Luxon ChristopherCHRISTOPHER LUXON (Leader of the Opposition): Thank you Mr Speaker. The Opposition joins in remembering with heavy hearts the 51 people who tragically lost their lives in the Christchurch mosque shootings three years ago today. We honour their memories we send our love to the families and friends they left behind and to the 40 people who sustained serious injuries that day.The profound sense of loss felt by the families and survivors will sadly endure as they carry on rebuilding their lives. The events of March 15 2019 are a permanent stain on our country. That day we saw an atrocity unfold in our streets of a nature that had always seemed so distant and so unlike us. The terrorist's cowardly actions do not bear repeating other than to say they were so repellent to everything we stand for as New Zealanders. Such senseless violence committed against innocent people in their places of worship where they were entitled to feel free and safe is so incongruous with our values and our way of life. Those values we hold dear include our embracing of diversity tolerance and understanding. Our diverse multicultural society is New Zealand's strength and a point of pride. We cannot let those values fray; we must give nothing to extremism.Today is also an opportunity to acknowledge the contribution of our first responders: the extraordinary bravery of our police who threw themselves into the unknown and whose speed and courage led to the swift apprehension of the attacker undoubtedly saving more lives; and the dedication of our paramedics nurses doctors and hospital staff who in a mass casualty event saved lives and treated the wounded under unprecedented pressures. And we remember the compassion and the love shown by New Zealanders who opened their homes and their hearts to the survivors and families who adorned our streets and our mosques with flowers and who stood in unity alongside our Muslim community.It is incumbent on us as parliamentarians to do all we can to keep New Zealand safe. As the royal commission of inquiry's report acknowledges no country will ever be immune from violent extremism and terrorism but there is much that the Government can do to minimise that risk. Implementing the royal commission's 44 recommendations is a good start and particularly the most important of those like having a new Minister responsible for leading and coordinating the counter-terrorism effort. The Government has national support in delivering on these vital recommendations at pace.The events of March 15 2019 left an indelible imprint on all of our minds and like all of us I remember that day very well. I was driving between meetings in Auckland when I heard the news and I immediately headed to the airport to travel to Christchurch where I remained for several days to support Air New Zealand staff in operations. I was so incredibly proud of all Air New Zealand staff who played their part and worked so tirelessly in those immediate days and weeks to connect impacted whānau to ensure a smooth-running operation and to support our community in what was a highly emotional and extremely sad day for New Zealand.Sadly one of our Air New Zealand family lost their life in those terrible events in Christchurch on that Friday afternoon. Lilik Abdul Hamid was an aircraft maintenance engineer in Christchurch and was in the Al Noor Mosque on Deans Avenue. Lilik was part of our engineering team in Christchurch for 16 years but had first got to know the team even earlier when he worked with our aircraft engineers servicing customer aircraft in Indonesia over a period of eight years. The friendships he made at that time led him to apply for a role at Air New Zealand and he and his wife Nina packed up and left everything they knew behind them to come to Christchurch.Lilik was a great testament to why New Zealand is infinitely stronger and better because of diversity and it was a real privilege to meet with Lilik's gracious and incredible family in their home and it was a special time marked with both tears and laughter. He made a tremendous contribution to New Zealand. He was a hard worker both well liked and well respected and Lilik was also quite a character with a terrific sense of humour and a love of outdoors especially fishing.Today my thoughts prayers and love remain with Lilik's family as they do with all of the families of the 51 whose lives were taken and with all Muslim New Zealanders. Assalamu alaikum—peace be with you.