Oral Questions

1. to the Minister for Oceans and Fisheries: Will the Government take action to protect 30 percent of Aotearoa New Zealand’s oceans by 2030, given that more than 50 other countries have committed to doing so, including, recently, the United States?

The Government’s first priority regarding marine protection is to reform the marine protected areas Act. One of the most glaring issues to fix is that we don’t yet have marine protection legislation covering the exclusive economic zone. It is Government policy to seek protection of 30 percent of marine areas over time. A range of protection arrangements different to those in the Marine Reserves Act may be necessary. I also note for the member that the High Ambition Coalition (HAC) group of countries have not yet made a binding commitment to protect 30 percent of either the global oceans or their own space; rather, it’s a group of countries that are seeking to promote such an outcome from negotiations later this year.

💬 Hon James Shaw: What advice, if any, has he requested from officials following his statement late last year that “We need to do better in respect of bottom trawling.”?

💬 Hon DAVID PARKER: One of the areas of advice that I have sought is better information as to whether there are new areas being bottom trawled or it’s repetition of trawling over previously trawled areas.

💬 Hon James Shaw: Why did the New Zealand delegation oppose measures at the recent South Pacific regional fisheries management meeting to strengthen the protection of deep-sea corals and other vulnerable marine ecosystems?

💬 Hon DAVID PARKER: The—well, point of order, Mr Speaker. I don’t see how that’s relevant to the question that’s been asked—the primary question.

💬 SPEAKER: Well, I—no. No, I—[Interruption] I want to hear the response from James Shaw. I mean, I would have thought that corals could have been affected by bottom trawling, but I’m not an expert.

💬 Hon James Shaw: Well, the primary question was about taking action to protect 30 percent of our oceans, and the HAC coalition that the Minister referred to—it talks about the oceans in their fulsomeness, not just fisheries, and, as you say, the coral reefs and so on are part of the ocean ecosystem.

💬 SPEAKER: I’m—yeah, the Minister will answer the question.

💬 Hon DAVID PARKER: I’m sure officials thought that they were properly reflecting Government policy. I don’t have the detailed information to hand to give the member a more fulsome answer.

Chlöe Swarbrick: Will the Minister instruct officials to recognise and support the rāhui that Ngāti Paoa has recently placed on the waters around Waiheke Island to protect ao Hauraki from overfishing?

💬 Hon DAVID PARKER: I am aware of the rāhui and local concerns about overfishing of various mainly shellfish species and rock lobster. I have sought advice from officials as to what the Crown response should be as to whether there ought to be action from the Government of a similar nature. No decision has yet been made.

💬 Debbie Ngarewa-Packer: Kia ora. Will the Government take action to protect Aotearoa oceans by legislating for a nationwide ban on seabed mining permits and revoke existing seabed mining permits that threaten the health of our moana?

💬 Hon DAVID PARKER: That’s not currently Government policy, but it’s not to say that the issue may or may not be revisited in the future.

💬 Debbie Ngarewa-Packer: I’m not clear: is that a yes or a no?

💬 SPEAKER: That—[Interruption] No, well, that’s all right. That’s a supplementary question.

💬 Hon DAVID PARKER: It was—the answer was that that’s not currently Government policy to have a ban on all seabed mining, but it doesn’t mean to say that the issue won’t be revisited in the future.

Tim van de Molen: Will the Minister at least commit to creating the Kermadec ocean sanctuary during this parliamentary term; if not, why not?

💬 Hon DAVID PARKER: I can commit to using my best endeavours, but it isn’t good to land something, or to claim to land something, before you’ve caught it, which is what the prior Government did.

💬 Hon Dr Nick Smith: Point of order. I seek leave of the House for the Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill in my name to be set down as the first order of the day on the next members’ day.

💬 SPEAKER: Is there any objection to that course of action? Yes, there is.

Question No. 2—Prime Minister

2. to the Prime Minister: Does she believe that New Zealand should aim to get access to safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines as early as possible?

Yes.

💬 Hon Judith Collins: Was it misleading for her Ministers to tell New Zealanders that we would be “at the front of the queue” for vaccines?

💬 Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: No.

💬 Hon Judith Collins: When will New Zealand’s healthcare and border workers receive their COVID-19 vaccinations?

💬 Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: We’ve indicated our expectation that the arrival of our first Pfizer vaccines will be in the first quarter and we expect within a two to three week period to be able to vaccinate our border workforce.

💬 Hon Judith Collins: When will a detailed immunisation plan be released?

💬 Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: We have already provided our vaccine strategy. Given that we currently do not have community transmission in New Zealand, we have prioritised those who are at the greatest risk, and they happen to be those who work at our border. Unlike other countries who have had to prioritise—and rightly so—those most vulnerable, their elderly, their healthcare workers, New Zealand is in the very privileged position to be instead making sure that we are protecting our cleaners, our health workforce in our managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ), our customs and immigration workers, everyone who is part of our current testing regime is front of the queue for vaccines as soon as they arrive.

💬 Hon Judith Collins: Is there a detailed plan or is there just a strategy?

💬 Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Of course there is a plan. It is a significant logistical exercise. When you have a vaccine that requires cool chain supply at -70 degrees you have to have a plan for distribution across the country, but of course we have the advantage of already having these staff members on a weekly rota for testing and that will support our vaccination programme.

💬 Hon Judith Collins: What advice has she received on a vaccine passport system similar to that of Australia, and will she release it?

💬 Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Actually, much of the work in that area is being developed at an international level, and I have received copies of advice provided to the Minister of Transport around developments of that regime. As you can imagine, as an international community, we’re looking for a recognisable system that acknowledges, no matter which border you’re crossing, those vaccines that are considered to be sufficient to move and travel safely. So New Zealand is keeping in close touch with the international community on that.

💬 David Seymour: Would the Prime Minister characterise documents signed between the Government and companies supplying the vaccines as contracts or agreements?

💬 Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: The official titles for them, not just in New Zealand but abroad, has been advance purchase agreements. Of course, we then go through our own process to make sure that we are giving regulatory approval for their use. So those are arrangements where we’re essentially committing to buy, they have to fulfil a number of obligations, we then have obligations on us as to if we accept how much is purchased and paid for etc. A very important point that I’ll make to both members in this line of questioning: for us to sufficiently protect New Zealand, we need good, high uptake of vaccines. We have to have the confidence of New Zealanders, and that means making sure that we go through our own regulatory process. Some countries that are rolling out rolled out before clinical trials were complete. That was because people were dying. That is not happening in New Zealand, we are balancing timeliness with security to New Zealanders—that they are safe.

💬 Hon Judith Collins: In that case, then why did her Government tell New Zealanders last year that they were at the front of the queue?

💬 Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Because, in terms of our purchasing, we have been very quick to ensure that we have access to four vaccines. And I would suggest to the member that actually talking to New Zealanders about what they want to see in our vaccine strategy, which is an assurance that it is safe, is incredibly important, as is timeliness. The second thing that I would suggest the member look at is the profile of the vast majority of countries who are currently rolling out vaccines, often under emergency approval, and I correct the member—Australia is not rolling out their vaccine, they have not received it.

Question No. 3—Finance

3. to the Minister of Finance: What are the priorities for Budget 2021?

Today, I had the pleasure of releasing the Budget Policy Statement for 2021. Budget 2021 will be guided by the Government’s overarching objectives for this term, which are: continuing to keep New Zealanders safe from COVID-19, accelerating the recovery and the rebuild from the impacts of COVID-19, and laying the foundations for the future, including addressing issues such as our climate change response, housing affordability, and child poverty. We’ve set out five wellbeing objectives to guide this investment in Budget 2021. They are: securing a just transition to a low-emissions economy; lifting productivity and enabling all New Zealanders to benefit from the Future of Work; lifting Māori and Pacific incomes, skills, and opportunities; reducing child poverty and improving child wellbeing; supporting physical and mental wellbeing for all New Zealanders; and keeping COVID19 out of our communities.

💬 Dr Duncan Webb: What are the projections for Government debt in the Budget Policy Statement?

💬 Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: With the onset of the economic consequences of COVID-19, the Government took the necessary steps to support the economy and protect New Zealanders’ jobs. Doing so required us to take on substantial levels of debt to deal with this one-in-100-year shock. Projections at the time of the pre-election fiscal update in September showed net debt falling from a peak of about 56 percent of GDP in 2024 to 48 percent of GDP in 2034. New projections using the Treasury fiscal strategy model today show net debt now at 36.5 percent of GDP in 2034-35, representing about $60 billion less debt at the end of the projection period than was projected at the pre-election update.

💬 Dr Duncan Webb: How will issues like housing be addressed through Budget 2021?

💬 Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: A focus on housing will be a critical part of Budget 2021. Across the wellbeing objectives that I mentioned, it has a critical role to play. For example, Māori and Pacific households have disproportionately been affected by lower rates of homeownership and therefore have enjoyed fewer opportunities for safe, secure, and affordable places to live. Equally, child wellbeing is affected dramatically by housing, including issues of dampness in some of our lower-quality housing stock, and insecure tenancies. The housing crisis did not begin under this Government, but we are addressing it. Doing so will require tough decisions, and that is what New Zealanders will see, through a rolling series of measures that we will be announcing, beginning with demand-side measures, later this month.

💬 Dr Duncan Webb: How much did this gorgeous photo on the cover of the Budget Policy Statement cost?

💬 Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: As the member’s raised it, this photo here on the Budget cost the taxpayer zero dollars, as the photographer was the modest Mr G Robertson.

Question No. 4—Prime Minister

4. to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by her commitment to “foundational” change; if so, is this different from “transformational” change?

I stand by my comments. I was referring to a suite of policies like the introduction, for instance, of Matariki as a public holiday in New Zealand, the introduction of the learning of New Zealand history in schools, that will make a long-term difference to how we see ourselves as a nation. That in no way detracts from the work we’re doing on longstanding policy issues like, for instance, housing, child poverty, and climate change.

💬 David Seymour: Is the fall in homeownership rates to a 70-year low under her Government an example of foundational or transformational change?

💬 Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: The member is making some kind of assumption that housing is no longer a priority—that is wrong, for the very reason that the member has quoted those statistics: they are not acceptable to us as a Government. It’s one of the reasons they remain an absolute focus, and you will have heard them feature in this question time already.

💬 David Seymour: How is the addition of more than 2,000 new gang members to the national gang list under her Government an example of transformational change, or will foundational change make matters better?

💬 Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: The member appears to have pored over words as if they are a trade-off. I’ve already rejected that premise. If you wish to debate the issue of gang-related crime in New Zealand, let’s have that discussion. We all know the origins of that track well back from well beyond the last three years. This has been consecutive years’ worth of issue, exacerbated, unfortunately, by some of the decisions made by Australia to export their gang problem to New Zealand.

💬 David Seymour: Is the progress to date on Auckland light rail an example of the kind of foundational change that New Zealanders can look forward to in the next three years?

💬 Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Shall I take that as the member based in Auckland’s support, then, for a significant infrastructure project that will make a huge difference for Aucklanders? And that’s why we’re going to make sure that in the long run, it’s something that has as wide support as possible, and I’d welcome his.

💬 David Seymour: What sort of transformational or foundational effect will falling maths and science scores have for future generations?

💬 Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Again, I share the member’s focus on ensuring that we have a lift in achievement. One of the concerns we had when we came in was that the focus on national standards was not the way to lift the achievement across literacy and numeracy. We are, at the moment, working alongside Minister Tinetti and making sure that through our curriculum work we have a very clear set of expectations around what the curriculum is in those early years in schools, giving much more direction to teachers, as well.

💬 Hon Chris Hipkins: Can the Prime Minister confirm that the falling literacy and numeracy standards that the member just mentioned reflect the first cohort of students who did the majority of their schooling under national standards?

💬 Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I can, which, in my view, only further justifies our view that that policy was wrong. We are also of the view that we have to look at the totality of a child’s life to ensure that they are learning well. That is why, for instance, I don’t underestimate the long-term impact, alongside curriculum, of things like Food in Schools for making sure that children are learning in an environment where they are ready to learn.

💬 David Seymour: Why should anybody believe the next three years of “foundational” change will be better than the last three years of “transformational” change, where nearly every measure the Prime Minister talks about went backwards?

💬 Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I utterly reject the premise of that member’s question. Let’s take, for instance—of the nine child poverty indicators, seven of them improved, and we had only just begun. On this side of the House, we are very open about the decades-old problems that we have in this nation, but that does not reduce our ambition.

Question No. 5—Housing

5. to the Minister of Housing: What plans for public housing has the Government announced?

I recently announced the Government’s Public Housing Plan 2021-2024, which outlines the intention of where 8,000 additional public and transitional housing places announced in last year’s Budget will be built. The plan confirms we are on track to deliver over 18,000 extra places by 2024 and gives local councils, iwi, community housing providers, and the construction sector more certainty about where those houses will be built and at what scale. We’re continuing to build public and transitional housing at rates not seen in two decades, and as a Government, we are proud to help more of our most vulnerable members of our communities move into warm, dry public housing.

💬 Anahila Kanongata’a-Suisuiki: How does this plan support regions with the highest demand for public housing?

💬 Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: We know the public housing build in previous years has not kept pace with population growth leading to rent rises, housing shortages, and deprivation. While public housing will continue to be delivered across the country, there is a particular focus on Northland, Hamilton, Bay of Plenty, Gisborne, Napier, Hastings, Palmerston North, and Whanganui. These new houses will make a big difference in those communities that are seeing significant housing needs.

💬 Anahila Kanongata’a-Suisuiki: How does the public housing plan complement existing Government housing support programmes?

💬 Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: The public housing plan is one part of a range of housing initiatives to address the housing crisis. These include the Housing First programme for people experiencing chronic homelessness, Progressive Home Ownership to help families buy their own homes, support for first-home buyers, and our homelessness action plan. There is no silver bullet to fix the housing crisis that we face and we recognise there is much more to do. But each of these programmes are an important part of our work to ensure every New Zealander is able to live in a warm, dry, healthy home whether they own it or rent it.

💬 Jan Logie: How many of these houses will be accessible, knowing that there are just a small handful of accessible rentals on the private market?

💬 Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: I’m pleased to inform the member that Kāinga Ora has recently put in place a policy to ensure that at least 15 percent of all new builds are built to accessible universal standards.

Question No. 6—Finance

6. to the Minister of Finance: What specific measures, if any, has the Minister taken since January 2020 to respond to warnings from the Reserve Bank that unconventional monetary policy could lead to house price inflation?

At the time of the January 2020 report the member is basing his question on, the Reserve Bank’s position was that there was not a case for using unconventional monetary policy in New Zealand in the near future. So the premise of the member’s question is actually based on a hypothetical scenario. Obviously, COVID-19 changed that. The global pandemic created the largest economic shock in a hundred years, and the Reserve Bank of New Zealand followed other central banks around the world by rolling out a series of measures to support the economy, including unconventional monetary policy. They also changed their views on what that would mean for house prices. In any event, the Government has continued to take a number of specific measures to address the housing market. These include the largest public house building programme since the 1970s, increasing investment in infrastructure to allow for greater housing supply, starting work on reforming the Resource Management Act (RMA), releasing the National Policy Statement on Urban Development, and continuing to work with the Reserve Bank on the interactions between monetary policy and financial policy.

💬 Andrew Bayly: Why has the Minister still not formally responded to the Reserve Bank’s letter of 9 December 2020 on measures to amend monetary policy, such as capital adequacy ratios or debt-to-income restrictions?

💬 Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: We are taking our time to respond to the very serious issues that have been raised in the debate about the housing market. It is important that we get these right—they are significant decisions. Cabinet is working its way through them, and we’ll be making announcements shortly.

💬 Andrew Bayly: Does the Minister agree with the Reserve Bank Governor that measures to increase supply, such as increasing land availability or removing regulatory barriers, are the significant determinant in reducing house price inflation?

💬 Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I agree with the fact that supply issues are important as demand issues are important. It’s one of the reasons why we’re undertaking a programme to reform the RMA. It’s the reason why we released the National Policy Statement on Urban Development, and it’s the reason why we understand that this is not a situation where there is a silver bullet; it will require sustained action across demand and supply, and that is what we’ll do.

💬 Andrew Bayly: Why has he taken over a year since he first received the warning from the Reserve Bank to address house price inflation, during which time first-home buyers in New Zealand have seen the median house price increase by approximately $121,000?

💬 Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Between January 2020 and now, an event occurred—it was COVID-19—and in May the Reserve Bank itself forecast that house prices would fall by 9 percent. That was the consensus of economists. It didn’t turn out; the opposite has happened. The Government is moving to address that now.

💬 Andrew Bayly: Does he believe that it’s fair for first-home buyers, who’ve seen the median house price increase by about $11,000 per month and who are now seeing their dream of homeownership out of their reach?

💬 Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: What I don’t think is fair is a Government that had nine years to actually get on with building affordable homes, with actually supporting New Zealanders into homeownership, and failed to do it.

Question No. 7—Education

7. to the Minister of Education: What progress is the Government making in ensuring that students in New Zealand schools are able to learn and understand our own histories?

What Kiwi students learn about New Zealand’s history at school is now out for public discussion, and it’s great to see New Zealanders engaging in the debate already. Public engagement on the draft curriculum content for Aotearoa New Zealand’s histories that are going to be taught in our schools began last Wednesday and it will run through until the end of March. We want all New Zealanders to have the opportunity to have their say on the draft content and we’re hoping to hear from as many people as possible. I urge all New Zealanders who are interested in our history and our kura to provide feedback.

Tāmati Coffey: Will these changes mean that students have to learn exactly the same thing wherever they live?

💬 Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: There will be some parts of our national history that we want all children to learn about, but we also want young New Zealanders to be able to explore the stories that are unique and relevant to them. For example, if you’re in the Waikato you may learn about the invasion of the Waikato led by Governor George Grey. In Otago you might delve deeper into the region’s Māori and Chinese heritage. In Porirua you may explore the stories of Pacific migration to the area. Across the country we all have elements of history that are unique to our areas and we do want young New Zealanders to be learning about that.

Tāmati Coffey: How has the draft curriculum content been produced?

💬 Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: Over the last year, the Ministry of Education’s been working with teachers and school leaders, school sector representatives, academics, representatives from our communities—particularly our Māori, Pacific, migrant, and disabled communities—to develop the draft curriculum content. It was then tested with a small number of schools and kura in term 4 last year and it is the content that’s emerged from that the Ministry of Education is now out consulting with the public about.

Question No. 8—Social Development and Employment

8. to the Minister for Social Development and Employment: Does the Minister agree with the Prime Minister’s statement on 5 November 2020 that “we cannot rest on our laurels and we want to see more New Zealanders obtain work, which is why we are prioritising the roll-out of the flexi-wage scheme prior to Christmas”?

Yes, I do agree with the Prime Minister. We do want to see more New Zealanders obtain work. That is why it was good to see 27,000 people move off benefits into paid work in the December quarter. We are seeing the outcomes of our strong economic plan with recent data released by Statistics New Zealand showing record high for jobs in construction, while unemployment fell from 5.3 percent to 4.9 percent. We are doing better than our economic forecasts, which projected an unemployment rate of 6 percent. This is because of this Government’s decisive actions to date to keep people connected to their jobs and support businesses and households through the COVID-19 pandemic. We will continue this work through the expansion of Flexi-wage. We’ve taken some extra time to get this expansion right and we’ll be announcing those details on Thursday.

💬 Hon Louise Upston: When the Prime Minister said about the Flexi-wage extension, “We want to be in a position to assist businesses to take on workers over the Christmas New Year period if they can, rather than waiting till after the holiday period.”, why did she not bother to tell the Prime Minister she couldn’t deliver it by Christmas?

💬 Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: We want to take the time to get the detail right. As I said, it is a relief that we saw the number of exits off benefit into work in the December quarter—27,000, which was actually up on the year before. We’ve got a number of initiatives in place that don’t necessarily just start with the expansion of Flexi-wage, but the expansion of Flexi-wage will be an important part of this Government’s suite of initiatives to address unemployment in this country and to keep New Zealanders in jobs.

💬 Hon Louise Upston: How many of the 213,006 people without a job and on the jobseeker benefit would have had a job by now if she had delivered the Prime Minister’s promise to have the Flexi-wage extension in before Christmas?

💬 Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: It’s important when you roll out any initiative that you do get the details right. We’ve taken the time to do that. The Flexi-wage expansion will be announced on Thursday, and, as I said, it is good to see that exits off benefit into employment in the last quarter were higher than the same quarter in the year previously.

💬 Hon Louise Upston: Does the Government consider it a failure that over 68,000 people are now on jobseeker benefit compared to a year ago, and, if so, why did the Government not prioritise supporting those people into work and out of hardship?

💬 Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: We have experienced an unprecedented event, and that is COVID-19. Internationally, countries are experiencing higher levels of unemployment. It was heartening to see that our unemployment rate had dropped to 4.9 percent despite predictions, and even the forecast numbers around the numbers of New Zealanders who would be on benefit at this time are lower than anticipated. We are doing everything that we can, and, as I said, we will continue to make sure that we support New Zealanders to stay in work.

💬 Hon Louise Upston: Why, after six months since the Prime Minister first announced the extension to Flexi-wage, do New Zealanders still not know the details of the policy that Jacinda Ardern considered to be one of her top priorities to deliver before Christmas?

💬 Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: We will be announcing the detail of the expansion of Flexi-wage on Thursday.

Question No. 9—Social Development and Employment

9. to the Minister for Social Development and Employment: What recent announcements has she made about supporting businesses and employees in their response to COVID-19?

Yesterday, along with Minister Wood, I announced a new Short-Term Absence Payment. This initiative means that from today, businesses whose workers need to stay at home while they await a COVID-19 test result can contact the Ministry of Social Development and apply for a one-off $350 payment to help pay that staff member if that are unable to work from home. Testing for COVID-19 remains a critical ongoing element in our elimination strategy. This payment is designed to reduce the financial pressure on businesses and encourage them to continue their valuable role in keeping COVID-19 in check.

💬 Terisa Ngobi: Which workers does the payment apply to?

💬 Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: The Short-Term Absence Payment can be applied for by employers for workers who cannot work from home and are, in accordance with public health guidance or requirements, staying home while waiting for their COVID-19 test results, have a dependant who is staying at home while waiting for a test result, or are a household member or secondary contact of someone who is a close contact of a person with COVID-19 who has been advised by a doctor or a health official to stay at home while waiting for the close contact’s test result.

💬 Terisa Ngobi: Why is this an important part of the Government’s COVID-19 response?

💬 Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: The aim of this payment is to better support business and workers to comply with public health advice by alleviating some of the barriers to getting a COVID-19 test. This payment will also take some of the financial pressure off businesses whose workers await the results of a COVID-19 test, which can usually take between 24 and 48 hours. This initiative builds on the back of the successful wage subsidy and leave support scheme. It is part of our ongoing commitment to softening the blow of COVID-19 to both employers and workers.

Question No. 10—COVID-19 Response

10. to the Minister for COVID-19 Response: On what date will New Zealand receive its first shipment of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, and what reports, if any, has he seen on how many other countries have started COVID-19 vaccinations?

The first shipment of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is expected to arrive in the first quarter of 2021. The Government will be making further announcements when we’re absolutely certain of when the vaccine will arrive. I receive a regular science briefing of international developments regarding the roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines in other countries where emergency approvals have been used to quickly roll out vaccines, but I’ve not received a running list of those countries.

💬 Chris Bishop: Why has he repeatedly stated that New Zealand is at the front of the queue for the COVID-19 vaccine, when at least 50 other countries have already started their vaccine roll-out and we haven’t?

💬 Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: The member clearly hasn’t been listening to what I’ve been saying over the last month or so. We’re not using emergency approvals to roll out our vaccine campaign in New Zealand. We do not have the public health grounds to do so.

💬 Chris Bishop: Why has he applied to the COVAX vaccine facility for the Pfizer vaccine when that facility is designed for the equitable distribution to low and middle income countries—precisely the countries that he says need to be in the front of the queue ahead of us?

💬 Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: No, I reject the premise of the member’s question. He’s wrong in what the COVAX vaccine facility is designed to achieve.

💬 Chris Bishop: Why did the Government not contract with Pfizer to deliver the vaccine before now, when countries like Singapore—which has also done a very good job in dealing with COVID—were clearly able to do so?

💬 Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: As I indicated in my earlier question, Singapore is among the countries that are using an emergency vaccine approval process, which we have not used here in New Zealand.

💬 Chris Bishop: Was the Government given the option of an earlier delivery time in exchange for paying more for the COVID-19 vaccine provided by Pfizer?

💬 Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: No.

💬 Kieran McAnulty: Is the Minister aware of statements from Anne Harris, managing director for Australia and New Zealand at Pfizer, that New Zealand wasn’t slow at ordering the COVID-19 vaccine and that they will meet their contractual obligations?

💬 Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: I want to acknowledge the enormous international pressure that the vaccine manufacturers are under around the globe and the lengths that they are going to in order to satisfy the contractual arrangements that they have entered into.

Question No. 11—Building and Construction

11. to the Minister for Building and Construction: What recent reports has she seen regarding building consents?

I have seen a report from Statistics New Zealand that shows a new record quarterly high in the number of building consents being granted. These figures show 11,291 new homes were consented in the December 2020 quarter—the highest quarterly number ever; beating the previous record from the December 1973 quarter, when 10,713 new homes were consented. For the year ended December 2020, the number of new homes consented was 39,420. The figures show that despite uncertainty caused by COVID-19, there is a lot of residential activity in the pipeline, especially for townhouses, flats, and units.

💬 Paul Eagle: How is the Government supporting the building and construction sector to build on this growth in consents?

💬 Hon POTO WILLIAMS: As a Government, we are committed to supporting the sector through continued investment in trades training and apprenticeships, our building legislative reform programme, and improvement to our planning system by repealing and replacing the Resource Management Act. We want this strong and sustained growth in the building sector to continue and to deliver on this record high in the number of consents.

💬 Paul Eagle: How is the building sector responding to this record number of consents?

💬 Hon POTO WILLIAMS: We are already seeing the building and construction sector respond, as Statistics New Zealand data has shown strong growth in the sector despite COVID-19. The household labour force survey shows an annual increase of 21,000 people employed in the construction industry to meet this new demand. It’s also encouraging to note that 5,800 of this increase are women.

Question No. 12—Corrections

12. to the Minister of Corrections: Does he stand by his statement about the Waikeria Prison riot being a “prisoner disorder event”?

Yes. It involved prisoners, there was disorder, and an event—prisoner disorder event.

💬 Simeon Brown: Why has the Department of Corrections operational review called the riot at Waikeria Prison a “major disorder event” and not a riot?

💬 Hon KELVIN DAVIS: I’m advised that the Department of Corrections has a framework for categorising prisoner-based incidents. This was categorised as a prisoner disorder event.

💬 Simeon Brown: Can he describe to the House the difference between a riot and a disorder event, and why isn’t he being honest with New Zealanders in accurately describing the total takeover—

💬 SPEAKER: Order! The member’s just lost that supplementary.

💬 Simeon Brown: Is it true that one of the demands of the rioters was that the destruction of the entire upper jail was not to be described as a riot, and is this the reason he has not described the destruction of the upper jail as a riot?

💬 Hon KELVIN DAVIS: No.

💬 Ginny Andersen: What advice, if any, has he received on the actions of corrections staff during the event at Waikeria?

💬 Hon KELVIN DAVIS: Following the event, I visited the site and met with staff to express my full thanks for their professionalism and bravery in person. There was a lot of emotion from staff who had to evacuate hundreds of prisoners while fires burned around them and staff who safely brought the incident to an end. I have huge admiration for what they did in very difficult situations. I’m proud to be their Minister and of the bravery they showed throughout the event.

💬 Rawiri Waititi: Supplementary question, Mr Speaker.

💬 SPEAKER: No, I’ve indicated to the member that I will not call him when he is not properly dressed. The member will resume his seat.

💬 Debbie Ngarewa-Packer: A point of order, e te Māngai. Your memo made reference to those that have cultural attire. You have allowed other cultures to wear what’s right for them. Why are you denying Māori culture their attire, and his heitiki?

💬 SPEAKER: The expression that is used in the Standing Orders is “business attire”. Business attire is something on which I have consulted. The members chose not to respond to the consultation. That is their choice. I have been guided and will continue to be guided in these matters by the views of members. I’m not absolutely required to do that, but I do want to make it clear that the significant majority of members who responded made it clear that ties were part of business attire. And we could have a long discussion on this, and I have had it in my office with a number of members, and, as I’ve indicated at least twice to the House, my own sympathies are with an abandonment of ties, but that is not the view of members who responded. Supplementary question—

💬 Rawiri Waititi: Point of order, Mr Speaker.

💬 SPEAKER: No, the member cannot take a point of order. [Interruption] The member cannot take a point of order. I do not recognise the member. He will now leave the Chamber.

Rawiri Waititi withdrew from the Chamber.

💬 Debbie Ngarewa-Packer: Why did the Minister state that it was a prisoner disorder event when it was clearly a protest against Corrections’ negligence in addressing the recommendations of the Ombudsman’s report?

💬 Hon KELVIN DAVIS: I disagree entirely with the member. There is no justification whatsoever for what those men did. It was totally unacceptable.

💬 Hon David Bennett: It was a riot.

💬 Hon KELVIN DAVIS: They endangered the lives of over 180 other prisoners who were in their cells when those fires were lit.

💬 Hon David Bennett: It destroyed the entire upper jail with fire.

💬 Hon KELVIN DAVIS: They have denied families—

💬 SPEAKER: Order! Order! I’m now going to ask the member to resume his seat. I’m going to ask David Bennett to stop interjecting. I think most members regard this as a serious matter and having that sort of snarling occurring is not appropriate.

💬 Hon KELVIN DAVIS: Corrections also addressed the issues that the prisoners raised, such as the water being brown. That was bore water. The water is tested six days a week. It’s the same water that corrections officers drink. The issue around the bedding and the clothes—other former prisoners have come out and said that it is simply false. The Māori Party has fallen into the trap of believing the people who played up in the prison and are excusing their behaviour where there is no excuse.

💬 Debbie Ngarewa-Packer: So is the Minister saying the Ombudsman’s report is wrong?

💬 Hon KELVIN DAVIS: No, Mr Speaker. The Ombudsman’s report was written in October of 2019. It only came out towards the end of last year. Corrections accepted the findings of the Ombudsman’s report and they had taken steps to address those issues. We’ve also got to remember that the conditions at Waikeria Prison were there when the Māori Party and the National Party were in Government and the Māori Party had—[Interruption] This is important. This is important. The Māori Party had an Associate Minister of Corrections who did nothing to address those very issues that those people raised.

💬 Debbie Ngarewa-Packer: So, I’m sorry—after all of that rhetoric, the Minister is saying the Ombudsman’s report is correct?

💬 Hon KELVIN DAVIS: I’ve said that Corrections addressed the issues in the Ombudsman’s report, which was written a year before the event occurred.