Little AndrewANDREW LITTLE (Leader of the Opposition): Tēnā koutou katoa talofa lava kia orana malo e lelei bonjour and warm Pacific greetings to all the dignitaries and parliamentarians in attendance today. I had the great pleasure to meet some of you yesterday and it is great to see those members here in the gallery as we debate the very important issues about our relationship with the Pacific and Pacific countries. Can I just acknowledge the Minister for Pacific Peoples Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga and his contribution just now—always constructive and I know deeply heartfelt from the Minister because of his responsibilities and his contribution to New Zealand as well.Can I acknowledge all of the countries—the many different countries—that are represented by the delegation: American Samoa Australia the Cook Islands French Polynesia Fiji Kiribati the Marshall Islands Nauru New Caledonia Niue Papua New Guinea Samoa the Solomon Islands Tonga Tuvalu Vanuatu and Wallis and Futuna. You are all very welcome here in this House. Can I also acknowledge His Excellency Matua the Hon Shane Jones Ambassador-at-large in the Pacific for the tremendous work that I know he is doing in strengthening and building the relations between New Zealand and many Pacific countries which is so important not only to New Zealand but to the region at large. The relationship between all of our countries as Pacific neighbours is important to all our futures. I want to begin by acknowledging also the enormous contribution made to New Zealand—our economy and our society—by our own Pasifika community here. That started with the early Pacific migrants who came to work in New Zealand industries that were crying out for labour who helped our nation's economy grow and who laid the foundations for the vibrant and diverse Pacific community in New Zealand today. We are a better stronger more vibrant and more prosperous country for your presence here.Their children and grandchildren are in all walks of life in New Zealand. Pacific people are to be found in our Parliament in our Public Service in the professions business and local government and in our churches. Pacific people have also made an amazing contribution to our sporting life and to the arts and culture of New Zealand. Pacific painters poets writers dancers musicians and fashion designers are helping create a new Pacific style in New Zealand.The honourable Minister referred to Albert Wendt. My connection with Albert Wendt goes back to my old school New Plymouth Boys' High School. We are both old boys of that school and I still remember the day he came to speak to our school to talk about his time there. The contribution that he has made to our culture to our literature and to our academia—we are all the better for it.For my own Labour Party we must never take for granted the fantastic support that we receive from the Pacific community. Our close ties to the Pasifika community are reflected in our five Pasifika MPs: Su'a William Sio Carmel Sepuloni Kris Faafoi Poto Williams and Jenny Salesa with heritages from Samoa the Cook Islands Tonga and Tokelau.In Labour we are proud of our history of advancing the interests of Pacific people here in New Zealand. When Labour was in Government it established structures such as the Pacific Business Trust the Pasifika Education Centre Pasifika TV and the Pacific radio networks of Niu FM and Radio 531pi to enable the Pacific communities to thrive in New Zealand while holding on to their languages and cultures and heritage values. Our party is also looking forward to the future. Our recent Future of Work Commission included working closely with the Pacific community on a new vision for the future of that community one built on aspiration and inclusion. We know that our country is so much better off because of our good relations with the wider Pacific as well. In 2013 our exports to the Pacific were worth $1.3 billion. That year 96000 Pacific people visited our country a huge boost to our tourism sector but also a strengthening of family links between us and those many Pacific countries. For New Zealand to succeed our Pacific neighbours need to succeed and our Pasifika community here needs to succeed also. We need to ensure that the dreams we all share—a good job a good home opportunities for our children to do well and security and dignity for the people we love when times are hard—are within reach for every person in the Pacific because right now our region faces some daunting challenges.The first is the imminent threat of climate change. Here in New Zealand we have always prided ourselves on our tradition of moral courage on the world stage—on taking a stand for what is right and on stepping up to the big challenges and the tough fights. Past Labour Governments did that—for example over the nuclear threat in the South Pacific when we sent a frigate to Mururoa Atoll to protest against French nuclear testing. There is no greater challenge in our lifetime than that of climate change. It threatens our economy our planet and our way of life. For many Pacific nations it threatens their very existence. New Zealand must be a leader in the fight against climate change. That means having a real plan to reduce emissions and an independent climate commission tasked with carbon budgeting. It also means playing our part in assisting our Pacific neighbours as they deal with the impact of climate change. That means having adequate levels of aid to assist with the impact of severe weather events like the recent cyclones in Fiji. It means increasing our refugee quota to take in more people from the Pacific who have been displaced by climate change.We must do more at home to tackle the challenges in front of our own Pacific people. We must do more to ensure their aspirations are being met. That means fixing the housing crisis that is holding so many people back especially in Auckland our great Pacific city. It means restoring the $1.7 billion that has been cut from our health system. It means recommitting ourselves to the principle of free public education and acknowledging that education does not stop after high school which is why we must provide 3 years of free training for people across their working lives. We must also tackle the growing burdens of poverty and inequality that fall disproportionately on our Pasifika communities. That is why we must push for higher wages more secure employment for our people and more support for young people who want to start their own businesses. We need to be seeing more young Pasifika entrepreneurs building their own companies and generating wealth with their ideas. We can do that here in New Zealand and we must commit to the same objectives with our Pacific neighbours in their countries.In our party we are committed to a better future for every person in the Pacific. We are committed that our country act as a force for peace and for economic and political stability in our region. We are committed to doing more to fight climate change more to expand opportunity and more to support our Pacific people here at home. We are committed to ensuring every person in the Pacific has the ability to chase their own dreams and achieve their full potential. I look forward to working with our friends from around the Pacific and around this region to make this happen.