Salesa JennySPECIAL DEBATESInquiry into New Zealand's Aid to the PacificHon JENNY SALESA (Chairperson of the Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade Committee): I move That the House take note of the report of the Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade Committee on the Inquiry into New Zealand's aid to the Pacific which began in June 2019.Kia ora koutou katoa. Talofa lava. Kia orana. Fakaalofa lahi atu. Ni sa bula vinaka. Warm Pacific greetings.Tulou Tulou Tulou. Kae tuku muʻa ke u hūfanga 'i he ngaahi tala fakatapú ka e 'atā mo 'oku 'a e faingamālie ko 'ení ke fai atu ha lea nounou ki he Parliament 'o Aotearoa Nu'u Sila.Submissions were called for and a total of 38 submissions were received from a mixture of individuals and organisations many of them NGOs and the committee heard from 26 of these submitters. The committee submitted its final report to the then Minister of Foreign Affairs in August of last year. I would like at this time to thank the previous members of this committee from the 52nd Parliament as well as the clerks and the officers that helped us with this inquiry. The inquiry focused on nine main themes primarily focused on how Aotearoa New Zealand can increase its effectiveness in its aid programme to the Pacific. Can I also say at this time that over the last three years there has been a significant increase that New Zealand has made in terms of aid to the Pacific Islands. Throughout the course of the inquiry our committee expressed strong cross-party support and trust in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) who are delivering our aid in the Pacific. I would like at this time to thank both our MFAT staff here in Aotearoa New Zealand as well as our MFAT staff right across the Pacific for delivering our aid programme in the Pacific. I would also like to acknowledge all of the individuals and the organisations who took the time not only to write their submissions for our select committee but as well as that the 26 who came to present to our committee in person. They really assisted our committee in its inquiry and deliberations. In 2018 our previous Labour coalition Government announced the Pacific Reset which was led at the time by the Minister of Foreign Affairs. That Pacific Reset was our golden opportunity to re-examine our relationship with our Pacific neighbours. The reset enabled an all-of-Government approach on our side. Aid to the Pacific is now no longer seen as the sole responsibility of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and more of our Government departments are now involved. This needs to continue and our committee thinks that it should be expanded. This is evidenced by the submissions that we received—that there is considerable will to build stronger and more effective and enduring partnerships with our Pacific neighbours. I also would like to acknowledge that in terms of relationships with our Pacific countries it is also really encouraging to know that the leadership from Aotearoa New Zealand is really strong. If I can begin from the top what is well-known is the fact that our Minister of Foreign Affairs the Hon Nanaia Mahuta is tangata whenua. What may not be as well-known is the fact that our Minister of Foreign Affairs whakapapas to the Cook Islands. In fact she has made many trips to the Cook Islands and her own working relationships with the islands of the Cook Islands is something that I believe really would help to strengthen our working relationship with Aotearoa New Zealand. In addition to that our Associate Minister of Foreign Affairs who is in the House this afternoon the Hon Aupito Su'a William Sio is from Samoa. I don't know of any other time in the past where you have the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Associate Minister of Foreign Affairs with such strong ties to the Pacific and that is something that we should celebrate.In making recommendations one of the main recommendations that our inquiry and our committee agreed with is that we should not only look at continuing to invest in the Pacific through our aid programme but that we should look at continuing to increase that investment through the official development assistance (ODA) to the Pacific. In making that recommendation the committee intended to reflect the depth of New Zealand's commitment to working closely with our Pacific partners as well as to signal the recognition that we are indeed part of the Pacific whānau; Aotearoa after all is very much part of Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa the vast ocean we call Pacific. In that vein can I also acknowledge that here in this House of Parliament we have 10 members of our Government's MPs who hail from the Pacific. In addition to that we also have a member of the Green Party who also comes from the Pacific. I'm also pleased to see that many of the submitters that came to the inquiry recognised the strong ties that we have with the Pacific. There is a lot of investment through the ODA through MFAT that we make out in the Pacific: investments in tourism investment in education and export enhancement measures among others. I would like at this time though to reflect on some of the other investments that we make in terms of MFAT. One of those is via Habitat for Humanity. What you may know is when the strongest cyclone hit Fiji Cyclone Winston—it was graded at number five actually. It was the strongest cyclone that we have experienced out in the Pacific. But when that cyclone hit what MFAT had done through partnership with Habitat for Humanity is they had over a number of years built cyclone-resilient houses in Fiji. After that cyclone hit only one of the houses that was built under the cyclone-resilient programme was affected in terms of the roof being taken off. That is something that MFAT has then looked at that particular programme—expanded that particular initiative to the Kingdom of Tonga because as you know cyclones hit right throughout the Pacific. So we also have MFAT building some cyclone-resilient houses in Tonga. If I can just mention at this time some of the main themes coming through this inquiry are these: that we need to in the future partner for resilience in the Pacific; another important theme is that we need to through our aid programme to the Pacific ensure that as New Zealand delivers COVID-19 response it is climate resilient. This is one of the reasons why I highlighted that investment that we already have with Habitat for Humanity because we are already doing that work in Fiji as well as in Tonga. What our inquiry of course recommends is that we continue to do a whole lot more of that.The report also recommends that New Zealand promotes empowerment inclusion and local ownership for our Pacific whānau. On this note I want to reflect on one such empowerment and inclusion programme that MFAT is already investing in. This is led by Jonathan Kings from MFAT in Tonga. One of the things that the investment New Zealand makes in Tonga is this New Zealand standard training for men and women in Tonga that they receive so that they are lines men and lines women for when you're actually building powerlines. The initial thought that New Zealand had was that in training Tongans and Tongan women to be their own lines people they can actually build up their own lines in terms of power—this is actually again as an after-effect of a cyclone. However what has happened is Northpower one of the companies that New Zealand actually partners with is now attracting some of those people. Some of those men and some of those lines women are now being attracted to come and be lines men and lines women here in Aotearoa New Zealand. So I do want to reflect on the fact that this aid to the Pacific is good for the Pacific; it is also good for New Zealand. May I commend the inquiry report on New Zealand's aid to the Pacific to the House. Fa'afetai.