Ngarewa-Packer DebbieDEBBIE NGAREWA-PACKER (Co-Leader—Te Paati Māori): Kia ora. Tēnā koutou katoa. Tuatahi kia maumahara mai ngā hunga mate i te wā pōuri. Haere haere haere i te awa tūpuna.Ko te mahi o te kaitiaki tiaki i te mana o Papatūānuku o Ranginui hoki tae noa ki a rawa tini tamariki mokopuna e whāngai nei i a tātou o te ao mārama nei.He mana tuku iho ki ngā iwi me nga hapū i ēnei rā mā ngā atua me te Tiriti o Waitangi me ngā whānau ngā hapū me ngā iwi o whakahaere kia ora ai a Papatūānuku me ana tini uri mokopuna tātou mai ki te tangata.[Greetings Mr Speaker. Thank you. Greetings everyone. Firstly we must remember the dead at this sad time. Depart to the ancestral river. The job of the steward is to care for the Earth Mother and the Sky Father including the many children and grandchildren who we all care for in the physical world.It is an authority handed down to us today by the gods and the Treaty of Waitangi and the families the subtribes and tribes who organise in order that the Earth Mother and her many descendants.]I remember first to stand and mihi to those whose lives are lost whose whānau are grieving—at the moment at home I remember Hori Luke who's in state at Aotea Marae—and mihi to all of those that are going through periods of huge grief and uncertainty. Te Paati Māori would like to mihi to all our first responders. I see the absolute commitment and mahi that they've been doing for all of us in Aotearoa. I was very honoured and privileged to travel with w'anaunga in a truck donating supplies to Hawke's Bay Ahuriri and we were able to see the devastation. As everyone has this afternoon I'd like to reflect on some of those that I saw.I think first and foremost nothing can prepare you for the devastation that I got to see so I can only imagine what is going on in the areas that I wasn't able to access. There were whānau livelihoods whenua orchards houses papa kāinga that will be devastated for ever and will probably need to make some big hard decisions. I think it's important now that we in our sphere of influence try to bring as much of that sight and pain that to be honest I think the media have done a really fine job of being able to open up and show us as a country what we're dealing with. If I can reflect on what I saw in Te Taiwhenua at Ahuriri and mihi to Tania and the crew there who had just had power restored they were standing up five six days after a lot of the other marae had and they had run out of kai because of the demand. They had set up a food centre and were doing an amazing job. We also were able to be fortunate to see the whānau at Ōmahu Marae on Taihape Road; before I think the Government had even had the chance to call on extra army and civil defence they had mobilised rangatahi pahaki katoa with whānau trucks and utes and were cleaning out the houses the papa kāinga the kaumātuas' houses the disabled houses and had created two big stockpiles I guess of the rubbish for when they do get to hear from council to move them. The speed and the way that our whānau and marae have been able to mobilise is second to none. I really mihi to the way that they've been able to get way ahead of to be honest the official recovery and response that we're seeing.I was fortunate to also get to see with the aunties the clean-up that they've done at Ōmahu Marae the fact that their tukutuku panels haven't been touched the fact that their places of huge cultural significance were preserved but also saw the pain of the urupā that have been damaged and the kōiwi—or the bones—of their descendants their past children from the influenza epidemic have sadly been dispatched into other waters and so we see a rāhui over there. I was also able to have the blessing of being at Te Aranga Marae and seeing the stand-up—and also Pukemokimoki—and the way that the whānau have categorised clothing and supplies and food in a way that you would swear that they've been running a dispatch centre all their lives. The order and the way that people were able to be seen and mihied and the tears and the clothing and the blankets—you know there were things like pushchairs and I guess all those things that you just can't imagine that you go without when everything in your house has gone.I guess in light I will share this—I see a lot of rangatahi in the gallery—somebody in Taranaki thought that it was really important that rebuild included a box of condoms. So in the way that everyone's trying to help they're trying to bring about their own spirit and interpretation of how we look after a community.What I think I really appreciated about those—and again I've only got a snapshot of what's going on—is that they have the absolute humility and hospitality to look after all citizens of Aotearoa. The messaging and the way that they were able to get things in real time when perhaps you don't have a battery radio when you're not really proficient with social media cannot be underestimated. So I want to mihi to the way that they've been running. It's over a week and we're still seeing the welfare centres the food centres the evacuation centres the karakia and the debriefs that are happening at night. In the debriefs they're able to bring together all their kōrero their amuamu their affairs and I think it's really important that the Government connects—I get it that we must have all the other centralised entities the way that a mainstream response should obviously be but there's also an and"—and it's critical to hear the debriefing and the kōrero of those whānau in those marae. So I really urge that the Government follows the other templates that obviously we've got to learn from but also don't miss those important critical centres of information and champions of change. So I want to really mihi to them all and to acknowledge them as stand-up heroes in this response as well. I committed to be able to be used to bring about their insights and their experiences. We saw the dead sheep and people trying to get stock out as well. These are livelihoods—the loss of crops. It just is devastating. So I mihi to all.But of course obviously we want to make sure that the marae and the connectors within those local communities are seen. For many they were reminding that this isn't their first storm; for some it's their second and their third. In Tai Rāwhiti and Tai Tokerau many of those marae have been dealing with floods after years and years. They are the same marae and the same people who over the last three years have stood up COVID responses and manaaki vaccination kaupapa. They really are dealing with people who are tired and exhausted of uncertainty. So we really implore that the Government supports and resources them for all that it is that they bring to help secure our future and bring balance.So I also had people like Joe Te Rito who said that—and a lot said this—they're really scared to go home and to the point that they don't want to go back to their home on their papa kāinga because it's happened so many times and they want to now know what the Government's doing next. They're worried that they're going to be left behind in the conversation. They want leadership from the Government; they don't just want red stickers. They don't want to be put in places that they know are problematic. They're sick and tired of the forestry industry destroying their communities. They're sick of polluters who are refusing to change. They could name those who they've been having problems with. They are acknowledging those who are refusing to pay towards the damage they're doing to their taiao. They feel that there are delays from politicians who are saying the right thing but maybe not following through. And they feel like there's been years and years and years afforded to be able to act.I think it's really important in my role to remind the Government that when you first got in there was a lot of talk about just transition. I know COVID and other things have distracted from that but we really need to go back to that—and particularly with an equity lens. Our concern is that there's not. It's not actualising. There doesn't seem to be progressive discussion about it. So what we need to see is an equity-based investment—and from our perspective that's not up for debate.When we came into the House this afternoon we came with a series of wero and they are for us—for us all as political leaders. My challenge to the Prime Minister to Chris Hipkins is that we need to make sure that we have a programme that's going to empower a whole-of-Government response to climate change and to do what's right and that may not always be politically convenient. And I guess it's not about looking for praise for business as usual but to stay focused on climate change and again prioritising equity. And if we are going to be doing local then make sure that local's not only a one-stop shop centralised portal but actually we get out to the very communities that are affected and that do look like marae and whānau. And I think to also recognise that he has the absolute power to make this difference and he has the influence to leverage the power of Government for the benefit of our young people and the certainty for our future generations.Te Paati Māori also issues a challenge to the Minister of Climate Change James Shaw that he actually works with all parties in this House and not just what appears to be with the National Party. We have seen since 2017 his approach has weakened our response to climate change and at times compromised when we should have been our strongest. If he wants to enact the truly bold and transformative climate action that we desperately need and he speaks of in this House he must adopt a new approach now.Government must no longer water down climate action because vested interests tell you to do so. My challenge to the finance Minister Grant Robertson and the Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty is to put forward targeted by Māori for Māori according to Māori solutions to emergency management and rebuild rather than simply prioritising business. Sending empty shipping containers to marae is unacceptable. If civil defence are going to connect with marae and going to send assets please make sure those assets deployed are filled with the equipment that's going to be of use to them. We agree that there are many lessons to be learnt and I guess one of the things we issued as part of following up with our challenge is our Te Paati Māori policy calling on the Government to establish a $200 million Māori Taiao Relief Fund—you're more than welcome to add more to it. But our focus was to immediately look at rebuilding and cleaning up marae urupā papa kāinga impacted by environmental disasters. I want to be really clear: this isn't an "instead of"; this is "as well as" so this is an "and/and". So what we can see is there's a long-term initiative that hapū iwi and urban Māori can apply to their climate planning flood protection and relocation and this fund would also resource a Māori national service defence framework to give hapū iwi and urban Māori organisations the same resources and infrastructure as local government such as access to helicopters. Again I'll go back to the reflections: a lot of those marae want to be their own bunkers in their own stand-up civil emergency response. Again we have to make sure that assets deployed to them are actually going to be of use—again not empty storage containers. So our community have demonstrated their value time and time again. Our policy is building on the 2020 climate policy which committed to fund whānau hapū and iwi with adaptation. This is about futureproofing. It is time for action it is time for good bold solutions and it is time to be stronger.Also I think you know I want to reflect on some of the discussions that may not have been interpreted from the paepae at Waitangi. As tangata whenua as the first nations of this nation we're consistently having to defend Te Tiriti. Te Tiriti is of value. It is something that brings about to us that no other nation can enjoy to the extent that we have here. It is something to be proud of. It is something that we can talk about in restoration in reclamation ending poverty ending racism and injustice and we're so close as a nation to achieving that. To be honest our rangatahi expect nothing less; our tangata Tiriti expect nothing less. And we've seen it in our South Pacific relationships that this is an important part of us being able to enjoy what it is that we have not only as a scientific modern future-thinking nation but also as a nation with first-nation indigenous peoples' tangata whenua knowledge. We've seen it used in Matariki and we can continue to look at maramataka and mātauranga Māori as our solutions.I think some of the things that we want to commend the Government for is that you have taken up some of our policies. We now have a history of Aotearoa being taught in schools we have a Māori Health Authority Māori wards in local government guaranteed Māori procurement Matariki as a public holiday Māori can now switch electoral rolls at any time and Aotearoa now supports a conditional international moratorium on seabed mining which we're imploring that this Government supports and helps to stop as well.So I guess it comes down to the fact that tangata whenua in this House tangata whenua out of this House with Government are an absolute partnership and force to be reckoned with. I think that's this Government's point of difference—is being able to continuously look at honouring that. In 2023 we have some absolutely unmatched challenges and never more important for us to be able to unite and bring those strengths together so that we can focus not only on the issues we have to contend with but the opportunities because every problem is an opportunity waiting to be solved. So as an opportunistic politician we really want to make sure that the Government stays focused on the cost of living that we are ensuring that we're addressing poverty. It's getting really hard and I think that's one of the things that I can refer to. It's getting hard to put kai on the table. We see 2 percent own more than 50 percent of the wealth in this nation. We need to make sure that we can have clean renewable energy not coal mining or seabed mining as I've said; that we're looking at farms phasing out synthetic fertilisers by 2025 and we can help that to happen with the right financial support; and that we look at making public transport free and investing in the circular economy so that we can buy local and work local. So we've got solutions on what the new economy could look like and it might upset some of the old capitalists but we must follow the lead of our rangatahi and pressure Government to do what's necessary and that's what we'll be intending to do.I also want to talk about recognising the land that we live on and how we read the various signs to ensure that we grow and understand. So we recognise toitū te whenua the fact that the Western paradigm and how it's been managed is actually challenged throughout the world and that we as indigenous peoples have some knowledge that will be key to future planning for crises that threaten to engulf us.We also will continuously be on about returning whenua to its original owners who live as kaitiaki recognising our abundance and breaking up the wealth of the 1 percent in favour of the 99 percent and embracing a tikanga world view ensuring everyone has enough income enough kai and be able to live good lives implementing alongside that our indigenous environmental practices such as the rāhui that we've seen has gone on in Tai Rāwhiti.So we also want to be able to make sure that we are looking at ways to be able to assist whānau in practical ways and that means doubling baseline benefit levels. It means bringing down grocery bills through removing GST from kai. It means guaranteeing pay equity for Māori nurses and teachers and it also means taxing wealth more income less. So we're not shy of capital gains tax or ghost houses tax—I know some over here will be absolutely flabbergasted.People are fed up with status quo. They are tired of the same old excuses of successive Governments refusing to acknowledge the scale of the problems we face. Some don't even accept that climate change exists. So what we want to do is see Oranga Tamariki be more competent. We want to see Kāinga Ora be more resourced to pick up and help with those that are homeless and we don't want to see 60 percent of them being Māori. We want to see the Ministry of Health giving more support for primary care including dentistry and that Pharmac is helping with more lifesaving treatments. We also want to be able to see the Ministry of Education as more focused on creating education that is going to be representative of what our rangatahi and tamariki need in 2023 not the 18th century.Our prison population has gone up by 2 percent. We want to see a Government that's going to focus on bringing these things down. And we see police are found guilty of widespread racial profiling and illegal photographing of rangatahi without consent. We want to see things like that stop. So it's way past the Government being able to continuously feast on the misery of our people so we want to be able to turn and flip those statistics upside down.It's election year. In election year we're progressing our wero to parties on both sides of the House and it is to not use tangata whenua as a political football. We have already in the last month seen our people being used as punching bags from major parties oppositions whipping up hatred and division of Māori rights and Government caving into pressure and reversing their own policies. This House should rise above the hate and instead have an unrelenting focus on pushing through policies that progress towards a Tiriti-centric Aotearoa. We are a nation that has the ability to be the absolute best in the world. You have within you first-nation people. Knowledge has proven time after time that that is something that is going to help convert this nation into a future-focused nation that we can all be proud of. We believe in ourselves. We believe in tangata whenua tangata Tiriti in Aotearoa but we also need to make sure that the Crown stays focused in believing in us. So examples as I look at those marae look at tangata whenua and make sure that we are accountable as Tiriti partners because that's what Te Paati Māori will be doing this year making sure the Crown and the Opposition are true pono and tika to Te Tiriti o Aotearoa Te Tiriti o Waitangi ki Aotearoa hou [true and proper in regard to the Treaty of Aotearoa to the Treaty of Waitangi for a new New Zealand]. Kia ora rā."