Garcia PauloADDRESS IN REPLYDebate resumed from 19 December 2023.PAULO GARCIA (National—New Lynn): Mr Speaker I'm rising for the first time to be able to speak for 10 minutes in the House again. It is such a privilege. I also have the first opportunity this year to congratulate you on your new role. The Speakership is a very immensely complex role and I can imagine the need for such experience and knowledge and patience and actually a lot of good humour to keep so many amazing members of Parliament ticking along in this House.I also stand to preface my contribution with the fact that while I am not so new I remain a new member of this House. I feel like I'm starting all over again still with the jitters when coming up to speak and getting ready. So I wanted to just look back briefly on the fact that I became a member in the middle of the 52nd Parliament. I was the first Filipino ever to be sitting as a member of Parliament which was not just a great great honour for myself but a recognition of the very many thousands of Filipinos who have come to make New Zealand their home. It was also brought about by the fact that large numbers of migrants from the Philippines were coming into New Zealand and occupying roles of significance in the dairy industry in healthcare in construction and in so many areas where workers and professionals were needed. This contribution was recognised and valued. The reason that I am here is because of that value given to this community and it's such a privilege to be here myself.Then I come to the fact that I have now become an elected member of Parliament and after three years of absence I find myself here again and able to speak which is such a privilege. It's an amazing privilege. So now I'm back as a member elected on the backs of the hard work of the very multicultural community that New Lynn is—hearing the voices and understanding what people were largely concerned about. That brings me to this Address in Reply debate where—ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Greg O'Connor): I'm pleased we've got there eventually. Maiden speeches will follow but I would appreciate you spending the rest of your time now on the Address in Reply and welcome back.PAULO GARCIA: Thank you so much Mr Speaker. So having been in the community over the past weeks after the start of this Parliament last year I have had the opportunity to speak to communities both in New Lynn and elsewhere and New Zealanders have just become weary and worried on many levels. I rise to say to the public who are able to listen and hear the debates in this Chamber that work is being done to alleviate and to address the matters that concern you. It's just very important to bear in mind that what we are all experiencing at this time is the result of quite some time of deterioration and so at this stage there is work being done. In the law and order space we had many discussions in the community about how people are concerned about people walking out of Countdowns and New Worlds with unpaid items and not being stopped. There is the lack of resourcing for our police to police low-level situations in communities where people are not helped along or taken away from the situations—the trouble for community members that they are causing such as bad behaviour or drunkenness in public spaces. Police have found that this kind of behaviour while intimidating and sometimes even threatening to the communities is not able to be addressed for lack of resourcing and our Minister of Police Mark Mitchell—who has just spoken in this House—has confirmed that there are efforts to resource the police on many levels. Resourcing is being done on many levels from workforce strengthening to giving them the ability to do their work better to be able to deal with the challenges that they are currently facing. On top of that list of challenges is really that the gang numbers have exploded. I would like to ask that people be mindful and that when you are going around and out and about you are able to see that the number of patched bikers on the roads has greatly reduced and we are headed towards increased legislation that will ban—completely ban—patches and insignia in public places. While this may be a strong tool for gangs it is also a strong tool for the intimidation of the communities and this just needs to stop. The police will be given powers to issue dispersal notices when gangs gather in public spaces.The Government will also strengthen New Zealand's democracy. The object of resourcing the police is extensive. It is aspirational and ambitious because we need to get New Zealand back to the place that we all want to call our home and to not be afraid when we are leaving our houses and are out and about in public.Also it is important to note that this situation we find ourselves in is also due to a heightened cost of living and an economy that has been struggling over recent years. There are measures that are to be put in place for the economy to get stronger including having the Reserve Bank being focused. The Reserve Bank's dual mandate which has not worked will be amended to make sure that its focus is on price stability alone and on helping the situation with everyone out there who is struggling with day-to-day living and the cost of living—of buying food and getting around and continuing to live. So help is coming. These things they do take a little bit of time and I ask people who are out there to be patient and give things time for change. Thank you Mr Speaker.