Tabuteau FletcherFLETCHER TABUTEAU (NZ First): It is a genuine pleasure to stand in the House today as a member of New Zealand First and as a member who works under the auspices and the leadership of the Rt Hon Winston Peters. I stand with this observation in mind to start with. I often stand to speak against the Government and I take a great deal of pleasure in doing so because invariably it has got it wrong so to stand here now and share in a celebration of our visitors of our neighbours of our friends and of our whānau is truly a wonderful experience for me. So may I say in welcome kia ora tātou nau mai haere mai. Welcome to New Zealand once again and welcome to those of you who are here for the first time. It is a wonderful privilege to have you here today. The reason I stand in celebration of this week's event is that it has been a privilege for me to be a member of the Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade Committee. More so it has been a pleasure and an honour to be part of the organising subcommittee as some have acknowledged today. Firstly I would like to acknowledge Alfred Ngaro and recognise his efforts as the chairman. He has done a fine job and it has been a subcommittee that has worked very well together. I would also like to acknowledge the words of Mark Mitchell the chair of the Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade Committee who said: Because we wanted to get it right because we needed the details to be sorted properly we had to give it to others." I think he spoke very wisely with those words earlier today.I would like to say that it was a cooperative endeavour and that those on the committee were passionate about making the visit work for our friends and our whānau from the Pacific. The modus operandi and the outcome was about engagement—about letting you have a voice here in New Zealand and about us hearing what you have to tell us and what is important to you. I think that was significant this morning in the Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade Committee when we were visited by some of our visitors here today. Thank you for being honest and thank you for telling us about the issues that you are facing now and how you see New Zealand playing a part in that. I would like to take this opportunity to speak very briefly about a former Minister of Foreign Affairs the Rt Hon Winston Peters. I genuinely think it appropriate to highlight that it was the Rt Hon Winston Peters who redefined our relationship with the Pacific Islands—redefined this country's relationship with our Pacific neighbours. He realised the meaning and the importance of moving together as one region—one people—and understood that together and by listening to one another we could do more together and hopefully in terms of culture and in terms of economic outcomes New Zealand could be a significant player in enabling the future of our whānau here today. That is simply all I wanted to say because it is something that I am proud of as a member of New Zealand First and I acknowledge the Rt Hon Winston Peters in his efforts and his work in the past—and today. I say "in the past" but today he is still a passionate advocate. I iterate that fundamental belief of New Zealand First: we must have strong ties we must work together and it is about mutual economic and social development. Much thought was given to the debate topics that will dominate the House's time tomorrow. Much debate was undertaken by the subcommittee about what those topics would be and what it is that is significant to New Zealand and to our Pacific Island whānau right at this moment. I understand being part of that committee that the normal televised facility which we have taken for granted over the last few years will not be available tomorrow. So I would like to take this time to highlight to the New Zealand public what will be debated and I suggest to those of you who are able and who would like to that you come down and be a member of our gallery and hear the debates and contributions from our friends our whānau and members here in the House today.Because I am speaking in a collective celebration here today I will only highlight what those debates are and not use them as an opportunity to attack the Government. Suffice it to say we are here today as one—as a parliamentary team—to work together in camaraderie and to move forward as a Pacific nation. But as I read these out I do ask the Government members here today to acknowledge that there is a lot of work that needs to be done and we cannot take for granted our role in moving forward together. The first topic of debate tomorrow will be climate change. Obviously these are not threats. Events are happening now and they are affecting everyone in this room adversely actually. The second debate is about Pacific resources and the sustainable management of those and in my mind extracting the value from them in their home country—taking the value from them rather than shipping them off as raw product. Security and governance is the next debate and how best to move forward together while at least encouraging more secure and better governance environments among our Pacific nations. The last debate is about Parliament and the community—maximising the benefits available from stronger engagement between parliaments and their communities. So I celebrate the ability we have to debate those tomorrow. It will be an engaging day and an important day in our history. I finish by celebrating all members who have made the trip to be here this week but I especially acknowledge the women Pacific Island leaders here today. I celebrate your success with you not just in being here today but being the role models that you are—kia ora. As a new member of Parliament I look forward to making friends with you all—our whānau in the gallery today. There is so much more for New Zealand to do within the Pacific but today I speak in celebration of those who have travelled a great distance to join us. May we move forward as one. Kia ora."