Sio Hon Aupito WilliamHon AUPITO WILLIAM SIO (Minister for Pacific Peoples): As we usher through Parliament today the zero carbon bill for its third and final reading and vote there is a storm blowing. There is a storm blowing on the open waters of the western tropical Pacific Ocean. It is hundreds of kilometres east of the Northern Mariana Islands. On Monday this storm ramped up to a category 2 and then on Tuesday it had intensified to a category 5. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center is calling it a super-typhoon—Super Typhoon Halong. It is estimated its peak winds are at close to 305 kilometres an hour. The report of this super-typhoon says its mesmerising fury and terrifying beauty is capturing the attention of meteorologists worldwide.As a child I remember when these natural events occurred in the past it was the practice of our village elders in Samoa to attempt to decipher the meaning of such events. They would recite and share stories of similar events of the past and based on past climatic patterns my elders would attempt to predict potential future events or when the next climatic event would occur and what was needed to prepare the people for the impending danger.This super-typhoon called Halong in all its fury and ferocity is an unprecedented event that our modern-day scientists have never seen before. These are unprecedented times. New Zealand along with the political leaders of the Pacific region agrees that climate change is the single greatest threat to the livelihood security and wellbeing of all Pacific peoples and that includes New Zealanders. This super-typhoon and many more like it will continue to emerge in our region and throughout the world. These natural events are mother Nature's response to human activities. Mother Nature's response will be more frequent more intense and more ferocious. Our young people all over the world including right here in Aotearoa New Zealand and across the Pacific region can see the dangers heading our way. Our young people's advocacy their actions in the youth quake movement underscore the urgency by which we must all act as a nation as a region and as a world.The transformation of New Zealand to a low-emissions nation requires us to act at the scale of the industrial revolution and at the speed of the digital revolution. New Zealand's climate action has progressed under a number of Governments of different stripes. I think of Helen Clark's Government during the Kyoto Protocol period: the introduction of the emissions trading scheme. As a country we weren't ready. We couldn't include agriculture in that emissions trading scheme.I think of John Key's Government. They yes signed us into the Paris Agreement in 2015. But I also recall that very year we got two Fossil of the Day awards. These are not awards to be proud of; these are awards for failures. I also recall during that period how divided our position was as a Pacific Island nation in the region with Tokelau with the Cooks and with other Pacific nations. Our reputation went downhill because of lack of action despite our signing the Paris Agreement. And so today it is significant. It is a time that we should mark. And so I think we've got to try and take the politics out of this. We've got to try and take the politics out because it requires everybody on board. So let me just say thank you.Thank you to the Hon James Shaw. I remember when we first came in as Ministers and away we went to the Bond meeting without talking to our leaders about certain views we held around climate change. I thank you for your leadership. I thank you for the patience in trying to bring everybody here on board. I want to thank you for listening to the leadership also of our Prime Minister the Right Hon Jacinda Ardern because in the 2017 campaign she put a stake on the ground and said climate change was the nuclear-free moment of her generation this generation. And that's exactly why this is so important. I want to thank you for trying to work across the aisle acknowledging also the leadership of New Zealand First and their part in this Government. I thank you also for bringing our Opposition party across the aisle. I want to acknowledge also that you've acknowledged that this isn't just your work; that you stand on the shoulders of others in the past. This is significant to acknowledge. And I see my friend Dr Kennedy Graham. Thank you for all the work that you did in ushering through while we were in Opposition and your patience in working also with the Government of the time. I thank you for listening to business and listening to the farmers. I acknowledge there are about 120 CEOs 60 percent of big business who have signed in and have accepted climate change. We cannot bury our head in the sand. And for that leadership opposition and anybody else who still thinks climate change is a hoax have been pulled in. I want to acknowledge you're listening to our young people. Because of their advocacy we've called this bill rightfully the zero carbon bill. I acknowledge also you're listening to Māori. Māori and indigenous knowledge are so important. I've been saying our science has to go hand in hand with indigenous knowledge. And for Māori the rivers oceans our mountains our forests our rain—those are manifestation of metaphysical beings. And they all are interconnected and they operate under natural laws. I want to thank you for listening to the Pacific region because by listening to the Pacific region you have stamped a 1.5 degree goal in this legislation. By listening to the Pacific region you've lifted also our reputation not only as a Pacific Island nation here but our reputation together with the mana and dignity of our Prime Minister in the international arena. Why is that important? It is because we've all got to do our part. This isn't just about us or them. No one country can tackle the issues and the problems and the complexity of climate change. We all must pull our weight. We must all paddle in the right direction. Finally I just want to thank you for not listening to the less than 1 percent voice in this. You see this man here who represents less than 1 percent of New Zealanders—because that's the amount of people that voted for them—they still think that the economy must be at the expense of something else. I think our Prime Minister has shown the leadership in the international arena that treaties economic treaties must incorporate climate change and the effects and impact on the world. This lot here will go down still fighting an archaic thought that somehow if we just do nothing something will change. But that's not going to be the case. I want to remind that 1 percent: remember that climate change is a consequence of market failure and since the Industrial Revolution we have socialised the costs of pollution and privatised the benefits. That story needs to be told over and over and over again. Kia kaha.