Woodhouse MichaelHon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE (National): The residents of Dunedin share the shock and horror of the events that took place in its South Island sister city on Friday and stand ready to assist those affected by this terrible tragedy. Nearly 2000 Dunedinites identify with the Muslim faith and many hundreds of them were at prayers in Dunedin's Al Huda Mosque at the time of the events in Christchurch unfolding. Many of the victims had strong links with Dunedin either through business as students or academics at Otago University or with connections with the growing former refugee community in both cities. And it's those members of our community that will be most struggling to cope with this tragedy. The majority of them have escaped war and conflict mostly from Syria.But peace is not only the absence of war; it is the absence of fear and the faith community of Islam is now in a heightened state of fear here in New Zealand. And while that is the case we cannot be said to be at peace. We have a duty to provide this country and its communities places to live without fear and I support the efforts to provide that reassurance and will continue to work with my fellow Dunedin-based colleagues Clare Curran and David Clark to re-establish Dunedin as a place of peace for all its citizens.The other poignant feature of this for Dunedinites is of course the revelation that the evil-doer lived amongst us—in my case just three blocks away from my home. He was hiding in plain sight and I agree with previous speeches that he is not us. He is not who we are. But I have been disturbed by the reports of Islamophobic incidents in Dunedin and other places: examples of harassment and attempts to remove headscarves egging motor vehicles. I know these are very isolated incidents but in our silence in the face of such prejudice we risk complicity. Every peace-loving New Zealander must call out such casual and ignorant acts of racism and make it clear that those acts—however made—have no place in this country.As National's health spokesperson I also want to record my grateful thanks for our fantastic medical first responders emergency department staff surgical teams ward staff social workers mental health professionals and many others who did such a fine job and I'm aware that health professionals from Dunedin and elsewhere were on standby. Were it not Christchurch they would almost certainly have been needed. But chief amongst its many positive traits in that region is the ability to cope with adversity. They knew what to do. I also want to add my thanks as a former police Minister and as one who knows those fantastic men and women of New Zealand Police so well and my gratitude for their bravery but also their high level of skill in investigating this terrible crime. There will be much to do to make sure a prosecution is locked solid. In Dunedin of course there is a crime scene also and I know that they are working extremely hard and I want to commend them for that. But my final comment is one of tremendous gratitude for the grace and dignity shown by Muslim New Zealanders in the face of this attack. They are an example to all Kiwis and we would do well to follow that example in our daily lives.