van Velden BrookeBROOKE VAN VELDEN (Deputy Leader—ACT): Thank you Madam Speaker. I rise tonight in support of the Russia Sanctions Bill. And it's important that we're passing this law tonight. It's important because the situation in Ukraine is devastating. Ukraine has suffered an unprovoked invasion a violation of its sovereignty and aggression by Russia. I want to acknowledge the Ukrainians who will be wondering when this will end whether they will survive another night whether their family members will survive with them. We must stand with them and support them. And we have to stand with them as a nation because of the shared values that we hold the values of democracy: being able to have elections being able to have freedoms—the freedom of thought freedom of expression and freedom of assembly that we know is lost under authoritarian regimes.Two weeks ago Russia began to invade Ukraine and I'm sure that we have all seen the pictures of devastation and destruction. We've seen missiles bombing civilian residences. We've seen families being torn apart fathers hugging their children as they go off to fight in a war that they never asked for; kilometres of tanks rolling into cities to cause destruction; and women giving birth in bunkers. But we have also seen a huge amount of resilience from the Ukrainian people. Civilians have taken up arms. People who have never fought or fired a weapon before are doing so so that they can protect their family and their country. We've seen farmers towing away tanks. We've seen grandmothers making makeshift bombs but not only making weapons but using the weapons of words. And I wanted to share a quote that is going around the world which was from a very brave grandmother saying Take these seeds and put them in your pockets so at least sunflowers will grow when you die here."This is an unprovoked invasion of Ukraine by Russian military and these actions are condemnable. As a party and as a country we believe in the international rules-based system and as a small country we rely on it for our safety and our security. But while we support collective action under the United Nations Security Council we have to admit that in this case it has failed and that is a very sad situation for anybody who believes in liberal democracy and relies on international rules-based systems for their peace and security. But although the United Nations Security Council has failed because Russia has been able to veto sanctions to itself in that system that has not stopped other countries from condemning these actions and taking their own actions to stand up against the aggression. And we shouldn't need to be here today. We should already be on a list of countries that I will read for this House: Australia Canada Japan South Korea Switzerland Taiwan the United States the United Kingdom and 27 States of the European Union have all passed sanctions. We have been the weakest link in the West. We should have been standing with those other countries for liberal democracy for values of freedom weeks ago.I have met with Ukrainians this week and I've looked them in the eye and I've seen the pain and suffering that they're currently going through—people who have anxiety because their family is overseas in Ukraine and they don't know whether they will survive through the night whether they'll be able to have another phone call or whether they'll ever see their parents again. It is so sad and we have to respond to Russia's breach of international law.This bill would establish a framework for implementing sanctions by New Zealand in response to the aggressive acts and the breaches of international law by Russia. And it would do a few things—and I don't want to go into a huge amount of detail but it would establish this framework to impose and enforce the sanctions on persons assets and services; it would provide the ability to prohibit or restrict imports or exports to and from sanctioned entities; and it would extend sanctions to persons and entities of another country where that country is providing a legal aid or assistance to Russia's military actions against the Ukraine. These are heavy measures. That is unfortunate but they must be made for the value of democracy. We don't know how this will end. We don't know whether this war will go on for months years decades. But we do know that we cannot stand aside. We have to take part and stand with other countries imposing economic sanctions against Russia.The Government has been extremely slow to pass this law. It uses urgency at the drop of a hat to pass all sorts of crazy laws in this Parliament and yet we have been waiting days to see this law enter this Chamber. There has been no preparation. It seems ridiculous to me that we have a Government over here that preaches kindness and believes it can solve every problem in the world by just saying that we should be kind and we should smile. It's a fantasy-land delusion. The world is messy. The world is not always kind and you can't always just solve something with a bit of spin and a smile. The world is not a nice place all the time. We should have known that something like this would be needed and had a framework ready to go for when it was needed. Australia our closest friend passed its sanctions a very long time ago and potentially that's why they get taken more seriously in defence than we do.But we need to allow more than just these sanctions to happen. We need to allow Ukrainian Kiwis to have their families come back to have them here in New Zealand. And I want to read two messages that I have from two Ukrainian New Zealanders which I received today. Natalia: she says "The Ukrainian community can guarantee the accommodation and food for six months for the people that can return here." And Alex: he says "We totally support any simple solution to reunite Ukrainian families here in New Zealand. Many will have lost their homes and communities. It is a sensible long-term solution for what is a relatively small number of people. However why did Kris Faafoi not start on day one with just letting those who have family here and would qualify normally for some sort of visa under normal circumstances get on and apply? My elderly mother-in-law has abandoned her home to be bombed and looted with just a small backpack with her worldly possessions because the Minister won't let her apply. She's sleeping in a train station in Slovakia where she doesn't even speak the language."We must support the Ukrainian Kiwis that we have here and support our community and make sure that those family members who are currently homeless in Ukraine can be supported by their family here. We also need to pass autonomous sanctions not just for Russia but for any other future country because we must be clear that Russia may be the first of these authoritarian states to declare war and violate sovereignty. It could be Ukraine today and Taiwan tomorrow. We need to send a signal that we will fight back. As a liberal democracy it is our duty to stand up for other liberal democracies when their values and livelihoods are under threat and we need to be there for those so that they will be there for us. We must contain authoritarian powers that will be at war with liberal democracy. I will support this bill on behalf of the ACT Party tonight and condemn the actions of Russia.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jenny Salesa): Order! The member's time is up."