Sio Hon Aupito William; Williams PotoHon AUPITO WILLIAM SIO (Minister for Pacific Peoples): Can I congratulate Anahila Kanongata'a-Suisuiki for having this bill drawn out. It is an exciting opportunity here and I'd hoped the House would consider—seriously—about allowing this particular bill to go through the first reading so that the select committee could undertake its task which is to try and address the concerns that have been raised here tonight.I want to begin by simply saying that what this bill is designed to do is to amend the Oaths and Declarations Act 1957 so that it would allow members of Parliament to take the oaths as members of Parliament or any oaths in this House in the language of their choosing. It legalises a practice that is already being allowed to happen with the approval of the Speaker.The Oaths and Declarations Act 1957—I just want to respond to Mr Mitchell's comments about foreign languages. In 1957 I wasn't even born. I wasn't even thought of by my parents I believe. We're now in 2018. In 1957 there were less than a thousand Pacific peoples here in Aotearoa New Zealand. We now have 400000 Pacific peoples. As an example these are not just the only people that are here—400000 62 percent of those Pacific peoples are born in Aotearoa New Zealand. This is their home. I wasn't born here. I was born in Samoa but I'm a New Zealand citizen. This is my home.I've often asked myself when I first came into the House: who am I and what is the importance of the language to me? When I was asked in 2008 what language I wished to take my oath in I asked the Speaker then the Hon Margaret Wilson if I could take it Samoan the reason being because this is my heritage language. It speaks to me in terms of my identity in terms of my connectedness to our heritage and our ancestral homes.It also speaks volumes to the man who is my father who encouraged and supported me to my political career. So I felt it was important to take that oath in the language that is my heritage language in the language that more than 40 percent of many New Zealand - born understand but in the language that my father in particular understood. How proud he was to hear those words being uttered here. But I soon learned that the only way that I could take that oath was if I also repeated it in English. That's not a problem but every time I've asked since 2008 2011 2014 2017 when I could take the oath I had to get permission from this House. Last year for the first time ever we had about six or seven MPs out of the 10 MPs who are here born of a different country take that oath in their heritage language. I think that's something that we need to celebrate. It's something that we need to recognise. I want to say the bill is about the oath in this House and if those are legitimate concerns then I'd ask the party across the bench to allow this bill to go through the first reading and allow the select committee to bring about the parameters that he seeks.Finally the oath of citizenship—and I accept some of the concerns in terms of the Defence Force and police force but the oath of citizenship—I undertake citizenship ceremonies in my office. I soon learnt that the oath of citizenship in the English language for new arrivals particularly from my home country are not necessarily fully understood and it was only with the Department of Internal Affairs who then translated that oath and I'd repeat it to the citizens in Samoan could they then appreciate the enormity and the importance of the oath that they were undertaking to become citizens of New Zealand. So I ask again the members of that party and all other parties: please consider allowing this through the first reading because this is about recognising our presence—ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Poto Williams): Order! [Interruption] I apologise to the member; your time has expired.