Hon MICHAEL WOOD (Minister of Transport): I'm very pleased today to be able to stand and commend the Prime Minister's statement to the House in 2022. It was a statement that I think set out a clarity of leadership and hope in what are enormously challenging times here in Aotearoa New Zealand, but in every country around the world, as we continue to face the global pandemic. It is a pandemic that carries on, that continues to claim tens of thousands of lives around the world most days of the week. While most of us would like to be able to wish it away—and, indeed, some who have spoken in this Chamber in this debate have acted as if we can do that—we just can't. If we want to continue to keep our people safe, if we want to continue to maintain standards of living by having an economy that moves forward, if we want to look after the vulnerable people in our society who continue to be at the most risk, then we need to continue with our health- and people-focused approach to the management of COVID-19 and Omicron. The Prime Minister very eloquently set out the absolute determination of our Government to carry on with that.