Kapa-Kingi MariamenoMARIAMENO KAPA-KINGI (Te Pāti Māori—Te Tai Tokerau): Mōrena e te Speaker tēnā koe. Tēnā tātou katoa e te Whare. I rise on behalf of Te Pāti Māori to speak to this first reading of the Land Transport (Clean Vehicle Discount Scheme Repeal) Amendment Bill.As kaitiaki of this whenua it is our responsibility to ensure that the health of our taiao is maintained for our mokopuna and it is for our mokopuna that Te Pāti Māori oppose the bill. The climate crisis threatens our culture our identity our marae our whānau our hapū—tangata whenua katoa. It has been a slow-moving crisis and depictions of rising temperatures and melting glaciers means that it often feels distant and abstract and therefore misunderstood and unrealised by many in this House. However the storms that ravaged my rohe of Te Tai Tokerau and other rohe across the motu this year tells us that this distance has now closed and the taiao now more than ever is loud and clear in alerting us of their pain and mamae. The reality is Aotearoa is currently not on track to meet its climate targets. Repealing this policy will increase carbon emissions and it will represent a backward step in terms of acting on climate change. Mokopuna will suffer due to backwards thinking of those in power who are focused on capitalist profit over healthy functioning green wonderful blue taiao particularly in Te Tai Tokerau.The protection of Papatūānuku and a stable global climate cannot be achieved without indigenous leadership and knowledge—tā te Māori tēnā [that is the purview of Māori] in case you needed clarification—or the recognition of indigenous rights. Tā te Māori tēnā. [That is the purview of Māori.]There are always reasonings behind the tracking of environmental indicators to ensure our taiao remains healthy and in balance. In Aotearoa that means whānau that means hapū that means iwi must remain at the forefront of climate action and the solutions must be our own. We are the first conservationists; I made that point yesterday and I repeat it this morning.The Climate Change Commission advised that the domestic transport emissions must be halved by 2035 for as it stands our transport emissions are one of the fastest-growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions in Aotearoa katoa. This bill repeals the clean vehicle standard which already saw a large increase in the purchase of electric cars since the policy was first announced. This has begun to slowly bring down the cost of clean vehicles as it increases numbers in the market including for second-hand sale. While incentivising clean car purchases it is not the complete solution to the climate crisis. It is 1c of the dollar that is our country's carbon-neutral target by 2050. For a moment of candour this policy does not have much of an immediate impact on whānau Māori. Affordability and accessibility remain as barriers to purchasing any car let alone clean car vehicles. As an MP from a largely rural electorate we know that for electric vehicles to be a lasting solution we need to invest massively in infrastructure. As technology advances it will become more and more a viable option for our whānau and our hapū and our iwi. However our mokopuna will be the ones to reap the benefits of the seeds we plant today. Therefore the repealing of this policy is a matter of principle not precedent and we are sitting by retracting any form of climate action. Te Pāti Māori are deeply concerned with this Government's ram-raid speed at which they are reversing policies that will reduce emissions and protect our taiao—just want to let the words ram raid" sink in.We owe it to our mokopuna to challenge this short-sighted mentality and fight for their future. As tangata whenua we don't think a year ahead or even seven years ahead; we think seven generations ahead and that is why we expressly reject this ideology and we cannot support this legislation today. Tēnā tātou."