Williams ArenaARENA WILLIAMS (Labour—Manurewa): Tēnā koe Madam Speaker. I stood in the dark at my local civil defence centre (CDC)—it was set up under Auckland Council's leadership—and I saw coming across the carpark to me three people. They were wet they were cold and they were coming towards the bright lights that had recently been set up in what was a community centre. And speaking to these people I was able to say as their local MP without knowing what decisions had been taken at that stage by our Cabinet or what our finance Minister was thinking that the Government would stand alongside those people that this Government would be there with them every step of the way to make sure that they had what they needed the next day and in the following weeks. And I was proud at that moment to stand with this Government that is responsive to people's needs on the ground. I also want to acknowledge what Todd Muller said in his speech—that there has been an incredible community outpouring of support for each other that neighbours have stepped up that individuals have taken responsibility for the people around them and that outpouring of strength and unity has been incredible to see. But I guess our politics are showing a little bit because at that moment when I knew that the Government would stand alongside these people and help them to recover I knew that you know his worries that we have a broken country—it's not that big.What we have is not a broken country; we have broken hearts we have broken backs we have broken people but that is not too big a challenge for us to solve one by one. When we have a Government that takes decisions to stand alongside our people alongside our social service providers alongside the people who make their food banks available at a moment's notice alongside our marae alongside all of those volunteers then we will get through it. I can think of the story of maybe two marae; my adoptive marae in Manurewa that stood up to be part of the civil defence network in South Auckland that supported people through and then later when Cyclone Gabrielle hit my hometown where I am from in Puha my marae in Tapuihikitia and Takipu. Our urban marae were part of a broader network that has been established since COVID. They were able to access the kind of community support that in previous Governments they have dreamt of. That support was right there on tap for them to know that they could throw open their doors welcome people and support and manaaki them as we are best at. And I was so proud to be part of this community of Manurewa marae and to see that at work. Then when my marae was hit I felt the grief that so many of us in Auckland and in Wellington who looked at our home in Tai Rāwhiti and the Napier and Hawke's Bay region felt: this feeling of not being able to get to our whānau—who we love and who we care for—in this time of incredible need. But those marae those people who were most affected by that did the same thing. They were able to stand together. They were able to offer people within the surrounding area a place of light within that darkness. They were able to stand up and offer that manaaki that I am proud of too. And I have faith that those marae—for Takipu they have extensive damage and there'll be so many people around the country watching so closely to see how we rebuild in a situation where they are within danger still—were able to stand up in that way. I have this real sense of gratitude—and I want to echo the comments of my colleagues around this House—for the first responders; for our police and defence; for Red Cross; for those people who are standing up including the Māori wardens in South Auckland who did deliveries; for our churches like the Salvation Army in Manurewa and Manukau who went down the line as soon as they could to support those communities in Cyclone Gabrielle; and the public servants like the people within Te Puni Kōkiri who went out and supported the other agencies. That spirit of getting stuck in of mucking in is what this response is all about and that is the strength of it.I'm thinking today about how we begin to have those conversations around the change that is needed for our country and that's why I was listening so closely to Mr Muller's speech. What I'm thinking of is how this affects Māori and what I would say to all parliamentarians in this House as we embark on those conversations is that there is so much a Māori worldview can add to the decisions that we need to make about adaptation and about managed retreat.Considering how people are connected to their whenua and the importance that we carry within all of us about our connection to our place will be really important and this Government is up for that conversation.