Kanongata'a-Suisuiki AnahilaANAHILA KANONGATA'A-SUISUIKI (Labour): Kia ora e Te Mana Whakawā. It is an honour and a privilege to participate in the Dawn Raids debate. Keke 'ilo'ia mai te'eki ke mafoa e ata 'oku 'a. Ko hoku kaunga fononga koe fetu'u pea moe mahina na'aku lotu kihe 'Eiki ke kau mai 'ihe 'eku fononga. Peau hiva e ngaahi himi 'a hoku hufanga'anga."—"If only you knew my companions were the stars and the moon. I found refuge in my prayers to God to keep us safe and found peace in singing hymns as we'd leave our homes before dawn." Those were the words of Ailine Tupou Kanongata'a wife of Siosiua Likiliki. They were members of Fakafeangai Mā'oni'oni Tongan Methodist Church and were overstayers from 1971 to 1978. They were my parents who are laid to rest at Waikaraka Cemetery in Onehunga Auckland. That's the extent of the sharing by my mother of how they survived the Dawn Raids. Usually she'd bring it out when I needed reflection on my behaviour and reminding of my responsibilities.Ke he lilifu he gutu vagahau I would like to honour the Prime Minister the Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern for her leadership in protecting Aotearoa New Zealand from COVID-19 and wrapping a korowai of aroha by providing free COVID-19 vaccinations for Aotearoa and the Pacific nations. To the Minister for Pacific Peoples the Hon Aupito William Sio fa'afetai tele lava. Before during and after the Dawn Raids tangata whenua were suffering and suffocating from the partnership between the two races known as the Treaty of Waitangi. Fortunately we have arrived at a time where we understand the race-based suffering that has been confronted by tangata whenua for over two centuries as well as we the descendants of the Dawn Raids migrants who answered New Zealand's call to come and work in the factories from the Kingdom of Tonga to the islands of Samoa—the Pacific region—in the 1960s and 1970s.I call upon Pacific peoples to put away our tears. God has blessed us with the wisdom to know what has to change the courage to make the change and aroha for those who we are racist against. Vaa tuatua on 1 August the Prime Minister the Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern formally apologised to the brown-skinned workers who allegedly overstayed. The Prime Minister reminded us—and I quote—"As a nation we expect everyone in New Zealand to be treated with dignity and respect". The Prime Minister has offered scholarships. Beginning now I believe it is timely for the scholars of the descendants of the alleged brown-skinned overstayers and their families to think deeply about racism in migration education health sport and justice policies and to make changes for the betterment of all of Aotearoa New Zealand.In the words of the late Emeritus Professor Ranginui Walker "Ka whawhai tonu mātou"—we struggle without end. I believe it is appropriate for us who are the descendants of the Dawn Raids to stand together with tangata whenua of Aotearoa to fight all forms of racism because the longer we are divided the longer we are ruled by racist policies.Afioga fofoga fetalai I am urging e ngā iwi o Moana-nui-a-Kiwa ki Aotearoa: our relationship with Māori is in our DNA. We are whānau. It is time we demonstrate our respect to tangata whenua and learn te reo Māori me tikanga as well as our own Lea Faka-Tonga Vosa Vakaviti Gagana Samoa te reo Māori o Kuki Airani among the many Pacific languages. However 'Eiki Sea Her Royal Highness Princess Mele Siu'ilikutapu Kalaviuvalu Fotofili of Tonga accepted our Prime Minister's apology and she advised us as migrants to stand up to continue to work harder and smarter and to count our blessings. As a member of Parliament and a descendant of the Dawn Raids I agree with the Princess that the apology is in the right direction of the healing process. This is the new dawn. Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou katoa."