Tuiono TeanauTEANAU TUIONO (Green): Thank you Madam Speaker. First of all I rise to acknowledge I believe one of the participants of the aforementioned podcast Golriz Ghahraman who along with Auckland-based MPs are doing their bit to keep us safe in level 3 up in Auckland. So I'm subbing in coming off the bench so to speak—just like Sonny Bill Williams except I'm slower shorter and have no athletic ability at all. But nevertheless I was excited initially to pick up this bill: I thought it said the Autonomous Sanctuaries Bill" and I thought "Well that's very anarcho-syndicalist." It gave me nostalgia for the Paris Commune of 1871. But I am still learning to get the glasses-and-face-mask combo happening and so the glasses were a bit fogged up and actually it was the Autonomous Sanctions Bill.This bill seeks to introduce a legal framework in New Zealand for the direct imposition of autonomous sanctions on foreign individuals entities assets and services which creates a way for New Zealand to impose sanctions against others without action from the United Nations Security Council. We live in a world where we need more collaboration and more cooperation from the issues of climate change biodiversity loss solving the questions of world poverty and war and conflict resolution and how that is increasingly connected to the obscene accumulation of capital. For every occasion there is a meme and as I was reading through this bill one passed my horizon and that meme went: "If you want to go fast go alone but if you want to go far go together."—if you want to go fast go alone but if you want to go far go together. So yes we need to go fast but with the plethora of so many issues we need to go far and we need to arrive together. Me is a name I call myself but far is a long long way to run.Unilateral actions undermine the global rule of law. Autonomous sanctions apparently seek to remedy deadlocks in the Security Council sanction regime by setting a precedent with each country going off and applying sanctions by their own standards and political context. This would undermine both international law and cooperation at the global level. The bill makes an approach that is counter to standing up for fair cooperative transparent reform of international institutions based on the rule of law. Instead it encourages a global landscape where each nation acts alone to exert its own political and moral interests.The bill also misses the point that the Security Council is not the only way for Aotearoa New Zealand to contribute to a global rules-based order of sanctions. For example many sanctions go through the UN General Assembly by consensus of States working together or regional bodies that bring together closely linked neighbour States based on existing sanctions law. Allowing the application of unilateral sanctions will still protect the powerful global actors and while the bill may appear to be about applying international human rights and humanitarian law without the impediment of the political antics of the Security Council it creates further risk of politicisation of sanctions rather than fairness and equity.We know that sanctions are only likely to be applied against nations of the Global South so the power structures of the Security Council are likely to be replicated there with the US and China as well as the nations they seek to protect remaining exempt. This bill will demonstrate unfortunately an unwillingness to engage meaningfully in reforming those power dynamics within legitimate international institutions. We should instead play a role creating a connected and compassionate world where the global community works together to address issues including climate change human rights and public health by upholding the international rule of law and promoting peace and shared responsibility.The world is going through a period of instability with the impacts of climate change COVID-19 war international inequality mass displacement pollution and biodiversity loss among the many challenges. Lack of political resolve to combat these challenges leads to poor outcomes for people and the planet. The lack of resolve can only be countered with the politics of cooperation and collaboration. We need to position ourselves to take on an independent and principled position on global affairs by addressing current and historic global injustices strengthening international law and championing disarmament. We need to support a world that provides international mediation and conflict resolution and be grounded in principles of environmental protection and restoration equity human rights shared responsibility and non-violence. So we will not be supporting this bill unfortunately. Thank you Madam Speaker."