Loheni AgnesAGNES LOHENI (National): Thank you Mr Speaker. I stand in opposition to this bill. This bill goes against my core values and everything that I stand for. This is a conscience vote and it is unconscionable to me that we could allow State-sanctioned killing. I want to give voice to our Pacific community who have come together. They have petitioned they have emailed MPs they have gathered at the front steps of Parliament they have met in church and community halls up and down the country. They've reached out to me and to the Hon Alfred Ngaro and to all our Pacific MPs in this House to convey their strong and heartfelt objection to this bill. I stand with our Pacific communities. It is this community and the values it stands for that has shaped who I am today. As a spokesperson for Pacific peoples it is the community that I will serve to get better outcomes in health and education and to be aspirational and support opportunities for our young. Our Pacific voice is a collective one that speaks for our families and our communities and our vulnerable. We are a Pacific community who holds strong to our faith and we hold the value that life is sacred. This bill is in conflict with those values and our Pacific culture of care. In Pacific families it is our duty to look after and care for our elders be it our parents our grandparents aunties and uncles. They are treasured and respected in our culture. We care for them out of love and deep respect for the hard work and the sacrifices they have given to their families. This bill opens the door to the vulnerable being coerced and to feelings of being a burden on their families. This bill erodes the sanctity of life and aspects of social relations that are important for strong healthy resilient families and communities. This bill focuses on the individual—my life my choice—that is in conflict to Pacific values and culture which sees and interacts with society through a lens of families and communities. We have a suicide problem in New Zealand. Pacific peoples have one of the second-highest suicide rates overall and one of the highest suicide rates amongst our Pacific youth. We cannot hide from that. At a time when we should be rallying to address suicide at a time when our message should remain Suicide is never the answer." we are backing off. I'd just like to reflect on a submission made by a general practitioner in South Auckland and I quote from the submission: "I am concerned about the message sent to our youth about the validity of suicide—we are telling [our] youth that suicide is not the answer and yet saying to our disabled and terminally ill that it is. Those youth [who] have talked to me about the issue have mentioned the double standard."It is no comfort that Mr Seymour says that his carefully crafted bill will only apply to terminally ill patients who have a set period of time to live because the experience of the Netherlands and Canada shows us that the slippery slope is inevitable. No amount of drafting will stop definitions such as "unbearable suffering" sliding out to mean things such as extreme depression or it being unbearable to live without a loved one who has died. It has been said that a nation's greatness can be measured by how it treats its most vulnerable its weakest members. We cannot risk one wrongful death. This bill will not guarantee that that will not happen. There are people that I've met people in the gallery who have physical disabilities or what they would describe as grievous and irremediable medical conditions. They have shared their stories reached out to all members in this House and implored us to value their life. I value their lives and I oppose this bill."