SpeechTERISA NGOBI (Labour—Ōtaki): Thank you Mr Speaker. It's always an honour and a privilege to stand as the member for the Ōtaki electorate—my first for this year—and to support the Prime Minister's statement. But first if I can also acknowledge like others have in the House today the passing of Georgina Beyer—definitely a wāhine toa and a trailblazer. Not only did I get to hear her talk around her advocacy and staunchness for women for takutāpui for Māori and for human rights I also need to acknowledge that she whakapapas to my rohe as Ngāti Raukawa with Ngāti Tukorehe so moe mai rā rangatira.I want to make one more acknowledgment: Margaret Hayward who is sitting in the gallery today. It is International Women's Day so poignant that I acknowledge Georgina Beyer's passing but also poignant that I acknowledge Margaret Hayward who is the first ever woman private sec in New Zealand under the Kirk Government. So welcome back Margaret and she is sitting with Dr Ian Scott—the first openly gay candidate back in the 1980s. So thank you for coming. Kia ora.I grew up in Levin in an ex-State house. My mum when she came to New Zealand from our farm in Samoa was a cleaner and a seamstress and when she had us she had to quit work to stay home and look after us because mum and dad couldn't afford the childcare. Labour have changed that now so we make it much more accessible however dad was our sole income earner and he worked at Kimberley Centre.We didn't have a lot of money we didn't have a lot of material things but we had an abundance of love so I was very loved and very lucky that way. We know the cost of living was real then and it's real now. Our Prime Minister gets this—he gets it—and so that is why in his Prime Minister's statement he said we are focused on targeting support for working families and the cost of living. Our Prime Minister and the Labour Government understand that to get through hard times you need to support everyone. You need to make sure that you look after everyone your whole community all New Zealanders—not just a select few—and that is what we do on this side of the House and that is what we will continue to do under our Prime Minister's leadership and this Labour Government. Part of doing that is to continue the winter energy payment something that this Labour Government also initiated in 2018. We know and we saw the need then and we see the need now to continue this initiative. When I worked as a case manager and I would have our superannuitants or our pensioners come in and speak to me when this initiative came in by this Government they said to me prior to that they would have to sit in the cold with a blanket because they were too scared to run their heating not knowing if they could afford it. Now with the winter energy payment thanks to this Labour Government they are able to have a little bit more in their kitty to be able to run their heating and know they will be able to pay that heating bill. We know with the cost of living this is still true now as it was then and that is why we are committed to continue this great support for our elderly and our most vulnerable communities—just another way we are helping people get through those cold winter months here in Aotearoa New Zealand.Likewise another Government initiative we have done in terms of our cost of living or helping New Zealanders through is the free lunches in schools initiative just to help to ease some of those costs and pressures on some of our whānau. Having been a board of trustee member and also having three children myself food takes a big chunk of my budget—always has—and I've heard from these teachers and from these whānau what a difference this has made to their budget. Some people are saving up to $50 in their family budget. But for the teachers they talk about how now these kids are focused on their learning instead of being focused on their hungry tummies. This is another initiative along with things like our school donations scheme that we put in place and also our free period products in schools. So no longer is it that if you can't afford a period product and you have your period you can't go to school. No longer is it that you can't afford lunch so you can't go to school. No longer is that you can't afford the school fees so you can't go to school. We understand the need. Cost of living is true as it was when I was a kid or even an adult true it is now. We have a Prime Minister who understands that—a real understanding. We have a Government and we have a leadership team that understands that. We will continue these initiatives and that's why I support the statement.