Horan Brendan: Debate On Pacific IssuesText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeHoran Brendan: Debate On Pacific Issues[Sitting date: 18 April 2013. Volume:689;Page:9581. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]BRENDAN HORAN (Independent): Welcome to our Pacific neighbours and dear friends. I have to say that I am looking forward to going to the rugby with you tomorrow night. We will be watching a New Zealand team dish it out to those Aussies. But it would be great if instead of a Super 15 it was a Super 17 with at least two Pacific Island teams. I look forward to the time when I can go and visit the islands and be there to watch a Super 17 rugby game.Today I will cover three topics three challenges for all Pacific nations: one have we preserved and enhanced our heritage; two have we cared for and protected our environment our countries; and three have we respected loved and cared for our children? Here in New Zealand we face challenges in honouring our obligations to our children. Some of those challenges include social instability resulting from a breakdown of family standards and values personal unrest and alienation that comes from a lack of purpose or ideals. Another challenge we have in New Zealand is some of the things that we see and I see too much of our land technology and industry being sold to foreign powers. I see pathways opening for our mineral wealth onshore and offshore to be exploited by overseas interests and throughout the Pacific we share a common concern in the plundering of fishing stock by foreign fishing powers.Earlier today a New Zealand First member spoke of political seduction and it is a very real threat. New Zealanders only need look back at the news last week where we saw our Prime Minister meeting the Chinese Premier with the army out there and parades and everything. So political seduction is real but there is a solution and I believe our saving grace is our children. I would implore that the core aim for this forum is the future well-being of our children—to the children of New Zealand to the children of the Pacific. Here in New Zealand we have more children than ever beforeliving in poverty. But what is far worse than poverty is poverty of spirit. The challenge for all of us here today and this weekend is to raise that spirit that cultural identity within each child of New Zealand and the wider Pacific. The great challenge therefore is to increase the cultural wealth of each child and each and every family. Therefore the goal or aspiration must surely be to be aspirational positive family role models—to have children say “How do you do that?” and to live lives where children say “I want to be able to do that. I want to be like that.” My mother and my father—positive role models. And so are my older brother and my older sister.The pathway for cultural wealth is surely education—education of culture and identity. Who am I? Where do I come from? Where am I going? Spirituality—in New Zealand we call it wairua. Heritage in spirit our children’s thoughts and feelings their behaviour awareness of health and of self and social interaction with families friends and strangers. Personal understanding knowledge and awareness. This is cultural wealth—essential ingredients for every family throughout the Pacific. With major advances in technology in areas of broadband-enabled devices such as smartphones and tablets the opportunity to educate our families becomes more viable and also the opportunity for us as nations to collaborate and communicate more readily and to share our knowledge and our technology. For there is a synergy that binds us above even our precious Pacific locations and that is our love—our love for our children and our families. And let that synergy that binds us be honoured by our commitment this weekend to preserving our resources and environment for our tamariki our children—tātou tātou; us and us. Kia ora.