Parker DavidHon DAVID PARKER (Minister for the Environment) (remote): Thank you for that reminder Mr Speaker. It was remiss of me not to do that. What a chilling time it is in the world with the challenges that we face from the war in the Ukraine from COVID from the pernicious effect of foreign interference through social media channels and cyberattacks. This coalescing of challenges that the liberal democracies of the world face is something that I never envisaged even at the start of this electoral cycle and it's certainly I think the most unsettling period for me as a Minister in a democratically elected Government. I don't think any Western democracy has really faced this combination of challenges for a long long time. And I find it an incredibly disturbing responsibility to be in power at a time like this and take very seriously the responsibilities and opportunities for betterment that come from Government action at a time like this.There can be no greater challenge to the rules-based order than a member of the United Nations Security Council flouting the most basic of international laws and without provocation or attack invade a neighbour using dishonest pretexts like an assertion that they're Nazis when it's most obvious to countries like us that the Ukrainian Government was not a Nazi Government; using the pretext that they Russia had to do this for their own security when there was no real threat from either the Ukraine or NATO to the territorial borders of Russia; and an attack on the rules-based order which as other members have said cannot be properly responded to through UN channels because the right of veto of UN Security Council members is relied upon by Russia to stymie the effort. The need for action is so clear not just from what happened in Ukraine but we know that the Russian Government was at the side of the Syrian Government in the atrocities that were perpetrated against those who were involved in a civil war in Syria. And so we can have little trust as countries in support of Ukraine that those similar tactics won't be brought to bear against the Ukrainian people.So I think that the role of New Zealand—limited though it is from afar and limited as it is by our lack of military capability and our lack of proximity to this conflict we have to do our bit to join the world to create consequences for those who are in power in Russia. So we do that by not wishing to bring misery to the Russian people. We don't want them to suffer the economic consequences that are going to befall Russia as a consequence of these actions but we have very few remedies—other than entering into the war in Ukraine—other than to exact economic consequences both on the Russian Government but also those people of influence within the Russian administration senior military leaders and senior functionaries within the Government of Russia.The issue as to how far you reach with those sanctions is yet to be fully explored either in New Zealand or around the world. It's clear that there will be ascending levels of sanction it seems from our people who we traditionally partner with in these sorts of events worldwide. I for one have been paying attention to some of the operative provisions in this legislation and I thank the other political parties for their consideration of these issues at short notice as well. And I know we did have the benefit of the bill that had been drafted through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade under the prior National Government and so we've been able to move very quickly in response to bring this legislation forward.But hurried though that has been in response to the human tragedy unfolding in the Ukraine we have had a period to carefully consider some of the provisions. And in particular clause 8 of the bill as it came forward has been subject to some remedial work involving the Government. My own officials were concerned to make sure that that clause 8 empowering provision as to when sanctions can apply or what is the purpose of those sanctions was made clearer than it was in the original draft. In the short time available we've also reached out to the Privacy Commissioner and to the New Zealand Law Society both of whom have had input into the legislation and I think it is improved as a consequence. And it may be that that is an issue that members want to discuss with the Minister of Foreign Affairs when she is in the chair for the committee stage of this bill because it does go to the core of how far down the administration these sanctions can reach.There's been some interesting media coming out to say that yes we can address the issue of the highest-ranking Russian officials and the billionaire class who have so profited from the Russian administration and their closeness to it but there are views that the sanctions need to reach further into senior governmental officials beyond that absolutely upper coterie none the less to people who are powerful within the Russian administration and have probably become multimillionaires through it and who have properties overseas assets overseas and as Simon O'Connor has said like to have the benefits of their associations with liberal democracies where they enjoy holidaying and sometimes relying upon those overseas jurisdictions for the education of their children. And those sorts of issues may yet be necessary to consider. We haven't considered those issues as an international community I don't think in any great detail yet but we may need to. Therefore the second part of clause 8(2) is designed to be reasonably broad in the ability of sanctions to reach further than just the absolute upper coterie of the Russian administration.In respect of other issues that were raised by Simon O'Connor in respect of Magnitsky sanctions: as the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Deputy Prime Minister have both said we're open to that discussion. I would note that the bill that has been tabled by the Hon Gerry Brownlee didn't from our point of view adequately cover those so it couldn't just be quickly passed into law if that was the will of the National Party.And I would also note that since that bill was drafted I think the problems of foreign interference via social media destabilising Western liberal democracies have become worse the seriousness of cyberattacks trying to create mayhem in liberal democracies around the world and trying to undermine the very settings that we rely upon to have peaceful free settings in our own home countries. And we've seen some of the effect of that misinformation. Some of it comes from liberal democracies but even that which comes from liberal democracies is sometimes pushed along by ill-meaning promotion from jurisdictions like North Korea and Russia trying to foment discontent in our own nations. And I think we've got to take a serious look at that as well. The Prime Minister's already on the record in respect of some of those issues arising not just from Ukraine but from recent events at home.So it's an incredibly serious attack to the rule of law. The whole of Europe is destabilised by this. I was talking to the Minister of Foreign Affairs about the chill that is in Europe at the moment at a Government level. She has just returned from there and we can well imagine the effect that this is having on those capitals that are closer to the Ukraine than we are. We look to Europe as being bastions of upholding liberal democracy. I think we model ourselves on some of the forms of democracy that they have in Scandinavia. And it's interesting to see the brave actions of the likes of Finland and other countries like Poland who we don't always agree with on everything standing up to try and push against the atrocities that the Russian regime is perpetrating. I accordingly support this first reading of the bill to the House.