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>> I'm Trevor Mallard, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and I took a team
of presiding officers and other members to Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands recently.
I thought it was important to get to know parliamentarians from there, and also to understand
how our aid projects were going.
>> What we saw in the Solomons was the impact that MFAT is having over there – the work
that they're doing with the local communities to identify what their needs and wants are,
and where we can support.
So we saw that in the health system.
We also saw that in education when we visited their schools.
>> The first one was in Mele Village, and to see kids being taught there in tents, big
marquees, was actually quite chilling after Cyclone Pam.
And I know that we're looking to help with that after we've seen that, so we're looking
at raising some funds here in Parliament.
>> I think too, as part of the wider Pacific, we've got regional responsibility in the issues
that were raised, particularly around climate change.
I think we've got an opportunity to support them, but I certainly learned an awful lot
about their resilience.
>> The people that work for us in MFAT and represent New Zealand do a fantastic job.
It is money well spent, and we've seen that it makes a tremendous difference to those
people's lives.
>> Probably the highlight for me was going to the Fred Hollows Eye Centre, where I think
$6 million of New Zealand money went into building this state-of-the-art complex, which
had its own solar system, its own water supply, and there was literally hundreds of people
going through that place who are getting their eyesight back.
>> In Vanuatu when we went to Mele Village, it was a real eye-opener for me.
The benefit that those workers get from coming to work here in Aotearoa New Zealand.
>> And we were able to see the very concrete examples – literally concrete – when they
built the base of their house, they built their house by hand, including making the
blocks, the concrete blocks.
>> And I guess out of that was that one particular man who showed us his house that was to all
intents and purposes a modern home with a kitchen and running water and everything else...
and then he showed us 10 years before, what used to be his home, and the difference for
their life.
>> I think for me what that really showed is that the scheme is mutually beneficial.
>> We have 2,000 Vanuatuans come into the Bay of Plenty to pick kiwifruit, but to see
the difference that it made to them.
They educate their children.
>> I was really taken by the students that had spent time in New Zealand.
The very first pharmacist in the Solomon Islands, that was just amazing.
And then what he has subsequently gone on to do.
>> I think that's as New Zealanders something we can be really proud of: that we are supporting
the tertiary education of some very talented young people whose opportunities are exponential
as a result of their studies in New Zealand.
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>> The main purpose as Speaker was to have links between our parliaments.
The Pacific parliaments, especially those in Melanesia, are evolving.
They're actually evolving quite quickly.
But their starting point is a bit behind ours.
They're not as representative.
They tend to have a lot more older men in them.
>> Women are not well represented in those parliaments, and that's of great concern – and
yet those alumni that we met, some of the most impressive were young women.
>> And we saw them in different leadership roles in business.
They're just not managing to get through the political system.
>> And it was noted that over half of our delegation were female.
There I was with my young family and breastfeeding my baby, a current member of Parliament.
>> That message came through loud and clear, that they really appreciated other women being
there to share their experiences.
>> One of the other highlights for me was the ability to meet with Family Planning to
really look at young women's reproductive health and the services that are available.
I must say I was pleased, I was surprised at how advanced they were with some of it,
which is really great.
>> In the Solomon Islands we went into a school, and there was this one empty building,
and saying, 'What is that building?'
And they said, 'that's the library,' – but there were no books in it.
We spoke to people that were there that were in part of the construction industry, who
have containers going out from New Zealand, and said if we can get the books to them then
we can send them out in their containers.
And so I've already started in Tauranga, but I'm going to bring that back to Parliament
so that we can try and get some of the other parliamentarians to help collect books in
their areas.
>> I'm really proud actually of our country, and the resilience of the people in both Vanuatu
and the Solomon Islands.
>> They live in such a beautiful... we think our country is beautiful, but wow, we saw
some amazing places.
>> Having the discussions, making the contacts, and meeting some of the people who are going
to be leaders in the future, I think was very useful.