Salesa JennyHon MEKA WHAITIRI (Minister of Customs): Madam Speaker tēnā koe. E te Māngai o te Whare otirā ngā mema katoa o te Whare nei tēnā tātou katoa. Te mihi tuatahi. Ki te iwi o Ukraine he mihi aroha ki a koutou i runga i te wā nei.[Madam Speaker greetings. To the Speaker of the House and to all members of the House greetings one and all. Firstly I wish to express my sympathy to the people of Ukraine in the current circumstances.]It's at this time that I want to acknowledge the people of Ukraine. Every evening I believe what beams into many of our homes through Aotearoa New Zealand is the significant sight of millions of Ukraine people having to leave the country and it is a really sad sight to see people of no making of their own having to leave their homelands through the unlawful illegal unprovoked invasion by Russia. This Government on this side led by the Hon Minister of Foreign Affairs Minister Mahuta has introduced this Russia Sanctions Bill which we are debating in urgency tonight. Can I acknowledge all parties that have recognised the importance of this bill in passaging it through the House under urgency. Can I also acknowledge all the officials that have pooled a four-part bill in such a quick space of time for us to debate tonight. But that former speaker who just retained their seat Brooke van Velden I want to challenge the fact that this side of the House was slow. When we had our initial response when Putin invaded unlawfully the Ukraine we immediately put in targeted travel bans. We prohibited exports to our military. We suspended bilateral foreign ministry consultations and we put $2 million towards our humanitarian aid. I believe that we have—and in debating tonight's bill I want to touch on not just the broad framework but the further sanctions that this bill enables. It also empowers the Minister to take further actions in reviewing the extra steps that this bill enables. As previous speakers has said it's not all Russians. It's a very bespoke piece of legislation aimed at those that are causing the most harm in the Ukraine. It is talking about the freezing of assets in New Zealand for those people either very closely associated with the invasion or the supporting nations that are enabling it. It talks about moving to prevent the moving of money and assets and using our country as a safe haven when those individuals that we have identified will be held accountable. It will also stop the superyachts and ships and aircraft from entering New Zealand waters or airspace. As the Minister of Customs it is important we operate in a rules-based international environment to ensure both people and goods move across the globe in a legal way. This invasion—this invasion—puts all that at risk and the absolute blatant ignoring of the calls by international countries to the actions of Putin I think will go down in history as—will galvanise I believe all those nations that stand in solidarity against the actions of Russia.This bill is a broad framework as I mentioned earlier that enables the Minister of Foreign Affairs further powers to ensure that the sanctions that we have currently in this bill that we will be debating over the course of this evening are fit for purpose but enables us to respond very quickly if those sanctions are no longer applicable or we have to explore further sanctions—this is the bill before the House tonight that we are debating. The bill does send very clear messages that New Zealand—the people of New Zealand the Government of New Zealand—is standing in solidarity with the international community in further sanctions of the Russians' illegal invasion in the Ukraine.But back to the human pictures that we are seeing in our homes over these last 14 days of the occupation. I want to acknowledge surrounding countries particularly like Poland who have opened up their border to take the overflow of refugees who have leaving the Ukraine. I want to acknowledge the other countries that are not only making themselves a safe haven for the Ukraine people to shelter in but also providing the initial aid for those families. It's a sad sight when you see mainly mothers with young babies and young children having to make the enormous trek from their homelands into foreign lands purely for safety.Nobody wants war but President Putin has declared his hand—that's exactly what he is seeking—and the bill that we are debating tonight sends that very clear signal where New Zealand's position is in response to the international community. I look forward to further debating on this bill that members will have. I'm pleased to say that the majority of members in this House if not all unanimously support the bill. It is timely it is tailored to the crisis that's at hand it positions New Zealand in a very strong position. It allies us with the response from the international community and I commend it to the House.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jenny Salesa): The next call is a split call. I call on the Hon Mark Mitchell for the first five minutes. He's connecting with us remotely thank you.