Sio Hon Aupito WilliamHon AUPITO WILLIAM SIO (Minister for Pacific Peoples): Kia orana tatou katoatoa to the House. Earlier this week when Mr Little announced the abortion law reforms I had to smile at the coverage by the parliamentary press gallery where a few of us brown MPs were singled out in there providing our different views on the matter. The coverage invoked in me the thought that while we all live together in this beautiful country of ours while we might work alongside one another or attend the same functions or travel together we really don't understand one another. Those of us who are bilingual live in two different worlds. It's been my experience that when someone is vehemently monolingual I fear there is no understanding no empathy no connection between their world and mine.So let me now speak plainly on the position I hold on abortion. I will speak plainly knowing full well that the media will cover this debate from the personal perspective of each of those reporters based on their own world view and understanding. I speak plainly knowing full well that each member of this House is fully and completely entitled to their own views and I will defend their view whichever way they choose to vote on this subject matter. I speak plainly for the sake of the community that I represent both who oppose and support this issue—not just the people of Māngere but I include the Pacific community in the regions of Aotearoa and throughout the wider Pacific region.When the media refers to Pacific culture as the basis of my decision there is an element of truth to that but really the question should be: what do I value? What value do I rely upon to base my decision on abortion? I value life. From my earliest memory all the children in our extended family were taught through one question: o ai na faia oe—who created you? O le Atua—the Creator. Samoan beliefs of old valued life. It values the power of men and women to create life. It values the power of the matai as a power derived from Tangaloa the Creator—the power to create or take life. Many of us matais have fallen short in the use of this power.When Christianity and old Samoa came together Samoans fused old religion with new religion but the values stayed the same. We valued life and the creation of life and buried our power to take life. Why do we value life? Because we need the next generation. In the days of old in the village social structure we needed strong warriors. In peacetime we needed more planters fishermen builders and hunters to feed build and serve the wider community. Is that any different from New Zealand society? Farmers need the next crop of farmers to grow our food supply to inherit the land. We need the next group of our workforce to take up jobs and businesses to pay their taxes to continue providing public services for the public good. We value our families and the next generation for the role they must play in future years. They will carry our names and our history.When our families the basic foundations of our societies are strong and confident our beautiful country of Aotearoa and all its peoples will thrive and prosper. So do we live up to these values? Of course not. We have failed and continue to fail to uphold protect and promote these fundamental values. Our society today is riddled with examples of the contradictions of the belief in these fundamental values and our individual actions. I won't go into the details but suffice to say that throughout Aotearoa and in the Pacific region there are many examples of the abusive and violent behaviours we inflict on the very people we value. My heart goes out to the women who have abandoned babies in parks in toilets in rubbish bins. Society is so quick to point the finger and condemn these women but where were their partners or husbands? Where were their families? Why would a pregnant woman not feel safe to confide or secure the support from the person that helped her create that life or support from her family?We might profess to value life to value our families and to value the next generation but we have all failed to live it. No one is perfect and when anyone says they are they lie. The integrity of our traditional institutions that promoted these values have over time eroded because of the shortcomings of our leaders but do we then cast these values aside? I don't believe so. We need our institutions to continue to promote these values to the next generation. The roles of religious organisations and our individual families is the fundamental basis to safeguard and promote these values. Life is to be valued. Families are to be protected. The next generation is to be supported. But whose role should it be to uphold and promote these values? Is it Parliament? Society is divided on this. Fundamentally I believe it must lie with families and strong institutions with good moral compasses—which then brings me to my position on abortion.The morals of abortion are too complex to debate in the political environment. We all have different world views and experiences we bring to the debate. I will leave the morality of this issue with families and our moral institutions to lead and promote this matter. I am looking at abortion from the perspective of a father who does not support abortion. It is a father's perspective and that of a matai that presides over an extended family who has love and compassion for his family. I want my daughters my sisters—all the women in my extended family—to feel safe to be supported. I want them to aspire to uphold the value of life but they should also know they have the freedom and my support to make those decisions about abortion freely in accordance with their own conscience and their freedom of choice knowing full well we are not perfect.In 1980 there were close to 6000 abortions. It climbed and peaked in 2003 with more than 18500 abortions and then it declined until 2017. There were still 13285 abortions carried out. The number of Pacific women that had an abortion in 2018 is 1354. This has been declining steadily since 2009 when it peaked at 2360 abortions. My position on this issue of abortion is a matter of public record. I do not support abortion but I am on record that I recognise that a woman has a right to abortion especially when she has to make a decision regarding a child conceived through sexual violence rape or incest or the choice of life of the mother versus the life of an unborn child.I will vote in support of this bill at the first reading. I ask all of our communities to take the opportunity to engage with the select committee in a respectful manner. Tell the committee how we can help and support our women who have not been supported by their partners or families in their time of need with a pregnancy. Tell the committee how to improve this bill. Do you agree that we remove abortion being treated under the Crimes Act as we've always done before or do we want to treat the women who seek an abortion with love care and support?Meitaki maʻata no teia tikaʻanga. Kia manuia tātou i tēnei ra. Meitaki maʻata Mr Speaker.