Sio Hon Aupito WilliamSPECIAL DEBATESDawn RaidsHon AUPITO WILLIAM SIO (Minister for Pacific Peoples): I move That the House take note of the Dawn Raids and the recent apology. On 14 June when the Prime Minister announced that this Government will issue a formal apology to the Pacific communities for the harms trauma racism and prejudice that occurred during the 1970s we literally opened up the floodgates of a sea of wave after wave after wave of emotion. I in my role of supporting that announcement was struggling to try and control my own emotions because that announcement hit home because it's so personal to me and my family but my story is one of many stories. I recall Dominic Godfrey on that day also struggled with his emotion and he was a member of the press gallery. But the emotions have flowed out like a stream and have touched every corner of our Pacific diaspora. It has also touched family members who reside in the Pacific region. It has touched Pacific peoples in other parts of the world who all recollect now the stories many of them still emerging.I want to acknowledge first and foremost why this is an important story because it's not just a story for Pacific peoples; it is a New Zealand story. I want to acknowledge the Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern my ministerial colleagues all of my caucus the Māori caucus and in particular the Pasifika caucus because it's been your support that has enabled this apology to take place. I want to say that in order to deliver an apology in a way that is meaningful and that is genuine and that can be accepted by those who were directly impacted it was important that we used symbolism culture throughout the whole story and there is symbolism from beginning to end. I used symbolism because it is one way in order to convey to those who were hurt directly to understand that we the Government and we the members of Parliament understand the trauma and the pain first and foremost.Secondly I used symbolism to allow the rest of New Zealand who do not understand this story to be receptive to the message that harm was caused and that harm is intergenerational. I wanted to also use symbolism to remind New Zealand of the contribution of Pacific peoples that they have given: the 150 Niueans who performed the war chant; the 500 Cook Islanders who conveyed the pe'e and imene in welcoming the Prime Minister; the Samoans who have a treaty of friendship—which is another story—who accepted and received the ifoga as a symbol of humility by a head of State. Never before done; usually done when life has been taken. But I believe that this is much much more—that this is intergenerational. Ask anyone that was directly impacted and affected during that period. Only now the younger people are beginning to better understand.I used symbolism to paint a picture for those who do not understand culture of Māori or Pasifika those who do not understand the harms of racism to recognise the dreadful harm that it causes on a proud proud people. I used symbolism to try and convey a very strong message to the next generation of Pacific peoples one of the fastest-growing populations in Aotearoa. A generation that I refer to as the Generation 6Bs—people who are proudly brown beautiful brainy bilingual and bicultural—only in Māngere we make it Generation 7Bs by saying they are brilliant. I used symbolism to try and lift their spirits. I used symbolism to try and make them proud of that cultural heritage a cultural heritage that spreads thousands and thousands of years.Of the elders who took their place who sat next to the ifoga one represented those people directly dawn-raided back in those days and one was Taimalieutu Papali'i Kiwi Tamasese a descendant of the Mau leaders who were imprisoned by New Zealand in Mt Eden prison but it was Māui Pōmare Āpirana Ngata and Māori here who gave them comfort. I used symbolism through the presence of Falema'i Lesa Sega a woman who took to court New Zealand and the British Government all the way through to the Privy Council to fight for her right to have citizenship. That citizenship she gained but it got overturned by Muldoon with the agreement of the Samoan Government at the time.I used symbolism with the presence of Rev. Setaita who represented the Tongan Methodist Church. The Tongan Methodists in the Tongan community were probably most at harm because police went on the day of worship in their sacred places and pulled people out and took them down to prison. The presence of Father Paulo Iosefa came from the Catholic church down the road on K Road—the first church in Aotearoa New Zealand to hold mass in the Samoan language. The presence of Rev. Fei Taule'ale'usamai Davis representing the Pacific Island Church (PIC)—they were the church that brought everybody down the road at the PIC off K Road. That whole K Road was the shopping centre for Pacific peoples in those days where they could get their produce and meat. Once upon a time that was a thriving place. Grey Lynn Kingsland Avondale—that was where Pacific peoples gravitated to and resided. I'm grateful to Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei who have offered to help celebrate and commemorate 1 August 2022 the commemoration of this apology. I want to acknowledge Ropota. He is not the usual orator for Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei but he was chosen because he was directly impacted by the Dawn Raids at that period.There are many stories and I have tried to weave those stories into how this Government delivered that ceremony on that night because the stories need people to better understand not by way of compulsion but by way that they can seek to understand and understand that Pacific peoples are here to stay in Aotearoa. As Her Royal Highness Princess Mele Siu'ilikutapu Kalaniuvalu Fotofili said this is Pacific peoples' home. We are the future of Aotearoa New Zealand whether others accept it or not. You just need to go around the regions and see the thriving Pacific population from Tai Tokerau to Tai Tonga from up north to Invercargill to the east and west of Aotearoa New Zealand. We are a thriving population but we are being held back when racism and discrimination rears its ugly head again and again and again and I'm saying to this House and to all New Zealanders: we have to come together and slam racism on the head. That means that we as leaders of this House also have a duty and responsibility to send strong signals that flow out to all of New Zealand because as we say in Samoa e afua mai mauga fa'amanuiaga o se nu'u. From the mountains flow the blessings that will bless the village and it is the words that matter as I said that night because e i ai la matou fa'aupuga e pala ma'a ae tumau pea upu. Rocks and boulders all turn to dust but words matter to us. Words will live for ever through our oratory through our songs through our poetry and we're asking our young people: use the words of that night and display it with pride everywhere they may be. Nō reira tēnā koutou tēnā koutou kia ora tātou katoa.