Davidson MaramaHon MARAMA DAVIDSON (Co-Leader—Green): Tēnā koe e te Māngai o te Whare. Tēnā tātou katoa ngā mema Pāremata katoa i roto i tēnei Whare. Ki ngā whānau ngā hoa ngā kaitirotiro kua haramai nei ki roto i tēnei Whare Pāremata tēnā tātou tēnā tātou tēnā tātou katoa. [Greetings Mr Speaker. Greetings to all Members of Parliament in this House. To the families the friends and the observers who have arrived to Parliament today greetings one and all.] Mr Speaker I want to add our congratulations on behalf of the Green Party also directly to you. Me personally I have enjoyed your firm your mostly fair your very entertaining style and your deeply knowledgeable approach to maintaining the absolute chaos in this House. I did recall back to a time where as I first entered this House as a fresh new MP—I think I had been in here for a whole entire five minutes and I was reading my speech for a piece of legislation a bill going through the House. It may have been day two for me. I recall fondly a little note from you telling me you will not tolerate me reading my speeches from my notes. I look forward to you having that same harshness to all these new MPs who have come into this House today Mr Speaker. I still have that note up on my board something I will always treasure that reminds me that you are wanting unique and genuine political debate and not to be so confined by the words we might have in front of us on paper. So as I now look at my paper—I am proud to stand and speak on behalf of the Green Party of Aotearoa today. I felt it was worth starting by highlighting the founding charter of the Green Party of Aotearoa where we start off by absolutely affirming Te Tiriti o Waitangi as our founding document. What that means for us also is that we are all accountable to the self-determination of hapū and iwi that it is not simply just a founding document that it involves actions and accountability and a relationship that all of us certainly here in this House are bound to. Alongside our acknowledgment as a party to Te Tiriti o Waitangi it overhangs the principles that come underneath and as part of that work. It includes having wisdom and care for Papatūānuku and operating within an approach that she is able to sustain. It includes making sure that community decisions made hold the power at the level that is appropriate that we are making sure that communities are leading on the issues that impact on them. It includes making sure that everyone has enough to live decent lives and not just the few. It ensures making sure that all of those values are interdependent and connected to a society of non-violence to a life where we achieve peace through justice. Right now it seems absolutely appropriate that we recall those values those key founding kaupapa of the Green Party as I stand in this House today.I wanted to touch on the historic success of the Green Party on election night because I cannot dismiss and cannot forget to mention the incredible volunteer support the love from family members all across the country the love from new supporters who were rising up to a positive vision of progressive change not just for now but for generations ahead. It has never been done under MMP where a smaller party not only maintains their 5 percent threshold after being in their first term of Government but in fact we came back bigger and stronger. I am proud of the values that we put on the ground during our campaign. I am proud also that for the first time in 20 years and for only the second time in history the Greens now have another electorate in Auckland Central—woohoo! What Chlöe Swarbrick's campaign was able to prove is that when you have a grassroots campaign driven with inspiring and motivating values that people from across demographics and backgrounds can cling to then actually people can come on board with that vision and come on board they did. We absolutely congratulate Chlöe Swarbrick in her work.We are fortunate to have expanded our caucus from the eight members we had last term to add three new members to a total of 10 members this term. I am delighted that my colleague Teanau Tuiono will bring his unique Pasifika voice experience and connections into this House and Parliament—absolutely. He will give leadership to a range of issues including the impacts of climate change in the Pacific as well as closer to home. Dr Elizabeth Kerekere also brings with her decades of lived experience of strategic planning insights of academic research and grit to represent the interests of many many groups including young people and rainbow communities. Ricardo Menéndez March will bring his strength and experience as a grassroots campaigner and a connector of people. His passion for economic justice and equality for all couldn't be more critical right now as we collectively face one of the harshest impacts and economic recessions that we have experienced in this lifetime. So historically when the Green Party's political support has risen it has come at the expense of our colleagues in the Labour Party but not this time—not this time. I would like to take this moment to welcome the many many many many many many many many new Labour MPs who are joining us this term. We look forward to working alongside you all.Ki a rātou Te Paati Māori. Ahakoa kāore tēnei wā e noho ana ka tika kua hoki mai rātou o Te Paati Māori ki tēnei Whare o te Whare Pāremata. Ko taku pirangi ki te mahi tahi ki a koutou o Te Paati Māori ki te whakamana i ngā take Tiriti. Nō reira tēnā koutou.[To those of Te Paati Māori. Even though this is not a sitting session it is great that Te Paati Māori has returned to Parliament. I would like to work with Te Paati Māori on Treaty issues. Thank you.]I acknowledge our literal new House neighbours in the ACT Party and I am sure that David Seymour is happy to finally have some friends with him. To the new streamlined version of the National Party I fondly welcome you back.Our campaign slogan at the election was simple: think ahead. Over the last term of Government we knew that for every action we take future generations will be holding us to account. Our focus has always been on ensuring that we are good ancestors that our descendants will inherit more equal communities an economy that is greener and a natural world that thrives. I want to now acknowledge the work of former Minister Eugenie Sage who oversaw one of the largest expansions in conservation in recent decades and started us down the path of reducing our waste on this beautiful whenua of Aotearoa. I want to acknowledge Julie Anne Genter who helped secure billions in new investment for sustainable transport and ushered through historic changes to give women access to equal pay. I want to acknowledge Jan Logie under-secretary who courageously initiated changes to how the Government addresses family violence and sexual violence. She lay the foundation that I am privileged to and hope to build off as a Minister for the first time. Golriz Ghahraman—for her work in public and behind the scenes to lift the refugee quota to improve access to democracy and to strengthen the protection of human rights in terrorism law.The Greens campaigned on becoming a constructive partner to a Labour-led Government as well as pushing further and faster on our core issues. Our new cooperation agreement with Labour allows us to do just that. In the past three years with just eight MPs the Greens demonstrated it is possible to make significant policy gains outside of Cabinet. Much of the commentary in this building would have us believe that politics is a highly transactional business that politics is just a world of constant horse trading and outmanoeuvring that politics is a game played exclusively by cunning political operatives. It may not however come as a surprise that this is not how the Green Party tends to operate. Many of our biggest wins in the last term came from building relationships building trust and eventually building consensus on the best way forward. It's potentially not as exciting obviously but it works. It's how outside of our confidence and supply agreement the Greens were able to put an end to offshore oil and gas exploration to secure two-thirds of a billion dollars to address family violence and sexual violence put climate change back in the Resource Management Act secure thousands of jobs for nature and many more things. It is why even with Labour holding a historic majority it makes sense for the Greens to be a partner.This Government will likely spend 15 years' worth of Budget allowances as we rebuild from the impacts of COVID-19 and the decisions we make this term will shape the future of our economy our communities and our planet for decades to come. It is also a time when we face other fundamental challenges to the wellbeing of our people and of future generations: housing affordability inequality climate change. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change we have just 10 years to halve climate-damaging emissions and protect this planet for future generations. Ten years is a very short time for any Government at any point in time. This term the big levers need to be pulled. It is this term that the downward trajectory of carbon emissions must begin. Governments cannot do what they did before and sit on our hands. It is time for action.I'm proud that in the last three years the Government took more action on climate change than in the last 30 years combined. We passed the zero carbon Act created the independent Climate Change Commission and fixed the emissions trading scheme. Because of what we did last term we now have the foundations in place for long-term meaningful climate action. Now is the time to build on that and get every part of Government working to bring our emissions down. So we are excited to have James Shaw back to the role of climate change Minister to lead this work for what will be a critical three years for our planet.It is a huge honour for me to take on the role of a Minister for the very first time. The prevention of family violence and sexual violence is personal for me as it is for far too many New Zealanders. As the chief panellist on a nationwide inquiry into domestic violence and child abuse it was clear to me how broad and deep the harm is even when just one person is hurt. It shatters people's lives and whole communities. It is why this work is so important. It is work that has been at the heart of the Green Party for a long time. Last term the amazing Jan Logie secured two-thirds of a billion dollars to rebuild a system that would both support survivors and prevent violence in the first place. We have so much more work to do now to ensure that our communities most affected by family violence and sexual violence are properly supported. We have work to do to help those on the front lines like doctors and teachers spot the tell-tale signs of family violence and intervene early and we still have work to do to ensure our justice system ends the retraumatisation of survivors of sexual assault which puts too many women off seeking justice in the very first place. This is not something one person or I alone can do. I know there are many Ministers and members of Parliament in this House and many people working in the community who have helped lead this important mahi for a very long time. I look forward to working with all of you.Our cooperation agreement is unique in MMP history in that it allows us to play a constructive role to get good things done in Government while retaining an independent voice on key issues. Labour and the Greens agree on much. We have many shared values and goals. Where we may differ is our belief in the degree of change that is possible and the degree of change that is needed to meet the scale of the challenge. The election result delivered a clear message that people trust the Prime Minister and this Government to manage the risk of and recovery from COVID-19. That trust is deserved. This country's response to COVID-19 is a model for what is possible to achieve when we call on each other to come together for a common purpose. It is a model for what is possible when we meet unprecedented challenges with bold courageous policies and big investments that can meet the moment and it is a reminder that people are willing to accept change when the realities of inaction are clearly laid out and we are asked to act in our collective interest. Our world-leading response to COVID-19 should give everyone in this House hope for our collective ability to meet the current challenges of our time. It should be a model for how we confront the major challenges of this decade: housing affordability the growing imbalance of wealth and an unstable climate and loss of biodiversity.Let's take housing. If we choose we can be a country where homes are for living in not just for wealthy people to make even more wealth. It is fair to say that today the unaffordability of housing is unprecedented. No economists even were predicting even a few months ago that we would still be watching house prices and rents soar in the midst of a recession off the back of a global pandemic. House prices have risen 20 percent in the last year and they're expected to rise another 15 percent in the next. At the same time people without assets have watched the median wage drop for the first time in history and unemployment is up. We are now at a point in time where failing to meet the scale of this challenge risks opening up a wicked divide that will become impossible for future generations to close and to cross a divide between the property-owning haves and have-nots. We should not accept a country where only the children of parents with property can afford to buy a home or where rent in a cold unhealthy home rises well faster than the average wage. COVID showed us that people are willing to make sacrifices big and small to take care of everyone. It is time for us to meet this unprecedented challenge with policies and investment that match the scale of the problem. Now feels like the time to be ruling in solutions that have not before been on the table.I turn now to our social safety net which was formed after another unprecedented moment in history the Great Depression. It was a recognition that at any point in time the fickle current nature of our economy could find a person up against hard times. This concept has gone from abstract to real for many more people in the last year. COVID-19 has resulted in more than 70000 people receiving income support in the last eight months. It's an experience of hardship that many thousands of other New Zealanders already understood. Our collective wellbeing as a country depends on each of us having enough to live with dignity. Yet today our social safety net is still set so low to the ground that it is hard for many people to ever get back up again. It is the position of our party that the minimum household income needs to be lifted so individuals and families can think about their future and not simply survive the day.To climate change: when much of life is carrying on as normal in Aotearoa it can be hard to keep in our mind's eye the risk that the COVID-19 virus poses. When this crisis began however we were fortunate that we did not need to see our hospitals overrun before believing that decisive action was needed. This is in large part thanks to the clear communication from the Government health officials and media who clearly laid out the stark real consequence of inaction. And we are fortunate that the images from elsewhere in the world almost everywhere in the world made visible the consequences of not going hard and going early. If we are going to address other challenges we face like the climate crisis then we need to take a similar approach. On a still clear day it can be hard to imagine the extreme changes that will unfold if we don't go hard and early to stop the pollution of our shared planet. Yet we also have images available to us of the consequences of inaction on climate change: unprecedented wildfires in Australia and the US dying coral reefs in the Pacific and extreme flooding here at home recently in Hawke's Bay for example. We don't have to imagine the solutions either. They already exist. They are the compact walkable towns and cities of Europe the solar revolution in Germany and the regenerative agricultural movement taking place on farms across Aotearoa. And did someone say Land back to indigenous peoples."? It might have been me. If as leaders we are willing to bring the same urgency and clarity to our communications for climate change that we did for COVID then we make the bold change we need possible. While this is the beginning of a new Parliament it is mercifully nearly the end of 2020. It has been a difficult year and I recognise that for many those hard times are not over. But it is during the toughest time that we realise what we are capable of. This year alone has shown us that we can meet unprecedented challenges by being bold courageous and uniting behind a common goal. Together we have kept each other safe and taken steps we could not have imagined taking before. It is my hope that this year redefines what we think is possible in the next and in this coming term. It has been my privilege to present for the Green Party our first speech for this parliamentary term. Nō reira tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā tātou katoa."