12. Question No. 12—Diversity Inclusion and Ethnic CommunitiesVANUSHI WALTERS (Labour—Upper Harbour) to the Minister for Diversity Inclusion and Ethnic CommunitiesQuestion No. 12—Diversity Inclusion and Ethnic Communities12. VANUSHI WALTERS (Labour—Upper Harbour) to the Minister for Diversity Inclusion and Ethnic Communities: What recent announcements has she made about improving outcomes for ethnic communities in New Zealand?Hon PRIYANCA RADHAKRISHNAN (Minister for Diversity Inclusion and Ethnic Communities): This morning I launched the new Ministry for Ethnic Communities—[Interruption]SPEAKER: Order! We're not seals in here.Hon PRIYANCA RADHAKRISHNAN: We have over 213 ethnicities represented across Aotearoa. We collectively speak over 160 languages. Our ethnic communities make up nearly 20 percent of New Zealand's population. This is the first time that they will have this level of representation in the public sector. It's the first time that we will have a chief executive whose sole focus is lifting the wellbeing of our ethnic communities and who will have a seat at the top table. The ministry's been a long-held ambition of our ethnic communities and I'm proud to be part of a Government that has heard that call and responded to it.Vanushi Walters: What are the key priorities for the new Ministry for Ethnic Communities?Hon PRIYANCA RADHAKRISHNAN: I was determined that the direction and the strategy of the new Ministry for Ethnic Communities would be shaped by the priorities of the communities it serves and so we engaged with members of our diverse ethnic communities across Aotearoa to find out what was most important to them. That has then shaped the priorities of the new ministry. As agreed by Cabinet they are: to take action to promote the value of diversity and improve inclusion; to ensure equitable provision of and access to Government services for ethnic communities; to develop and support initiatives to improve economic outcomes for ethnic communities including addressing barriers to employment; and to work to connect and empower ethnic community groups.Vanushi Walters: What will the new ministry mean for our ethnic communities?Hon PRIYANCA RADHAKRISHNAN: Our Government wants to ensure that New Zealand is a place where everyone can be and feel safe valued and heard have a sense of belonging and be able to participate fully. We know that there are opportunities but that some groups apparently are unable to access them. We've heard from our communities what those barriers are and where the opportunities lie. With the chief executive at the top table the new ministry is well placed to make tangible changes through its own programme of work and influence decision making across Government to ensure better outcomes for our diverse ethnic communities. We know that there's more work to be done and collectively we can make Aotearoa a fairer safer and more cohesive society.Melissa Lee: How will the ministry defer to the Office of Ethnic Communities currently operating considering it will still be a—and I quote the Minister—departmental agency of the DIA" as she said yesterday at select committee as it is currently now?Hon PRIYANCA RADHAKRISHNAN: As I mentioned in my responses to the previous questions the main difference here is firstly that our Government in the last term invested in strengthening the Office of Ethnic Communities including its community engagement function and increased its funding that goes to grass-roots community organisations eightfold. This is the next step in the journey of creating a ministry something that our communities have asked for for more than a decade. For the first time we will have a chief executive who will sit at the top table and be able to influence change. That is a significant difference and while members across the House might sneer our communities hold this very strongly. In terms of it being a departmental agency hosted by the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) the only thing that this new ministry will share with the DIA is the back end corporate functions like procurement like HR policy like finance policy. I strongly believe that being able to share those functions and not reinvent the wheel and actually focus the time energy and resources on our communities will be beneficial."