Whaitiri Meka; Tolley AnneHon MEKA WHAITIRI (Minister of Customs): Ā e Te Māngai Tuarua o Te Whare nei tēnā koe. Ko Hikurangi Te Maunga. Ko Waiapū Te Awa. Ko Ngāti Porou Te Iwi. E te tuahine Hine Tāwhiwhirangi rātau mā kua wehe atu ki Te Pō haere haere moe mai rā.[And so thank you Madam Deputy Speaker of this House. Hikurangi is the mountain. Waiapū is the river. Ngāti Porou is the tribe. Sister Hine Tāwhiwhirangi and others who have departed to the void go forth journey on and rest there indeed.]Madam Deputy Speaker can I please acknowledge your appointment to the Chair along with our assistant colleagues in Adrian Rurawhe Poto Williams and of course the Speaker himself the Hon Trevor Mallard. I know that you've all been appointed on merit and I wish you all the best and I look forward to your rulings over this 52nd Parliament.This is my first contribution in the 52nd Parliament. Can I extend warm greetings to all the new members in this House and say I look forward to the exciting term that lies in front of us. Can I please acknowledge the voters of Ikaroa-Rāwhiti—those that have supported me to return to this House as their representative. Can I mihi out to the many of them from Pōtaka in the north right through to Wainuiōmata. Nō reira e Te Iwi o Te Ikaroa Rāwhiti tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā koutou katoa.[Therefore to the tribe of Te Ikaroa Rāwhiti salutations acknowledgments and accolades to you all.]One of the failings of the last Government over the last nine years that I have clearly witnessed as the member for Ikaroa-Rāwhiti is the lack of infrastructural investment throughout my electorate. I'm talking about roading health education and jobs in the regions which for nine years—nine years—that side of the House failed to deliver in the electorate of Ikaroa-Rāwhiti. I was up the Coast just the other day in Rangitukia in Tolaga Bay and also in Tokomaru and their issues remain the same. They are the issues I've raised around a lack of investment in my region around roading around health around education and around jobs.I'm proud to stand here in a Labour-led Government and I want to commend our second elected female Prime Minister in Jacinda Ardern. I want to acknowledge the Rt Hon Winston Peters and his decision to go into coalition with Labour and of course our friends the Greens.I'm excited about the proposed policies that lie in front of us for the next three years and I want to take the time for that side of the House particularly and for the members of the public who are watching to remind us that this Government is going to be a Government of action. It will not be a Government that's going to sit around and twiddle around and not do anything but it will have an absolute commitment to action and it's no better reflected than in the coalition 100-day plan. When I look through it I want to highlight some areas that I know are going to deliver real results to the people of Ikaroa-Rāwhiti.Let's look at education. We're going to raise the student allowance by $50 starting on 1 January. That's going to be enormously beneficial to many of the young people throughout my electorate going into tertiary education particularly but into anything post-education. We're going to make available the first year of education which the Minister of Education has talked about in this House.Housing has continued to be a big issue throughout my electorate and in the healthy home guarantee many of the Māori constituents I represent are going to benefit from all the homes being fully insulated and warm. Banning speculators is going to reduce the price and make it affordable for very first-time owners. And of course establishing the Affordable Housing Authority and beginning KiwiBuild—with the billion trees there should be no unemployment in Ikaroa-Rāwhiti with KiwiBuild and a billion trees. So I want to acknowledge the Hon Shane Jones in his role in terms of regional economic development.Whānau—we talk about the Families Package. As winter comes next year once we get over summer the winter fuel package Best Start and the paid parental leave extensions kicking in on 1 July are definitely going to help Māori and of course the minimum wage which is going to lift to $16.50 and introducing fair legislation to improve our workplaces is always going to make a difference.The ministerial inquiry into mental health is a big issue on the Coast is a big issue in Gisborne and is a big issue in Hawke's Bay and I welcome that as part of the 100-day plan. And of course in the environment we are going to clean up our rivers and waterways and we're going to set zero carbon emission goals through the Independent Climate Commission. Of course when it comes to the finance we have very strict financial commitments and rules and regulations and we're going to resume contributions to the New Zealand Superannuation Fund and establish the working party. So I just want to put on record that this Government is going to be a Government of action and no better is it demonstrated but in the 100-day plan.I am proud to be accorded the opportunity to be a Minister of the executive and I want to take this time now to acknowledge the portfolios that I have been given and talk briefly about them. I want to acknowledge the men and women up and down this country who are customs officers. They look after the border of this country in terms of illegal drug trafficking and anything else that we don't want in this country. I want to acknowledge them for the hard efforts that they do: illegal drugs revenue collection for importers and exporters and another big one—which I'm particularly interested in—is trade. That's the Customs Service. It is much more complex than I have given them time for but I want to acknowledge that I'm looking forward to working alongside the hard-working officials in the Customs Service.I'm also the Associate Minister of Agriculture and what the previous speaker Nathan Guy said around primary industries—can I share that as I've travelled up and down this country and met with different farmers the feedback I'm getting is quite a different one to that former Minister. They're pleased that we've got a Labour-led Government. They're pleased about the innovative ideas because for nine years there's been a tired array of ideas coming from that side. They have come up to me and said that they are looking very much forward to working with myself and the Hon Damien O'Connor in the agricultural space. And pulling out or dismantling—can I just put off the fear around public servants losing their jobs. We have worked really well with our officials to assure them that we value the contribution they will continue to make to this Labour-led Government and nothing will change on that front. So don't take any notice of that former Minister.I want to also acknowledge the local government associate role that I've picked up and of course the newly formed Crown-Māori relations which is an exciting new portfolio that this Labour Government has decided to create. Can I just say in that context in terms of the Crown-Māori space I want to acknowledge the Treaty work that Governments do—particularly the Office of Treaty Settlements—with iwi. Once that is generally finished and in the negotiation we have got to an agreement then the Crown generally leaves the table and it's on to the iwi to get on to it. I actually believe that there's an opportunity for the Crown to remain at the table to unlock the economic potential not just through iwi settlements but whānau hapū and marae organisations who want to make a better difference for their people that they represent. And there's definitely a role I believe for the Crown to remain at that table. That's why I'm excited for the role in working with the Hon Kelvin Davis in that particular space.There isn't much more that I want to add other than to look forward to working on this side of the House with the innovative and bold suggestions that all three parties have come to the table with. I'm looking forward to working with colleagues. The 100-day plan is an ambitious plan but it's clear. It's open. It's transparent. It's available to the public. We will be held accountable on what we've said we are going to do in the 100 days. It is inspiring. It's ambitious. But I wouldn't want it any other way. I wouldn't want it any other way. Those members on that side are going to have to realise that they've got three years of sitting there. You've got three years of sitting there. You've got three years of sitting there and listening to this side of the Government that has been brought in to create and fix the mess that you have left behind and I'm happy to be part of a Labour-led Government who is going to make a difference for all New Zealanders. Kia ora.Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: I'll just remind members not to bring the Speaker into it because it's becoming quite prevalent in the House.