Sio WilliamSu'a WILLIAM SIO (Labour—Māngere): In the words of a former colleague of ours the Hon Luamanuvao Winnie Laban I simply say warm Pacific greetings to one and all. I acknowledge the representatives from the various parliaments throughout the Pacific. We welcome you and we look forward to continuing this debate tomorrow. I also cannot help but reflect a little bit on the first forum of this nature. We had Parekura Horomia who is no longer with us but who led the pōwhiri on that particular occasion. I remember him and I remember his love and support of Pasifika people. I acknowledge also Mātua Shane Jones who is well-known now throughout the Pacific region and I know that he is very much appreciated by the Pacific countries. I also want to thank Charles Chauvel a former colleague of ours who took the time to travel all the way from New York to share some of his experiences with our delegates from throughout the Pacific.In 2009 a submarine earthquake hit the Pacific which generated a tsunami and that tsunami devastated land properties food crops and the people in Samoa American Samoa and Tonga. I think the casualty of life was in the vicinity of about 200 lives—people who died. I recall the response of New Zealand. From the Government from local government from business from community groups from sports organisations and even from early childhood centres—I remember one from Whangarei up north; your way Mātua Shane—they all responded generously. They responded because there was a need for them and I think the way that the New Zealand community responded to that tsunami and the devastation it left behind in the Pacific was best described when His Highness Tupua Tamasese Ta'isi Efi said: He or she who comes to my aid in times of crisis is kin is family."I want to state categorically for this House and for all members who come to this House in the future that one of the significant reasons—the most important reason—why we in this House should support the motion as moved and support our efforts in the Pacific is that New Zealand is a Pacific nation. It is squarely accepted by all in the Pacific region as family as kin.That is also reflected in the make-up of our populations today. Once upon a time in the 1950s there was a handful of Pacific people who came here. Now we number more than 300000 of which almost 60 percent are Samoans. We have more Cook Islanders living here—about 50000—than there are back in the Cooks. We have about 50000 again from Tonga more than those—about 120000—who are in Tonga. We have about 40000 Niueans calling New Zealand their home and there are probably fewer than 1000 back in Niue. New Zealand has become the home of the new Pacific generation. They are not going to go anywhere. They are born here they are married here and they will be buried here as were their parents and grandparents before them which causes me concern because of these linkages back into the Pacific. As I preside over my extended family who live in New Zealand Australia and America the issue of concern that I as the father figure for our family and as the head of our family is how do we reside in New Zealand achieve our dreams and aspirations to be successful in this country and still maintain our languages and our traditional cultural values? How do we do that?That is a challenge that we face here in Aotearoa New Zealand. It is a challenge that I do not believe we can find the answers for alone. I believe that we have got to work together with the countries of this Pacific region in maintaining those things. I have said often to my family in Samoa: "If you do not maintain these strong links with the young people who are born here in New Zealand you will not be able to ensure that those links remain strong in the future." That would have an economic impact not only on my family but on many Pacific communities. Many countries in the Pacific I am aware depend on remittances and New Zealand is a significant contributor of remittances back to the Pacific. Again that is an issue that I am hopeful our colleagues in the Pacific take into consideration when they are looking at their economic plans for the future. I say that because they are issues that concern me.Earlier this year I took the opportunity to travel to Tuvalu and Kiribati with the support of my colleagues here because I wanted to see first-hand the impact of climate change on both Tuvalu and Kiribati. I saw in Tuvalu how people are faced with rising sea water levels on a day-to-day basis. I saw how families in some parts of Funafuti struggled with putting up appropriate and credible sea walls. I saw how the Government is dredging its lagoon with sand to try to reclaim some of that land in front of the Government building.Similarly in Kiribati I saw the same issues of not only rising sea water levels destroying coastal lines and destroying grave sites but the acidification of the sea water—the warming of the sea water—which is not just causing problems to ecosystems and marine life but also polluting the land and polluting the water supply. I came back and I said to my colleagues: "We have an issue here. We have to work with some sense of urgency." All the science says that if we do not put a stop to our pollution into our atmosphere then not only will these islands fall but then the second line will fall and the third and so forth. What I am saying is that what is happening in the Pacific is going to affect New Zealand. It will affect Australia. It will affect every single country in this part of the world.But there are other issues that Pacific countries face in addition to climate change—the sovereignty rights. If in fact some of these Islands go under water who will benefit from their exclusive economic zones or their minerals their fishing rights their space and their website rights? What happens when these islands are under water? There will be loss of lands language culture and practices. This is something that the young people on both Tuvalu and Kiribati said to me: "Who do we hold accountable—who do we hold accountable? Is it New Zealand? Is it Australia? Is it Russia? Is it America? Who do we hold accountable for the loss harm and damage that is affecting the Pacific?".I want to say to New Zealand: what do we do? We cannot just sit by if this continues to happen. What is our plan if an emergency does occur? What is the worst-case scenario? How would we deal with it—are we prepared? Do we have sufficient housing and jobs? Imagine having 12000 Tuvaluans turning up on our doorstep. Imagine having 110000 Kiribatians turning up on our doorstep. If we are unable to recognise and deal with the housing crisis right now how are we going to cope when that crisis is at our doorstep? Can our schools and other infrastructure cope with a sudden influx of young people? Do we know how our other regional partners will act—Australia Fiji the Pacific Islands Forum and other international people and countries that make use of the resources in the Pacific and ought to give something back? We need to plan for this. That is my plea to this House. It is my plea to my colleagues and I hope that other parties here pick up that challenge.Earlier today in the opening remarks by Andrew Little he indicated some of the things that we need to do—review our immigration policy and also consider whether it is fair for those who are living here in Aotearoa New Zealand to return them forcibly to Island countries where there is no future for them. Those are some of the things that we have to consider and I hope that in the next couple of days we are able to have constructive discussion because the future of the Pacific is interlinked with the future of Aotearoa New Zealand."