Tuiono TeanauTEANAU TUIONO (Green): Thank you Madam Speaker. Let me join with members from across the House with congratulating you on your recent ascension into the seat and I look forward to supporting you of course with other members across the House in your executing your duties over this parliamentary term. I'd also like to extend my greetings to all new members of the House those who have come here if this is their first parliamentary term. Nau mai haere mai whakatau mai. [Welcome.]It's an honour and a privilege and also a massive responsibility to be here to represent our diverse communities our different communities and I wish you all the best in how you do that. I was thinking about a whakataukī and it goes He toka tū moana koe". [You are a sentinel rock in the ocean.]This whakataukī translates as a rock standing firm in the sea and it refers to a person who is steadfast and strong in their culture beliefs and/or position against all oppositions. They are likened to the rock in the ocean that stands against strong elements against all elements. The Greens—we're a bit like that. This is my second parliamentary term and in my first parliamentary term in 2020 we were here when the red wave kind of swept through and now here after the 2023 election we've got the blue wave kind of sweeping this way as well. But guess what! The rock that is the Greens is here and there are more of us and we've got a couple of electorate seats on the way.I want to also acknowledge the anxiety that many of our people are experiencing the anxiety of the people that gathered to protest yesterday who gathered under the whakaaro of toitū Te Tiriti. I do want to acknowledge the words by my whanaunga Willow-Jean Prime me āna kupu katoa i te mea kei te tautoko au i ērā kupu kei te mihi atu au ki ērā o ngā kupu i te mea kei te rangona kei te rangona ō tātou nei iwi ki ērā o ngā whakaaro.[I do want to acknowledge the words by my whanaunga Willow-Jean Prime and all of her words because I support those words. I acknowledge those words because they are heard those ideas are heard by our people.]In English they say "Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me" but in te reo Māori we have a saying that goes "Ko te kai a te rangatira he kōrero"—kōrero conversation is the food of chiefs. Words have power words have meaning and they clothe our intentions and it is important that in this place we give each other a bit of a hard time. It's part of the job. We're here to debate vigorously the issues and vigorously the bills and all that kind of stuff as well but I think it's really important that we're mindful that words trickle out of this place into social media and they trickle down into rabbit-holes as well and I think it's our responsibility to be mindful in the way that we use our words. I was reflecting on some of the words that we're saying about cultural theatrics as well around the kapa haka application of some of our politics. I say this as someone that didn't make it into the fifth-form kapa haka group. Some say I did not have the—Hon Marama Davidson: He's got other skills—it's fine.TEANAU TUIONO: I've got other skills. Some of us do not have the coordination. Actually my kids won't be watching this but we have waiata practice in my whānau and my kids put me in the back row of a song that I taught them 30 to 40 years ago as well. But here's the thing: our kids love kapa haka. They love those cultural expressions. That is the way that they can help to build their identity and that strength as well. So I just wanted to support some of what people would call the theatrics or antics of our whanaungas in Te Pāti Māori and say "Hey you know what? This is how many of our people express their politics." and we should be free and able to express our politics in the way that we feel comfortable. What I would say to those protesters as well is thank you very much for not blocking the Wellington motorway as I was coming down from the mighty Manawatū. Wellington traffic sucks at the best of times and I was reflecting on that Speech from the Throne where they were going to get rid of Let's Get Wellington Moving and replace it with "Keep Wellington Stagnant". We're going to go from Let's Get Wellington Moving to "Keep Wellington Stagnant" and that was the theme in that Speech from the Throne. But fortunately for Wellington Wellington Central has got a new member of Parliament who will be doing everything that she can to keep Wellington moving—Tamatha Paul—and also somebody who has a bit of experience in terms of transport issues the Hon Julie Anne Genter as well. So this Government might want to keep Wellington stagnant but we're going to try to keep it moving. As I was listening to the Speech from the Throne I—like honestly I just felt it was like a grab-bag of policy gimmicks. I felt that it ruined Christmas for many people: for workers for Māori and for Pasifika who were listening to that speech. This Government is shaping up to be the Grinch who stole Christmas—the "Grinch who privatised Christmas". Sorry kids nothing under the Christmas tree this Christmas but pseudoephedrine cigarettes and guns and especially bad luck if you wanted a Government that would give us a stable climate. How embarrassing that up at COP28 this Government got called to account for wanting to reverse the oil and gas exploration ban. How shameful—how shameful. That was echoing the sentiments of leaders at the Pacific Island Forum as well. How did our new Minister for Climate Change keep his head high? But here's the thing: the science tells us that we need to stop extracting oil and gas. We need to stop that. We need to focus on making sure that we stabilise the climate an here's the thing which concerns me: this Government loves oil and gas so much that they're going to use some of that gas to gaslight the workers. They're going to use it to gaslight the workers. They want to get rid of the fair pay agreements—shameful—and I want to say this to all the workers who are out pulling double shifts tonight and might have the misfortune of hitting the wrong remote button on the remote control and happen to be tuning in to our speeches: the Greens will always listen to you. The Greens will support you. The Greens will back the unions and fight back against the stripping back of workers' rights. Our lowest-paid people deserve a pay increase not a Government that is deliberately deciding to put the profits of big business ahead of making sure working people are paid what they deserve—paid what they deserve. For many people the cost of paying the bills and putting food on the table has been going up but their wages have not. Fair pay agreements were designed to raise the bar for pay and conditions for poorly paid industries. The idea is simple: people working alongside each other who are doing a similar job in the same sector should be able to work together to make sure the minimum pay in their sector is fair for everyone. But there's one person I actually feel especially sorry for in this whole fair pay agreement debacle and that is the new Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety whose colleagues are already leaking on her within the first five minutes. The fair pay agreements would have put more money in the pockets of people who really need it and who really deserve it who tirelessly teach our mokopuna keep our workplaces clean and safe stock the supermarket shelves and get us around on the bus. This Government has not given a second thought to whether or not these people are working two or three jobs just to make ends meet. All they care about is making it easier for businesses to get out of paying proper wages. Here we have the official advice that was leaked and I'm not sure who it was. I'll scan the room—maybe they are here. All we have is the official advice to the new Government that spells out in black and white that young people women Māori and Pasifika will be harmed most of all of this legislation is removed. We've got a long three years ahead of us. The Green Party will be resolute standing up for the workers standing up for Te Tiriti o Waitangi standing up for our taiao and standing up for our mokopuna. Nō reira e te Whare tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā tātou katoa."