Henare Peeni; Salesa JennyHon PEENI HENARE (Minister for Whānau Ora): Tēnā koe e te Māngai o te Whare. Ka noho ahau ki roto i te reo Māori mō te wāhanga poto.He karanga a aituā he tai timu he tai pari. He tai ka tae atu ki hea. Ka tae atu ki a nunumi mā ki a roroa mā ki te hunga kua oti atu ki te pō. Kia tāpae ake ki runga i waku kupu mihi ki te tāhuhu kōrero o tō tātou Whare te hunga mate ki roto i ngā wiki tata kua pahure ake nei.Kua kōrerohia nei e te Whare mō te āhuatanga ki ngā tāngata i riro i te horonuku o Muriwai ana kua kōrerohia te Whare mō te āhuatanga ki ngā tāngata i riro atu ki roto i te waipuke ki roto i te Matau-a-Māui ki roto anō hoki i te Tai Rāwhiti. Na ka tāpae ake ki ngā mate huhua o aua tāima anā te ingoa o tōku matua a Vince Heperi i riro ki roto i te pōwhiri nui a Te Matatini inanahi rā ki roto o Tāmaki-makau-rau.Nō reira ko te āhuatanga o te ao Māori kia mihihia kia tangihia wō tātou mate i te tuatahi ka mutu ka huri tū atu ki ngā kaupapa o te ao kikokiko nō reira āpiti hono tātai hono rātou ki rātou. Āpiti hono tātai hono tātou te hunga ora tēnā koutou.[Greetings Madam Speaker. I shall speak in the Māori language for a short time.The call of tragedy is an ebbing and flowing tide. It is a tide which could affect anyone. It reaches to the distant underworld to those who have gone forever. I present my words of acknowledgment to the ridgepole of our House for those who have died in recent weeks.The House has discussed the situation of the people who died in the land slips at Muriwai and the House has discussed the situation of those who died in the flooding in Hawke's Bay and on the East Coast. I also add to those many deaths at those times the name of the respected Vince Heperi who died just yesterday during the welcoming ceremony at Te Matatini in Auckland.It is customary in the Māori world to acknowledge and grieve for our dead at the outset and then we can turn to the issues of the physical world. And so the lines are unbroken; let the dead be with dead. The lines are unbroken to us the living. Greetings to you all.]Thank you Madam Speaker for allowing me the opportunity as is customary on marae across the country to farewell the departed first. Of course I acknowledge those who we sadly lost in the weather events that have plagued this country over the past few weeks. I also add to that my condolences of the family of Vince Heperi who sadly passed away at the Te Matatini Pōwhiri yesterday in Tāmaki-makau-rau. All of those who have passed we share in this House we share the one sentiment of condolences and love to their families. It is too in that tone that we look towards those who have responded in these weather events that have plagued our country over the last few weeks but indeed in the years gone by.Today in question time my colleague the Hon Kieran McAnulty made clear that only three times in our history have we declared a national state of emergency—one under his watch as Minister for Emergency Management. I can say one of the other times when I was Minister of Civil Defence as we responded to COVID-19.The track record of this Government in responding to crises that affect this country is quite clear. We've managed to navigate the tricky waters of COVID-19—the same waters that the international community had to wade through and navigate through—and I can say that the track record from this Government is one of success. We've come through that particular period well off and better off than many of our counterparts that we compare ourselves to around the world.Then when we look to these weather events I can tell you Madam Speaker that the same true: that on this side of the House this Government looks towards responding to those important matters that arise from the crises that our country is currently facing. I can tell you Madam Speaker not just in Tāmaki-makau-rau through the floods but also as Cyclone Gabrielle bore down on this country I'm proud to say that those first responders in Fire and Emergency New Zealand in the New Zealand Defence Force and in our communities spurred into action and responded appropriately.I want to acknowledge for my part as Minister for Whānau Ora the Whānau Ora providers and the Whānau Ora commissioning agencies around this country. They dipped into their own pockets to allow an instant response for families in affected areas. They also pivoted their resources away from what would be considered business as usual" because of the exceptional circumstances our communities found themselves in—pivoting workforce pivoting resources to make sure that the communities had what they need.The same is said about the Māori health providers in this country. They've already dipped into cash reserves of their own to make sure not only were they able to respond to the weather events but also continue to keep our communities safe from COVID-19. When we find ourselves in an evacuation centre—and I was fortunate to visit a number of those evacuation centres during the Auckland floods—those health providers were at the door continually reminding ourselves that COVID is still in our community and when you come into contact during emergency situations with people who are unknown to you and your community it is important that we must remind ourselves that COVID-19 is still in our community.But I want to acknowledge those health and Whānau Ora providers because they did an exceptional job. In order for us to support them what we've been able to do is relieve some of the contractual obligations that we might ordinarily see under "business as usual". That's important because it's too much to expect them to do business as usual while responding to these exceptional circumstances due to the weather events. I'm really proud of the way we've been able to support them and I want to reiterate to those providers and those communities that this Government is here this Government is listening and this Government will stand by them during the recovery.We've just heard from the other side of the House that this Government has been "light on delivery". Well I can say that that side of the House promised bridges once upon a time—in fact in my time in this House—and delivered nothing. I can also say that that side of the House has also promised the kinds of investments in infrastructure that our communities have been calling for but from them we've seen nothing. From this side of the House despite the exceptional circumstances of the weather events despite the exceptional circumstances of COVID-19 (1) we've responded to them and (2) we continue to do the mahi to make sure that the infrastructure that this country so richly deserves is having investment made into it and is making sure that we can continue to progress. It's that kind of investment that will make sure that our country will not only navigate these challenging times but also come out with great prosperity.Part of that too is of course making sure that those who are affected most by these weather events we are able to respond but also support them to recover. We've already made a number of announcements towards investing in our infrastructure that has been broken because of these weather events. We've also made a number of investments into those who have helped respond. We've made a commitment to those responders that we will be there to continue to listen to them to make sure that our response is agile enough to meet their needs.What's really important is not only should it have national coordination which is what this Government is promising but also that the regional voice is being heard during the recovery. We've said it many times in this House: what happens in Te Tai Rāwhiti is different to what happens in Te Tai Tokerau. The response required in Te Matau-a-Māui is different to the response that will be required in Tāmaki-makau-rau. Therefore it's important that we continue to take a strong regional approach which is what the Prime Minister has announced in supporting the recovery from the weather events. I wholeheartedly support that approach and I'm sure that many of the members in this House as they reflect on their constituencies and their electorates that that local voice is really important. I'm proud that our Prime Minister has decided to make the call to coordinate and to support centrally but more importantly to drive those outcomes and those desired outcomes for the recovery locally because that's going to be important. There are a number of other things that I just want to briefly touch on. One is of course we know that the bread and butter issues that continue to face our families are still there despite the weather events. So we've got to make sure that we're working on both of those things. And of course this Government has already announced the increase to the minimum wage which is really important. That puts money in the pockets of the lowest-paid people in our country. That makes sure that many of them who are Māori and Pacific and other ethnic communities who find themselves in the lower-paid ranks of this country continues to put more support behind them continues to back the work that they do by paying them appropriately.It isn't all bad news. I want to finish my contribution by saying today starts the Te Matatini festival. They call it "the Olympics of kapa haka". It is the biggest Māori event on the calendar not just in this country but in the world. And as thousands around the world and indeed locally will tune in to watch their family their loved ones despite the challenges that we've faced over the last few years come together in spirit come together in performance on stage to share with the rest of the world our culture the Māori culture the indigenous culture of this land. I welcome one and all to Tāmaki-makau-rau and to my electorate to partake in what is truly a festival of love a festival of culture and a festival of hope.Nō reira haere mai ki a au ki runga o Tāmaki. Kia ora tātou katoa.[I invite you to visit me in Auckland. Greetings one and all.]ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jenny Salesa): Kia ora. The next call is a split call. I call on Ricardo Menéndez March for five minutes."