Edmonds BarbaraHon BARBARA EDMONDS (Labour—Mana): Ou te faatalofa atu ma le faaaloalo. Malo le soifua maua ma le lagi e mamā. The 685s to the world! For those members of the House who do not know what 685 means it is the calling code for Samoa but it took the 682 the Cook Islands to bring this bill to the House I acknowledge. There's only a couple of times we like losing to the Cook Islanders but today we'll give it to you my brother.Today is a historical day because we have seen the Labour Party support the Greens we have seen Te Pāti Māori support the Greens we have seen the ACT Party support the Greens—never thought I'd see this day—and I've seen New Zealand First support the Greens support the bill. And that is a historical day because today rights the wrongs of what happened in the 1980s. Now the unfortunate thing for me is I did not learn about our New Zealand history until I chose to learn it at university and that is something wrong with our country that something as remarkable as the stripping of citizenship rights for Samoan people who were born during a period where New Zealand administered them was their Government was removed through an Act of this House. There is no point paying homage to the wars that we fought in Samoa and that plaque above the head of the Speaker if we do not right the wrongs of the past.And what we have seen is through community advocacy through a simple and very humble woman Falemaʻi Lesa we have seen what is possible through the power of people. The Samoan people in this country are proud of our roots and of our homeland. We are proud that we are the third most spoken language in this country. We are proud that we are the fastest growing Pacific population in Aotearoa New Zealand. And yet we have hidden a historical wrong which is finally brought to the House which this Labour Party wholeheartedly supports. And we want to thank those who have paved the path for this. We want to thank our elders our mafukaga Ministers Anae Arthur Anae we want to thank auntie Paula who keeps sending me emails to make sure that I support this bill and all our aunties and uncles when they tell you you better support this bill we better support this bill because the punishment that happens in our community is harder than any punishment that we would ever experience in this House!I also want to pay homage to the Wellington lawyer George Rosenberg who supported Falemaʻi Lesa during that court case. He understood the importance of why they had to test that. For me my father would have fallen within the Samoan citizenship Act because he was born in Samoa in 1945 and there's a lot of our generation—the generation just above mine—that would have fallen within these particular rules had they been left in. But what has happened is that was removed and then like my father and many other fathers and mothers who are here within the House today they would have had to go through a process when by right—by birthright—they were born in a time when New Zealand administered their country.So I want to thank the people who have brought this here today. I want to thank the rest of the parties who are supporting this bill. I want to ensure that the generation that comes after me—the generation of our children who again are the fastest Pacific population in New Zealand—Hon Carmel Sepuloni: Fastest growing not fastest!Hon BARBARA EDMONDS: Fastest growing—fastest growing. Well actually some of them are quite fast. The fastest-growing population—that they learn this history not because we've had to bring it to the House but because New Zealand is going to teach its history in the schools. So that is the stage that we need to start pushing. But for tonight we give our alofa and we celebrate what is a milestone of achievement. The 685s to the world brought to you by the 682 but we take it. Fa'afetai tele lava.