Korako Nuk: General DebateText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeKorako Nuk: General Debate[Sitting date: 08 June 2016. Volume:714;Page:11801. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]NUK KORAKO (National): Kia ora e Te Mana Whakawā. As the final speaker in this general debate this afternoon and hearing a lot of the to-ing and fro-ing I think one of the most important things to me as someone who went away overseas for 2 years but stayed 24 years and travelled extensively right across Western Europe Eastern Europe Russia Scandinavia and then into the Middle East is the fact that you need to go away from this country in some ways to really appreciate what we have actually got here. I just hope that we can all sort of come together across the House particularly when we are talking about the defence of Godzone—the defence of this country.I want to come now to the Defence White Paper 2016 which was released this morning just to sort of talk very briefly about certain aspects of that white paper. Being overseas you do actually see how insular we can be here in New Zealand but when you look at that white paper and look at the threats that have been identified particularly over the last 5 years they are something that we need to take note of. This is really the essence of why we actually need this white paper: it is identifying those threats.The major ones there—there are actually seven of them. The first is that increase in activity and operations in the New Zealand exclusive economic zone in the Southern Ocean and also in the Pacific. The next one No. 2 is the increased likelihood of a terrorist attack here in New Zealand keeping in mind that the risk is still actually quite low. The third one is the increase in the military spending right across the South-east Asian region. The next one is the increase in turmoil since the Arab Spring of 2010 particularly in North Africa and also in the Middle East. The other one is very much around the rapid evolution of the cyber-threat and that has been well highlighted here today. The final one is the degraded relations between Russia and the West. They may be a long way away some of those things but they are things that really need to be identified and that we need to be aware of. So that is the first thing: threats.The other thing is the talk particularly with the consultation process around people. He aha te mea nui o te ao? He tangata he tangata he tangata. What is the most important thing in the world? It is people it is people it is people. When we look at our Defence Force one of those things that was highlighted was about our people. I want to take the opportunity to acknowledge the Māori influence and contribution that have been in our defence forces right across our history. When we look at these things particularly around Māori I am so proud that we actually see that our culture is embedded in the Defence Force.The final thing is something about this paper that I actually think is really important. It is around civil defence. The actual assistance that the military had given—I go back to the Christchurch earthquake in 2011 particularly around the emergency. What we saw come in was the navy was the army and was also the air force. They came in and as soon as we saw them—as people of Christchurch as people of Canterbury—well then we felt safe. It was a safe haven there. That continued all the way through.So in saying that particularly talking about this white paper one thing is that yes it is $20 billion of investment but it is an investment that is real. It is an investment that we are going to need to take us through looking at the next 25 years. Let us get across and really talk and work together because the defence of God’s own country New Zealand is what it is all about in the end. On that note it is about defence it is about people and it is about acknowledging the threats. Kia ora.The debate having concluded the motion lapsed.