Ghahraman GolrizGOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN (Green): Tēnā koutou katoa. I want to start by thanking the submitters who came along to the Justice Committee. It's a select committee that doesn't have a Green member on it but I went along as did Marama Davidson. We wanted to hear their voices. I do thank them and acknowledge that many will be disappointed with our decision to support this bill today and I would like to explain the background to our decision. I would also like to acknowledge and address some of the concerns raised by the Opposition for the well-being of the Green Party our principles and our decision-making processes given that they've brought us into this debate so repeatedly.Of the many many decisions that we've made since the 2017 election the decision to support this bill has been the most difficult for the Green Party. The decision to change the Government was not difficult. The decision to join this new Government was not difficult. The decision to ask for and win 20 incredible Green priorities in our confidence and supply agreement was not difficult. We have already implemented many of the confidence and supply wins and we are working constructively with the coalition parties to implement all the others. It is not difficult to stand for Green kaupapa even when we do disagree with the coalition parties. We have done that on trade policy we've done it on defence spending we've done it on animal welfare and we've done on the Māori wards.So the difficult decision on this bill is not typical of the kinds of decisions that we've had to make in joining this Government. What does make this decision uniquely difficult is the strong competing principles. The first is that the Green Party has spoken out vehemently against a bill like this in 2001 and 2005. The competing principle is that the Green Party is now committed to this new multi-party Government built on the merging of three parties' priorities in the first truly multi-party MMP Government—MMP a form of Government fought for and brought about in large part by the great work of the great man Rod Donald a man who has been brought into this debate whose memory has been dragged through this debate by members in the Opposition who worked so hard during his life to impede his great work. That's disgraceful.Our confidence and supply agreement includes a commitment to act in good faith to allow Labour and New Zealand First to implement their coalition agreement. Mostly that doesn't involve the kind of proactive support in the House but this bill does. So it is this commitment to good faith and our commitment to see the new Government succeed that has decided our position on this bill. We know that most out there—we know that nature can't afford another three years of a neo-liberal National Party Government.I now wish to address the process we've taken to come to our decision. Far from some sort of smoke-filled back-door deal the Green Party has gone through a robust internal process. We announced initially that we would support the bill to select committee. That gave us the opportunity to reach out to our grassroots and it also gave our members the opportunity to be heard and to have their views put on the record. We have discussed and debated the competing principles behind this bill led by our party's national executive and its policy committee which represent elected members from the grassroots. I would like to thank that group for the work that they've done with our caucus in coming to this decision. Many people understood our support of this bill and some didn't—some pushed for us to oppose it including many who submitted to the Justice Committee. I would like to acknowledge especially Jeanette Fitzsimons and Keith Locke our great previous MPs who will be disappointed in our support. These people were heard and I'm sorry that the outcome will be disappointing them today.To be clear we do not think that this is a particularly good bill. We don't think it addresses a pressing issue in New Zealand today and we do have concerns about party caucuses—[Interruption]ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Poto Williams): Order! I'd like to hear the member's speech.GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: —we do have concerns about party caucuses being able to remove MPs from Parliament. So yes this was a difficult decision but it has come about because we've decided that this new Government must succeed and we must support it in good faith to succeed. We decided to change the Government because we knew that the 250000 Kiwi kids living in persistent poverty beneficiaries the multitude of families living in cars our young people without mental health care living in an epidemic of youth suicide and our natural environment could not afford another three years of the heartless neo-liberal Government that that side of the House was leading. They couldn't afford it. This Government is bringing about significant green change and principle-led green change: the zero carbon bill an end to oil and gas exploration removing dehumanising sanctions for beneficiaries world-leading domestic violence leave and mental health services for under-25-year-olds just to name a few.So the confidence and supply agreement does that but it also allows the Green Party to speak out on our unique kaupapa. That is something that's close to my heart. Protest is close to my heart and I value you it as an out-of-Government Green Party MP—[Interruption]ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Poto Williams): Order!Hon Gerry Brownlee: Flexible kaupapa.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Poto Williams): Order! Mr Brownlee.Hon Gerry Brownlee: I beg your pardon?CHAIRPERSON (Poto Williams): I'm calling you to order. Hon Gerry Brownlee: Are you naming me?ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Poto Williams): I'm calling you to order Mr Brownlee.Hon Gerry Brownlee: Well you cannot do that in that style.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Poto Williams): Mr Brownlee I have asked for the House to come to order. There has been a barrage across the House. I made it very clear that I wanted the barrage to stop. Now we are permitted to interject. Those interjections need to be few and far between and preferably witty I think is the phrase. Now that is not the case. This is a robust debate but I would like the opportunity to hear this speech.GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: Thank you Madam Assistant Speaker. So the confidence and supply agreement allows the Green Party to represent our unique kaupapa even when we disagree and I will in particular continue to lead our position as the only party in this House who maintains our opposition to the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement. We will work to change the trade agenda so that neo-liberal principles will not be able to mar our democracy again. I will keep loud on disarmament; I will keep protesting against mass spying and the spy bases.Marama Davidson stood in this House not long ago to push the Government on discriminatory establishment of the Māori wards. She will continue to lead on honouring Te Tiriti and decolonisation a paradigm-shifting stance that we'll bring people along with eventually. We have spent 19 years in Opposition and nine months in Government. The Green Party owes a huge debt of gratitude to the wider movement—to everyone who's worked so hard to put us in this privileged position today. Deciding to be part of this new Government is the biggest opportunity in our party's history to make great green change and we intend to take that opportunity.