Thursday, 3 December 2020

THURSDAY, 3 DECEMBER 2020

THURSDAY, 3 DECEMBER 2020

The Speaker took the Chair at 2 p.m.

Prayers.

Business Statement

Business Statement

Hon CHRIS HIPKINS (Leader of the House): Thank you, Mr Speaker. The Address in Reply debate continues next week, with a further eight maiden speeches on Tuesday. The Business Committee has agreed that after oral questions on Tuesday, there will be a one-hour debate on the report of the royal commission into the attacks on Christchurch mosques on 15 March last year. On Tuesday evening, the House will consider motions on the COVID-19 response and other issues. The Subordinate Legislation (Confirmation and Validation) Bill will pass through its remaining stages. I did notify the Business Committee that there may be an extended sitting on Wednesday morning, depending on progress. First readings to be considered will include the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Bill, the Social Security (Financial Assistance for Caregivers) Amendment Bill, the Maori Commercial Aquaculture Claims Settlement Amendment Bill, and the Water Services Bill. On Wednesday, the sitting programme for 2021 will be approved and the House will adjourn for the year.

CHRIS BISHOP (National): Thank you to the Leader of the House for that fulsome update. Can I ask the leader if he is planning on putting the House into urgency next week, and, in particular, if he is going to do so, whether or not any bills will be introduced that the Opposition is only presented with mere moments before the bill is tabled on the floor of the House, and in particular bills that the Attorney-General has issued a section 7 report under the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 as breaching the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act.

Hon CHRIS HIPKINS (Leader of the House): No, it’s not the Government’s intention to move urgency next week, although I did indicate that we may do an extended sitting on Wednesday morning.

Petitions, Papers, Select Committee Reports, and Introduction of Bills

Petitions, Papers, Select Committee Reports, and Introduction of Bills

SPEAKER: No bills have been introduced. Petitions have been delivered to the Clerk for presentation.

CLERK:

Petition of Pauline Latta requesting that the House fully fund St John Ambulance service to remove the need for fund-raising

petition of Brooke Lacey requesting that the House urge the Government to inquire into the crisis response and to prioritise legislation and funding to improve New Zealand’s mental health system.

SPEAKER: Those petitions stand referred to the Petitions Committee. Ministers have delivered papers.

CLERK:

Annual reports for 2019/20 for Te Puni Kōkiri, Department of Internal Affairs, Alcohol Regulatory and Licensing Authority

statement of performance expectations for the financial year 2021 for Tākaro Ltd

strategic intentions 2020-24 for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade

Minister for Māori Development and Minister for Whānau Ora, Vote Māori Development report in relation to non-departmental appropriations for the year ended 30 June 2020.

SPEAKER: I present the report of the Controller and Auditor-General entitled Accident Compensation Corporation Case Management: Progress on Recommendations Made in 2014. Those papers are published under the authority of the House. A select committee report has been delivered for presentation.

CLERK: Report of the Regulations Review Committee on the Subordinate Legislation Confirmation Bill (No 5).

SPEAKER: That bill is set down for second reading.

Oral Questions

Questions to Ministers

Question No. 1—Health

1. BROOKE VAN VELDEN (Deputy Leader—ACT) to the Minister of Health: What expectations does the Minister have of the Ministry of Health for meeting its obligations under the End of Life Choice Act, which comes into force in 11 months?

Hon ANDREW LITTLE (Minister of Health): New Zealanders voted for the End of Life Choice Act at the referendum, and we are committed to honouring and implementing that decision. I have high expectations that the Ministry of Health will meet its obligations to implement the End of Life Choice Act within the 11-month time frame. The ministry has 10 work streams under way to implement what is required in the Act.

Brooke van Velden: Is the Minister confident that the Ministry of Health will meet all of its obligations by 6 November 2021, and can he give assurance to those suffering from a terminal illness hoping to access end of life choice that they will not needlessly suffer for one day more due to set-up delays?

Hon ANDREW LITTLE: The ministry, and, indeed, the Government, has an obligation to ensure, in accordance with the End of Life Choice Act, that it is implemented from, I think, 7 November 2021. All administrative matters, regulations, committees, review bodies, and registrars have to be appointed and in place and systems functioning by that date, and they will be.

Brooke van Velden: Will he be setting high expectations for the Director-General of Health that all doctors, nurse practitioners, pharmacists, and psychiatrists will be highly aware of the ability to join a support and consultation group so that people in remote areas will have access to end of life choice?

Hon ANDREW LITTLE: All of those matters will have to be in place in order for the Act to be operative. It’s an obligation under the Act in light of the referendum result for that Act to enter into force, and therefore to be operative, from 7 November 2021. All of those matters that the member has referred to will be attended to and will be in place in time for the Act to enter into force.

Brooke van Velden: Does he intend to publish a timetable for the set-up of the Support and Consultation for End of Life in New Zealand Group, registrar’s office, and review committee, so that those in the medical profession and other concerned groups know what is happening and when?

Hon ANDREW LITTLE: The ministry is aware of its obligations to have those matters all in place, but I’m happy to ensure that in very short order a timetable is produced laying out the work, including the consultation and stakeholder engagement process, so that all those matters are ready as soon as the legislation comes into effect. I’ve already indicated to that member that I’m very keen for her, and her party as the sponsors of the legislation, to be actively involved and engaged in those processes, and I will make sure that that happens.

Brooke van Velden: Will the Minister commit to a fully public process seeking nominations for the committee that will review cases where people use the End of Life Choice Act?

Hon ANDREW LITTLE: All of the statutory appointments required under the legislation will go through the usual appointment process. That typically involves advertising for expressions of interest. There’s then a standard recruitment phase, interviewing short-listed candidates, and then it goes through the Cabinet honours and appointments subcommittee, and all of that will be done, as I’ve indicated, in time for the legislation to take effect.

Brooke van Velden: Will he set the expectation for the Ministry of Health to work with the Medical Council of New Zealand and colleges to develop clinical guidelines for practitioners?

Hon ANDREW LITTLE: In my engagements with the ministry so far they’ve indicated they’ve established the work streams. They understand the stakeholder engagement requirements on them to make those effective, and I’m confident that there will be good quality engagement with the New Zealand Medical Association and the various professional colleges.

Question No. 2—Finance

2. HELEN WHITE (Labour) to the Minister of Finance: What recent reports has he seen on the New Zealand economy?

Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance): Today, Treasury have released the Crown accounts for the four months to October. The operating balance before gains and losses deficit for the year to October 2020 was $3.8 billion, but this is against a forecast deficit of nearly $9 billion at the recent pre-election fiscal update. Core Crown expenses were 4.3 percent lower than expected, while core Crown revenue was 10 percent higher than forecast at the Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Update (PREFU). It’s interesting to note that revenue was higher than forecast from wages, company taxation, and GST, illustrating the stronger employment, GDP, and consumer confidence data we have seen in recent months. These figures show the continued resilience of the New Zealand economy despite the global COVID-19 slow-down. They also demonstrate the continued prudent management of the Government’s books and careful control of Government spending.

Helen White: What did the Crown accounts state about the levels of Government debt?

Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Well, I’m pleased to report that the net core Crown debt was $3.1 billion less than forecast, at 31.5 percent of GDP, at the end of October 2020. While this is larger than New Zealand is used to, on an internationally comparable basis our debt is lower than Canada, Ireland, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, and others.

Helen White: What did the Crown accounts state about debt servicing costs?

Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Well, I’m pleased to inform the House that for the year to October 2020, total Crown finance costs were 10 percent lower than forecast at PREFU. So debt servicing costs remain low, and they are forecast to remain so.

Question No. 3—Child Poverty Reduction

3. Dr SHANE RETI (Deputy Leader—National) to the Minister for Child Poverty Reduction: Since the passing of the Child Poverty Reduction Act 2018, which, if any, of the economising behaviours measured in the DEP-17 material hardship questions have become more common; and, if any, which of these has increased the most?

Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Deputy Prime Minister) on behalf of the Minister for Child Poverty Reduction: We do not have this data available for only households with children prior to the 2018-19 figures, which were released in February 2020. I can advise that for all families, including those without children, there have been small increases in the following economising behaviours in the survey which covers the period from mid-2017 to mid-2019: cutting back on fresh fruit and vegetables, feeling cold to save on heating costs, repairing or replacing broken or damaged appliances, and visits to the doctors. The most significant of these is postponing visits to the doctor, which is why we have already made changes to improve access to GPs by reducing the cost for up to 540,000 community services card holders and making visits free for 56,000 13-year-olds. I can also advise that there were fewer families who bought less or cheaper meat, postponed visits to the dentists, and went without local trips. I would say that it is important that in looking at these individual items the DEP-17 index is not the way that experts would say is an effective way to monitor and understand the levels of material hardship.

Dr Shane Reti: Which of the Government’s measures of material hardship are most affected by rising house prices?

Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Again, I think that references the last point that I made. Lifting out the individual details of the costs that are on families doesn’t give a full picture. Clearly, rising house prices and rising rentals affect a range of expenses that people will undertake.

Dr Shane Reti: For every $10,000 increase in median house prices, how many children, if any, may move into a state of material hardship?

Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I’m sure the member’s fully aware that a question with that level of detail would need to be put down in writing to be answered.

Dr Shane Reti: Is the answer to that question: “More people now than there were a month ago.”?

Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Quite clearly we’ve seen rapidly escalating house prices, but it seems to me that most of the initiatives that this Government has taken to improve the lot of the lowest-income New Zealanders have been opposed by the National Party. Be that the increases to the minimum wage, the support that we gave to beneficiaries at the beginning of COVID-19—a range of measures that we’ve undertaken the National Party have opposed.

Dr Shane Reti: How does she rate her performance in improving the state of children in material hardship to date?

Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: On behalf of the Minister, we have always acknowledged that this is a big job where there is a lot more to do. What I can be very proud of is being the Minister who put in place the Child Poverty Reduction Act so that we actually have indicators to report against and being the Minister who’s overseen the introduction of the Families Package that’s lifting hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders out of poverty.

Dr Shane Reti: What does she say to recent statements by the Children’s Commissioner and Treasury that hardship rates for children may increase further?

Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Well, what I would say is this Government is committed to doing absolutely everything that we can to reduce those.

Question No. 4—Education

4. ANGELA ROBERTS (Labour) to the Minister of Education: What support is the Government giving to schools to help them reduce their carbon emissions?

Hon CHRIS HIPKINS (Minister of Education): I recently announced 41 schools from the Far North to Southland that will receive funding for projects to help reduce their schools’ emissions and to save them money. This was the second round of the Sustainability Contestable Fund, and work will begin immediately. These initiatives will help to reduce carbon emissions and costs for schools across the country.

Angela Roberts: Can he give examples of the kind of project that the Sustainability Contestable Fund supports?

Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: Yes, I can, but I will only choose two. Ladbrooks School in Halswell installed new LED lighting, new low-flow tap fittings, a heat pump system to replace an old electric hot water cylinder, and more efficient heat pumps to replace electric fan and panel heaters. At Randwick School—[Speaker counting on fingers]—two schools; two examples of schools—

SPEAKER: Ah, two examples.

Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: At Randwick School in Lower Hutt—

SPEAKER: Very good school—a very good school.

Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: —there were 48 solar panels being installed, and it’s estimated that’s going to save the school $2,600 in the first year alone, with its savings expected to total more than $65,000 over 25 years.

Angela Roberts: Is this all about solar panels and boiler replacement or are there other sorts of things happening as well?

Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: Oh, that’s a very good question. Solar panels and boiler replacements are very popular projects, but we’ve seen other innovations funded, including rainwater collection, water conservation initiatives, composting, and recycling initiatives. These projects also help to build business confidence by providing a pipeline of work for local suppliers and contractors like plumbers, gasfitters, electricians, and builders.

Angela Roberts: What other action has the Government taken to support schools to reduce their carbon emissions?

Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: More good news. We’ve also committed $55 million through the State sector decarbonisation fund to replace up to 90 coal boilers in schools with low-emissions alternatives like woodchip boilers.

Hon Stuart Nash: If at all possible, Minister, will these new schools or school refurbs be built out of wood?

Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: I thank the Minister of Forestry for the question. And, in fact, I can report that I recently visited Waimea College who have built nine new classrooms with wood-only technology, removing a lot of concrete and a lot of steel from the construction process.

Hon Damien O’Connor: Will the Minister consider instructing officials to look at wool as a suitable flooring material and insulation material for all those new construction projects?

Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: I can advise the Minister that is, of course, one of the things that we will continue to consider.

SPEAKER: I think we’ll refer to those members as “Wooden” and “Woolly”.

Chris Bishop: Point of order. You’ve just taken three supplementaries from us. Just wonder why that was—

SPEAKER: Because three members interjected when a member was asking a question.

Chris Bishop: Yeah, well, we just ask for some consistency, because when the Hon Damien O’Connor was asking his supplementary then, there was quite a degree of noise and interjections from the Labour members. It’s a fairly jovial question. Members were enjoying the spirit of near Christmas on a Thursday afternoon on a question that people were enjoying, so I just—

SPEAKER: I think there’s a significant difference between—[Interruption] Mr O’Connor will stand, withdraw, and apologise.

Hon Damien O’Connor: I withdraw and apologise.

SPEAKER: I think members are aware of the difference between a slight murmur of humour and disparaging loud noises, as at least three members made while Ms Roberts was asking her supplementary question.

Question No. 5—Transport

5. Hon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE (National) to the Minister of Transport: Does he agree with all the findings on the Auckland light rail City Centre to Māngere project reached by the Controller and Auditor-General as set out in his letter to the CEO of the Ministry of Transport dated 26 November; if not, what findings does he not agree with?

Hon MICHAEL WOOD (Minister of Transport): I respect the role and the function of the Auditor-General, and while his report does not provide specific findings, I note, the views that he expresses and his intention to “help inform any future procurement process for the provision of light rail in Auckland or other similarly complex infrastructure projects.” In light of that, I intend to take his views fully into account as the project moves forward.

Hon Michael Woodhouse: Was the Government’s request to pause market engagement on light rail so the NZ Infra proposal could be examined more closely made against the advice of officials?

Hon MICHAEL WOOD: The report notes that there was differing advice on this matter.

Hon Michael Woodhouse: Were the mandatory procurement rules that set out the standards of good practice for Government procurement breached by the decision to follow a twin-track process?

Hon MICHAEL WOOD: The letter from the Auditor-General notes that this was a highly complex process, and also notes that the rules need to be interpreted in a way that is sufficiently flexible to respond to innovative proposals.

Hon Michael Woodhouse: Does he agree with the Auditor-General that a process that was not in compliance with the Government’s own rules “puts New Zealand’s reputation at risk, domestically and internationally.”?

Hon MICHAEL WOOD: I agree with the views expressed by the Auditor-General that these considerations did open up areas of risk, but given the significant market engagement the Government has with its transport programme, I don’t see that as a risk that is being borne out.

Hon Michael Woodhouse: Well, has that market engagement failed to the point that the Government will need to restart the procurement process as a consequence of those issues, and does this mean we’ve wasted three years?

Hon MICHAEL WOOD: The Government ended the twin-track process in July 2020, and, because of that, will be restarting any procurement process once further decisions have been made on this important project.

Question No. 6—Oceans and Fisheries

6. Hon EUGENIE SAGE (Green) to the Minister for Oceans and Fisheries: Does he plan any reform of fisheries management; if so, what are his priorities for the reform?

Hon DAVID PARKER (Minister for Oceans and Fisheries): Yes. This Government will continue to improve the environmental and economic sustainability of our fisheries sector, where a range of environmental, recreational, tangata whenua, and commercial interests can be pursued through an abundant fishery and a sustainable environment. We will build on the sustainability measures we’ve already introduced, and continue to roll out cameras on boats, implement the Hector’s and Māui dolphin threat management plan, and continue working on the Sea Change project within the Hauraki Gulf and the Rangitāhua/Kermadec reserve proposal. We’ll work with industry to help modernise fishing practices towards an ecosystem-based management approach and rebuild fish stocks that have been overfished. We will update marine protected areas legislation to ensure it’s fit for purpose, focusing on the future framework we need to protect our precious spaces and marine biodiversity.

Hon Eugenie Sage: Following his recent reported comment that, and I quote, “There are some legitimate concerns about the adverse environmental effects of bottom trawling.”, what action, if any, is he considering to address those concerns to protect seamounts, decades old corals, from bottom trawling?

Hon DAVID PARKER: I recently accepted a petition on bottom trawling from the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition here at Parliament. I look forward to the select committee consideration of that petition. We do need to do better in respect of bottom trawling. Sustainability is an ongoing journey. New Zealand has made good progress, but there is, and will always be, more to do.

Hon Eugenie Sage: What action, if any, is he considering to restrict or phase out other environmentally damaging fishing methods, such as set netting and dredging?

Hon DAVID PARKER: Well, in respect of set netting, there’s already been a major change in respect of the extension of the areas that are prohibited for use of nets as a consequence of the threat management plan that I’ve already referred to for the Māui dolphin and also Hector’s dolphins. I haven’t got anything else to bring to the attention of the House today.

Hon Eugenie Sage: Is he confident that the former National Government’s 2016 review of the quota management system (QMS) is an adequate and appropriate basis for reform of fisheries management, or does he intend to initiate a more comprehensive review?

Hon DAVID PARKER: We’re not proposing to review whether the QMS should exist. We see its continuance as important. We agree that some updates around the edges need to be made. The prior Minister of Fisheries started on some of that work, and I will continue it.

Hon Eugenie Sage: Does the Minister believe that the current suite of tools in the quota management system, such as annual catch entitlements, are adequate to ensure sustainable and abundant fisheries, and if so, why?

Hon DAVID PARKER: Some of the rules in the QMS encourage the wrong result, which is one of the reasons why rules are being changed to remove the incentive—for example, the current system encourages discards.

Hon Eugenie Sage: Does he agree with LegaSea spokesperson Sam Woolford that, and I quote, “A major flaw with the quota management system is that 56 percent of targeted fish stocks have never been scientifically assessed, so we have no idea if they are overfished.”, and if not, why not?

Hon DAVID PARKER: I’m aware of those statistics. I’m also aware that if you use a different denominator—namely, take these matters as a proportion of the biomass that is caught—you get a different answer. I’m looking forward to the imminent report from the Chief Science Advisor on her views as to how we reconcile these things.

Question No. 7—Social Development and Employment

7. Hon LOUISE UPSTON (National—Taupō) to the Minister for Social Development and Employment: Is she confident the Government’s policies and actions to address youth unemployment are fit for purpose?

Hon CARMEL SEPULONI (Minister for Social Development and Employment): Yes. The Government has laid out our approach to youth unemployment, through our employment strategy and the youth employment action plan. We reiterated this commitment during the election and in the Speech from the Throne last week. Our plan includes continuing successful programmes like Mana in Mahi, He Poutama Rangatahi, free apprenticeships and training, rolling out Tupu Aotearoa, and new investment into things like expanding Flexi-wage and the training incentive allowance—to name a few. We are proud of our record of investing in young people. And while there is more to do, we know this investment is already making a difference to many.

Hon Louise Upston: How many 18- to 24-year-olds were on the jobseeker benefit at the end of October this year, and how does this compare to the number of 18- to 24-year-olds on jobseeker benefit at the end of October 2019?

Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: I will say that globally countries are experiencing an issue with employment or higher levels of unemployment. Unfortunately the reality is, for many countries, that young people bear the brunt of recessions like we are faced with now. So the numbers of under-24-year-olds on benefit in October 2020 was 68,745, and that compares to 49,155 in October 2019.

Hon Louise Upston: What is the maximum number of people the Government’s youth employment schemes He Poutama Rangatahi and Mana in Mahi can actually support into work with the 68,000 18- to 24-year-olds on benefit at the end of October?

Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: It’s important to mention that there’s no one or even two programmes that have been developed to address unemployment or employment for young people. Mana in Mahi is one, He Poutama Rangatahi is another. But as I said, there is more happening, including the Apprenticeship Boost. If I only refer to Mana in Mahi, 1,622 young people have enrolled or completed Mana in Mahi to date. The achievement has been good; the retention has been good. The vast majority have either completed, are still on the programme, or have exited on to employment or training elsewhere.

Hon Louise Upston: Will the Minister set a specific target to reduce the number of 18- to 24-year-olds on benefit, with the Government’s own employment strategy saying, “They are at a far greater risk of poorer outcomes later in life, including lower wages, lower employment levels, and poorer”—

SPEAKER: Order! Order! The member’s completed a question. The quote is not necessary.

Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: As we saw from the last National Government, simply putting targets in place doesn’t necessarily address the issues that young people face in this country or unemployment in general. I think if we reflect back to the time following—

SPEAKER: Order! Order! The member will resume her seat. There was a very clear question asked, and the Minister has not yet started to address it. She will address the question that was asked, rather than other matters which she would prefer to do.

Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: Point of order, Mr Speaker. Perhaps, just saying that as the member went on, I potentially lost track of the question. So perhaps that member could repeat her question.

SPEAKER: I will tell the member, because I was listening, and it was a question about whether the Minister will set targets.

Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: Simply setting targets does not necessarily achieve the results that we as a country need to be achieved. What we are doing is using an evidence approach to supporting young people into employment, upskilling, and training. We want to support as many young people as we possibly can to realise their potential. This Government’s investment in upskilling and training, including apprenticeships, clearly indicates that we are committed to that.

Hon Louise Upston: Is the Minister satisfied, with 69,000 young people under the age of 25 on benefit, that programmes like Mana in Mahi are only serving 1,600?

Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: If Mana in Mahi was the only programme, then, yes, I would be concerned, but we have a vast array of programmes that have been put in place to be able to support young people into employment, upskilling, and training. We don’t want to see any New Zealand young person have potential wasted. So we are doing our very best to actually support—

Hon Louise Upston: 69,000.

Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: —all young people in New Zealand—

SPEAKER: Order! Order! We’ll have one person answering the question, not the person who asked the question trying to answer it from her bench.

Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: —to realise their potential.

Question No. 8—Environment

8. TANGI UTIKERE (Labour—Palmerston North) to the Minister for the Environment: What actions is the Government taking to reform the Resource Management System?

Hon DAVID PARKER (Minister for the Environment): Improving our planning system is a priority for the Labour Government. The current system takes too long, costs too much, and has not adequately protected the environment. The Government will ensure that New Zealand’s resource management system is fit for the future by repealing and replacing the Resource Management Act (RMA). The Randerson review provides a sound platform for the Government to advance this work. In the first six months of 2021, the Government intends to release an exposure draft of key elements of the first bill, the Natural and Built Environments Act (NBEA).

Tangi Utikere: What legislation did the Randerson review recommend to replace the RMA?

Hon DAVID PARKER: The panel recommended the RMA be replaced with three pieces of legislation: firstly, the Natural and Built Environments Act, that would provide the framework for both built environments and regulation of the natural environment; secondly, the Strategic Planning Act, that would overlay the NBEA; and, thirdly, a Managed Retreat and Climate Change Adaptation Act, that would seek to prepare us better for climate change.

Tangi Utikere: How will the Natural and Built Environments Act and Strategic Planning Act differ from the existing RMA?

Hon DAVID PARKER: The Natural and Built Environments Act will better protect environmental outcomes and limits via a mandatory set of national direction. At the same time, there will be less emphasis on subjective amenity values to assist development in built areas. A single NBEA plan for each region will reduce the number of plans from over 100 to about 14. The Strategic Planning Act will sit above the NBEA, and under it there will be long-term regional spatial strategies developed to help integrate decisions under the NBEA, the Land Transport Management Act, the Local Government Act, and the Climate Change Response Act.

Tangi Utikere: How will the exposure draft be progressed?

Hon DAVID PARKER: To advance the NBEA, I intend to request the select committee to commence a select committee inquiry on an exposure draft, with refinements being made and further material added prior to the bill being formally introduced to the House. This will allow all parties in this House an opportunity to contribute to the policy process to ensure that the replacement for the RMA endures through subsequent Governments.

Hon Scott Simpson: Does he agree with the Minister for Economic and Regional Development, who recently said on Newstalk ZB of the Government’s work on the RMA that “by the end of next year, it’ll be done and dusted”?

Hon DAVID PARKER: We’ll be well under way by then.

Question No. 9—Immigration

9. Dr JAMES McDOWALL (ACT) to the Minister of Immigration: Will further border exemptions be provided for shearing workers; if not, why not?

Hon KRIS FAAFOI (Minister of Immigration): The Government has been very clear that its priority is to protect New Zealanders from COVID-19 and support the economic recovery. This is why we do have stringent quarantine health systems at the border and we control the number of people moving across the border. So, on that note, the Government has enabled 60 shearers to come to New Zealand to assist with the peak of the shearing season. This is a decision welcomed by the Federated Farmers Meat & Wool Chair, William Beetham, who has said, “We really appreciate how hard it has been for the Government to manage this issue and keep New Zealand safe, and we really appreciate the fact that they understand the importance of animal welfare and have provided these exemptions.” I thank Mr Beetham for that. We will continue to engage with the industry around labour demands and exceptions in the future.

Dr James McDowall: Is he confident that the border exemptions provided for 60 shearers will be sufficient for the shearing season, given reports that the New Zealand Shearing Contractors Association initially applied for 200?

Hon KRIS FAAFOI: I am very glad the member asked that specific question, because Damien O’Connor has been working very closely with the New Zealand Shearing Contractors Association to make sure that we have what, we believe, is the minimum viable number to make sure that we can get through the issues with the border at the moment. I will remind the member that the border is closed, so we can’t bring in as many shearers as we have. And I would also note that, for some years, the New Zealand Shearing Contractors Association has pointed out that there hasn’t been any training of the local workers for shearing, and I’d like to thank this side of the House for investing $1.8 million into a trainee pilot programme to make sure we can get local workers into that workforce and not rely on people coming from overseas.

Dr James McDowall: Will the Minister take responsibility for any animal welfare issues that arise from unshorn sheep that become flyblown due to the lack of shearing in this season?

Hon KRIS FAAFOI: I am confident in that, because we work closely with the New Zealand Shearing Contractors Association and we’ve had praise from the likes of the head of Meat & Wool from Federated Farmers that we have the local workforce and the immigrant workforce to make sure that we can get through the season without any issues.

Kieran McAnulty: In light of the Minister’s support for the shearing industry, will he confirm to the House his attendance at next year’s Golden Shears?

SPEAKER: Order! The member will resume his seat.

Kieran McAnulty: What border exemptions has the Government announced to support the primary sector?

Hon KRIS FAAFOI: The Government recognises the important role of the primary sector in driving our economic recovery, and so far we have issued border exceptions for 30 veterinarians, 570 deep-fishing crew, 210 agricultural mobile plant operators, 2,000 Recognised Seasonal Employer workers to support the horticulture and winegrowing, and, as I said in my primary answer, 60 experienced sheep shearers, who we hope to see at the Golden Shears.

Question No. 10—Māori Development

10. ARENA WILLIAMS (Labour—Manurewa) to the Minister for Māori Development: What steps has the Government taken to support the Māori economy through Government procurement targets?

Hon WILLIE JACKSON (Minister for Māori Development): Today, alongside my colleague Stuart Nash, the Minister for Economic and Regional Development, I announced this Government’s decision to increase supplier diversity by setting a new procurement target of 5 percent for Māori businesses and enterprise. The new 5 percent target for Public Service contracts for Māori businesses is an important step towards a more inclusive and prosperous society, and we are honouring our manifesto commitment to better support whānau in Māori enterprise.

Arena Williams: Why is the Government introducing procurement targets for Māori?

Hon WILLIE JACKSON: We want to ensure that the Government procures goods and services from more diverse suppliers in small to medium businesses, with the benefits flowing back into communities. Small and medium businesses face significant challenges as a result of COVID-19, and that is exactly why targeting Māori businesses and jobs is a big priority for this new Government.

Arena Williams: When will the policy be implemented?

Hon WILLIE JACKSON: We don’t need to wait. The policy supports buyers to be more intentional with their spend within their existing quality assurance parameters. It’s anticipated that Government agencies will take the policy into account when they go to market for each contract. The initial target of 5 percent will be reviewed at the end of next year, and I have a real expectation that the data collected will support increasing the Māori social procurement target further.

Arena Williams: What support will be available to Māori businesses and enterprise to take advantage of the new procurement target?

Hon WILLIE JACKSON: Te Puni Kōkiri has contracted Amotai, formerly known as He Waka Eke Noa, to offer intermediary services that include making connections between Māori businesses and buyers, verifying that businesses are Māori businesses, and practical business support and training for small to medium sized enterprises. Intermediaries have an important role in matching buyers with suppliers and linking businesses to capability support.

Rawiri Waititi: Supplementary.

SPEAKER: Sorry, does the member want a supplementary?

Rawiri Waititi: Yes.

SPEAKER: Well, unfortunately, the member’s office sent me an email saying that all the Māori Party’s supplementaries—

Rawiri Waititi: We’ve got one left.

SPEAKER: The email that I saw said that all the Māori Party supplementaries were going to the ACT Party. If I can have an assurance that that is not the case, then I will give the member a supplementary.

Brooke van Velden: Mr Speaker, in the email I saw, the ACT Party was offered three out of four supplementary questions from the Māori Party.

SPEAKER: OK. It would be quite good if those ones were sent to me as well, because the one that I got said “four”.

Rawiri Waititi: Thank you, Mr Speaker. The Māori Party campaigned on a 25 percent procurement; this Government is saying 5 percent—

SPEAKER: Order! Order! The member will resume his seat. The member is starting right off with a supplementary for which the Minister has no responsibility. He has no responsibility for the Māori Party policy, and you can’t ask him about that. So just get a narrow question around what the Minister is responsible for.

Rawiri Waititi: Is he aware that the Māori population is 16 percent; where did he get his 5 percent from?

Hon WILLIE JACKSON: The 5 percent target is an aspirational target. I know it’s hard for the Opposition to understand that word, but it’s a target based on the volume of contract not the value. It is a really good start because the National Party refused to acknowledge indigenous procurement, and I say to the member to tautoko what we’re doing and support this percentage. It’s a good start for our party, and we’re hoping to increase it over the next 12 months.

Hon Nanaia Mahuta: Supplementary.

SPEAKER: Before the member does I’m going to warn Chris Bishop. This is now the third time I’ve warned him for inappropriate interjections today.

Hon Nanaia Mahuta: Can the Minister confirm that, in terms of the number of Māori businesses able to procure across a range of Government contracts, it is very difficult to assess whether or not they are able to fully procure 5 percent, and we’ve got to start somewhere?

Hon WILLIE JACKSON: I can confirm that to the Minister. There’s been a—

SPEAKER: OK, the member’s finished his answer.

Hon Grant Robertson: Can the Minister confirm whether or not he has received any correspondence from the National Party as to whether or not they would support a 16 percent target for Māori procurement?

Hon WILLIE JACKSON: Not in the last 50 years have we received anything from the National Party to support any indigenous procurement. Shame on the National Party, sir.

Question No. 11—Police

SPEAKER: Before I ask the member to ask the question, I’ll warn the House that the Minister’s office has indicated to me that this answer might be slightly longer than normal.

11. SIMEON BROWN (National—Pakuranga) to the Minister of Police: What are her plans, if any, to reduce gun violence in New Zealand from its highest levels in nearly a decade?

Hon POTO WILLIAMS (Minister of Police): First of all, let me acknowledge the officers involved in the recent Northland shooting. I’m sure every member of this House would join me in commending their professionalism and bravery, along with the family of Constable Matthew Hunt, who I had the privilege of meeting this week. The Government is committed to continuing the biggest reforms of our firearms legislation in New Zealand’s history. Already we have banned military-style semi-automatic weapons, magazines, and parts; taken 62,000 prohibited forearms out of circulation; and passed the Arms Legislation Bill, which National voted against. There is a great deal more to do, and I intend to make further announcements in the new year.

Simeon Brown: What specific actions will she be taking in response to the four incidents in the last three months of shootings against police officers in Northland, including the shooting of a police dog this week?

Hon POTO WILLIAMS: Can I say that any incidents where the use of weapons is involved is distressing for the police and the community, and police are front-line workers who go above and beyond to keep our community safe. We need to support our officers so we can continue to support our communities. But I’m sick of National’s virtue signalling on law and order. Under them, police numbers fell. They are up: 2,200 new constables, 1,280 new fulltime-equivalents, 700 alone focused on organised crime. This Government delivers for police—

SPEAKER: Right, OK. The member has answered the question.

Hon Member: I couldn’t hear it.

SPEAKER: Order!

Chris Bishop: A point of order, Mr Speaker. That was a very direct, succinct non-political question and it was not addressed by the Minister at all. It was about specific actions the Minister has taken.

Hon POTO WILLIAMS: Can I answer by saying that we have increased—

SPEAKER: Speaking to the point of order.

Hon POTO WILLIAMS: Speaking to the point of order, I did answer that in saying that we have increased police numbers targeting organised crime by 700. Now they work specifically with gang violence.

SPEAKER: And I think if there hadn’t been so much noise from the member’s colleagues, he would have heard that—even if the Hon Stuart Nash wanted it repeated. Right. One more here.

Simeon Brown: Will she make it a priority to address increasing firearm violence in Counties Manukau, and is she concerned about comments from Police Association President Chris Cahill, “Front-line officers in South Auckland feel compelled to wear anti-ballistic plate armour because they encounter firearms on a daily basis.”?

Hon POTO WILLIAMS: Can I say that I support the work of our front-line police. They go out to support us every single day to keep us and our community safe.

Chris Bishop: That’s a relief.

Hon POTO WILLIAMS: Can I just remind that member that National voted against tougher penalties on gun crime. National voted against new powers to deal with returning terrorists and National voted against harsher penalties for those who pushed synthetic drugs.

Nicole McKee: How will the Government’s policy of introducing a firearms register reduce firearm violence?

Hon POTO WILLIAMS: Reforms to date have been about responding to the need to prohibit dangerous firearms and strengthen and improve the existing legislative and regulatory regime. A key goal of the reforms already agreed by this House is to reduce the likelihood of lawful firearms getting into the hands of people who will use them for harm rather than for legitimate purpose.

Simeon Brown: What does she say to Diane Hunt, mother of slain Constable Matthew Hunt, and the 39,000 people who signed a petition to protect police officers, who said, “They all deserve to come home and there needs to be more deterrence to stop people from thinking they can shoot them as they see fit.”?

Hon POTO WILLIAMS: I had the privilege and honour of meeting with Mrs Hunt and her family. And I have to say to her that I agree that this country needs to support and honour and acknowledge the work of our front-line police staff. I have full confidence that our select committee process will be robust and appropriate and I look forward to the recommendations from her petition.

Simeon Brown: Will she support my member’s bill, the Arms (Firearms Prohibition Orders) Amendment Bill to take guns out of the hands of these violent criminals, and, if not, why not?

Hon POTO WILLIAMS: Unfortunately, National’s bill is fundamentally flawed. It would only have targeted gang members with convictions. What about other dangerous, high-risk people who are not gang members? It left significant gaps and will not effectively deliver the public safety objectives that we seek.

Nicole McKee: Does the Minister expect criminals committing gun violence to actually register their firearms?

Hon POTO WILLIAMS: The firearms register is targeted at those who would register their firearms so that we can actually identify how many firearms—[Interruption]

SPEAKER: Order! Order! The member will resume her seat. I’m sick of not being able to hear a member because people are shouting her down. I’ve had enough of it. The balance of this reply will be heard in silence.

Hon POTO WILLIAMS: Thank you, Mr Speaker. The purpose of the register is to register firearms, and we know that those legitimate firearms users will do so. This will allow us to track firearms should they be stolen so that we know—the whole purpose of this, for the member, is to know how many firearms we have in the community. And we know that legitimate firearms owners will do that and we will be able to track firearms that are then stolen from them.

Nicole McKee: Point of order, Mr Speaker, if I may. My question to the Minister was asking whether or not she expected the criminals to register their firearms, but the response I got was that the law-abiding are expected to register them. So I’d like to know—

Hon POTO WILLIAMS: Speaking to the point of order, Mr Speaker. That is far away from the primary question, which asks—

SPEAKER: Order! Order!

Hon Member: Supplementary?

SPEAKER: Well, hang on. I haven’t ruled on the point of order yet, so I’m just trying to get at—and I think the member had a valid point of order and that was it was a very specific question about whether or not the Minister expected criminals to register their firearms. She answered—and people can have a debate about the quality of the answer—another question and she will now answer the supplementary.

Hon POTO WILLIAMS: Thank you, Mr Speaker. I don’t expect criminals to do anything lawful. My expectation is that lawful gun-owners will abide by the law, and the register. The point of the register is to understand how many firearms there are in the community. Unfortunately, if we had been able to have a register—

SPEAKER: Order! The member, I think in the first sentence, actually answered the question.

Question No. 12—Conservation

12. JO LUXTON (Labour—Rangitata) to the Minister of Conservation: What recent announcements has she made about the Milford Track?

Hon KIRITAPU ALLAN (Minister of Conservation): Well, I thank the member for that fantastic question. On 30 November, I announced the full reopening of the iconic Milford Track. Hikers booked on the popular Great Walk are now able to complete the walk end to end for the first time since it was closed due to extensive flood damage in early February. The reopening is a milestone in the flood recovery work taking place in the Fiordland and Mount Aspiring national park areas and is a testament to the hard work achieved by both Te Papa Atawhai—the Department of Conservation—and the many, many contractors involved in the rebuild work.

Jo Luxton: How did funding allocated in Budget 2020 contribute to the reopening of the Milford Track?

Hon KIRITAPU ALLAN: Budget 2020 included $13.7 million for repairing vital conservation and visitor infrastructure destroyed in the February flood. I want to take a moment to commend and acknowledge my good friend and colleague the Hon Eugenie Sage for her work in securing that funding. Completing repairs and getting the Milford Track back up and running has been a priority for Te Papa Atawhai, and it is pleasing—

SPEAKER: Order! [Interruption] Order! That’s enough.

Jo Luxton: How will the reopening of the Milford Track contribute to the economic recovery from COVID, particularly for the Te Ānau community?

Hon KIRITAPU ALLAN: The reopening of the track is absolutely fundamental and critical for the economic recovery of the people of Te Ānau. This community relies heavily on tourism and has had an extremely difficult year due to the downturn of economic activity as a consequence of COVID-19. The serviced track draws thousands of visitors to the region every year, and the reopening sends a strong signal that the area is open for business and will be welcoming visitors throughout this summer season. [Interruption]

SPEAKER: Oh, surely not.

Jo Luxton: Thank you, Mr Speaker. What progress has been made on fully reopening the Routeburn Track?

Hon KIRITAPU ALLAN: Oh, another fantastic question from the member—

SPEAKER: Order! Order!

Hon KIRITAPU ALLAN: Mr Speaker—

SPEAKER: No, no, the member will resume her seat. That concludes oral questions.

Address in Reply

Address in Reply

Debate resumed from 2 December.

Hon NANAIA MAHUTA (Minister of Foreign Affairs): Firstly, Mr Speaker, can I take this opportunity to congratulate you on being re-nominated to the Chair. I know that fairness will continue to improve as the year goes on—well, indeed, I hope that’s the case.

It is a huge privilege to be able to speak in this Address in Reply debate in response to the Speech from the Throne, which set out the Government’s agenda for the next three years. The election delivered the kind of outcome that we didn’t expect in some really challenging times. But voters chose stability and certainty at this election. It’s the first time under MMP that we’ve got a majority Government, and we’re not taking that for granted. In fact, what we’re saying is that, during these very uncertain and challenging times, we will ensure that, for those things that will make a difference in the lives of many New Zealanders across many communities in our country, we will steward through the kind of plan that will see our way through.

There are three things that the Prime Minister has outlined in her speech that I want to speak to: firstly, to keep New Zealanders safe from COVID-19; secondly, to accelerate our economic recovery; and, thirdly, to lay the foundation for a better future. On the first issue, the Prime Minister has always said, when we couldn’t have predicted that there would be a global pandemic and it arrived here in New Zealand, that we would take the kinds of steps that would give New Zealanders the assurance that we had our priorities in the right place, and that was for our people. She said that the best economic response is a health response, and we hold to that approach.

We committed to an elimination strategy, and that elimination strategy doesn’t mean that there couldn’t be the high prospect of resurgence of COVID-19 during this time, but what we’re doing is continuing to strengthen what happens at the border. We’re continuing to learn and improve processes as people come home, and we have quarantine processes in place. We’re continuing to build the capacity of our ability to triangulate and identify the extent of an outbreak through contact tracing and keeping a record, and through making sure that we’ve got good testing and surveillance testing happening across our communities, and we have established a Minister responsible for our COVID19 response. All those things indicate that it’s an important effort. It’s one that is conducted across the whole of Government, and we’re undertaking a purchasing programme for a vaccine when that comes online.

But let me step back from that approach, because the team of 5 million and how they’re continuing to work to ensure that that approach across the whole of Government can be underpinned at a regional community level should be spoken about. I in particular want to acknowledge the effort that’s happening across local government to ensure that, should they need to support a coordinated effort, they are in a level of readiness.

The second part of our strategy is accelerating the recovery, and a key part of that, again, is people, and we want to make sure that we’re investing in our people. During some really difficult times, some sectors and industries have been really hit by the impacts of COVID and how it has affected their businesses, their sectors, their industries, and we’ve signalled very clearly that we want to lean into the space of ensuring that we’re investing in people through trades training. We want to make sure that we’re removing costs for two years for trades training and we want to ensure that we’re increasing apprenticeships training, because we know that, during this time, it’s an opportune moment for us to signal that we can get the requisite skills as the economy recovers.

I’m also very proud about our intention in vocational education, which has been reset over the previous term. We should see now a greater focus on the types of resilience skills and expertise in the effort that we are making to grow back an economy that moves from volume to value, and we will see the benefits of that over time.

But for women—and I’m really glad about this signal—I was really pleased that we’re going to reinstate the training incentive allowance to assist sole parents, and disabled people and their carers with the costs of getting a degree-level tertiary qualification. When I came into Parliament, National at that time had got rid of the training incentive allowance, yet I knew women who went to university and were sole parents and who got a law degree because of that type of support. So we’re sending a signal there that we’re not going to pull the ladder up.

We are going to make sure that we are going to invest in people in training in skills, in trades, and also in higher qualifications during this time, because we know part of that effort is about what we do actively as a Government to invest in jobs. So all the signals that the Minister for Infrastructure has given around leaning into investment and the way in which the Government can be an active investor—$42 billion into infrastructure will start to see the benefits of that roll-out, both at a regional and sub-regional level, and jobs and opportunities, and there will be benefits there.

As we prepare for the future, it’s important to recognise that we’re thinking ahead as well, because COVID-19 shouldn’t be a reason not to do the things that are progressive and that could fundamentally transform the way that our economy works. So, again, bringing forward our 100 percent renewable electricity target to 2030, I think, is significant. Just yesterday, the Prime Minister declaring the climate emergency to make clear our Government is really investing in the future for our kids and their kids, I believe, sends a very, very important message to many people.

Supporting small businesses: small businesses are the backbone of our economy, and each and every day when we go through our town centres and we see, yes, some businesses have closed but also some have pivoted or are doing things, we know that the support that we’re providing to ensure that small businesses can continue to operate under this time is so important.

Positioning globally is a big part of what we want to do, as well; so we need to continue to foster the relationships that are underpinned through various trade agreements. So what we’re doing with the EU free-trade agreement and the UK free-trade agreement to ensure that we’re getting products to market—again, it’s a part of a whole, comprehensive strategy to ensure that we’re investing in people. We’re supporting a move from volume to value, we’re ensuring that small businesses are able to thrive, and we’re positioning our market readiness in a way that will indeed ensure a successful recovery.

As we lay the foundations for a better future, I don’t think any one of us could really outline that vision any better than as it was given in the Speech from the Throne. But, clearly, as the Prime Minister set out, that vision is about making sure we don’t shy away from the challenge of climate change. The impact of what we do will have long-term, intergenerational impacts. That’s why yesterday’s announcement on the declaration of a climate emergency was so important in sending a signal to the Government sector that we will clean up our backyard by starting first with us, and we will demonstrate leadership.

Child poverty: making sure that we’re continuing to overhaul the welfare system and support those that are most vulnerable—our children—and do the very best by them, making sure that their health, their dental health, their mental health, and the support for housing will all have a contributive benefit to them and their whānau.

Lastly, in terms of the things that we will be measured by is housing, and this is a really difficult challenge. It’s a difficult challenge, and we couldn’t turn it around in the first term, but we will continue to commit to invest in this space, because we know that, when people have the security of tenure and when they’re able to move from insecure accommodation to secure accommodation, whether that be to homeownership or papakāinga or the like, we’ve got to provide pathways across the whole of the housing spectrum.

I’m proud to be able to speak in this Address in Reply debate. I’m proud to be able to say that we are a Government who have a vision for the future, and it’s not just about the nows; it’s about the next few years ahead, and it’s about positioning and ensuring, both at a local level and a global level, that we’ve got the kind of economy that will do the very best by New Zealanders. Ultimately, our health response is the best economic response, and we’ll continue to pursue that pathway. Thank you.

Hon MARK MITCHELL (National—Whangaparāoa): Thank you, Madam Speaker. Can I just take my first opportunity to congratulate you and acknowledge you as one of our Assistant Speakers for this term of Parliament. It’s a pleasure to stand and take a call on the Address in Reply debate. Can I just acknowledge the opening comments of the previous speaker, the Hon Nanaia Mahuta, when she said that, although they were surprised at the level of support that they had throughout the country, they embraced that support and they realised that now there was a requirement to deliver for the country. I completely, totally support those comments.

Actually, in reality, for the next 36 months, it’s really important that this Government does deliver for our country, because, obviously, with the challenges and the headwinds that we face globally and at home, it’s important that this Government, which in the first three years of governance had a major issue in delivering, sorts those problems out. They realise and understand that they do have a very strong mandate now. They stopped looking back. They have now exhausted the option of actually being able to blame the previous National Government. They’ve had three years in Government. They now have three years with a very strong mandate. It’s important that they get out and they actually deliver.

I want to talk about infrastructure and the delivery of infrastructure. I’m going to make it very local. I’m going to talk about a project that’s critically important to my electorate. It’s known as Penlink, and it’s part of the motorway network that will link the Whangaparāoa Peninsula into the main State Highway 1 network. I’ve been pushing for this project myself for the last nine years, when I came in as the representative. At the 2017 election, I felt fortunate that I was able to get support from my own team, from the National Government at the time, to say, yes, we would build Penlink, and I campaigned on that in 2017. It is genuinely a shovel-ready project. It is fully consented. It is ready to go. The land procurement has been completed under the Public Works Act and, in fact, half of the road has been completed on the Weiti side of the river. This project is ready to go.

In this election, Phil Twyford visited my electorate three times with Marja Lubeck, and they were very, very clear about the fact that they had become fully committed and were behind Penlink and that it would be delivered and started in 2021. That is next year. Let me assure you that I will be holding this Government to account on behalf of my electorate to make sure that this road is started and it is delivered in this term of Government, and that is going to be the litmus test, because when the Hon Nanaia Mahuta said that they were surprised at the level of support, I can tell you that there were people living on that peninsula that gave their party vote to you, Labour, on the back of that promise.

That road isn’t just important in terms of relieving the pressure on our roading network; it’s actually a safety issue, and the reason why it’s a safety issue is because it’s a peninsula. If we were to face a major civil defence event like a tsunami, there’s only one way on and one way off. That vulnerability was highlighted about three years ago, when we had a fatal accident on the intersection of Whangaparaoa Road and Viponds Road that, basically, cut off and left 20,000 people stranded on the peninsula. They could not get off. They said at the time the answer was “Well, we’ll use the ferries.” The problem with that is the ferry captains were stuck in the traffic and couldn’t get out to Gulf Harbour. So it is a genuine safety issue as well.

The promise has been made, and I want to see that road delivered. I’ll get behind and support any way that I can to ensure that that happens, but fundamentally it now comes back on a Government that has made a promise, that has said that it can deliver, and I’ll be watching very carefully and making sure that that road is delivered and we see the start to that road in 2021, next year, as promised.

The other point that I wanted to raise is around the Speech from the Throne, the commitment to community safety and law and order. I can say that in my experience—and I’m proud to have had a 14-year policing career myself. Most of it was spent on the East Coast of New Zealand—Gisborne, Ruatōria, and Wairoa—where all of the toughest social issues that we have to face as a country are often seen in that part of our country. I have never seen the gang problem and the challenges we face around all those issues associated with gangs—whether it be the dealing in stolen property, whether it be intimidation and standover tactics, whether it be the dealing of class A and class B drugs, whether it be the recruitment of our young people. I’ve never seen it as bad as it is today.

I’ll come back to my electorate shortly, but I just want to share some of the headlines that we’ve seen as a country over the last weeks. Operation Cincinnati—this was great work, and I want to acknowledge the police gang unit that actually runs a very, very effective operation. “Twelve gang members arrested in major drug bust”—I think that was focused on the Comancheros. Outstanding. Good work. But then we have headlines like “Three men with gang links charged with Southland kidnapping and aggravated burglary”; “Whangārei shooting: Gang behaviour getting more vicious”; “Police plead for sightings of Mongrel Mob member after he breached parole, went on run”; “Comancheros gang boss Pasilika Naufahu found guilty of money laundering, conspiring to supply class B drugs”; “Violent gang member gets rewarded at sentencing for difficult upbringing”—that’s outrageous; “Man charged over gang debt murder wanted to become a patched member”.

If I take it back to my own electorate, we’ve never really had a gang issue. We’ve been very fortunate up in Whangaparāoa and, before that, in Rodney. Our police up there, our police leadership and our local police service, is very proactive, and we’re fortunate, we’re lucky, and I thank them for that. But in the last six months, we’ve had the Hells Angels buy a commercial property in Silverdale and set up a pad. Why? Why are they coming into the area? We see patched gang members on Grand Drive in the heart of Ōrewa—Mongrel Mob gang members. We see the gangs taking over local restaurants. We see a rise in theft, a rise in violence. We know that there’s an increase in methamphetamine coming into our community, and that is actually even, sadly, ending up in our schools as well.

So this Government—and I make an appeal to the incoming police Minister. We’ll get behind and support her, but you’ve got to get serious about taking these gangs on. You’ve got, as an incoming Government now, to send a very clear message to the gangs that, actually, our police are going to run the town, not them. I went to a public meeting in the Hawke’s Bay—the last week of the election, actually—hosted by our candidate Katie Nimon. There was a massive turnout. Moteliers there said that the gangs, because of this policy the current Government are running in terms of using motel rooms to house people, have taken over motels in Napier. They’ve got a big problem, with the upcoming tourist season, where they don’t have enough beds. They went from having three gang chapters to having nine. They’ve taken over Marine Parade. They’ve got massive, massive issues down in the Hawke’s Bay.

I was down in Taradale last year, at a public meeting, because the local gangs conducted street warfare in the middle of the day in Taradale, with firearms, and they ended up with a shotgun pellet in a baby’s seat. We’re whistling in the grave. We’re one step away from having a tragedy in this country, and it’s time, actually, for the Government to take their commitment around community safety and gangs seriously. I’ve got a meeting in my office tomorrow where I’m bringing together—it’s with our local police area commander, with our three councillors and our local board—to actually develop a local gang strategy for my own electorate. It’s becoming that serious.

Finally, I just wanted to acknowledge that I had the mother of Constable Matthew Hunt, Diane, here yesterday, along with her daughter, Ellie, and one of his best friends, Sam. It was an honour for me to accept the petition. Just very quickly on the petition: she’s not trying to change the rules around the length of sentence or interfere with that. Quite simply what Diane is saying is that, if one of our police officers, who we ask to go out on behalf of all of us, to go out and accept risks and protect our communities, if one of them is killed in the line of duty and they’re convicted and sentenced to life, which basically means 10 years, that, actually, they carry out their sentence; they don’t get the option of parole. That’s us as a country sending a very, very clear message that we support our police.

I’d make an appeal to the Labour members and to the Government. You nod your heads. You’re out there. You always stand up and you’ve got the right words. Actually, you’ve got to back that up with actions now and support Diane, support the family, and support our police in that petition. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): I call Tāmati Coffey—this is a five-minute call.

TĀMATI COFFEY (Labour): Tēnei te mihi nui ki a koe e te Mana Whakawā, otirā ki ngā mema katoa o tēnei Pāremata, ngā mema hou hoki. He mihi aroha ki a koutou katoa.

[Warm greetings to you Madam Speaker, indeed I extend greetings to all the members of this Parliament, including the new ones. Kind greetings to you all.]

Kia ora, Madam Speaker. Can I congratulate you on your ascension to the big seat in the House and wish you the best of luck. I look forward to working with you proactively over the next few years, and also to our new members of Parliament as well; this is my acknowledgment to all of you.

The Hon James Shaw said not long after the election in an interview, “It’s a new Parliament; it’s a new day.” Actually, I found it quite refreshing to hear that. As I look around the Parliament and I see new members inside this debating chamber, it makes me realise it is a new Parliament; it is a new day. But, actually, what we are celebrating over on this side of the House is a pretty stunning election win. We managed to secure many new MPs. It’s an overwhelming endorsement of the leadership of our Prime Minister and leader of the Labour Party, the Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern.

I want to thank all of those people that put their faith in us to be able to guide the country over the next few years. Although the deckchairs have been shuffled, although there are new people in this Chamber, the kaupapa remains the same as it did just before the election, which is all about keeping New Zealanders safe from COVID, making sure that we’re managing the borders so that we’re keeping any COVID right there in managed isolation facilities. The kaupapa is still the same, about accelerating our economic recovery, because I know—as somebody that lives in the geothermal paradise of Rotorua—that actually our tourism industry has taken a hit, our hospitality industry has taken a hit, and our retail sector has taken a hit. There are jobs that are at stake. There are businesses that continue to hibernate until we get back on our feet. So making sure that it’s a directive of this Government over the next few years to make sure that we’re accelerating our economic recovery is a priority, and making sure that we’re laying the foundations for a better future.

Underpinning all of those priorities is a commitment to Māori, because during the election we got an overwhelming endorsement in terms of our party vote across all of our Māori electorates in the 2020 election, which means that we must truly value and support Māori across the country, who have shown their support for us by voting our Government in. We now are proud to say that we have 15 MPs in our Labour Māori caucus. The experience and the advocacy that they will bring will be crucial to the Government in issues such as Resource Management Act reform, in issues such as water, and the many other issues that we face as a country. We now have eight Māori MPs in the executive, including our sister from the Green Party. Six Labour Ministers, five Cabinet Ministers—collectively we sit across 24 portfolios—but that brings both responsibility and opportunity: opportunity to tackle the big issues and the responsibility to deliver those real results to iwi Māori and to everyone across Aotearoa.

We will continue to strengthen that Māori Crown relationship, to ensure that the Crown can grow to be a better Treaty partner and to work in true partnership with Māori, and obviously the work of the Hon Kelvin Davis will be testament to that, and we will work alongside him to deliver on those results. We will continue to work to settle historical Treaty of Waitangi claims, as well as the need to protect the taonga that is te reo Māori. We are also going to celebrate Te Ao Māori and how it defines us as a nation by making Matariki a public holiday—that’s right. It was launched in Rotorua, and proudly so, alongside one of the people that we consider to be at the forefront of this: Dr Rangi Mātāmua. Waitangi Day is our only indigenous holiday, as you will, but it’s fraught. So Matariki will provide a positive, more enlightened, more indigenous aspect to a public holiday that we will hopefully have not too far away.

We’ve got huge work to do in terms of Oranga Tamariki—making sure that we partner with iwi, with hapū, and with Māori organisations to find appropriate solutions. I was proud to go to the launch of Te Pūtōrino a Raukatauri, which is a partnership of the different iwi in the eastern Bay of Plenty—Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Tūwharetoa ki Kawerau, Ngāi Tūhoe, and Te Whakatōhea—to make sure that they’re part of the solution when it comes to the oranga, the wellbeing, of our children in the eastern Bay of Plenty. Strengthening Māori housing outcomes is going to be a priority of mine, and you will hear me relentlessly talk about it in this House. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Dr LIZ CRAIG (Labour): Thank you, Madam Speaker. It’s great to be able to start this debate by congratulating you on your new role, and also congratulations to all of the new colleagues on both sides of the House. I’m looking forward to working with you over the next three years. It’s fitting that, as we start to reflect on the Government’s priorities for the next three years, we look back, and for me it’s about thinking about the year that was and about some of the things that have informed our Government’s priorities moving forward.

I’d like to just give you a bit of a southern perspective because, for us in the Far South, the year had barely begun when we were hit by the Southland floods. As Minister Kiritapu Allan reflected in the House just today, it’s so wonderful to see the Milford Track reopening, because those floods took out a huge amount of the infrastructure in the Routeburn and the Milford Tracks. But it also, a few days later, hit Mataura and Gore. So it’s wonderful to be starting this new year with Parliament declaring a climate emergency but also to have today the announcement that the Milford Track after $13.7 million worth of investment is back open for business. That’ll have a huge impact on many involved in the tourism industry down in Fiordland. Next year, though, we are also seeing work start as part of the shovel-ready project on rebuilding and strengthening Southland’s flood infrastructure, and so that’ll be involving working on some of those stopbanks that were really struggling to hold back the water, particularly around Gore and Mataura, in the recent floods.

It was only a few weeks later, though, that we entered lockdown, and for me entering lockdown, our office was incredibly busy, as was probably many of yours around the House. So, basically, I worked right through lockdown, but, emerging out the other side, I made the point of going and visiting as many of our social service agencies and our local businesses as I could. The story they told me pretty much was the same two key things. Firstly, they were incredibly grateful for the decisive health response and, secondly, incredibly grateful for the wage subsidy. On the decisive health response, Southland had the highest rate of COVID-19 in the country for most of that early period, and so for many of us there was only one degree of separation between somebody in our family and some others who were affected by COVID-19. And indeed, we did lose two very beloved community members to COVID.

I think, reflecting back on this, it reminded me of when I was in my early public health training and a couple of my bosses had been involved with the research that found, in terms of cot death, that if you place your babies on their back rather than their front to sleep, we could save over 100 babies a year. I don’t ever remember anybody walking up to one of our bosses and saying, “Thank you. My baby didn’t pass away as a result of your work.” And I think for us in Southland none of us ever knew what might have happened if we hadn’t had that decisive health response. But we were all incredibly grateful, both to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern for the way she led our country through it but also to a number of our public health workforce, and particularly some of my former public health colleagues, who took that leadership role and were part of that team that crafted that plan that saw us all through. So one of the number one priorities for our Government moving forward is continuing to protect New Zealanders from COVID-19. That not only means strong border controls but also those investments that we’ve talked about in vaccines, which we hope to have rolled out in 2021.

Some of the other things, though, that people talked about were particularly the wage subsidy and the way many businesses said they went into that lockdown not knowing if they’d have a business out the other side, and yet the marvelling of the 12-week subsidy, not only for the fact it was in their pockets within a few days of them applying but also the fact it was 12 weeks, which meant that, when business resumed, they had a few weeks to gauge what was happening, and in many, many cases, people weren’t laid off as a result.

So, moving forward, accelerating our economic recovery, both locally and nationally, is a key priority for our Government. Certainly, what I see locally is that the projected rises in unemployment haven’t happened to the extent that we were predicting and instead we’ve got a building boom, some of it because of some of the projects that have been funded. Under way was already the city rebuild for us but also assisted by shovel-ready funding, as are the stopbanks. So, moving forward, though, there’s another range of other issues that we’ll be focusing on over the next three years, and I look forward to working with all of you on those. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

BARBARA KURIGER (National—Taranaki - King Country): Thank you, Madam Speaker, and congratulations on your new role. It’s a pleasure to speak in this debate today, and my first opportunity of the 53rd Parliament. I’m going to today plan to go through a lot of issues from the Speech from the Throne which I have concerns about, but I would like to start by—the first speaker up this afternoon, the Hon Nanaia Mahuta, talked about the voters choosing stability and certainty in the election. Voters would love to have stability and certainty, as would many of my constituents, and there’s a breakdown of various areas of the economy in terms of how much stability and certainty they actually have.

Now, we all know what’s happened with international tourism, and that has been a choice that we’ve made as a country in terms of keeping ourselves safe around COVID19, and a very important choice that is. So it’s up to us as Kiwis to then support our local tourism businesses as much as we possibly can. We’ve also seen essential services being able to carry on, but there’s been a large degree of instability and uncertainty. If we look at some of our essential services, and it’s been touched on in the House already today in question time, in terms of shearers for the wool industry, for the scanners, initially, which we managed to get into the country for the sheep farmers, but also for our fruit pickers and the Recognised Seasonal Employer workers—the long time and the long debate that we’ve had to get those people into the country—there hasn’t been a sense of stability and certainty for those people.

I guess, in my electorate, if I look at some of the other areas where there’s large instability and uncertainty, it’s around large events, events like I have in our electorate, like the Mystery Creek Fieldays, which was the largest agricultural event in the Southern Hemisphere and will be again when people are able to travel into our wonderful country. We can make it into a fantastic domestic event, but there’s still some uncertainty with events like that and events like WOMAD around being able to do that and get the certainties from the Government that they need around the health issues that work around those events. It’s quite restricting for people to be able to plan those events and pay the upfront costs of those events without the certainty that’s brought about.

I’d just like to touch on yesterday’s announcement around climate change, which also brings a level of uncertainty. In that climate change emergency motion it says here, “To avoid a more than 1.5 degree Celsius rise in global warming, global emissions would need to fall around 45 percent from 2010 levels by 2030, reaching net zero by around 2050.”—global emissions. Now, everyone on our side of the House would agree that we have to take some actions around climate change, and my colleague Stuart Smith in particular, who spoke on it yesterday and who I know has a speech coming up in the House soon. But what I fear from some of the actions of this Government, and the scale and pace of recovery that’s talked about in the Speech from the Throne—the pace of this recovery and the pace of the decisions that have been made, and the talk of just transition but the lack of just transition—is going to actually shift climate change problems from our country to other parts of the world. So we actually have some of the most efficient farmers in the world, and we have some of the most efficient energy industry people in the world, in this country. We’re in a position to help, with some of our intellectual property (IP), the rest of the world—not destroying our economy and actually shifting the problems overseas.

I was in the airport this morning in New Plymouth. I was speaking to someone from the energy industry, who, basically, said that in places like Africa they’re still actually in the process of using dung for energy because they’re not even thinking in the realms of climate change at this point in time because they are actually still trying to get to where we are. So I think we’ve got to be very careful as a country. We need to do something, but we need to be careful that we don’t run ahead of the world to not only the detriment of our own economy but also the detriment of climate change.

Forty-two billion of infrastructure investment. No action before COVID. All of a sudden, at the beginning of 2020, just before COVID, this Government decided it was going to be the party of infrastructure. We’ve yet to see it. We didn’t see it before. What I would hope—our leader, the Hon Judith Collins, has offered on several occasions, prior to being the leader and since being the leader, to work with this Government on the Resource Management Act (RMA). I would urge this Government—this is our opportunity to make some real difference in this space.

Infrastructure—the Hon Andrew Little over there will remember the ecstasy when we were having Mount Messenger all of a sudden in 2016; it was going to happen. Yesterday, we received news that there was a development from the High Court but still a number of stages to go. Look, this RMA is just tangling things up, and I know that, Minister, your team wants this Mount Messenger reconstruction as much as we do; so I would urge this Government—if there’s some sensible changes around the Resource Management Act, we should work together to make sure that this long-term cost and change around RMA comes to an end.

I see in the Speech from the Throne “Programmes to bolster our exports”. Now, I want to know: what are these programmes—what are they? Because we see programmes like Fit for a Better World, which has come out for the primary industry sector. It’s vague. It’s got no detail in it. I wouldn’t disagree with a whole lot of the high-level stuff that’s in there, but, actually, a goal without a plan is merely a dream. I think that we can do far better in terms of working out the stages about how we get to this new world.

Currently I’m working through a number of things with the energy industry as the new spokesperson, and I see quite a bit of alignment between the energy industry and the agricultural industry in that there are a lot of expectations coming towards us, and there is a lot of ambition and will in both of those industries to bring our country and their industries into a space that we need to get into.

But we keep hearing the words “just transition”, and I’m not seeing just transition. I’m hearing the words. I’m hearing the promises. Then I read here “Programmes to bolster our exports”. In agriculture, if we go ahead with some of the constraints on water that the Government is currently pushing towards the industry, we are not going to bolster our exports. The agricultural industry, along with city industries, is very, very keen to do something about water, but we’ve got to make sure that it’s sensible and that it’s transitional—along with methane. We don’t currently have tools to stop the methane, but what I can tell you is that we could destroy, in this country, our whole agricultural industry by actually pushing down far too hard on methane at this point in time, and what would happen? Food production would shift to overseas. And food—

Dr Duncan Webb: Do nothing.

BARBARA KURIGER: I didn’t say “Do nothing”, to the member over there that’s decided to chirp in. I’ve said we need tools. We have IP in this country, and if that member thinks that we can sit in this country and do everything to the nth degree and the rest of the world doesn’t do what we are doing and we’re going to make one iota of difference to climate change, then that member’s got a bit of delusion going on. So we’ve actually got to work through these processes.

I also see within our agricultural industries that technology is going to play a big part, and in the last three years, I haven’t seen much technology being added in the form of connectivity. We had quite a good roll-out programme with broadband and connectivity when the National Government was in, and we need that programme to continue desperately to get that productivity up so we can move to the new technology and we can make progress on climate change.

So I would urge this Government not just to shift climate change but to actually work with the world in making a real difference, not the one they’re about to make. Thank you.

Hon ANDREW LITTLE (Minister of Health): Thank you, Madam Speaker. I acknowledge the member who has just resumed her seat, Barbara Kuriger. I just want to correct one small matter that she raised. She said that, on the announcement of the Mt Messenger project in 2016, I had ecstasy. Now, in light of the drug-checking bill that we’ve just passed this week, I just do want to correct for the record for the sake of the House that I would describe myself as very happy on that announcement; I will leave ecstasy to the festival goers of the nation.

I want to say how privileged I am to be part of a newly re-elected Labour Government, and a Government that commands the majority of the House and therefore gives some certainty about the direction that we can take. We enjoyed very good relations with our coalition partner and confidence and supply partner in the last Parliament, but this election has produced a different result. That result is also a vote of confidence in the leadership of the Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, and also in the policy direction represented by Labour. It is gratifying, but that is all, and we also understand that with that result comes responsibility to go in carefully, but to make change and to make progress in the areas where we have been woefully lacking for a long time.

I want to also at this point welcome all new members to the House, because it’s been a phenomenal intake of new members, new MPs, in this House, and I’m looking at those on our side. I see Helen White there. I see Tracey McLellan behind me. I see Naisi Chen behind me. I have to say, from Labour’s point of view, I have never known such a phenomenally talented group of new MPs to come into the House at one time.

But also, I look around the House at other parties and I also look at the refresh and new talent. I see Christopher Luxon over there, who comes with a significant and successful corporate leadership background. I see people like Ricardo Menéndez March over there, from the Green Party, and other new Green MPs. In the ACT Party, a phenomenal new suite of talent, only two of them in the House at the moment—I’m not meant to talk about those who aren’t in the House—and Te Paati Māori, too, bringing their skills and talents. I’ve known both of those members through my professional engagements over the years. This House is so well served by the new talent, maybe the rest of us should take the next three years off. But no; we’ve got work to do, and we will get on with that.

In terms of my opening remarks—I’ve taken some time—I want to congratulate the presiding officers for their election or re-election. I think this House is well set up now for what has the potential to be a phenomenal three-year term ahead of us.

This Government has a number of challenges, as we know, and they are in—if you think about the major social challenges we’ve got now, housing has got to be foremost amongst them and housing affordability. Just the number of people who want to get access to a warm, dry home, whether they are renting or buying. We’ve got to get on top of the housing challenge because far too many people are missing out. I’m going to make some comments as Minister of Health very soon about the sorts of things that affect health, that are the source of health problems, and housing is foremost amongst them. If people don’t have a stable, warm, dry home to live in, that has huge implications for their health and for the health of their family.

Child poverty is another. We took some steps in the last Parliament by legislating the child poverty reduction legislation and started to take that seriously, starting to actually shine a light on what is happening with child poverty in New Zealand. I’m confident, with the leadership of the Prime Minister and also the Minister for Children, the Hon Kelvin Davis, that we will see some really significant change this term, because we have to. We have to make gains and improve the situation of those living in deprivation and poverty. Children don’t ask and don’t choose to live in poverty; it’s a circumstance put upon them, and we need to support them, their whānau, their families, their parents to make a difference for them.

Finally, the global challenge of climate change. I know that the member who has just resumed her seat, Barbara Kuriger, talked about what’s happening in other parts of the world. Actually, there is no step that is too small to take, and there is no country that is too small that it cannot make its contribution to the worldwide challenge of reducing carbon emissions and saving this planet, because it is nothing less than that; it is about saving this planet. And I’m very honoured and pleased to be part of a Government that is taking that seriously and taking those steps. We declared the climate emergency yesterday. There are some tangible initiatives now being taken, now being set up, and that will be the start of making a real difference. We have to do that.

These are also not just about addressing those specific issues but about laying the foundations for a better future. This is our opportunity to do it. There’s no question that the COVID-19 pandemic has really shaken this country and every country in the world. There have been pandemics in the past and in world history. We’ve talked about it. Many countries have prepared for it. But until it happens, you just don’t know. And COVID-19 has tested every nation, has tested every nation’s leadership, and New Zealand, I think we can say humbly, has done reasonably well. We’ve kept our people safe and we continue to keep our people safe, but we have to remain vigilant. But that said, with the insights that we’ve developed now, the reflections that we’ve been able to have, this is an opportunity now to build on some of the new things that have emerged because of COVID-19 and really build better for the future of New Zealand. So one of the challenges is we continue our role in managing the response to COVID-19.

In the area of health policy, as I said before, there are a number of factors that really determine the status of people’s health. Housing, clearly, is critically amongst them; whether or not you’re living in poverty is another. They are areas which I’ve said we have made very solid commitments on, we’ve made very solid starts on, but we have to accelerate our work on these. We have to accelerate what we’re doing and really start to make real progress in lifting incomes, lifting people out of poverty, doing it through not just the financial transfers but the investment in training and opportunities, the support we give to business and to investors to make investments that generate jobs, not just, sort of, inflate property prices and allow some to live off the wealth that is created by that. So we have a lot to do.

In the health system itself, we’ve taken the opportunity in the last term to conduct two major reviews. One was into mental health and addiction. We got that report. We’ve started the investment in making a change in mental health and addiction. That is a huge problem. It still remains a huge challenge for us, in terms of getting the right support and the right help and the right assistance in place right around New Zealand, including for the more acute end of it as well. But, actually, for the kind of more moderate incidences of mental health problems that people have, getting the talking therapies in place, getting access to mental health support through primary healthcare—that’s where the future lies, and really making a difference in that area. We’re starting to do that.

But we’ve also got the structural issues—what we do with the Ministry of Health and its role in providing stewardship for the $20 billion - odd a year that we put into health in New Zealand. So the proposal out of the second big report that was done, which was the health and disability system review, with a group chaired by Heather Simpson, one of the proposals, it says, is let’s have a focused Health NZ body that is about driving the performance not only of our hospitals and that sort of expensive end of healthcare but actually making sure that our primary healthcare is being delivered in ways that are relevant to communities around New Zealand. We have to do that as well—also a health authority that really means we are fulfilling our obligations under Te Tiriti o Waitangi, in terms of tino rangatiratanga. Give the Māori health authority the power not only to advise and make change and make a difference but to work with Māori health providers and all health providers to make a difference for Māori health outcomes. We have to do that. That remains an important challenge too.

The answer or the future or the real gains in health are going to be made in what we do in primary healthcare. It’s not just what happens at the GP’s clinic; it’s what happens in community centres. And the range of health practitioners—we have not just GPs, as I say, but nurses, nurse practitioners, kaiawhina; all those who are involved in providing care and support to those who need healthcare. If we get that right, we can make a huge difference for New Zealanders, for their enjoyment of life, for their ability to do the best for their whānau and for themselves as well. That’s where the change must happen. All of that has to be in the context also of supporting our initiatives and addressing climate change, because that too is also a health determinant—what we do to keep people safe from the effects of climate change is as much a health initiative too.

STUART SMITH (National—Kaikōura): I want to pick up where the honourable member began his speech, with the number of new faces in the House. Congratulations to all those people who are new MPs. It reminds me of what the Rt Hon David Carter did say to me at one time—that the average stay in Parliament is less than six years, which, at the time when he told me that, I found very hard to believe when you look at one of our members and one on the other side who’ve been here quite a lot longer than that time. But, actually, the number of people that have come through this year in this election underlines that fact that we should all treasure the time we have in this House. It is a privilege to be here, and when you’re gone, it’s probably very difficult to come back. So, on that note, Madam Speaker, I will commence my speech in the Address in Reply debate. I do not envy you having to remember all those names and new faces—it’s quite a task. [Assistant Speaker holds up list] Yes, I’m sure you do have a bit of a cheat sheet, but I’m sure it has its challenges.

During the weekend, I had the pleasure of attending the opening of the Ōpawa Bridge. The old bridge has remained but they’ve opened a new one, but, really, the day was to bless a pouwhenua, and it was with my good friend and colleague Rino Tirikatene, and I must congratulate him on becoming the Parliamentary Under-Secretary to the Minister for Oceans and Fisheries. He will do a fantastic job. He’s a great MP, and I have to say he shares my territory and I share part of his, I guess. As an MP crossing a Māori seat and the electoral seat, I couldn’t ask for a better person to share it with. He’s fantastic to work with. We tackle difficult issues and help one another out, and it’s fantastic to see that.

It’s a fantastic new facility—utilising an old bridge as a cycleway and shared pathway, putting these interpretive boards up so that people can get an idea of the history, because that is a crossing place, a trail that people have used down through the generations, back to the tangata whenua, of course, and so to have that wonderful ceremony at 5 a.m. We had to be there at 4.30 a.m. on Saturday morning—so only the dedicated were there—and it was quite a large crowd. So it was a wonderful event. Further down State Highway 1, NCTIR—the North Canterbury Transport Infrastructure Recovery programme—is coming to an end. In fact, it will end on the 19 December, a year later than otherwise, as the Government slowed the cash flow down on that job, but, nevertheless, it’s getting there. It’s a fantastic facility, and if anyone in the House hasn’t travelled it, I urge you to over the Christmas break. It is phenomenal.

To see the uplift along that coast, you realise the forces that nature has that we don’t have any control over. And I urge you to think—as you drive over the Clarence Bridge going south, if you look to your right, there’s a very white hill face. That used to be all grass and half of the hill slid down into the gully—and if anyone remembers the cow and two calves on a little island of grass, that’s where it was—and that mountain range is now eight metres higher than it was prior to the earthquake. Along the coast itself, it’s more like four metres in places, but a metre and a half along there, and you can see the white rocks where—the area that’s white used to be under the water; it’s now above it. So a significant amount of work has gone in to repair that road and rail line, and I’d like to congratulate all those people that worked on it. They’ve worked really hard, in very trying conditions at times. I can tell you, in a southerly, in some of those areas in the middle of winter, particularly for the people doing the traffic management standing in the shade all day—it’s pretty cold. But they did a great job and they always have had a cheery smile on their face. So well done to them.

On another roading matter, the State Highway 6 from Blenheim to Nelson, on about 8 December, is about to change the speed limits along their area. It was 100 kilometres an hour, and it’s about to go down to 80 kilometres an hour in some places and down to 60 in others. When this was proposed, I took my good friend Chris Bishop and a journalist along with me and we drove up to Havelock, and we drove from Havelock all the way back to Renwick, an area that’s now going down to 80 kilometres an hour, and I set my car on 100 kilometres an hour on the cruise control, with a journalist in the car, in the full knowledge that, at any time, he could take a photograph of my speedo over the limit. I didn’t touch the brake from Havelock all the way down to Renwick—all of that entire length of road, we took every corner at 100 kilometres an hour very safely. That road is absolutely safe to drive at 100 kilometres an hour every day of the week.

So I asked the Waka Kotahi, with an Official Information Act (OIA) request, what criteria they use to come up with these new speed limits. Well, I’m not sure, because that’s the OIA. [Holds up document] There is little in the way of information there, and the little bit that we do have, I am just going to read from this: “High speeds increase the risk of making mistakes, for example, because the driver’s field of vision is narrower, reduce time available to react, increase braking time, and so make severe crashes more likely.” Very true. That’s the same on every single road in New Zealand. There is no evidence to justify lowering the speed limit. I think that’s an appalling waste. It seems to be driven by some sort of ideology, which is not helpful at all, I think. I’m all for sensible decisions to be made on traffic safety, but let’s see the evidence that they have to do that. If they were confident in their evidence, they would have supplied it, but they didn’t. So I’m quite disappointed by that.

I want to move now to the Speech from the Throne. I note that yesterday this House declared a climate emergency, although not what a normal emergency declaration would entail. But, in the 4,500 word speech, “climate” was mentioned only about half a dozen times, which I thought kind of didn’t match up with the rhetoric. But I also want to quote the honourable member that spoke just before me, Andrew Little, where he said, “No step is too small to take.” I think that may be true, but no step too small to take should also be an effective one, and I’ll give you an example of an ineffective step. In the UK, they shut down their aluminium industry. Their aluminium industry was pretty efficient by international standards; not as efficient as our one in Tīwai Point but fairly efficient. They now import all of their aluminium from China. And, guess what? Their emissions have gone up as a result of that—well, not their emissions but global emissions have gone up as a result of that. They lowered theirs; they increased international emissions.

Actually, the climate has no borders. Climate change is an international issue; not a country issue. If countries make selfish decisions to lower their emissions whilst boosting international emissions, where is the sense in that? I’d like to hear that from all of the activists who are pushing to get things like the Glenbrook steel mill closed here in New Zealand. The reason we’d want to keep the Glenbrook steel mill is our scrap steel can go the Glenbrook steel mill and be melted down and reused, and actually that’s a lot less emissions because it’s a much lower temperature than making steel from iron ore. So we’ve got to start to think about these things from a sensible, global perspective rather than looking at our own little area that we’re in and not thinking of the bigger picture.

Also, as was pointed out by Barbara Kuriger earlier on, about emissions from methane, actually there’s a lot of research now that’s showing our emissions from methane are most likely at least one-third of what is being accounted for at the moment. So what does that really mean for us in New Zealand? That means the one thing we have to pursue is lowering transport emissions, and that will be hard because what will come from that, if we are not very careful, is energy poverty and that will affect those that can least afford it. So, once again, we need to have policies that are well-thought-out—are they going to be effective, are they going to be cost effective?—and we should have an upper limit on what they cost. The announcement, or re-announcement, of Helen Clark’s 2007 carbon-neutral Government departments is all well and good, but what does it really mean? Thank you, Madam Speaker.

ANGIE WARREN-CLARK (Labour): Thank you, Madam Speaker, and even though I have congratulated you and this is not my first time to speak in the House, I feel it would be remiss, and people may comment, that I have not congratulated you on your role. Once again I look forward to working with you in this House. I am very mindful also of the gallery beginning to fill for the speeches that will come shortly with our new members, and I want to congratulate them all very much on the most extraordinary opportunity to talk in this House for the first time. I recall it myself on 16 November, a long time ago, my father’s birthday, and it was a very special occasion. I wish each and every new member of this House the most extraordinary three years and longer. Ooh, Mr Speaker—it is now Mr Speaker in the seat, so I will very briefly congratulate you, sir, on your role, and I look forward to working with you in the next three years.

I am grateful today to be standing in this House. New Zealanders voted for certainty and stability in this election, and I feel the weight of that expectation and responsibility from our community. I’m humbled by the faith that has been shown in our party and the exceptional leadership of our Prime Minister, the Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern. We all know that the global crisis of COVID-19 sits heavy on us all, and we all know that we have difficulties to come in the future, but we as a party, and this House, I believe, commit to keep COVID-19 at bay at our borders and to stamp it out as it comes in. Our team of 5 million have indeed done a brilliant job. I’m getting a wave to say to sit down.

SPEAKER: If the member does sit down, she causes a problem. She’s to speak till 4 o’clock.

ANGIE WARREN-CLARK: Yes, absolutely, sir. Thank you for your direction. Like I said, I look forward to working with you, sir.

I want to first of all acknowledge a debt of gratitude that we have to our front-line workers in COVID-19. It is an exceptional thing that our front-line workers have been doing for these last months. We know that their lives have been disrupted, and the sacrifices that they have made are extraordinary, and so I would like to put on record my great and deep thanks for their work. It is truly an important aspect of keeping us all safe. It is a huge cost to them personally.

We have our five-point economic recovery plan, which was endorsed by the people of this country. For me, this plan is simply about the wellbeing of our people. People are at the heart of this policy: our financial security, our environment, our planning for the future, when we build back better, focusing on child poverty, front-line climate change, addressing housing.

My city needs all the help it can get at the moment. We are facing a huge amount of issues. We are the sixth-least affordable city in the world for housing. This is so extremely difficult. We need to build back better, we need to build back more, we need to build back faster, and I’m delighted that our Government is doing so and will continue to do so.

Yesterday, we declared a climate emergency—and I’m going to hurry this. My heart sang yesterday—my heart sang yesterday—for our country and for what we as a nation will do and the steps that we will be taking to move forward, to make a difference. We’ve started that work in the last three years, and we will continue to do that work, and for me that is so very important. Not only our people but our environment must be cared for. If we can’t care for our environment, then where will our people live, and if our people have nowhere to live, what will happen to our environment?

Once again, I have to say, I am delighted to take a very brief call in this House. Thank you.

SPEAKER: Just before the member calls, I want to remind members in the House and members in the gallery of the photography rules, and that is that the media and one person appointed from each party are allowed to take photos from the gallery. I now call on Simon Court for his maiden statement.

SIMON COURT (ACT): Thank you, Mr Speaker. I am proud to be an ACT MP and to represent all New Zealanders in this 53rd Parliament. Thank you to my family and friends for their enduring love and support as I embark on this journey, and thank you to the ACT Party volunteers for their hard work on the 2020 election campaign. I acknowledge the hard work by ACT deputy leader, Brooke van Velden, and leader, David Seymour. Their End of Life Choice Act, passed by the previous Parliament, shows how good ideas can prevail for the benefit of all New Zealanders. They showed a constructive and principled approach and that kindness and compassion are not the preserve of one political party or another.

I promise you, citizens of New Zealand, this is just the beginning of a real change led by the ACT Party. My family has been in New Zealand for over 200 years. They were missionaries, pioneers, merchants, farmers, accountants, and engineers. One of my grandfathers built a ski club on Ruapehu, which is still there today and has been enjoyed by families for more than 60 years. My other grandfather was a former fighter pilot who, with his mates after the war, bought a kitset glider from Britain. They each built a section in their garages, apart from my grandfather who glued up his piece on the living room floor. They both built sailboats in their Auckland backyard. That’s pretty normal stuff in my family: innovators, free-thinkers, people who know what it takes to get things done, and people who are not afraid to take a calculated risk.

Now, I choose to live and raise a family in West Auckland: a place which represents some of the best things about New Zealand. It is nature: wild beaches, forested hills down to sea level. It is the pioneer spirit: brave Polynesian and European settlers, who crossed thousands of miles of open ocean, seeking a better life, and more recent migrants who enrich our community not only with their skills but their cultures, all of them taking a risk for a better future. It is self-reliance: the idea you can get ahead in life by your own effort, get a trade, get a degree, start a small business, and own your own home.

I have worked as a civil and environmental engineer for almost 25 years—for contractors, for consultants, and in local government. I have worked on road and highway projects in Auckland and Wellington, and in Fiji I worked in some really difficult and remote conditions, building infrastructure there for the benefit of those communities. In local government, I managed investigation, design, and remediation of closed landfills, Auckland’s most dangerous landfills, and some of the worst landfills in New Zealand. I worked to clean up toxic timber chemicals and the dioxins found in Agent Orange—that toxic defoliant sprayed all over Vietnam, half of which was manufactured in New Zealand. Now, those companies took a risk-based approach to the clean-up to demonstrate to those communities that contaminated sites would be safe after the clean-up. They cleaned up using technology not even considered by Government at that time. Those companies cleaned up because it was the right thing to do.

And that leads me to why I’m here. It’s not just because politics needs more engineers; it’s because I’m also a radical environmentalist. Don’t worry, I’m not about to chain myself to an oil rig, climb a chimney stack wearing blue body paint, or glue myself to the road, because those behaviours are no longer radical; those behaviours are now mainstream. I’m a radical environmentalist because I’m a rational environmentalist. What is radical now is to propose real solutions to environmental problems; not all about taxes, regulations, and banning things. So I’m a radical environmentalist because I believe in natural rights to life, liberty, and property, and I believe that before a Government grants itself more rights, their duty is to uphold our natural rights. Ultimately, as citizens, we know that our rights go hand in hand with our responsibilities. That shouldn’t be radical, but it is.

I’m a radical because I believe that farmers, businesses, and communities should lead conservation efforts, but in a partnership with Government, not under threat of prosecution and persecution from bureaucrats who fail to understand their way of life. I’m a radical because I believe that business and communities are best placed to solve our worst environmental and infrastructure problems but through innovation and in a partnership with Government, not by heavy-handed, counter-productive regulations. Businesses and landowners have skin in the game. They will invest in doing the right thing because that’s what their customers want. And anyone who’s ever run a small business knows that the customers are always right.

My experience working as a civil and environmental engineer for more than 25 years has shown me that responsible business led by smart people should be allowed to innovate and show Government what the solutions are to these problems. As an engineer, I’ve worked for businesses that actually adopted much tougher international standards because that was the best way to manage their risks.

So when friends and colleagues ask me, “Simon, why ACT?” I tell them, “ACT is the party of real reform—the party that takes on the most difficult problems.” It’s because ACT is the party that puts its trust not in Government but in the citizen, the business owner, and the taxpayer.

So you may ask, “How did an engineer like me come to be a radical environmentalist?”, because engineers are generally regarded as steady-as-she-goes types, right? Well, before I was an engineer, I studied a degree—or started one—in history and politics. It was Russian Revolution, Stalin and Trotsky, and the Cold War. I went on the odd protest march at uni; it was a lot more fun than lectures, after all. And in the innocence of youth, I had my share of indiscretions—I even voted Green a couple of times! David Seymour says he won’t hold it against me. The ACT Party believes in redemption for even the most egregious of sins.

But to return to my student days for a moment, while I was sitting in dusty lecture theatres and playing protester, half a world away students my age rose up and tore down the Berlin Wall with sledgehammers and their bare hands. Those people were prepared to die for their freedom, so to me this was no longer a laughing matter; it actually seemed pretty inspiring. So after a while I quit my arts degree and went to see for myself. West Berlin was glitzy and modern, charming and traditional at the same time. At the famous Checkpoint Charlie, where captured spies were traded between East and West, I marvelled at all the way our fellow humans had tried and often died to escape their workers’ paradise. Using high-tension power lines for a flying fox escape is still the highlight for me and it confirms pretty much everything you see in a James Bond movie is real. But as you can see parts of the Berlin Wall preserved, you cannot miss the warning from history—the warning to those who take their freedom for granted.

Let us not forget: socialism wasn’t just tyranny, it wasn’t just poverty; it was an environmental disaster. And for those of you old enough to remember, I’m not just talking about the Trabant motorcar. The Eastern cities were ugly, crowded, and dimly lit, covered in soot and grime, broken roads and footpaths. I remember the air was blue with exhaust smoke. And from trains passing through towns and villages, I saw factories spewing industrial waste into the supposed blue Danube on its way to the more aptly named Black Sea.

As I travelled closer to the border with Ukraine, fellow backpackers told me to stay out, it’s still highly radioactive, it’s too dangerous to go there. I don’t think it could have made a starker contrast with clean, green New Zealand. It also struck me that New Zealand was a very wealthy country and that our prosperity is key to our quality of life. So back in New Zealand, with a new appreciation for this incredible country we live in, I switched to environmental science, and then I studied engineering while I worked full time. I wanted to put everything I’d seen and learnt to good use.

So when people ask me, “Simon, why ACT and why now?”, well, I tell them big government and heavy-handed regulation has failed to solve our worst environmental, transport, and infrastructure problems, and it always will. We have a responsibility to rest lightly on the earth but government is too often the cause of not the solution to our problems. Every year, there are hundreds of raw sewage overflows on to beaches from councils’ networks in streams and harbours around Auckland—not big evil corporates, but local government. We know that is wrong, but the Resource Management Act (RMA) lets councils in places like Auckland and Wellington get away with it because they can obtain consents which are readily granted. This needs to change. The RMA makes getting a permit for waste to energy almost impossible. As a result, we now bury 3½ million tonnes of waste in landfills every single year. And how does big Government, big, regulating Government, think they’re going to solve this one? With more landfill taxes—or the RMA denies New Zealand the very technology which solved the landfill crisis in under 15 years.

We need a Government whose instinct is technology over taxation, innovation over ideology, incentives, not more indignation. We in ACT have a radical vision of how to solve that particular environmental problem—and that’s to repeal the Resource Management Act altogether. It is ACT standing up for real change in that area to replace bad law with good law. It’s ACT that wants to actually protect the environment, not just pay lip-service to it through placards and PR. It’s ACT who will instigate the kind of business-led innovation we need to solve our worst environmental problems—real solutions to the challenges we face.

In the aftermath of COVID-19, New Zealand has to focus on growing our productivity and growing our wealth as a priority. We need to grow our productivity and our wealth in order to pay for the pristine environment we aspire to and to deliver the vital infrastructure that is lacking. ACT will propose good urban development law to allow our cities to reach their potential and a simpler process to deliver vital infrastructure without the kind of political interference that leads to a light rail fiasco.

In closing, thank you to the citizens of New Zealand. You stood up and made your votes count on 17 October 2020. On that day, you elected nine more ACT MPs, including me, to Parliament—people who do understand how to deliver real-world solutions to the most difficult problems we face. So I say to the citizens of New Zealand—all of you, not just those of you who gave your votes to ACT—trust ACT. We are working hard to change your future for the better. We want a country which aspires to be wealthy and to have a clean environment; a people who are not afraid to take risks, who give each other the benefit of the doubt, and trust each other to do the right thing; and a society which values freedom and opportunity above all else. Thank you, Mr Speaker. Thank you.

[Applause]

SPEAKER: Order! Before I call the next speaker, I’m going to repeat my reminder to those in the gallery about the photography rules, and that is that accredited media people and a person from each party with whom there’s agreement are the people who’re allowed to take photographs. I now call on Camilla Belich to make her maiden statement.

CAMILLA BELICH (Labour): E te Māngai o te Whare, tēnā koe, me ngā mihi i runga i tō kopounga. Ki te whare e tū nei, te papa ki raro, tēnā kōrua. Ki te mana whenua o te rohe nei, Te Āti Awa, Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Ngāti Raukawa, tēnā koutou. Tēnā tātou ngā mema katoa o ngā rōpū katoa, tae noa ki te Āpiha o te Whare, tae noa ki a koutou e mātakitaki ana, ā, e whakarongo ana.

Ehara ahau i te mātanga reo, engari e tika ana kia kōrerotia i te reo tuatahi, te reo tūturu, te reo takitaki, o te whenua nei, o Aotearoa, o Niu Tirani. I te wā e tamariki ana ahau, e ako ana ahau i te reo i te kāinga, i te kura tuatahi, i te kura tuarua, i te whare wānanga o Wikitoria, hoki, ā, i tēnei rā, kei te ako tonu atu ahau. He hiahia nōku kia tukuna iho tēnei taonga ki ngā tamariki katoa o Aotearoa, kia mau, kia ū, kia kōrerotia hei reo whakawhiti whakaaro, hei mea tohu i tō tātou nei Aotearoatanga. E pūmau ana au ki te kōrero Māori i ngā wā e tika ana, ahakoa aku hē, kia puta atu aku tūmanako mō ngā wā e heke mai nei.

[Mr Speaker, thank you and greetings on your appointment. I acknowledge this building that houses us, and the land that it stands upon. The host tribes of this area, Te Āti Awa, Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Ngāti Raukawa, I extend my greetings to you. To us, all the members of all the parties, including the Clerk of the House, as well as to you who are watching and listening to these speeches, greetings.

I am not a language doyenne, but it is appropriate to use the first language, the original language, the lead language of this land, of Aotearoa, New Zealand. When I was growing up, I learned Māori at home, at primary school, at secondary school, and at Victoria University, and today I am learning still. It is my wish that all children in New Zealand have access to this precious gift, whereby it will be retained, and established in daily conversation as a sign of our New Zealandness. I am committed to using Māori whenever it is appropriate to do so, notwithstanding my errors, to express my aspirations for the future.]

I was born in the 1980s, when many activists fought for the revitalisation of the Māori language. Because of their work, I had the advantage of a father who, although he was Pākehā, was learning te reo Māori at polytechnic. Because of this, I could speak some te reo Māori before I could read in English. I was then lucky enough to receive a bilingual education at primary school, and I continued to study te reo Māori at secondary school and then at university. I’m learning still.

I support the aspiration of the late Huirangi Waikerepuru, who said, “Kei te hiahia au kia tū angitu te katoa o Aotearoa ki te kōrero i te reo Māori, i te reo Pākehā hoki kia kounga te rere o ngā reo e rua.” [“I would like to see all of New Zealand succeed in being able to speak Māori as well as we speak English so that we may be competent bilinguists.”] He wanted everyone in New Zealand to have the same advantage he had of speaking Māori and English equally well. I cannot say that I speak the two languages equally well, but to do so remains my aspiration.

In my time in the House, I will seek opportunities to speak and continue to learn and support te reo Māori. It is a taonga generously taught to me by my kaiako Māori. Through the use of te reo Māori, I hope to be able to honour them and honour the relationship that Pākehā and Māori have under Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Mr Speaker, when we campaign to enter this House, we learn to tell our story, and this is mine. It is a story of political activism, of seeking change. It is the story of why I am here. It is a story of a family who first immigrated to this country 179 years ago. My ancestry in Aotearoa stretches back to the first Pākehā settlers in Nelson to Dalmatian gum diggers and their families and to immigrants who arrived in the 1920s.

My grandmother, Valerie Belich, who is watching this speech today at home, was born in the first year of the Great Depression, something she often points to as an unlucky start in life. I would like to acknowledge her in her 92nd year. Her oldest friend, Gabrielle Rikihana, is here today and has lent me her whānau’s beautiful kākahu to wear. E kore e mutu aku mihi ki a koe, Gabrielle.

[Gabrielle, I am for ever indebted to you.]

My grandmother has always encouraged her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren to be welcoming, to be kind, and of the importance of family. She had a long, happy marriage to my grandfather, Jim Belich, who left us five years ago. He was born on the gum fields of the North and remembered canvassing in support of Labour’s first Prime Minister, Michael Joseph Savage. On the night of the 1935 election, he remembered gathering at the only home in the area with a radio to listen as the results came in. He was later an active member of Walter Nash’s electorate committee in Lower Hutt, and, much later in his life, after a career in advertising, which also involved Norman Kirk’s 1972 election campaign, he was elected the first Labour mayor of Wellington in 1986.

My other ancestors had less public careers. I’m a descendant of dressmakers, sailors, tailors, domestic servants, bricklayers, gum diggers, typists, factory workers, quarry workers, State servants, writers, and farmers. I am proud of their work. I was taught from a young age to always respect the dignity and the rights of labour, and that a job worth doing is a job worth having.

I believe I’m the fourth person of Croatian descent and the first Croatian woman to sit in this Parliament. I also acknowledge Dorothy Jelicich, who brought the first Croatian name to this House in 1972. I want to take this opportunity to honour the Dalmatian women who came to New Zealand to make it their home. Many left all they had ever known, knowing they would never see their families again, and for a life of hard physical labour in the gum fields or the land. These women kept their culture strong and their families strong, despite their marginalisation in the Anglo-Saxon community. More recently, families from my ancestral homeland repeated this journey, coming to New Zealand to escape the terrible conflict of the former Yugoslavia. So for all the mothers, the tetas, the babas, and prababas, my presence here is also for you.

My parents are committed trade unionists. They came together while both members of a union executive. There is a photo of me at the first Public Service Association (PSA) women’s conference at the age of three days old. One of my earliest memories, in fact, is attending a protest outside this very House asking for fairer pay for early childhood teachers, when I myself was in a pushchair. These early memories must have been formative, and I am proud to continue to be a part of the labour movement as a Labour MP.

As a lawyer, my career has been spent representing workers and their unions, while working here in New Zealand and also in England and Wales. I believe if things had been different, my friend and mentor the late Helen Kelly, who I worked with first as a student president and then in unions, would be here in this House today, perhaps as a Minister alongside her good friend Grant Robertson.

In 2013, when Labour was firmly in Opposition, Helen was already imagining a different future. This is what she said to the 2013 Labour Party conference: “We need a new vision—not a cut it, drill it, pollute it, close it, and impoverish it vision, not one where most Kiwis are seen as the problem, with a small rich group seen as the solution; one that recognises the best of human nature and that our individual happiness is dependent on each other’s rights and needs as much as our own. It is the only sustainable model for long-term wellbeing, and it is the point that differentiates the labour movement.” This is also my vision, and I will endeavour to continue Helen’s work.

Before I look towards the future, I would like to acknowledge the people who got me here. To all the volunteers who freely gave their time to the campaign in Epsom this election, thank you. Under the excellent leadership of campaign manager Sam Jaffe, we had over 50 active volunteers and we increased the party vote. I would like to especially thank Sam and Alex for your huge contribution, your time, and your expertise. I’m very grateful. Thank you for being here today too. To Labour Party president Claire Szabo and the hard-working team at Fraser House, including Diane Lacy, Tim Grigg, Rob Salmond, thank you—and a huge thank you also to Hayden Munro and the New Zealand Council members, some of whom are here today.

To my family, many of whom are here today, thank you for your ongoing support. To my friends here and watching online, thank you for your friendship and for your encouragement. I would like to say a special thankyou to my good friend Fleur Fitzsimons. Leadership is about letting people grow and flourish. You embody that better than anyone I know. Many of us here have benefited from your strong encouragement and support.

To my mum and dad, I’m here because of you, because of the unconditional love you showed to both me and Laura and because of the values and principles that you instilled in us. To my sister, Laura, thank you for being a wonderful sister who loves my little girls like they were your own. To my husband, Andrew, we met because of our shared values and desire to make New Zealand a better, fairer place. I’m grateful for you and your love and support every single day.

To my girls, Honor and Edie, I hope you can see now that when mummy comes to Wellington, she is here to work in Parliament and not to have a holiday without you, as you have claimed. It is a big sacrifice that you both make, and I hope one day you’ll be proud of this Government and what we have achieved for New Zealand. For my part, I couldn’t be prouder to be your mother—always my most important role.

As an MP who is pregnant, I stand proud and very humble to be here but without fear of judgment and without regret. The fact I can do so is because I stand on the shoulders of the many, many parents who have worked so hard to be active parents and MPs. Our Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, has shown what is possible. In this, as in so many things, her leadership is helping to transform Aotearoa.

I was here in the public gallery for the Prime Minister’s speech 12 years ago, and she said to Helen Clark that Helen Clark had made her proud to be Labour. Now I wish to say the same to the Prime Minister. Through your leadership, you have made all Labour members in this House so proud to be who we are and fight for the change we think is important. Thank you.

Mr Speaker, I also want to recognise your work to recreate Parliament as a friendly and welcoming place for mothers and fathers and all who care for children. I know you have achieved a great deal, both in the executive and legislative branches of Government, but I suggest to you it is your committed and uncompromising work not just to invite but to welcome families, babies, and parents into Parliament that may be one of your most enduring legacies. So I and we thank you.

There is much to do to improve the lives of New Zealanders. I come here to serve and to work hard for all New Zealanders, to stand for equality and justice and against inequality and injustice, to make progressive change for all New Zealanders, especially working people and, importantly, all our children. I am committed to the vision of the Prime Minister to make New Zealand the best place in the world to be a child. This was earlier the vision of my grandfather, Sir Jim Belich, whose knighthood recognised his service to children as the long-serving president of UNICEF New Zealand.

I am also proud of the work that this Government has done on equal pay and recognising the often undervalued contribution of women. We have seen a new law following the groundbreaking case brought by Kristine Bartlett and her union, E tū. I want to acknowledge E tū, including John Ryall and their lawyer Peter Cranney, for this important work. You have changed the law and helped fairly value the work of working women and, in turn, supported these women to value themselves. In doing so, you’ve helped make fundamental change in New Zealand. I am confident this Government will continue to deliver for working women, because we still have much more work to do.

I am proud that one of my first votes in this House was to acknowledge the climate change emergency we face. It is beyond important that we recognise and act on climate change not only for our future but for the future generations of our country. There is no climate change vaccine; there is only the hard, hard work of radically changing the way we live on this earth. All of us must make this change.

When I leave this House one day, I hope to be able to say that I came here to serve and that I made a difference. I will be working hard every day in this role that I am so honoured and humbled to hold in order to achieve this. Nō reira, e te Māngai, e koutou katoa, huri noa i te Whare, tēnā tātou katoa.

[Applause]

SPEAKER: I now call, for his maiden statement, Rawiri Waititi. I just want to check that your family’s here. I’m going to be guided by the member. If he’s not happy that the people who he really wants in here are here, he should sit down and he should stand up again when he is. I thought we had it organised.

RAWIRI WAITITI (Co-Leader—Te Paati Māori): I’ve been looking forward to this because I know that you can’t sit me down for the fifth time! But I won’t test you!

E tipu e rea mō ngā rā o tō ao

Arahina tō iwi e

Tō ngākau ki ngā taonga a ō tīpuna

Tō wairua ki te Ariki

Ki a koutou katoa e te rangatahi, te oranga mō te ao katoa:

Kia mau, kia kaha, pupuritia te mana o te Ariki.

[Grow strong young plant, for the coming days

When you will lead your people

Give your heart to the treasures left to you by your ancestors

And your soul to the Almighty

To you all, young people, you are life itself for the world:

Stay proud, stay strong, stay true to God]

Because you’re magic, magic people to me;

You’re magic people to me.

Hold your head up high;

Let your voices fly.

I’m proud to be Māori.

Because you’re magic, magic people to me;

You’re magic people to me.

Hold your head up high;

Let your voices fly.

I’m proud to be Māori,

Proud to be Māori,

Proud to be Māori.

Kia ora.

He hōnore, he korōria ki te Atua, he maungārongo ki te whenua, he whakaaro pai ki ngā tāngata katoa. Āmine.

Tangihia rā ngā mate putuputu o te wā, rātou te hunga wairua kua riro tītapu ki te pō. Whoatu rā koutou i runga i te ara kōrero kua parangia e te tini, e te mano. Hoake koutou ki tua o Reitū, ki tua o Reiao ki te huinga o te Kahurangi, ki te kāhui Matariki; koutou e te hunga okioki, haere, haere, whakangaro atu rā.

Tēnā tātou e hika mā. Tēnā tātou e te Whare. Te Āti Awa, te mana whenua o tēnei wāhi, karanga mai, mihi mai, whakatau mai rā. Ahumairangi te maunga whakahī e tū mai nei, e tū, e tū, e tū. Te moana e haruru nei, Te Whanganui-a-Tara, papaki mai rā, papaki mai rā, papaki mai rā. Tēnā koe, e te Pīka, e pupuri nei i te mauri o tēnei Whare. Ngā mihi nui ki a koe. E ngā mema o te Pāremata, ngā kaipīkau o ngā wawata me ngā tūmanakohanga o te motu, tēnei te mihi atu ki a koutou e hika mā. E ngā Āpiha hoki, ngā kaimahi o te Whare, ka mihi anō hoki ki a koutou. E ngā mana, e ngā reo, e ngā kārangaranga maha, te whānau kua whakawhāiti nei, ngā iwi kua pae nei, koutou i takahi mai te nuku o Te Ika-a-Māui Tikitiki, koutou i raha mai nā i ngā parirau o te manu nui a Ruakapanga kia tau ki ngā tiriti pūkohu o Pōneke ki tēnei karanga whare a te pūngāwerewere, a te rūrū, haere mai, haere mai, haere mai.

E Te Waiariki, nā koutou i whakatau kia noho ahau ki runga i tēnei tūru hei māngai mā koutou; nā koutou i whakaae kia Māori ake te reo, te wairua, me te whakaaro o tēnei tūru o Te Waiariki. Mai i Maketū ki Tongariro, mai i Ngā Kurī a Whārei ki Tihirau, nā koutou te mana o tēnei tūru. Kua tau. Tēnā tātou, e hika mā.

[Honour and glory to God, peace on earth and goodwill to all men. Amen.

We continue to mourn the passing of our many dearly departed, those spirits who have been taken to the dark night. We farewell you in speech as you tread the path that has been taken by so many before you. Farewell to beyond Reitū, beyond Reiao, to where the multitudes are gathered, to Pleiades; to you all who now rest in peace, farewell, farewell, farewell.

Greetings, friends. Greetings to all in this special House. Te Āti Awa, you who host us on this land, we accept your welcome, your acknowledgments, your greetings. The great hill of Ahumairangi, may you stand for ever noble. The roaring waters of Te Whanganui-a-Tara, we hear the incessant lapping of your waves. To you Mr Speaker, as holder of the authority of this House, I extend my greetings. To the members of Parliament, the ones who carry the aspirations and dreams of the nation, I offer warm greetings to you as well. To the Clerks, and other staff of this House, I extend greetings to you too. To the distinguished tribes, the spokespeople, the many representatives, the wider family who have gathered here, those who have travelled from throughout the North Island, those who hail from Tolaga Bay, you who grace the city streets of Wellington to arrive at this revered house of the spider, house of the morepork, I say welcome, welcome, thrice welcome.

Waiariki, it was you who decided that I would be the one represent you in this seat; it was you who determined that the Waiariki seat should have a more Māori voice, soul, and view. From Maketū to Tongariro, from Ngā Kurī a Whārei to Tihirau, the honour of this seat belongs to you. Indeed. Good evening, friends.

I want to acknowledge the place in which we stand, and, before I do, like I said in a speech at our Māori Party launch in March this year, I strategically asked for the launch to be at Hoani Waititi Marae. Why? Because all you will hear is “Waititi, Waititi, Waititi”. I then said, “Nau mai, haere mai ki te marae o Rawiri Waititi.” Well, guess what! The land outside of Parliament is called Waititi. And in every whakatau we have had so far, all I have heard is “Waititi, Waititi, Waititi”. Nō reira, nau mai, haere mai ki te Whare Pāremata o Rawiri Waititi. Therefore, Mr Speaker, I believe you may be sitting in my seat! I haven’t got to sit down yet, so kei te pai.

I want, at this time, to mihi to a true political hero of Te Ao Māori: Dame Tariana Turia, who courageously walked across this very floor and stood up for her people. She stood up against the degradation of the mana o te iwi Māori, mō te tāhuna o te takutai moana [during the plot for the foreshore and seabed].

Her unapologetic voice and commitment to Te Iwi Māori is the very reason why I am here and representing Te Paati Māori as the new member of Parliament for Te Waiariki. Her courage has inspired a whole generation and her act of bravery continues to inspire me today. E kui, e te iti matakahi maire i whakahinga i te rākau, ka tuohu.

[To my elder, the little axe that felled the large tree, I bow to you.]

I stand in this House and I feel the presence of our koroua Sir Apirana Ngata, an iwi and political leader who had no bounds, and because there are Ngātis present, a Ngāti Porou leader and politician! But because this is my maiden speech, he also has very strong affiliations to te whānau.

Apirana Ngata is one of Aotearoa’s best known rangatira, living and working according to the traditional iwi structures and, as the member of Parliament for Eastern Maori, he acted to strengthen Te Iwi Māori, te reo, me ōna tikanga. His drive for the betterment and the citizenship of his people came at great sacrifice. “For God, for King, and for country” was the call to arms for the price of citizenship. Ake, ake, kia kaha e.

[Let us for ever hold fast.]

Sir Apirana Ngata argued that Māori support of the war effort was the ultimate way to honour the Treaty and gain equality with and respect of Pākehā. Seventy-five years later, we are still arguing the validity of our participation in the great wars, the place names that decorate the very walls of this House. Has the Treaty been honoured? Did we gain the respect of Pākehā? Article 1: consent to the Crown to custodianship and to kāwanatanga—not ownership, nor sovereignty. Article 2 was the security of the absolute mana of tangata whenua of Aotearoa—our land, our rivers, our sea, our forests, our traditions and practices, our people, our mokopuna. Article 3 was about equality: that Māori would be treated as equal citizens in Aotearoa. Two hundred and fifty-five years of colonisation, 175 years of the signing of He Whakaputanga, Declaration of Independence, and 180 years since Te Tiriti o Waitangi was signed. What has been delivered to us?

I take an analogy about the current Treaty partnership between Pākehā and tangata whenua used by uncle Tamati Reedy, who was supposed to be present today but fell ill this morning: the great white shark Pākehā and the kahawai Māori. The great white shark Pākehā and the kahawai Māori: the great white shark said to the kahawai, “Should we form a partnership?” The kahawai replied, “Yes, that sounds like a fantastic idea.” The great white shark then ate the kahawai and said, “Now we are one.”

As Dame Tariana Turia stated in her maiden speech, what has been delivered to us? One hundred and eighty years of struggling to have the Treaty recognised in law, that we have survived despite cultural extermination practices, assimilation of policies, monocultural institutions, treacherous land-stealing laws, tauiwi bureaucracies that have run our affairs, denial of our tangata whenua status, and struggling to maintain cultural identity, integrity, tikanga, and to keep our language alive.

Now the largest media publisher in Aotearoa, Stuff, has publicly apologised for the way it has portrayed Māori over the past 160 years after an internal investigation uncovered evidence of racism and marginalisation in its representation of the country’s indigenous people, the true indigenous people, te iwi Māori. They have said sorry to Māori for the monocultural viewpoint that has sought to oppress tangata whenua. They have said sorry to Māori for continuing to create and reinforce the negative narrative of tangata whenua that keeps our people at the bottom of the heap. They have said sorry to Māori for aiding and abetting the system of racism that strips us of our spirit and our oranga. But they have taken responsibility for their failures. They have owned their failings, and they have made a commitment to do better.

My question to you, Mr Speaker, and to this House is: when will the Crown do the same? When will the Crown say they are sorry to Māori for the monocultural viewpoint that has sought to oppress tangata whenua? When will the Crown say they are sorry to Māori for continuing to reinforce a negative narrative of tangata whenua? When will the Crown say they are sorry to Māori for aiding and abetting the system of racism that strips us of our spirit and our oranga? When will the Crown take responsibility for their failings? When will the Crown own their failings and commit to doing better?

I refuse to allow my tamariki or my mokopuna to one day sit in the same seat asking the same question. We will no longer accept this approach, as it allows the State to continue to feast on the dysfunction that it has created amongst our people. We will no longer accept that the State continues to fund itself every year to allow Oranga Tamariki to steal more of our babies, a justice system to lock up more of our people, a welfare system that keeps my people dependent and poor, an education system that keeps my people dumb, a health system that keeps my people sick, and a housing system that keeps my people homeless. This has to stop. Einstein said stupidity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. It is time to transform the way we do politics in Aotearoa. It is time for Māori to look after Māori, as we know what is best for us. COVID-19 lockdown showed how Māori can look after themselves without Government support or intervention.

Āperahama Taonui, a prophet from the North, once said, “Kauaka rā Te Tiriti o Waitangi e ūhia ki te haki o Ingarangi engari me uhia ki te kahu Māori.”, which translates: “Do not cover the Treaty of Waitangi with the Union Jack. It must only be covered by our Māori cloak.” I am committed to challenging the reason why the Union Jack consistently smothers Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and I am going to take it off. I will ensure that our unapologetic Māori voice is heard and that our Māori cloak is felt and is present in every piece of legislation and bill passed in this House. You know what it feels like to have a pebble in your shoe? That will be my job here: a constant, annoying to those holding on to the colonial ways, reminder and change agent for the recognition of our kahu Māori.

“Oranga whenua, oranga wairua”—“If the land is healthy, so are the people”—was a twist on the prophetic words uttered by Wīremu Rātana. Te Piupiu, a kuia from the Waikato people: “Māuiui whenua, māuiui tangata”—“When the land is sick, so are the people.” It is time for the Crown to honour its Tiriti obligation and partnership, and it needs to devolve its resources to a by Māori, for Māori, to Māori approach.

We demand a Māori Parliament. We want to implement constitutional transformation based on te Matike Mai report. We want to change racist electoral laws so Māori can switch between the Māori and general rolls at any time. But, first of all, commit Māori to the Māori roll and then they can opt out. Establish a commissioner for Te Tiriti o Waitangi to provide oversight of the Crown. Are you listening, Mr Jackson? We want Māori procurement to put whānau first—for more than 5 percent. We want a by Māori, for Māori, mokopuna Māori entity that takes the place of Oranga Tamariki. We want Whānau Ora to be better resourced and for all its funding to go to the commissioning agencies and not to Crown agencies. We want Māori proprietary rights recognised when it comes to water. Māori own the water. We want to stop onshore and offshore oil exploration and drilling and also deep-sea oil drilling in Aotearoa. We want to officially change the name of New Zealand to Aotearoa and all place names to be changed back to their original names. And, yes, you guessed it—we want the oath changed to also reflect tangata whenua e Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Many political commentators and many members in this House have said that these policies are ambitious, but they also said that of the Māori Party’s return to Parliament—but we are here.

I have put my hand up to be the voice for my people, not just for the Waiariki but for Te Iwi Māori. This also comes with great sacrifice. I want to acknowledge my parents, both who have struggled this year with health issues but are here today. I love you both. I want to acknowledge my babies, who will have less time with their pāpā, but they understand that I am trying to make a better today for their tomorrow. Taowaru, Huiarangi, Te Ohanui, Tumanako: this I dedicate to you and your generation.

To my beautiful wife, a Ngāpuhi princess—the last one—when I told her I was running again, she said, “I must’ve done something bloody wrong in another life. First my dad and now my husband.” Thank you for your support, your patience, your strength, your unsolicited advice, but most of all your love. I love you, my darling.

In closing, our tipuna from Te Whakatōhea, Mokomoko, was wrongfully convicted and tried for the death of Reverend Völkner in Ōpōtiki, whose head was decapitated. But because he looked like the perpetrator and his rope was found at the scene of the crime, he was imprisoned in Mt Eden and hung to death. Māori have had enough of being assimilated and forced to do and look like everyone else. We are not like everyone else; we are unique. Being Māori is like having superpowers. There is no one else in the world like us, and we need to maintain who we are. We are in the business of revival, we are in the business of empowerment, and we are in the business of emancipation. Before they hung our tipuna Mokomoko, he uttered the words: Tangohia te taura i taku kakī, kia waiata au i taku waiata. Tangohia te taura i taku kakī, kia waiata au i taku waiata, which means: “Take the noose from around my neck so that I may sing my song.” Therefore, I will adorn myself with the treasures of my ancestors and remove the colonial noose around my neck so that I may sing my song. [Removes tie]

Nā reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa.

[Applause]

Waiata

SPEAKER: Right, I think we have a changing of the guard that’s going to occur, and if the people who are going could go so the people who are coming in can come. I do want to, if I can, get Debbie started before we have to adjourn at 5 o’clock. Just to—Order! Order!

To save us something at the end, I’m going to indicate that at the conclusion of the next maiden statement, the debate will be interrupted and it will be set down for resumption next sitting day, and further that the House will stand adjourned until 2 p.m. on Tuesday, 8 December. I know there’s a bit of changing round going on, so if the changing round could go, and when the next speaker is satisfied that it’s occurred, she will stand up and I will call her.

New members will learn that there are some rules here which parallel with some of those of our national sports, and one of them is that the Speaker is the sole judge of time, and I’d probably indicate that, like other historic timepieces politically, these ones don’t keep very good time. I call for her maiden statement Debbie Ngarewa-Packer.

DEBBIE NGAREWA-PACKER (Co-Leader—Te Paati Māori):

Waerea te mauri o Rangi

Waerea te mauri o Raro

Waerea te mauri o tēnei Whare

Waerea ngā kino o tipua

Waerea ngā ara o tawhito

Waereatia ka matua o tēnei raukura o kouoru e

Waerea kei aku rau e taunaki mai nei, kei aku kura e tāwharu mai nei, tēnei te whakamanawa atu nei ki a koutou, tēnei koutou, tēnā koutou.

Taku raukura e, taku raukura e.

[Clear the way for the forces of life from above

Clear the way for the forces of life from below

Clear the way for the forces of life of this House

Clear away the negative forces

Clear the ancient path

Clear the way of this treasured plume

Clear the way for those who have come in support, my beloved pillars of strength, I hereby give honour to you one and all.

My treasures.]

Tēnā koe e te Māngai. I stand here as a descendant of a people who survived a holocaust, a genocide sponsored by this House and members of Parliament whose portraits still hang from the walls—members of this Parliament who sought our extermination and created legislation to achieve it. They confiscated all our whenua, imprisoned us without trial, murdered and raped our women and children, and deliberately engineered our displacement for generations to come. What William Fox, George Grey, John Bryce, and many others did to my people was unforgiveable. Fortunately, their one-generational plan was outlived by our forever-generational resolve: such is the strength of my whakapapa. But the trauma of what they did lives with us.

I am the third generation born since those monsters on these walls inflicted muru raupatu on Taranaki. Many of my tūpuna were Hauhau leaders and fought alongside Tītokowaru. Many of my tūpuna stood alongside Tohu and Te Whiti at Parihaka. My great-grandfather, my koro Hohepa Ngarewa Tumahuki, was our only survivor to return home after being sent by the Government to life imprisonment in a Dunedin prison in 1869 simply for fighting to stop the confiscation of his land. A mere 16-year-old, the same age as my son, he was taken alongside his father, grandfathers, brothers, and uncles. Many in Wellington at the time pleaded for our people, even to the Premier, Fox, who responded, “these people have committed two great offences, for which they deserve death, and therefore they will not now be pardoned.”

Two of those 70-year-old frail kaumātua, Hekaiaha and Tamarawhero, died here awaiting trial before even reaching Dunedin, and lie in unmarked graves behind Alexander Turnbull’s gravestone across the road in Bolton Street cemetery. Our other tūpuna who died before returning home lie in mass graves in the Southern Cemetery in Dunedin. In 1870, petitions were made to this place to Governor Sir George Bowen and defence Minister Donald McLean to release the political prisoners, but these were ignored. In 1871, William Fox went so far as to state the Pātea settlers would shoot the prisoners if returning home, and that Ngāti Ruanui would never be restored to any part of their ancient abodes.

Yet despite these threats, my grandfather did return, changing his name from Tumahuki to Ngarewa, and rather than being bitter or hateful he helped to build three whare karakia, three churches, on sites of huge significance where loss was incurred: Tūtahi at Taurangaika, Te Kapenga at Hukatere, and Te Ao Tawhi at Manutahi. To heal the trauma, to help find a way forward, he mobilised with Parihaka, believing in the strength of kotahitanga and maungārongo. Such was his absolute belief in building a better future. He learnt to forgive in the hope that the partnership envisioned in Te Tiriti would be realised.

Nearly 150 years later, and now one of us is here, not as a political prisoner but as a member of Parliament. Let’s be honest: if the New Zealand Settlements Act 1863 served as was intended, I probably wouldn’t be here either. I am proud for my tūpuna that their granddaughter has arrived to ensure that this place never, ever forgets the impact of racist legislation and the importance of believing in and building a positive future for our mokopuna. I am proud for Taranaki. I am proud for Ngāti Ruanui.

My koko Ueroa Hohepa Ngarewa, known as Koko Charlie, was a native speaker born in 1901. He was the first born since muru raupatu, the son to that young 16-year-old who survived political imprisonment in Dunedin. He lost his wife—my nan, Parewaho Tamaka—when Dad was 16 and his youngest child was three months. So as a single dad Koko brought us up. Koko’s whole life was us, his mokopuna. Living with us and loving Pariroa Pā, he made sure my siblings, cousins, and I knew our tūrangawaewae, and spoiled us with love and shared only positive stories of his past, so we never felt the stigmatisation he grew up with or the pain of the heaviness our tūpuna carried. As much as possible he wanted us to feel equal. He wanted us to live the best of both worlds, which was vastly different to his childhood.

My dad, Hemi Ngarewa, was Koko’s first-born. He met my Irish, red-haired, green-eyed, freckle-faced mother, Colleen Cleasby. We’re not sure if it was his amazing Elvis Presley swish-back fringe or his platform shoes that won her heart. Whatever it was, it was a big deal for both families, as Mum was the first Pākehā to ever marry into his whānau, and Dad was the first Māori ever to marry into hers. We live a real-life Te Tiriti o Waitangi partnership. Mum was a better reo speaker than Dad, and Dad prided being on the bench as a JP. With Mum’s brains and finesse and Dad’s brawn and stubbornness, you can imagine the Irish-Māori negotiations going on in our household.

Both my koko and father worked at the Pātea Freezing Works, alongside generations of their whanaunga. When the works closed in the early 1980s, I was a sixth-former at boarding school. I saw firsthand the ensuing Rogernomics era: deregulation, subsidies removed, mass redundancies, and the slashing of income support. Redundancies hit my home town, Pātea, really hard, resulting in many of our whānau leaving for the first time since muru raupatu to pursue mahi. We watched as businesses, banks, and health services packed up and left. Schools struggled to stay open and average incomes plummeted as whānau tried to survive. Once again, we were being devastated by decisions being made in this House.

They were really dark times and there wasn’t a lot of hope, and, to be honest, it felt like everyone had written us off. So when one of our larger-than-life uncles, Dalvanius Prime, said he was going to pull a Māori pop song together to hit the charts, you can imagine the eyes rolling. Yet he did, and they did. Every weekend Pātea Māori Club (PMC) would come together to practise, and, against all odds, PMC released “Poi E”, which was the biggest-selling hit in 1984—the only Māori waiata to make it to No. 1—and stayed in the charts for three consecutive decades. I’m proud to say many of those aunties and uncles, my role models, are here today: Auntie Bib, Auntie Bub, Uncle Tupito, Auntie Laura, my Maruera whānau, the Kershaw whānau. To those passed—Auntie Hui, Auntie Paki, Uncle George, Uncle Sam—I love you endlessly. Tēnā rā koutou katoa.

My whānau decided the only way forward was through education. All my siblings—Grant, Darren, Nicola, and I—went to boarding schools or trade training hostels. Both my parents became adult tertiary learners. Mum went from being a cleaner at Pātea Primary School to being the principal, and my dad, after he was made redundant at the freezing works, went to teachers college, becoming head of faculty Māori for Pātea high school.

Not much later, as a single mum I followed the examples of those who raised me. Working three jobs and refusing to be stereotyped, I set up my first business at 23 years old. I met the love of my life, Neil Packer, in Whanganui, and together we raised the best kids in the world—Jamie Anne, Hannah Te Aroha, and Pawhare Awarua—and our five beautiful moko upstairs at the moment, Hawaiki Tangaroa, Malua Papa, Waimarino, Hekaiaha, and River, and another due in April. With my two amazing sons-in-law, Brian Manutai and Jordan Leatherby, I am very privileged to live like my koko in a three-generational homestead on tupuna whenua.

It was my husband, Neil, who encouraged me to do my Master’s at the University of Tasmania, when our children were young. It was he who brought our son to be breastfed as we mobilised busloads to march against the foreshore and seabed, it was also he who saw my frustration at the continuous pollution of our moana in Pātea and insisted I become the deputy mayor, and it was he who listened to my endless homesickness as I studied in Stanford University. He helped do hangi to fund-raise to take our rangatahi to Silicon Valley and Stanford University three times.

He fed me as we worked tirelessly to stop seabed mining and to stop Oranga Tamariki advertising our babies on TradeMe. He put up billboards, driving eight hours from one part of Te Tai Hauāruru electorate to the other, and despite every political analyst predicting it was impossible to return a party out of Parliament, it was he, my darling, who predicted otherwise and said there would be two of us returning to Parliament.

The undying strength and support of my whānau and my core team, the dream team I have around me: Hiria, Rachel, Jack, Haimona, Ngapari, Rukutai, and my precious Uncle Turangapito—I love you so much.

Nine years after we marched for the foreshore and seabed, we started the battle to protect our moana from seabed mining and the extraction of 50 million tonnes of ironsand every year for 35 years. We put together submissions. As Ngāti Ruanui, we delivered petitions to Parliament, we held protest actions on the beaches, and we went to court and we won. We won and went to the High Court, we won and went to the Court of Appeal, and we’re now waiting on the final legal decision of the Supreme Court. Banning new seabed mining permits and withdrawing Trans-Tasman Resources’ existing permits are some of my top priorities, and I will be doing everything I can in my time here to put an end to the desecration that seabed mining will create in Aotearoa. In an era of uncertainty, our whānau need to know that our pataka kai is protected.

The COVID-19 pandemic revealed the inequities and racism that our people suffer. As a leader of an at-risk rural community with few services, I had to mobilise with my whanaunga iwi very quickly to ensure we had the systems and support in place to protect our whakapapa and keep the virus out of our community. We lobbied locally, regionally, and nationally for resources, we established a call hub, we sent out kai and sanitation packs, and we set up iwi community checkpoints to discourage inter-regional travel. I was incredibly proud to work and stand united alongside my whanaunga leaders of our Taranaki iwi, and I’m so honoured that many of them are here in the gallery today.

I’m proud to have been sent here as a representative for my people. It was they who mentored me and pushed me forward in my life, who asked me to stand, and who drove my campaign. I will do everything I can to live up to your faith in me and realise our hopes and aspirations. I am a grassroots leader who believes that politicians serve the people, and therefore must ensure that the voices of their people are heard, that their faces are seen, and that they are heard and that they are felt in this place.

Too many of our whānau are struggling, out of work and unable to survive on benefits set deliberately below the poverty line, or are working two or three jobs on low wages while still not being able to pay their bills. Papatūānuku is in trouble, and our wai is dying from pollution and overuse. The very ecosystems that sustain our whakapapa are threatened. We are suffering from institutional racism and the failure to undertake constitutional transformation like Matike Mai to recognise our tino rangatiratanga. Our young people are struggling in an education system that refuses to adjust to fit their needs or support them to thrive as their true selves. If we are well, we can learn; if we can learn, we can earn; and if we can earn, then we can create a better future for our whānau while serving our community and looking after our taiao.

Like my tupuna who survived as a political prisoner, Pātea Māori Club with “Poi E”, small iwi winning against international mining companies, or a party unprecedentedly coming back into Parliament, all my life I have taken on battles against all odds, always choosing team David up against the Goliath—it is part of my DNA. I believe in the Tiriti o Waitangi, for us to live balanced and harmonised lives, for us to work together, and for us to unite our strengths.

I think of the opportunities and potential missed, and I think about the hour, the minute, the second before our natural development was brutally interfered with. Therefore, I live, I walk, and I dream unapologetically Māori. I believe in Māori, my values are represented in Te Paati Māori.

Today, I stand here as co-leader of Te Paati Māori, with the same hopes and aspirations as our staunch kaupapa warriors like whaea Tariana. I am in Parliament to fight for an Aotearoa where we are free as tangata whenua to exercise our mana motuhake, where our people can thrive as our true selves, where we have enough to put kai on the table, where we meet our kaitiaki responsibilities by taking real action on climate change and living in harmony with Papatūānuku, Tangaroa, and our atua, and where our whānau—most importantly—are put first.

My ancestors passed on their skills to their children and mokopuna, their dreams to discover new realms, to be adventurous, innovative, resilient, and to reach their full potential. My dream is that we can be the same for future generations, that we can live up to the expectations of our rangatahi and our young people of all backgrounds, who are all inspiring us and leading movements, leading movements for Ihumātao, for climate justice, and for Black Lives Matter.

In this House, we have the power to not repeat the mistakes of the past that caused so much suffering for my people. We have instead the opportunity to use that power for good, to dismantle the systems that have held us back, to realise our mana motuhake, and to transform Aotearoa for the better. Every moment I spend here will be in that service of that goal.

E kore au e mate

Ka mate ko te mate

Ka ora taku toa

I te whatukura o taku whaka Aotea!

Nō reira, huri rauna i tēnei Whare, tēnā tātou, tēnā tātou, tēnā tātou katoa.

[I shall not die.

Death is death

I shall prevail through the knowledge left me by my canoe, Aotea!

Therefore, to you all here today, I extend my heartfelt greetings.]

[Applause]

Waiata

Debate interrupted.

The House adjourned at 5.19 p.m.