: I haven’t been briefed on a matter that lines up with the way the member described it, but I will repeat: that is the most generic and abstract kind of question. If the member gives me a proper, substantive question, I will answer it.

Question No. 9 to Minister—Amended Answer

I seek leave to correct an answer.

💬 Hon Members: Oh!

💬 SPEAKER: Right, those members that made a noise during a point of order from my left—stand. You will in unison withdraw and apologise.

💬 Hon Members: I withdraw and apologise.

Yes, I think in the reference to the decline in the populations in the Southland stream I said the decline had been 99 percent. I’m just reading the article in more detail—it’s 98 percent in the pools and 84 percent in the riffles.

Question No. 11 to Minister

I seek leave to table a Parliamentary Library request that shows there’s over 1 million 15- to 29-year-olds in New Zealand.

I think you probably seek leave to table an answer rather than a request—is that right? Yes.

💬 Rt Hon Winston Peters: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker.

No, no—I say to the Acting Prime Minister that at the moment, we have a leave request for the tabling of a document from the Parliamentary Library. That is not a matter which is to be debated. Members, if they don’t want to have that document tabled have a very clear course of action. Is there any objection to that document being tabled? There is objection.

I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. My point of order is that there are probably just over 600,000 people of that age description, not the figure he pretends to put to this House, and he would have been in serious trouble if he had successfully got the motion forward. [Interruption]

No, I’m not having any more. Frankly, that was not helpful, Acting Prime Minister. That was not helpful. We had a matter, it was dealt with; the Acting Prime Minister attempted to take a point of order which I ruled was outside what should be done, and after the matter had been dealt with, we had another point of order which was not a point of order; it was a debating point. The member may well be right, and he will have an opportunity, if he wishes, to take a call during the general debate and to make a debating point, and that is the right time to do it.