Robertson GrantMOTIONSNew Zealand Commonwealth Games Team—CongratulationsHon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister for Sport and Recreation): I seek leave to move a motion without notice to congratulate the New Zealand Commonwealth Games Team.SPEAKER: Is there any objection to that course of action being taken? There is none.Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I move That this House congratulate the New Zealand Commonwealth Games Team for their outstanding achievements in Birmingham including winning our country's largest ever gold medal haul at a Commonwealth Games and our largest medal total at an offshore Commonwealth Games.It was an absolute privilege as the Minister for Sport and Recreation to be able to attend some of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham to support our athletes and to see them perform so well. The team has made New Zealanders proud. Across the full 11 days of the games our team has shown exceptional talent determination and resilience. They have also upheld our values as ambassadors of our country exhibiting fairness humility and empathy. It has been a truly exceptional games for New Zealand. The team has won an incredible 49 medals including 20 gold medals 12 silver and 17 bronze. This is all the more remarkable against the backdrop of COVID which has disrupted the preparations of most athletes over the last two years—and much more recently in some cases. The performances of our athletes to win medals across such a variety of sports including mountain biking track cycling road cycling swimming athletics squash judo bowls boxing triathlon wrestling weightlifting rugby cricket and netball has been nothing short of remarkable. It has also been truly inspiring and exciting to see so much young talent coming through and medalling in their sport or achieving personal bests. Singling out athletes in this team is hard but I do need to acknowledge the staggering performance of our closing ceremony flag-bearer Aaron Gate who won four gold medals the most by an individual New Zealand athlete at any games. He was part of an exceptional performance by our cyclists—13 medals won in the velodrome—and mountain bikers Sam Gaze and Ben Oliver who won gold and silver respectively as well as Georgia Williams' bronze in the time trial and Aaron's brilliant gold in the road cycling making it 17 medals overall for our cycling team.Our New Zealand swimmers also rose brilliantly to the occasion winning nine medals five of which were gold swimming's highest gold medal total at a games. Lewis Clareburt was the star performer winning two gold and one bronze. He along with cyclist Ellesse Andrews equalled the previous record for an individual athlete of three medals at a games.We watched other athletes make history with Hamish Kerr becoming the first New Zealander to win gold in the men's high jump and then Paul Coll becoming the first New Zealander to win gold in the men's singles squash—backing it up with gold in the mixed doubles alongside Joelle King who became our most decorated female Commonwealth Games athlete picking up gold in the women's doubles and mixed doubles. The games also saw a huge number of New Zealand records broken and personal bests set. For me a highlight was witnessing Sam Tanner run the second-fastest-ever 1500 metres by a New Zealander and a personal best by three seconds. As Sam described himself as the Happiest sixth-place getter ever" he was representative of a number of performances by younger athletes that bode well for the future. The team's value and spirit were also on full display during these games. Just one example for me was witnessing Jacko Gill going around and shaking hands and thanking every official who had worked on the shotput event before he began any celebrations for his silver medal. This was a superb example of true humility and sportsmanship.I want to thank and acknowledge the leadership of the New Zealand team—in particular the chef de mission Nigel Avery; New Zealand Olympic Committee president Mike Stanley; chief executive Nicki Nichol; and High Performance Sport New Zealand leadership and their teams. There was a renewed focus on athlete wellbeing during these games both before and during the event and I believe it is a model for how a team can be looked after.I also want to make a special acknowledgment of Tā Derek Lardelli and his whānau who provided cultural leadership and supported the strong sense of manaakitanga that has guided the team.Finally I want to acknowledge the coaches trainers whānau and friends who supported our athletes not just at the games themselves but over their lifetimes often making significant sacrifices to support them in their sporting endeavours. I extend my thanks and congratulations to the New Zealand Commonwealth Games team and to the Birmingham 2022 organisers for the terrific effort they did in putting the games on. The games have given us such joy and pride over the last 11 days; well done to each and every one of the New Zealand team on a truly inspiring campaign.SPEAKER: The question is that the motion be agreed to."