SpeechHon Dr DAVID CLARK (Minister for the Digital Economy and Communications): Thank you Mr Speaker. Kia ora koutou. I would like to acknowledge the Citizens Advice Bureau's (CAB's) longstanding advocacy for New Zealanders who are digitally excluded and can I add from the outset socially excluded. Last year I had the privilege of receiving a petition from the CAB on the steps of Parliament and I have really appreciated the ongoing constructive engagement with the Citizens Advice Bureau from that time and even until now. I acknowledge those who are in the gallery. Our most recent meeting was in fact yesterday and I do want to thank CEO Kerry Dalton Deputy CE Andrew Hubbard and National Adviser Strategic and Legal Sacha Green for their time when we met.Community organisations like CAB play a critical role in providing a voice for the people they represent enabling their thousands of volunteers to strengthen and enrich New Zealand communities. Their volunteers hear the stories of those who feel excluded from society because they feel they cannot easily access the services they need to fully participate. Yesterday in our meeting we agreed I think that if CAB had their time again they may have lodged a petition on social inclusion more explicitly to reflect the broader concern including from those who simply don't want to engage online. A lot of the debate around this has focused on digital exclusion with the implicit intention that those who are excluded necessarily want to be digitally included whereas some simply do not.I just say that for context because I think it is important. The burden of my contribution will focus on the digital aspects of inclusion which is I guess a direct response to the petition as it stands but I think that context is incredibly important and COVID has shown us that digital exclusion affects a variety of people. It's kind of underlined that or underscored that and we've seen how profound the impacts of that exclusion can be. It's important to me and to the Government that all New Zealanders have the tools skills and confidence to participate in our society a society that's increasingly digital should they wish to be involved in that digital aspect and that digital infrastructure content and services that are provided meet diverse needs.The Government does have a vision for digital transformation of Aotearoa and that includes expanding digital inclusion to address gaps that have been emphasised through recent events like the COVID-19 lockdowns. However as I've already noted I also recognise the need to maintain choice in the way people interact with public services particularly in offering non-digital options. Can I stress upfront: this is not about beating up the Public Service. Our Public Service is known internationally for their integrity for their effectiveness. Research shows that New Zealanders generally have a higher trust in their public servants than we see in overseas jurisdictions and high satisfaction as a consequence. Despite this we know that we need to raise the bar and we will unapologetically look to raise the bar for delivery of public services and acknowledge that there's a reform journey to have there to make sure that our Public Service remains able to deliver for New Zealanders and maintain their trust in the future.The Public Service Act 2020 has been an important step on this journey basing in law our vision for a unified Public Service that is more adaptive agile and collaborative that can more effectively meet the needs of New Zealanders. A spirit of service is now fundamental to the Public Service and public servants. We reflected actually yesterday in our meeting on the fact that there were digital Public Service targets under the previous Government which focused public servants very very firmly on getting the number of people engaged online and that actually what we as a Government here are keen to stress is that we want all people to be included. Yes we want things to be convenient available for those who want to be online. We want it to be inclusive for those who want to be online but we also want to make sure everybody is included not just narrowly focused on achieving one target but actually focused on that broader spirit of public service making sure that services are available for all New Zealanders.Government and Government agencies on the inclusion side are working towards that focus for digital inclusion of including all people of making our services available for those who want them online and the strategy for a digital Public Service and the digital strategy for Aotearoa guide the Government's future work to support that goal. The strategy for a digital Public Service sets the direction to develop a modern user-centred digital Public Service and to ensure that New Zealanders' experiences with Government are inclusive and accessible responsive to their needs and meet their expectations. We will soon release the digital strategy for Aotearoa that will extend that vision for digital transformation beyond the public sector. It will be New Zealand's first digital strategy and those who have engaged with the consultation documents—and again I want to acknowledge industry iwi community organisations those who engaged online those who did not and particularly want to acknowledge the CAB's contribution to the development of that strategy and the submissions that were made.That strategy will still be based on the pillars that were publicly consulted on: Mahi Tika Mahi Tahi and Mahi Ake. You know personally I think that Mahi Tika the trust pillar is so critically important if we want people to be able to engage online should they want to. They need to feel it's trustworthy and safe to do so. And Mahi Tahi the inclusion piece is of course focused quite neatly and clearly as one of our three key priorities in that strategy so that we have an inclusive development of that digital space. And then growth speaks for itself. I won't dwell too much on that in this particular contribution. In the development of that strategy we held lots of hui. We had the input from Māori leaders innovators Pasifika youth disability community and the consultation process showed very strong support for a digital strategy for Aotearoa with many commending the work done so far and commending the improved focus on digital inclusion and suggestions as to how to improve that into the future.The strategy when it will be announced will cover many things but there are already some things that will be broadly covered in that strategy that are already under way—things like an initiative on internet connectivity both nationally and rurally. Successive Governments have invested around $2.4 billion in the national internet infrastructure network delivering fibre to around 1.8 million homes connecting 563 marae. Rural connectivity has also improved for over 370000 households and I know Kieran McAnulty was very keen—just looking to see whether I can catch his eye—that I mention rural connectivity and the big strides that we've taken in that respect because many isolated communities of course are rural and the improvement that we have made there is I think something that we should all be proud of which isn't to say there isn't more work to be done. By the end of 2023 99.8 percent of New Zealanders will have access to improved broadband through Government investment.The Government's also in the process of designing a new scheme to help provide coverage for up to 5200 remote households who have no broadband coverage at all at this stage. Another initiative is student learning. The Ministry of Education is currently supporting 60000 learners and their households by improving devices and an internet connection into the home. Then there's the essential digital skills uplift supporting 20000 individuals and whānau through the Manaiakalani programme which goes into decile 1 schools and we've got the Toloa strategy aiming to shift Pacific people into opportunities for employment in science technology engineering the arts and mathematics and the Better Later Life strategy to look at the opportunities for seniors. There is a firm plan that will be rolled out and be seen when the digital strategy is released to improve inclusion for all communities. Of course I can mention welfare support. I'm mindful of time but I want to say again that non-government organisations are also delivering in this area. The Digital Equity Coalition Aotearoa supports community collaboration. The Recycle a Device scheme teaches students to refurbish devices and of course the Citizens Advice Bureau themselves provide vital community services. There are private sector contributions too.There is a lot of work still under way. I want to acknowledge the work that the public sector is doing but I also want to agree that there is plenty more work to be done and I think it's important that we continue to explore how to further strengthen our overall response to be more strategic coordinated and impactful. The Government will continue to work with trusted community partners like the Citizens Advice Bureau to support successful delivery of services and initiatives and we welcome this debate here today to draw attention to the importance of social inclusion. Debate interrupted.