Paraone PitaPITA PARAONE (NZ First): Ā tēnā anō koe Mr Deputy Speaker tēnā hoki tātou o Te Whare. E ai ki ngā korero: Tuia Te Rangi i runga tuia Te Papa ki raro tui tuia Te Herenga tangata tihēwā mauriora tuku mauriora ki te wheiao ki te ao mārama!". Ā kei te tautoko tēnei mai i Te Rōpū o Aotearoa Tuatahi i ngā mihi whakatau o Te Pāremata nei ki wā tātou manuhiri mai i te nuinga o ngā Moutere o Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa kua tau mai ki roto i Te Whare nei ki te mātakitaki mai whakarongo mai hoki i wā mātou whakaaro i te kaupapa i kōrerohia e mātou i te rangi nei.[And so greetings once again to you Mr Deputy Speaker and to us as well of the House in accordance with the proverbial sayings: "Bind the Sky above the Earth below Mankind totally release the essence of well-being to the natural and enlightened world behold the breath of life!". I from the New Zealand First Party endorse the welcoming tributes of this Parliament to our visitors from the vast extent of the Islands of the Great Ocean of Kiwa who have arrived here in this House to observe and to listen as well to our views in regard to the matter we addressed today.]I will leave it to His Excellency Shane Jones to translate that for our visitors. As I understand this debate is timely in that it coincides with the 2016 Pacific Parliamentary Forum presently being held here in Wellington which our distinguished visitors have come to attend. Aotearoa New Zealand's relationship with the Pacific and its people is not merely one of a geographical nature. The arrival of Kupe was the genesis of our historical connection. There is a famous Polynesian proverb that in translation says "To reach its destination the canoe must be paddled on both sides". That for us in New Zealand First defines our relationship with our Pacific cousins who are intertwined into the very fabric of our society. All New Zealanders are Pacific Islanders but I suppose we can coin what Hawaiians say of Hawaii which is "We are from the big island". Our history goes back far and during this centennial of the Great War we recognise the sacrifice our Pacific brethren made in the cause of freedom. New Zealand is a nation of the Pacific and for peace and security we must be committed to helping our neighbours enjoy a more prosperous future. The Rt Hon Winston Peters the leader of New Zealand First has played a leading role in bringing this about as a former and I must add highly successful Minister of Foreign Affairs. Su'a William Sio: Under a Labour Government was it? PITA PARAONE: The Pacific is in a word vast and it is easy for us to forget how big some of these land masses are. And my cousin from South Auckland is quite right. That role was part of the Labour Government and it just gives credence to the saying that I mentioned earlier on—that the waka must be paddled on both sides. Papua New Guinea is larger than New Zealand in both land area and population. It is arguably richer in natural resources but poorer in terms of economic and social indicators. It also suffers from being an even closer neighbour to Australia than we are. But compare such a colossus as Papua New Guinea with Tuvalu. It is among the smallest States on earth with a population about the same size as Gore's. It faces multiple challenges and both these countries highlight how diverse and challenging the Pacific is. Yet with the 21st century it is Asia's century. We ought to be focused on helping generate Pacific tigers off the back of that. As Mr Peters said a few years ago New Zealand has a clear expectation that the Pacific region and individual Pacific countries will take up the challenge of development and do the work necessary to lift their own citizens out of poverty. New Zealand First believes this must be about policies and practices to grow Pacific economies and increase their standards of living. New Zealand for too long has acted like a magnet for their brightest and best and that only hollows their countries out. Conversely we see that with the way Auckland is acting like an economic black hole for the rest of the country. But our contribution must be about preventing corruption poor governance and of course conflict. We do not pretend for one second that it can be done by a few words or that we have all the answers because it is about partnership. What happens in the Pacific impacts directly on our country and on the quality of life safety health and security of New Zealand and may I add its success on the rugby field.The more successful the Pacific is the better it is for us. The problem we are dealing with is clear: the Pacific is not very prosperous. It sounds a bit like New Zealand in some respects but economic growth around the region is failing to keep up with population growth. Youth unemployment is a growing problem and basic poverty indicators are far too high. We could be talking about parts of New Zealand in that respect which is why we must use proven means to help these countries and to help us. As Mr Peters noted a few years ago the Pacific is at risk of falling victim to all the wasted potential and social and economic chaos that poverty brings. New Zealand's aid in the Pacific has helped get more children to school it has improved health services it has helped fight the spread of HIV/AIDS and it has assisted countries to build and maintain the critical infrastructure needed to support economic development. We say aid can work but well-managed and strategically planned aid works even better. New Zealand First remains committed to do that and to the notion that for trade to be fair it must be free. The Pacific rightly asks for trade not aid. The biggest problem that the Islands face is trade barriers. Initiatives like Aid for Trade say that well over US$200 billion has been mobilised in funding since 2005. This sounds impressive until you consider that over the same period of time the United States and Europe have between them paid out over $600 billion - plus in agricultural subsidies to their famers. Instead the easiest solution is trade not aid. The Pacific like New Zealand faces trade tariff non-tariff and subsidy blockages. Trade helps to even out demand and supply helping to meet the world's need for food. It provides island economies with increased market opportunities and helps to improve incomes prosperity and economic growth. It benefits all of our communities. Above all it helps to lift them out of poverty. Up to today New Zealand has provided over $2 billion in development assistance to the Pacific so there needs to be a concentrated effort by the Governments of Pacific nations including our own to lift performance. We cannot preach when war veterans here are forced to live in mouldy leaking caravans or families are split up due to a lack of housing. New Zealand must practise what it preaches. That is why all leaders and decision makers including our own need to make more choices based on national interest and not self-interest. We need to reinforce success and eliminate failed ways of doing things. Most importantly encouragement needs to be given to all citizens to participate in the political process. As another Winston—Winston Churchill that is—once said democracy is the worst form of government except for all the others. New Zealand will also prioritise infrastructure which is in light of our deficits in provincial New Zealand and after the Culverden earthquake it seems to be a bit like saying: "Do as I say and not as I do." The Culverden earthquake and regular calamities across the Pacific show we are under-equipped in defence and I know my colleague Ron Mark is preparing a detailed plan when it comes to boosting humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. New Zealand must do its share of the paddling and we must also be realistic. I just want to conclude and I want to refer to what has become an oft saying within my tribe of Ngāti Hine. However I have taken the licence of substituting two words so that it reflects the call of not only me and my caucus colleagues but all of us in this House. Kua tawhiti kē ō mātou haerenga mai kia kore e haere tonu. He tino nui rawa ō mātou mahi kia kore e mahi tonu. [We have come too far not to go further we have done too much not to do more.]Those words I leave to this House and hopefully to our visitors who have come to our wonderful country. Kia ora mai."