Lotu-Iiga SamSPECIAL DEBATESPacific Issues—Pacific Parliamentary ForumHon Peseta SAM LOTU-IIGA (Minister for Pacific Peoples) on behalf of the Leader of the House: I move That the House note the Pacific Parliamentary Forum being held this week at Parliament and that it acknowledge the linkages between New Zealand and the countries of the Pacific Islands region and the value of those linkages in enhancing the prosperity and security of the region. Oute fa'atulou atu I paia fa'atafafa ole maota nei Le maota ole Fono faitulafono o Le Malo Tuto'atasi o Aotearoa Niu Sila nei. Le afio o Lau afioga I Le Fofoga Fetalai Le mamalu Tele o ta'ita'i o Pati eseese Le paia maua luga I Le nofo a Faipule ae tainane Le mamalu o Sui usufono mai palemene o nu'u e fia mai atunu'u eseese o Le Pasefika. Talofa talofa lava.Kia orana ni sa bula vinaka namaste ko na mauri yokwe ekamowir omo fakaalofa lahi atu gude halo keta malo e lelei fakatalofa atu halo malo bonjour gidday tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Before we begin the debate I just want to express my heartfelt sympathies for the families and the friends of the two people who died in Monday's earthquake and my thoughts and prayers are with the people of Kaikōura and Marlborough. We are all thinking of you.It is an honour to lead this parliamentary debate and to have all 41 foreign delegates as well as my parliamentary colleagues here today to debate this motion. Hosting this forum here gives us the chance to build relationships share ideas and develop a vision for a prosperous and secure Pacific region. People-to-people exchanges like this give us as leaders of our nations valuable insights and lead to lifelong Pacific relationships that help people across the Pacific live well and prosper. I hope and trust the meetings that you have had in Auckland and here in Wellington will have covered the issues that matter to Pacific people in the region. Today more than 7 percent of people or well over 320000 people living in New Zealand describe themselves as Pacific. By 2026 the Pacific peoples are expected to make up 10 percent of the population—well over half a million people. New Zealand is a migrant nation historically today and will be well into the future. Pacific people have migrated here for many decades and families like my own have come here to get better educations for our children to find higher-paying jobs and to lead healthy better lives. Although we in this House might disagree about some matters we do agree that the key to unlocking the potential of Pacific peoples not just here but across the region is education. Through education people have come here to pursue their dreams their aspirations and their hopes. More than 92 percent of Pacific children in this country now participate in early childhood education. This lays the foundations for learning and makes starting school a better experience for our children. Over 81 percent of Pacific students now finish secondary school with work-ready qualifications—level 1 NCEA—and nearly 13000 Pacific students graduated with tertiary qualifications last year.With these higher rates of education has come record employment for Pacific people in Aotearoa New Zealand. Over 138000 people now have jobs. That is the highest number on record. The Pacific people's participation rate is high at 64.1 percent. It is done through a focus on education by our families and also the Government working together with other groups in the community to promote education.The Pacific Business Trust which the Ministry for Pacific Peoples funds supports growing businesses and start-ups. The trust's vision is for clients' dreams to become outstanding New Zealand and international businesses. For example the trust helped Tim Lauagiagi the owner of Capital Taxis. Tim went to the trust with an idea. The staff used their expertise to develop Tim's concept and then turn it into something much much bigger.As well as education and business success health is an important determinant of quality of life. Since 2003 the rate of rheumatic fever in this country has halved. The immunisation rate for Pacific children is now in the mid-90s compared with 2007 when it was about 63 percent. Of course in this country children under 13 have free access to GPs and prescriptions are filled for free and for Pacific kids that is a big big advantage.Pacific influence in music theatre poetry and comedy is also growing and we need to look no further than our very own Emeritus Professor Albert Wendt who holds New Zealand's highest honour as member of the Order of New Zealand. Albert has been an influential figure here in New Zealand and across the Pacific and he is regarded internationally as one of the world's leading indigenous novelists and academics. We also are proud in this country of events such as Pasifika and ASB Polyfest and they reflect the unique cultural identity and diversity of Aotearoa New Zealand.I am proud to be the Minister for Pacific Peoples and it is a position that is charged with specifically dealing with the success of our Pacific communities. My ministry and the team of people there work tirelessly to fulfil the vision of nurturing and growing successful Pacific peoples. New Zealanders care about Pacific people region-wide and our focus is far broader than just on the Pacific peoples living in this country. Right throughout the Pacific New Zealand enjoys extraordinarily close ties at political economic and people-to-people levels and this forum reflects our commitment to the Pacific to join with the Pacific in sharing a lot of these ideas.Each year we welcome 9000 Pacific workers through the Recognised Seasonal Employer scheme. There are around 4000 from Vanuatu and nearly 15000 from both Samoa and Tonga and there are almost 600 Solomon Islanders here as well as workers from Fiji Tuvalu Kiribati and of course Papua New Guinea. They are in New Zealand picking apples stone fruit and vegetables and pruning grapes and regardless of where they come from the goal of the workers is to earn money to help them and their families and their communities back home. I saw first-hand last year how those funds were being used on building houses in Samoa supporting businesses and also uplifting families.New Zealand is committed to supporting labour mobility opportunities for Pacific workers through the PACER Plus negotiations. That involves work beyond horticulture and viticulture into industries such as fisheries and carpentry. New Zealand also helps with direct foreign assistance in various Pacific countries. Around 60 percent of our international development assistance which is about a billion dollars over the current 3-year period goes to the Pacific directly.That aid focuses on initiatives that will dramatically improve Pacific countries' ability to build their economies and look after their people. A great example of this work being done is to build renewable energy capacity that will reduce dependency on expensive polluting diesel. From Tonga to the Marshall Islands New Zealand is pursuing initiatives in this area. The Pacific Energy Conference in Auckland a few months ago produced added backing where international donors committed to $1 billion in investments. This year's conference which was co-hosted by the New Zealand Government and the European Union built on the success of the summit in 2013 when $900 million of energy projects across the region were committed to. All up this is a $2 billion investment increasing access to clean reliable and affordable energy in the Pacific. This is important—and I know that the delegates will be debating climate change but no one wants the Pacific nations submerged under rising sea levels or badly affected by climate change. The increasing development of clean renewable energy will help improve the well-being and the lives of our Pacific peoples. New Zealand is committed to the Pacific because we are invested in our neighbourhood. We want to see successful Pacific peoples here and around the region. Success will grow on the back of our Pacific values. It is not just money or investment; it is about the values of hard work faith commitment to family reciprocity and self-belief. And I know together we will continue to build a prosperous peaceful and stable Pacific.