Sio Hon Aupito WilliamHon AUPITO WILLIAM SIO (Minister for Pacific Peoples): When I listen to that and the speeches of other members on that side—Kieran McAnulty: They're terrible.Hon AUPITO WILLIAM SIO: They are terrible. They're frivolous. They're petty and the arguments that they're advancing are very weak. All I would say is it is such a privilege to be on this side of the House—absolutely—and may that side forever have the problems that it is encountering.I'm proud to stand and to speak in support of the Prime Minister's statement. It is a statement that reflects 15 months of hard work a programme that is designed to grow and build a stronger economy that will benefit all New Zealanders. It is a programme that is focused squarely on tackling the huge challenges that we have inherited from the other side and I'm absolutely proud to be with a team that is united in one thing and that is the best interests of all New Zealanders. The work programme that's reflected in the Prime Minister's statement reflects a shared vision and priorities of three distinct parties: Labour New Zealand First and the Green Party and whilst they are separate and distinct parties this is a coalition Government that is demonstrating a new kind of leadership that the country is not used to. For the last nine years that we had that lot—if I might contrast—it was a Government that governed for the few. They governed for the corporates. They were driven by greed and profiteering and essentially they didn't care at all about the crisis. People will remember that they denied denied denied there was a housing crisis. They didn't care about the growing number of homelessness; they didn't care about the growing inequality. So contrast that with the new leadership that is being demonstrated by this Government. It is a Government that in its leadership is proving to not only the people of New Zealand but also the international arena that it is very possible to be able to be responsible stewards of the economy while advocating for concepts such as compassion and kindness. That's the kind of new leadership. I've never felt so proud in my life as when seeing our Prime Minister at the UN delivering a speech that didn't just speak about New Zealand but spoke about its people and spoke about the peoples of the Pacific region. I think that sent a clear and strong message that New Zealand is firmly a part of the Pacific region and that its interests aren't just confined to the length and breadth of New Zealand but its interests are also about looking after our Pacific region. I know after the delivery of that speech in the United Nations by our Prime Minister that many of the Pacific leaders that I met along the way who flew through New Zealand to get home—I've never seen them feel so proud to be associated with New Zealand. I think it was genuine and they passed on that message which I was proud to be able to pass on to our Prime Minister. I think it's fitting to reflect first and for people to remember the context of the kind of economy that we picked up: yes that we have solid GDP growth today; yes we have surpluses today; yes our debts are at target; yes our unemployment rate is hovering around 4 percent; yes our wages are forecast to grow at around 3 percent but that's not the kind of economy that we inherited. We inherited an economy that was basically on the verge of being wrecked by the recklessness of that group there because they were so fixated on tax cuts for the wealthy on tax cuts for the few. They took money out of health education and took money from families because they were fixated on making sure that the tax cuts would benefit their friends their mates and their corporates. That's why last year our first Budget was solely focused and it was termed by the Minister of Finance as the foundational Budget. We needed to restore confidence in our economy. We needed to restore funding in education and housing and health. We needed to be able to lift incomes for working families particularly families with young children. That's why it's such a proud feeling to be associated with a Government that's actually making a difference to families. And I feel that confidence coming through emanating from people. I don't know about the other Ministers but every event that I attend to in the Pacific communities the length of breadth of this country the feedback is positive. I just want to say what a wonderful Government this is. OK—that's enough. But there is a new mood. There is a confidence that is shared by people on the ground and that's despite the harsh malicious rhetoric that we often hear by people on their soap boxes aligned to that group there and that's wrong. I want to say that in the last year I spent considerable time meeting with the Pacific communities. It's a real privilege and a pleasure to engage with them. The Pacific communities are growing in the regions. As a result of that engagement the ministry was able to put together a report called Lalanga Fou. Lalanga Fou is a report that captures the dreams and aspirations of Pacific peoples all over New Zealand. We've been able to group them essentially in four themes: Thriving Pacific Languages Cultures and Identities" "Prosperous Pacific Communities" "Resilient Healthy Pacific Communities" and "Confident Thriving and Resilient Pacific Young People".I want to acknowledge Matua Shane Jones—the first citizen of the regions the father of the Provincial Growth Fund—because he recognised that in the regions we had to tackle some of the long-term challenges of unemployment. Using his pūtea the Provincial Growth Fund part of the $82 million for Te Ara Mahi work that Willie Jackson and others are involved with the ministry has received $8.85 million for the next two years to work to tackle the challenges of unemployment so that we're transitioning a very successful Pacific employment programme in Auckland into the regions. I also want to acknowledge Grant Robertson as working together with him we were able to release a report that I call the Pacific economy. We are laying the foundation as a good starting point to build and lift well-being and that foundation in the Pacific economy essentially we were able to scope out—the Pacific peoples contribute $8 billion into New Zealand's economy: 1500 businesses 500 NGOs and Pacific peoples contribute 27000 hours on voluntary services on a weekly basis. I want to say to this House: imagine the kind of contribution we could make if we were able to eliminate the inequities and the challenges that Pacific peoples face in a range of areas because that's their contribution despite the challenges of rental accommodation despite the challenges in health and education.I now want to finish off by simply also acknowledging the Rt Hon Winston Peters because it's been a pleasure working alongside him and formulating the Pacific reset. It's acknowledged for Pacific reset that Pacific peoples gravitate towards the Pacific as their ancestral home in the same way that Māori gravitate to the iwi and marae wherever they may be from the urban areas. What that acknowledgement is is that we've got to build these stronger relationships around the Pacific region. I want to acknowledge that in the precincts this week is a delegation of very high-powered people that I would refer to as the powerhouses of the Fijian Parliament: eight members of Parliament from the Fiji Parliament; four Ministers and four members of Parliament and what a pleasure it is to be able to host them in our precincts this week."