Allan KiritapuHon KIRITAPU ALLAN (Minister of Justice): Mānawa mai e te putanga o Matariki. Mānawa mai e Te Ariki o Te Rangi. Mānawa mai e te Mātahi o te tau. Mr Speaker Mānawatia a Matariki.[Celebrate the appearance of Matariki. Welcome the lord of the sky. Celebrate the beginning of the New Year. Mr Speaker happy Māori New Year.]I am so stoked to be on this side of the House this week. Right now as we are looking up and down Aotearoa we've got young kids learning about Matariki. They're learning about our connections to our relations all throughout the Pacific right now who have been celebrating this time mai rā anō [for ever].We just heard my friend—what's his name? Mr Seymour—lament on the relationships between Aotearoa our Government and our Pacific Island relations our brothers and our sisters. You only need to look on this side of the House to understand the depth of relationship that we put into these relationships—at a Government level an interpersonal and real genuine relationship level. These types of hononga that we are creating through Matariki they are symbolic of the fact that we voyaged through this region together. We share similar atua. We share similar beliefs and spiritual symbolism that connects us more so than just forms on the paper—of which though those things are important. But as I look up and down Aotearoa right now I see kids learning about each of our stars. I don't know about you but this is a time for us to reflect it's a time to connect and it's a time to cast our aspirations forward. So very briefly I just want to start with a bit of a reflection. She's been a bit of a tough year eh across the board. I don't know about you all but I found myself locked up in my house with a couple of kids and it was challenging. It was tougher than being in this House I tell you. But this is the situation that all New Zealanders have found ourselves in. We've been in periods of isolation. We've had disruptions through our workplaces. The way that we've connected with each other has found ourselves in this incredible upheaval. But too we found some shining stars throughout our communities. I'm thinking of Reweti Ropiha who is our CEO of Turanga Health who led us steadfastly in Gisborne to assist with our care and community and COVID response. I'm thinking of the Tina Ngatas and Ani Pahuru-Huriwais up the top of the East Coast who have religiously been wearing their masks. They kept to a state where COVID didn't permeate throughout the communities with the support of of course our Government but it was our people on the ground that were leading the charge. Linda Coulston SuperGrans; they were out there cooking every single day for people that were disrupted in our community. It's those people that I think about when I think about this last year. But we've lost some incredible chiefs. We've lost some incredible dames. Moana Jackson for his work that he did in the criminal justice system. Tā Wira Gardiner a consummate statesperson and head of Oranga Tamariki. I think about Joe Hawke a bastion for our people who led land rights movements and forced us to think about our connection to whenua. Dame June Jackson the Hon Willie Jackson's mother who has been remarkable in urban spaces. But I think of two in particular for myself: my colleague my friend and of course my mentor Sir Michael Cullen—within our community this week we will be planting a tree to commemorate his contribution to Aotearoa and of course to us—and just last week my cousin Maia Kuka 38 years old who was taken from us and her four children far too young. We remember her. When we think about where we are right now our kids are growing up in a state of maturation really different than what we grew up in. They're learning about their connection to this place. They're learning about their connection to each other. They're learning to lean into mātauranga—that will form their identity. This is an exciting time for all of us. As I cast my mind forward to the future those kids that are learning their connections to each other they will be our leaders of tomorrow. Right now they are singing songs that will teach them the names of the stars: Waitī Waitā Waipunarangi Tupuānuku Tupuārangi ko Ururangi Pōhutukawa ko Hiwa-i-te-rangi ngā whetū o Matariki.Tomorrow they will be our leaders with this mātauranga entrenched into their beings and I cannot wait for the day that they take our seats in this House because where they go our future is fire.