O'Connor SimonSIMON O'CONNOR (National—Tāmaki): Thank you Madam Speaker. I'm going to echo mostly I think what people have already said. And I think it's really important first and foremost to acknowledge the work that the Minister has led and as others have rightly noted the Minister himself that this is bipartisan. In fact across the House is a commitment to disarmament in principle and in reality to maintain New Zealand's nuclear weapon - free status to proudly stand by that and use that if you will as a moral authority to speak into the world and to use our voice. And I think as well it's really important that we continue to do that no matter what the geopolitical situation is. But I do want to raise a couple of other points which for me personally do still sit within disarmament but also the challenges that are in front of us. There's always a Latin phrase you can whip out to help in moments just like this. So Si vis pacem para bellum." which means if you want peace prepare for war: si vis pacem para bellum. In a more modern context now we talk about pray for peace but prepare for war.I want to be really clear for anyone listening at home and for the Minister that I am not here advocating for the rearmament of New Zealand or anything like that but I think it is reflective of a dangerous geo-political world that we have at the moment and it's my personal belief that talk alone is not going to operate. And by that if I wanted to break this into two areas certainly on the nuclear front we have some major major challenges and the Minister touched on that himself. We have Russia speaking much more clearly dangerously into this space where they're now in the last 48 hours conducting drills and simulations around nuclear tactical strikes. We know and your report indicates this that China is expanding its nuclear base and facilities. We are very aware of what Iran is seeking to do in its nuclear space and we see the horror of that autocratic theocratic regime on its own people at the moment let alone once it has or if it ever does gain nuclear capability. And then of course there is North Korea who's continuing to sabre rattle in the last week. These are dangerous times.Then beside all of that and this is where the challenge comes in we have these autocratic regimes who paradoxically do speak quite candidly and freely about what they're wanting to do. Russia is a great example of this. For many months years no one believed what Putin was saying that he would go into the Ukraine. I remember when various intelligence operatives got in contact with me and said "Simon they're going to go in at 4 p.m. New Zealand time." there were still people saying "No it'll never happen" despite Putin having said this and he has. And in recent days a certain president of a State has got up and said that they will take back Taiwan with military force if necessary. I suppose the little lesson I'm taking from this is when autocrats and dictators say things we should listen. Now that doesn't mean we panic but we do react and we react in two ways. One is very much as this report touches on we talk about disarmament. We use our moral authority. We deploy diplomacy. We talk we hope but we also must have open eyes: si vis pacem para bellum. We must make sure we are still able to work with our allies to respond when necessary. I don't want to make this a big discussion about our defence forces and their current capability and funding because that goes across multiple Governments. But I think it behoves this House when we talk disarmament that we also respect the men and women in uniform and make sure that they have the supplies the capabilities that they need. Because paradoxically as we strengthen our military forces where necessary where we strengthen their ability to help with human aid and development particularly into the Pacific where we cooperate around fisheries where we cooperate much more clearly and interoperably around intelligence and so forth—that does strengthen our ability to confront those that would wish a more harmful violent situation on our world.So again to where I started from I acknowledge the Minister and the team for what they've done. I think there's a real real moral strength that New Zealand has over many years to be able to stand on the global stage and call out the ever growing violence across the globe to call out nuclear proliferation. I am pleased to see the work that the committee has done around autonomous weapons systems and leading the conversation there. That is really really important. But I suppose my plea to this House and to New Zealand as well is not to be blind—and look I could be wrong but not to be blind to these dictators and autocrats. When they say they will do something they tend to do it because they are not the reasonable moral actors which we are: si vis pacem para bellum."