Mitchell MarkHon MARK MITCHELL (National—Whangaparāoa) (remote): Thank you Madam Speaker. Firstly can I acknowledge the Hon Nanaia Mahuta in the Russia Sanctions Bill and also the Hon Gerry Brownlee who introduced the original Autonomous Sanctions Bill.Can I just say I don't want to dwell on this too long but actually in terms of timing it does matter when you see the type of aggression that's being unleashed on the Ukrainian people by President Putin and Russia. Internationally it is important that we respond as a country quickly. We've got a proud tradition as Kiwis in always taking a strong stand against any type of international human rights abuses or acts of aggression. So timing does matter and we were too slow on this. Actually the international community does watch. So it is with regret that unfortunately this bill wasn't in the House sooner. However it's here now and I want to acknowledge the Minister on bringing the bill to the House.The Green Party leader James Shaw highlighted what I think is a very valid point: this is probably the worst situation in terms of global instability that we have ever experienced since World War II and a Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler. The worst thing and the most sinister thing about the situation that we face currently is that there are nuclear warheads involved or possibly involved in this conflict.So although President Putin has decided to bring force and use force against the people of Ukraine and that force has to be met and we have to stand in solidarity with the brave people of Ukraine to hope that they can repel the invasion by Russia it's also very important that diplomatic channels remain open as well. Because if there's one thing that we have to avoid at all cost then that is a nuclear confrontation. The stakes are very high in this conflict. Although we are thousands of kilometres away we shouldn't kid ourselves that this isn't going to have a serious impact on all of us.Can I just speak very briefly to the UN. I'm not a big fan of the UN. I think that they do some good work in some pockets around the world but I think this is a time for them now to stop and take stock and reflect on just how effective they are. I remember back at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore in 2017 when I met with the Ukrainian Foreign Minister at the time Pavlo Klimkin and became good friends with him. He signalled at that time already—and we all saw it internationally—that Russia was bullying Ukraine and had serious aggressive intent towards them. So then how does Russia become the chair of the UN Security Council? How does Russia veto any action by the UN against an overtly aggressive Russia who is invading a sovereign peaceful country? So I'm sorry you can debate the effectiveness of the UN but right at the moment I think they've lost a lot of credibility and there's a lot of hand-wringing going on and that's got to stop.I'll put up another example of when we saw the terrible genocide in Rwanda when General Roméo Dallaire who was the head of the UN mission there called for help and assistance from the UN. He could see a genocide unfolding and the UN again sat there wringing their hands. We can be proud of our role there because our New Zealand envoy and ambassador stood up and said that we should be sending more support. So I think there's some serious reflection to be done in terms of the UN and the signal that they can send to an aggressive warmongering Russia.Finally can I just say that always the victims of these conflicts are the civilian population and the civilian population in Ukraine are suffering. They're living in tunnels. They are being bombed. There are casualties. Their supply chains are starting to break down. They can't get the basics and the necessities. They can't get milk powder to feed their babies. You've seen a mass evacuation. The one part of the UN that I will acknowledge is the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the work that they do.But also let's remember the Russian civilian population as well because not a lot of them support what their President is doing. I've got friends here in New Zealand who are Russian. They're absolutely devastated at what they're watching. So let's remember and consider them as well and hope that maybe they can bring some pressure to bear on their President get him to step back from a precipice which he's dragging all of us as an international community into. Let's hope that the sanctions that have been put in place the position that the international community is taking very strongly against Russia actually is sufficient to get President Putin—ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jenny Salesa): Order! Order! The member's time is up.