Tuiono TeanauTEANAU TUIONO (Green): Thank you Mr Speaker. I'd like to join with members in the House reflecting on the floods. As I was coming home through rural Manawatū and the waters were coming down on our side of the Ruahines the waters were up around about 3 foot and I'd heard word that actually the marae up in Feilding had been flooded out as well. And I knew that on the other side of the mountain range our friends and families and communities were doing it even tougher. So I would like to acknowledge those communities. I would like to acknowledge those marae. I would like to acknowledge friends and family who during these really tough times turned to each other because that's what we do during tough times: we turn to each other. And of course the incredible work of our first responders what they did to sort of come together and to connect. These events exacerbate the events of the previous years as well and I'm talking about the COVID crisis. We've had these weather-intensive climate catastrophe events on top of what's been happening with COVID and we saw a significant transfer of wealth to the richest New Zealanders during 2020 and 2021 as asset prices exploded. The rise in inflation from late 2001 particularly in fuel housing and food costs has hit those on the lowest incomes the hardest. But right now banks supermarkets and fossil fuel companies are creaming it while thousands of families struggle to put food on the table keep the lights on and for many around Aotearoa across Te Matau-a-Māui up north Auckland rebuilding their lives from the ground up. The cost of the clean-up is going to run into the billions of dollars. But instead of using the levers that it has the Government has partnered with Westpac and Lotto to launch a fund-raising appeal. And just to be clear: the levers of power are in that corner; that is where the levers of power are. And to put this in context: Westpac has lent $2.4 billion to fossil fuel companies; $2.4 billion profiting from the destruction of the planet. Consider then asking Westpac to set up an appeal fund for a cyclone super-powered by climate change. This doesn't make sense. Westpac is also among a group of Australian-owned banks making a record $6 billion dollars—DEPUTY SPEAKER: Mr Tuiono we are here to discuss the Prime Minister's statement. Could you at least make some passing reference to it.TEANAU TUIONO: Yes and I'm talking about how we're going to fund the flood recovery. Money has to come from somewhere and if the Government doesn't use the levers that it has to get that money and instead of using just Lotto or other kinds of schemes then we need to actually ask some serious questions. So what I'm talking about here is an excess tax on banks supermarkets and fossil fuel companies. And let's remember in the case of fossil fuel companies if there is any group of companies that are directly responsible for the climate catastrophe that we find ourselves in today it is them. When I think back to as we've moved through the COVID crisis as well there was a report that came out of the Commerce Commission which pointed that actually supermarkets were making an excess of $1 million a day—$1 million a day. Now we all love Lotto you know but I don't think and we shouldn't try to plan ourselves to jackpot ourselves out of the situation that we've found ourselves in. What we need to do—the Government needs to do—is to use those levers and to exercise an excess tax on fossil fuel companies banks and supermarkets.An excess profit tax is usually a one-off levy imposed on a company or group of companies by the Government. They target businesses that have unreasonably high profits normally due to unusually favourable markets—for example a COVID crisis. In Europe the EU is now implementing an excess profit tax on the energy sector. Spain has its own excess profit tax on both the energy sector and on banks. This has been done before. A 10 percent levy on the banking sector's record profit would raise over half a billion dollars which could be used to support people. It is morally wrong that our economic system is rewarding corporations that are causing climate chaos. It's a case of privatising the profit and socialising the losses. Instead of playing Lotto we should be taxing the corporations. Thank you Mr Speaker.DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you. The Hon Stuart Nash—and just before you start for the members present this is not a general debate; this is a reference to or a debate on the Prime Minister's statement. At least some reference to that during your speech will ensure you don't get interrupted and not just make a general debate speech. So I'll start the timer again the Hon Stuart Nash.