Whaitiri MekaHon MEKA WHAITIRI (Minister of Customs): Tēnā koe Mr Speaker. I am the proud member for Ikaroa-Rāwhiti. I'm also a very proud Minister in this coalition Government. I want to start off my contribution with the closing remarks of the Minister of Finance which is This is the Government getting on to do the mahi." We're getting on and doing the mahi and I want to just first of all acknowledge that in my electorate of the East Coast as a result of the floods on the recent Queen's Birthday weekend that's just passed.Can I just say in August of 2016—again in another part of my electorate—we had a gastro outbreak in Havelock North where 5000 people were hospitalised and a couple of people lost their lives—a very very serious incursion for the people in Havelock North. It took the Government of the day 10 days to come into the House to acknowledge we had a gastro outbreak—10 days—and the only way that they did that was that our side of the House caused an urgent debate. We called an urgent debate and then the Minister was forced to get up on his feet and explain the gastro outbreak. But on the East Coast that I represent and I'm proud of within two days of the flood not only myself but officials from the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) and Gisborne District Council were in the air—two days. We were in the air to make sure that we were scanning the outbreak of the floods. I can say that although the flooding was quite localised in Tolaga Bay the devastation that people saw on their televisions and on social media was devastating for communities and those families that lost their homes and for farmers that are still recovering from those floods.So I want to make sure that this House acknowledges the response in which this side of the House responded to those floods. I do want to acknowledge my colleague the Minister of Civil Defence the Minister Kris Faafoi for his attendance up in Tolaga Bay over the weekend where he got to meet first-hand and hear from those that are actively on the ground because this Government is about action. This Government is empathetic to the causes that small communities like Tolaga Bay and Whangarā experienced as a result of not just one flood but two floods. I want to acknowledge all the farmers that are doing it hard.I want to acknowledge my colleague Minister O'Connor who within seven days called a medium-scale event. Why is that important? Because then that sends a message to the people of Whangarā and Tolaga Bay that the Government is caring about what's happening to them—that we are unlocking the services and support of the Government agencies be they the Ministry of Social Development be they MPI around supporting communities and families. It is important that I stand and acknowledge the devastation that's happened and still continues to happen to those communities of Whangarā and Tolaga Bay.The other issue is around this Government being empathetic not only to communities like the two I've mentioned but actually to all whānau and families within New Zealand. Within our first 100 days we put families first—we put families first with our Families Package which would see incomes boosted for 384000 whānau. So we talk about not doing anything of action—that's what we've done. We also passed the extension of paid parental leave to 26 weeks we increased the minimum wage to $16.50 by 1 April we announced changes to strengthen workers' rights and we announced legislation to set child poverty targets.So let's not kid ourselves in this House: this side of the House is about action. We're an empathetic Government but we're also bound by strong principled economic management commitments through our fiscal responsibility codes. We want to make sure that when we leave office—which may be three four or five terms away or 18 terms away—we want to leave the books in a lot better place than what we inherited. So economic fiscal responsibility is a commitment on this side.In the short time that I'm standing—engaging with industry is important. Last week at the Fieldays I announced scholarships for forestry degrees targeting Māori and women. We want more women and Māori in the forestry industry so last week we announced that. I announced science scholarships because we need more primary industry scholars in science. And I also announced the good employer awards. If we are going to recognise good employment in the regions then we need to start giving that opportunity to celebrate. Kia ora tātou."