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Moderator, your Excellencies.
We in New Zealand remain deeply committed to supporting the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols, which form the core of the body of international humanitarian law, applicable to armed conflicts.

Your Excellencies, good afternoon, tēnā koutou, warm Pacific greetings for you all.
I thank you for this opportunity to reaffirm Aotearoa New Zealand’s commitment to universal health coverage.
New Zealand believes firmly in the objectives of today’s event, the acceleration of progress towards achieving universal health coverage to build a healthier world for all.

Kia Ora and Warm Pacific Greetings.
The IPCC Special Report on Climate Change and Land is unequivocal: reducing greenhouse gas emissions from all sectors is essential if global warming is to be kept to well below 2°C, if not 1.5°C. Changes to the global agriculture and food system are necessary if we are to address climate change, eliminate hunger and halt biodiversity loss.

Mr Secretary-General, it has been New Zealand’s honour to work with China in assisting you to prepare for your Summit.
The commitments on Nature-Based Solutions have demonstrated the significant action under way, working with nature to increase resilience and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But more than that, the commitments and initiatives will also protect biodiversity, strengthen food security and underpin sustainable livelihoods around the globe.

Kia Ora. Ni hao ma. Greetings and Warm Pacific Greetings.

It has been an honour to work with China and other coalition members to assist the Secretary-General in preparing for his Climate Action Summit. Nature-Based Solutions for climate change are something New Zealand has a strong focus on, and we look forward to working with many of you here to further this agenda.

Kia Ora, Ni hao ma, Warm Pacific Greetings.
In co-leading the Nature-Based Solutions pillar, we realised that for many people nature is not top of mind when thinking about climate action. And we realised, too, that nature is sometimes thought about as “out there”, in the countryside or forests or oceans, not here in the heart of cities where over half of us live.

Madame Chair, the Deputy Prime Minister of Samoa. My fellow ministerial colleagues from across the Pacific region. SPREP and CROP officials present, ladies and gentlemen. Let me underpin my comments with what’s been said in New Zealand, that the transition to a low emissions economy needs to happen on the scale of the industrial revolution, but at the speed of the digital revolution.

E nga mana, e nga iwi, e nga reo, e nga hau e wha, tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa. Talofa lava, Kia orana tatou katoatoa, Malo e lelei, Fakalofa lahi atu, Taloha ni, Ni sa bula vinaka, Mauri, Bonjour, warm Pacific greetings to one and all.

Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio will help to officially open the Pacific Climate Change Centre in Samoa this week, another example of New Zealand’s Pacific Reset in action.

Tonga Language Week starts on Sunday, providing us all with the opportunity to reflect on the role languages play in a changing society. 

The second Youth Justice Indicators Summary Report, published today by the Ministry of Justice, shows the substantial drop in youth offending identified in the first report has continued, says Associate Justice Minister Aupito William Sio.

The Minister for Pacific Peoples, Aupito William Sio says the Prime Minister’s Pacific Youth Awards encourages service leadership to benefit our communities in Aotearoa, throughout the Pacific region and the world.

Fa’afetai i lau Susuga ile fa’afeagaiga mo le tatou talosaga momoli. Oute talitonu lava ua mu ma talia le tatou Taulaga osi.

Speech at the 2019 New Zealand Security Industry Awards, Auckland, Friday 23 August 2019

Tena koutou katoa. Warm Pacific greetings to you all.

I would like to acknowledge the leadership and members of the NZSA, Sir William & Lady Judy Gallagher, the life members present, and Trish McConnell, the Private Security Personnel Licensing Authority.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to say a few words for the New Zealand Security Authority Industry Awards Dinner. I acknowledge the incredible work that goes in to providing quality security to New Zealand homes and businesses.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio will attend the 50th Pacific Islands Forum in Tuvalu this week, the foremost annual meeting of Pacific leaders.  

Launch of Cook Islands Language Week, St Lukes Pacific Island Presbyterian Church, Tokoroa, 3 August 2019

Kia òràna tatou katoatoa.

Papa Turu. To the māmās and pāpās of the Tokoroa Cook Islands community. To the Samoan orator who greeted me, the mana whenua present, and your worship the mayor. It is such a fantastic pleasure to bask in the shining glory of the sixteenth star. You are the most southern of all the Cook Island stars.

Cook Islands Language Week is an opportunity to celebrate the important role Pacific languages play in the daily lives of thousands of our Pacific friends, neighbours, colleagues and loved ones.

Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio today announced the appointment of Tevita Funaki as the new Chair for the Pacific Business Trust (PBT).

From today, Pacific young people living in the Bay of Plenty, Waikato and Whanganui/Manawatu, will get backing to help access life-changing learning and earning opportunities that will lead to fulfilling and prosperous lives.

Your Excellencies, It now falls on me to provide some closing remarks and to wish you safe travels.

I want to begin by acknowledging we have all gathered here at the invitation of the Indonesian Government, and none of us wanted to miss out on such an auspicious occasion. Thank you to our hosts for your generosity and hospitality.

Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio will travel to New Caledonia tomorrow to represent New Zealand at the Pacific Community’s (SPC) biennial Conference on 21 June in Noumea, along with Ministers and representatives from other SPC member countries.