McClay ToddHon TODD McCLAY (National—Rotorua): Mr Speaker thank you so much. I think you will find near if not complete unanimity in the House when it comes to this issue and it's a very important thing to underline. When we had the opportunity to have the Minister before us at the committee and discuss this it was constructive it was useful and I think we would say it was foresighted in as far as the desire from all members to understand the challenges the world has faced and continues to face because of atomic and nuclear weapons and New Zealand's role or what we can do most constructively about this.Can I start by thanking the Minister Phil Twyford for reaching across the House and deciding to take a bipartisan delegation to the 10th review meeting in New York on the non-proliferation treaty. I think there are many areas of policy on the international stage where a more bipartisan approach would work well for New Zealand and for this House. It perhaps hasn't happened as often as one might like—graciously let's say it was COVID. But I say to Minister Twyford that it was constructive it was useful and I think it was completely worthwhile. I had the good fortune of going on that delegation visit to New York and I can confirm how exceptional the New Zealand officials in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) are when it comes to disarmament not only in terms of their advice to the Government and to us but also in terms of the regard in which they are held internationally by their peers from other countries and by the media. They are men and women—well it's women and men actually because it's led more by women than men in this area which in part perhaps is the reason we make so much progress. But the point here is that to a man to a woman they are experts and they are dedicated and they understand this very very technical and challenging piece of international diplomacy and policy and the nuances extremely well.It was deeply disappointing and concerning but not at all surprising that Russia at the very last moment showed their hand in a way that derailed all progress that had been made by officials by Ministers at previous meetings and by that month-long discussion in New York. It was no surprise at all because they sat very very quietly as others were constructive and positive and talked about what needed to happen and talked diplomatically about their concerns with what Russia and others are doing in the world with the US President reaching out and saying that whilst the majority of the international agreements between nuclear States particularly Russia China and the US are extinguished have expired or are about to they the US administration commits to negotiating directly bilaterally and multilaterally for a new agreement to continue work and to speed that work up—and Russia decided for reasons that are so obvious to us not to go forward.We need not be disheartened in that. We need to be resolute and continue to focus on what needs to be achieved and New Zealand along with a small group of other nations has a very very important role to play as we often do as an honest broker not one that will scream from the rooftops of this building or the Beehive or speak to a domestic audience but do so constructively and respectfully from the point of view of an independent foreign policy but at the same time be very clear about what is needed and what we want and what the world needs but at the same time what is not acceptable to us as a small nation or to our Pacific neighbours and to others. If there was a single message that I think was very clear from the meeting in New York that we attended from almost every delegation that spoke loudly forcefully or with a more gentle voice it was the need for progress to continue towards complete disarmament and for Russia to be a responsible international citizen and stop threatening the use of weapons of horrific destruction and to get around a table with others and talk about not only the harm that's being done in the Ukraine and a way to solve that peacefully—a ceasefire to solve that peacefully—but also to work internationally and recommit to the giving up of their weapons as China as the US and as the nine—only nine—small nuclear States that remain in the world.We are deeply disappointed that they haven't done that and continue to fire weapons that demonstrate their ability to use these weapons of mass mass great destruction at their will. But at the same time there is another process that must continue with all nations of the world a process that was started in 1970 and has had 10 meetings to discuss and measure progress and now needs renegotiation to find the way forward.In our notes that we were given at the committee we heard that little progress has been made since 1970 when the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons was signed. That is not the case—there has been significant progress from almost 60000 nuclear weapons stockpiled around the world to now just 14000 or 16000. That's 14000 too many—one would be too many. But we should take some solace that it is possible when nations come together and are constructive and discuss things respectfully rather than guarding their national position for there to be great progress.I suppose we could imagine or think that that the first 40000-odd weapons were the easy ones to get. It's always the last ones that are challenging. But I want to reiterate the National Party Opposition's support of any party in this Parliament that's constructively playing the role on the world stage to ensure that progress albeit slow from time to time towards nuclear non-proliferation and getting rid of these weapons must continue.Finally I want to mention as you did Madam Speaker when you spoke as the chair of the committee just now the importance of this issue historically for our Pacific neighbours. Prime Minister Bainimarama spoke on behalf of the forum island nations and gave a very strong and moving speech about the harm that is being done to so many nationals and Pacific Island nations from the nuclear testing decades ago in the Pacific by France and how that lingers in the memory of those countries—the harm that was done to people at the time and that through generations remains there. They asked for help for more studies for more support for more assistance to understand the ongoing ramifications of nuclear testing in the Pacific for Pacific Islanders and that's something that should be done. We're playing a part and France has but we cannot ignore our Pacific neighbours in that plea. It's something that happened when the world was a different place but they are left with ongoing problems as a result of that—primarily health problems but many others. It is for all nations of the world those that were directly involved—France and many others that supported it at the time—to look to the Pacific Islands these small island nations that struggle when it comes to climate change. But this is something else that we must and we can help them with.There are also New Zealand servicemen who were there on ships monitoring at the time when France was setting off nuclear tests in the atmosphere and their health has directly suffered. The New Zealand Government has recognised that but all of us I am sure in this House—those who have been here for a period of time and have had family members that talked about ongoing health concerns on the future generations; grandchildren now—believe we have a duty not to make a decision in this House as to what should happen and to ask our experts and others to look at that and to listen with open ears. The reason for this is that one day we will live in a world where there are not nuclear weapons but that does not mean we do not have an obligation to those who suffered because of the testing and the use of nuclear weapons in the past and that is something that can be done right now.If ever there was a time of caution needed in the world it is at the moment. The world is a very unusually unstable place compared with the last decade or more. Most of us are not used to times like these. Most of us are used to peace and times when people get together and work out their issues. We must return to that and send a very clear call to the Russian regime and the President of Russia to stop threatening get around the table and stop killing innocent people.