Whaitiri MekaHon MEKA WHAITIRI (Labour—Ikaroa-Rāwhiti): E Te Māngai o Te Whare tēnā koe. E ngā mema o Te Whare nei tēnā tātou katoa. I'm very pleased to take a call on the Prime Minister's statement. Can I first acknowledge the sad passing of Nate Miller—a young man from the Tai Rāwhiti who lost his life tragically in forestry last week. To his whānau to his friends and colleagues I just want to send my mihi aroha out to them all.I'm proud to be part of a Government that is not just managing the shop but leading and facing up to the major challenges of our time. I'm proud of a Government that brings together different parties with different traditions who puts people at the centre of what we do to help New Zealand and New Zealanders achieve our potential to bring equality and a fair go for our people and environment. I'm proud of the year that we have had the Families Package the record investments in health and education funding for conservation and investment in our regions. I'm proud of what we will do this year.Over the summer I travelled around the country. At the national waka ama at Lake Karāpiro where we had over 2500 paddlers I had the honour of hosting the Minister of Sport and Recreation and the Minister of Finance the Hon Grant Robertson. I travelled to Waitangi and travelled across my electorate of Ikaroa-Rāwhiti.Māori are welcoming the year of delivery. Māori value ourselves as people of Aotearoa New Zealand. We value engaging our senses: our sense of place our sense of purpose our sense of community and our sense of compassion. Māori are looking forward to working with Government and welcoming the positive opportunities that they bring and will create. We heard from the Prime Minister that she doesn't just want to govern; she wants to lead. She has said in this House that we need to do things differently. She also said we have to take some risk.In the short time I am on my feet I want to acknowledge the work this Government is doing around the development of Māori land. I want to talk about the Hon Nanaia Mahuta who through her agency is building Māori landowners' capability and ensuring that Māori can govern their land. We have approximately 600000 acres of Māori land that's either landlocked or has no governance arrangement. At a mere $1500 return per hectare that is just short of $1 billion—$900 million of lost productivity to the New Zealand economy. So it is well within this Government's right to invest in Māori land.I want to talk about the $100 million whenua fund that the Hon Shane Jones and the Prime Minister announced at Waitangi. That is going to lead obviously to developing Māori land so we can take our products to the market. Of course I also want to acknowledge the Hon David Parker for his commitment around trade for all with a particular focus on Māori. I'm keen to see these enablers unlock potential in regions like Ikaroa-Rāwhiti which has one of the highest gatherings of Māori freehold land. The barriers to unlocking the potential of this land are being addressed by this Government. The people of Ikaroa-Rāwhiti are pretty excited that here is a Government that is listening to them; that's enabling them to govern their own land; that is investing in them through shovel-ready whenua projects that will raise not only incomes but also opportunities in those regions; and a Government that's committed to doing something different when we come to trade—what I consider the push factor and the pull factor. The $100 million fund investment will enable more Māori to utilise the very land that I mentioned earlier—the 600000 hectares of landlocked or land that has no governance structures around it.So I'm proud to be part of a Government that will do things differently that will take some risk and that will not just sit there and govern but lead. It is this time to shine. It's the year of delivery. On this side of the House we will be working very hard to ensure that we are delivering to all—to all folks throughout this great country of ours. Of course Māori are seen very highly from this side of the Government as a community of interest that will add its weight to what this Government is aiming to achieve. I'm pleased to be part of a Government that's progressive under the leadership of the Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern who's doing a fantastic job for us domestically and internationally. Kia ora.