McLellan TraceyDr TRACEY McLELLAN (Labour—Banks Peninsula): Thank you Mr Speaker. It's a great day to be positive. It's an excellent day to be positive and although some Bah humbug!" started this debate earlier on it's a special treat to be here today in particular because we got to see and we got to witness our colleague the formidable Kiritapu Allan doing what she does best in this House and that's brushing away any kind of negativity and just putting a smile on our face. So I thank her for that. What Kiritapu also mentioned was the fact that we're united and we're focused. All of that positivity reminds me of a couple of my favourite things—namely the beautiful Banks Peninsula electorate and science and innovation. I like it even more so when I can combine the two things as recently happened when Minister Megan Woods came down and recently confirmed a special joint venture between Kaitōrete Ltd Taumutu Rūnanga Wairewa Rūnanga and the Crown: a space-launching site to be developed on Kaitōrete Spit which will be supported by additional research and development facilities also. Now the project will create sustainable education and training opportunities and unlock jobs—good jobs particularly in science and advanced manufacturing. An important focus of the joint venture is the protection and the rejuvenation of the cultural interests and the unique biodiversity of the area. It's an incredibly exciting opportunity for the Banks Peninsula. The Māori Crown partnership has been hailed for its emphasis on co-design and co-development and I'm very proud of it. Speaking of biodiversity the release of the Predator Free 2050 five-year progress report illustrates that New Zealand's recovery extends well beyond just our strong economic performance. Becoming predator free by 2050 is an ambitious target but it's fantastic to see that pest suppression is exceeding the 2025 targets already. That statistic alone illustrates the hard work and commitment of all the people involved to date. It would be remiss of me not to point out that Banks Peninsula was singled out in the report for its collaborative and local focus. The Banks Peninsula Conservation Trust was lauded for empowering locals to lead local conservation efforts for three decades and Pest Free Banks Peninsula was held up as an example for its engagement efforts particularly because it incorporated Ngāi Tahu principles into its strategy and partnered with locals to implement pest control measures. Again that's something I feel very proud of. Talking of all of this science and innovation R & D science and infrastructure obviously are significant priorities for this Labour Government and the Scott Base Redevelopment combines all three of these. It's not only of great benefit really to all of our scientific aspirations in Antarctica but it's also of great benefit to the economy of the Mainland—particularly Canterbury—with 700 jobs expected to be created over six years. Christchurch is the gateway to Antarctica. The airport in Ilam provides aviation support and the port of Lyttelton as scenic as it is strategic in the wonderful electorate of Banks Peninsula provides a maritime base for all things Antarctic. All of this positivity and I also would like to acknowledge colleagues who have spoken before me each one focusing on different areas that they think are important but each one never running out of positive things to say. It creates a little bit of warm and fuzzy but it's a timely reminder that many South Islanders woke up to snow last week. Even at the higher parts of my electorate the Banks Peninsula electorate had a little bit of a dusting. It's a timely reminder that New Zealanders—particularly our most vulnerable—often require a little bit of extra help to keep their homes warm in the winter months. That's exactly why this Labour Government is providing for that. Last year we doubled the winter energy payment and this year the payment is available again and we've also committed to making 47700 more Kiwi homes warmer and more energy efficient through our funding of insulation and heating retrofits as part of Budget 2021. I'd like to thank all of my colleagues as I said for highlighting other important parts of this positive feel that we all have here today and reiterate that we are united we're focused and we're making real progress for Kiwis."