Valedictory Statements — Hon Dr Shane Reti

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I rise today to present my valedictory address by way of reflection and by way of thanks.

I want to start by acknowledging all the party leaders I have worked under: John, Bill, Simon, Todd, Judith, myself for a week, and Chris Luxon. We come to Parliament to make a difference, and I hope, in some small way, that I’ve achieved this.

Today, I will talk to a few highlights over a decade, some stories, some lighter moments that few will know, and hopes and aspirations still to be completed.

Starting in my first term, then, as a backbencher in a John Key - Bill English Government, there are a few moments that stick out as one gathers experience and learns a new role.

My first moment in that term was getting rid of Wicked Campers rental vans, with their disgusting, foul-mouth, misogynistic slogans. After the Brisbane-based company failed to turn up to Advertising Standards Authority hearings and failed my request to visit them in Brisbane, I commenced a campaign initiated by writing to all councils and persuading them that vehicle signage was actually a sign, and, therefore, their signage by-laws applied. They agreed. I followed this up by writing to Visa and MasterCard, suggesting that they really didn’t want their cards being used. By the time we had Z Energy banning them from filling up at their forecourts, they were done. This presented a new backbench experience and a first taste of a national issue and national media attention.

The second reflection in that term is Hundertwasser Whangārei, a multi-party project that, after 20 years of delays, just as the gift was about to be taken back by Vienna, was finally able to be built. I’ve always considered this project a relay race, and, for a brief period of time, I had the privilege of being the relay runner. I acknowledge the many, many people who brought this to fruition—including Helen, Clive, Bill, Sue, and David Wilson, who are here today. Now, Hundertwasser was a different sort of advocacy for me, more towards my parliamentary colleagues. Every week, the Hundertwasser strategic funding team would meet to plan what the next step was.

At that time, regional economic development had passed from Steven Joyce to Simon Bridges. At one of our weekly meetings, I mentioned that Simon was in Dubai, looking to advance our Gulf Cooperation Council ambitions, and that I could look to activate one of my colleagues from my years in Boston, a high family Emirati in Dubai who would likely be meeting with him. This was agreed, and so I placed a call to him in Dubai. The call went something like this: “Bu Yusef, may the sun shine on you. Bu Justin, may the sun shine on you too. Can you tell me, are you part of the high-delegation meeting with Minister Bridges this week?” “I am.” “I want you to do something for me. I want you to tell him how the people of Dubai can’t wait for Hundertwasser to be built and that Emirates airlines will land at Whangārei Airport.” The next caucus meeting, Simon makes a beeline for me. “Shane, unbelievable, I was lobbied for Hundertwasser while I was in Dubai.” “Were you, Simon? How unusual!”

Now, this was not the only time that a senior Cabinet Minister in that term said to me, “Shane, unbelievable.” In 2016, the Telecommunications Act was being amended to resolve the broadband roll-out over contested driveways and over existing power poles on private farmland. For us, this was very dependent on the Northpower roll-out. Amy Adams was the Minister for Communications, and I got a call to go to her office. Me and Nathan Guy were there, and Amy says, “Next week, we’re bringing the Telecommunications Bill to the House. We’ve fixed the shared-driveways problem, but we won’t be advancing fibre over existing infrastructure on private farmland. The feds are completely against it and we won’t win that fight.” I said to Amy, “So, to be clear, the Northpower model for rural communities won’t proceed?” She said, “No, it’s done.” I got back to my room and thought, “No, there must be a solution.”

So I called Anders, the lead at Federated Farmers and said, “Anders, it’s Dr Shane MP for Whangārei. I do understand the feds’ fibre reservations. I get that. But if I can get every Northland farmer to consent, will you give us a carve-out for fibre?” He said, “Well, that will be quite a body of work but we will agree if you do that.” I then called Northpower and met with them and legal counsel urgently on site in Whangārei the next day. I outlined the issues and listed their advocacy and we set up a plan that, over the next three months, would become known as the Northpower Proposal.

That weekend, though, I needed to let formidable Minister Amy Adams know what I had done. So I bolstered my courage and texted her: “Amy, the feds have said that if I get consent from every farmer in Northland, they will carve out fibre access.” Amy immediately texted back: “Shane, unbelievable. I told you this was done and to leave it alone. You have the feds and Northpower in my office first thing on Monday morning.”

Over the next three months, the bill was recommitted back to the select committee, consultations were re-opened, and, after further negotiations with the feds, we got unanimous party agreement for the nationwide roll-out of fibre over existing rural infrastructure, with wide-ranging impact for rural communities. I want to acknowledge the select committee chair at the time, Melissa Lee, along with deputy Kanwaljit Bakshi, and members David Cunliffe, David Clark, Clare Curran, Gareth Hughes, Ria Bond, Alfred Ngaro, Simon O’Connor, and Brett Hudson. You opened the path for rural communities to receive fibre, and rural communities thank you.

I then had two terms in Opposition, further honing one’s craft and learning a new set of skills. It was the first time I had encountered written parliamentary questions, for example, and found them a particularly powerful tool to challenge the Government of the day. I want to acknowledge here my friend and colleague the Hon Peeni Henare. We came in at the same time, and, many years beforehand, I was the GP for his first baby. So I’ve always had a soft spot for Peeni. Ngā mihi ki a koe e hoa.

To come back to written parliamentary questions, from trial and error, it turns out that if you make a mistake and send your written parliamentary questions to the wrong Minister, that office then redirects them to the correct Minister. There were occasional times in Opposition when I needed to send challenging questions to Peeni, but I couldn’t attack Peeni, so I’d deliberately send my questions to Andrew Little, and his office would transfer them! Then, at the end of the day, you know how it is when you critique how you’ve done—“Was I effective today? Did I make a difference?”—and you have that conversation with your inner voice, and if I had sent parliamentary questions, I’d raise that question “And did you attack your mate Peeni?”, and my inner voice would say, “Nah, not me; Andrew Little.”

It was in Opposition that I heard some of the most amusing things that I have heard in this House, not often picked up by the cameras. We were doing the final reading of the Te Pūkenga bill, I was the tertiary spokesperson in Opposition, and New Zealand First MP Tracey Martin was the last Government speaker. I had the call, and I said to Tracey, “Tracey, imagine if we owned the polytechnics, you and I—I’ll go you halves. If we owned the polytechnics, would we be doing this tonight? The answer is no.”

Now, what I’d done a few days earlier was actually to secure a company name, the Shane Reti and Tracey Martin New Zealand Polytechs Ltd. So I said to Tracey, “Tracey, I’ve even registered a company name, ‘Shane Reti and Tracey Martin New Zealand Polytechs Ltd’.” She shouted back at me, “No, it’s ‘Tracey Martin and Shane Reti New Zealand Polytechs Ltd’”. “Whatever! Would we be doing this tonight?” And just at that point, Chlöe Swarbrick shouted out, “Typical. When the Greens want to protest, they march on Parliament; the Nats register a company.”

Then, in this, my fourth term, I had the privilege of being a Cabinet Minister in Government, taking the policies one has worked on for years and actually deploying them. The Parliamentary Library told me that completing the very first coalition agreement policy of this 54th Parliament was in my hands—namely the International Health Regulations reservation, which needed to be in Geneva within 48 hours of my being a Minister—and the second coalition policy as well, announcing $30 million a week later to urgently increase emergency department security for the upcoming summer season and out-years.

There are many highlights as Minister of Health: to develop a policy in Opposition for a third medical school and then bring it into Government and actually start building will change the landscape. It was a privilege to bring forward the biggest funding increase ever in cancer drugs. I want to thank Pharmac, Health New Zealand, the Ministry of Health, and the many clinicians who operationalised it, and the PM, and Minister of Finance, who at the time simply said to me, “Shane, you do the policy and we’ll find the money.”

A real highlight was extending the breast cancer screening age group from 70 to 74. I acknowledge the advocacy of colleagues Nicola, Louise, and a senior BreastScreen Aotearoa expert in this room tonight. This was a policy worked on for many years—a policy formed in Opposition, then having it drawn from the ballot box, then to first reading, and then implemented within a year of coming into Government.

I will share with you here what very few know and that probably led to the most lives I have ever saved in my career in the six hours before I made the formal breast-screening announcement in Nelson. Over many meetings with Health New Zealand, we worked up the operational detail and implementation plan. The night before the announcement, I was in Whangārei reviewing the run sheet and there was something nagging at me. Something was missing and I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. The next day, with the big announcement that afternoon in Nelson, I caught the 6 a.m. flight from Whangārei.

On the same flight—indeed, the seat beside me—was a medical colleague who I’d known for decades, who was also the Health New Zealand lead on the programme. He was going down to the big announcement also. I said to him, “There’s something missing. We’re increasing the breast cancer screening age for everyone from 70 to 74.” “That’s right,” he said. “Every year we will increase the age of eligibility by one year, so that in four years’ time, the extension will be complete.” “What about those who are already between 70 to 74?”, I asked. “No, there is nothing for them. People will age in.” That was the hole. I had promised New Zealand women that there would be something for everyone between ages 70 to 74. I asked, “Did you model other options?” He said, “Yes, we also modelled a final screen at age 74.” “How much was that?”, I asked. He said, “$20 million.”

I landed in Auckland at 7 a.m. and called Lester Levy. “Lester, there’s a policy hole and we need to fix it and it will cost $20 million.” “I will get back to you,” he says. I landed in Wellington an hour later and I got a call from Margie Apa. “Minister, we have the modelling, we can deliver those extra screens, and we can look to do it within baseline.” I landed at Nelson a few hours later and made the announcement that breast cancer screening would be extended for all women. Three flights across six hours and the results to date have been success beyond any of our imagination.

Here is what has happened: the cancer detection rate—or CDR—internationally for a successful screening programme is about four per 1,000 screened. In the first year of the programme, we were seeing a CDR nearly triple that, at 11 per 1,000. Here’s the thing: it’s all happening in that last-year scan—that policy I added on late notice on announcement day. In this older age group, we are seeing screening numbers way beyond what was expected, especially for Māori women, especially in Northland and East Coast. What none of us anticipated and what the modelling didn’t take into account was the response to it being the last free scan. People are signing in because it’s the last one that is free. To return then to my lead statement, I may well have saved more people across six hours and three flights than at any other time in my career, and that is truly a privilege.

There is always unfinished business as a Minister, and I too have some. I will place just one on the table here now. To the fizzy drinks industry, I was coming for you, and you knew it. I had worked on sugar policy for years, and I met formally with industry representatives at the end of 2024 and outlined my plans. They said to me, “Could you wait until after the busy Christmas/New Year period?”, and I agreed. I told them I didn’t need to use words like “sugar levy” or “sugar tax”, because New Zealand consumers would force the change. Here’s why: the evidence put to me was that one of the most popular cans of fizzy drinks in New Zealand had 10 grams of sugar in it—several teaspoons—but that exact same can of fizzy drink from exactly the same company in Australia only had 7 grams of sugar.

Let me put it another way: some of our fizzy drinks look to be nearly 40 to 50 percent more sugared up here in New Zealand than exactly the same can of fizzy drink in Australia. This was also the case to varying degrees across other popular fizzy drinks in New Zealand. How is that possible? With high diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular rates in New Zealand, how can we possibly explain that and, even more so, allow it? I say to the fizzy drink industry: please explain why you have been deliberately sugaring up New Zealanders, and then reformulate to at least the baseline in Australia.

I am the first Māori to win the Whangārei seat, and the 15th Māori to win a general seat. Serving the people of Whangārei has been a privilege. Together, we have progressed the four lanes, the single-biggest economic driver in Northland. We have built a game-changing radiotherapy centre, saved vulnerable people’s lives at a remodelled Salesyard Road, and built the biggest Kāinga Ora housing facility in regional New Zealand.

Wellington can be tough, and the beltway can be narrow. When the rigours of Wellington has impacted, returning to the electorate each week has anchored me and reminded me of my purpose, especially with my squash mates: the Brown Brothers, Matty, Bondi, Jonny, Willie, and Steve. I thank you.

In closing, there are others I need to thank: my EAs and SPS’s over the years—Judy Morrissey, Andrea Harris, and Angela Bray—my senior adviser, Jonathan Franklin; and press secretaries Charlotte Gendall, Gabrielle Henderson, and Peter Thornbury. To all the private secretaries and agency executives, I thank you also. To my local electorate office team over the years—Vanessa, Paul, Lynn, Diana, Shannel, campaign chair Ken—and to the people of Whangārei, I came here to do something, not be something, and I gave it my all.

Finally, to my family—many of whom are here today—Mum; Dad; Michelle; children Justin, Melissa, Angela; grandchildren Maisie, Niko, Luke, Hayley, Connor, Charlotte, Christine; stepchildren George, Noelle, Michelle, and Amelia, thank you. And to my partner, Yvonne, who has been with me from the very beginning of this journey, thank you for helping me bring this to life. Thank you all for your understanding when “papa Shane” missed your birthdays, recitals, or sports events. I will do better.

To all my parliamentary colleagues across the House, both past and present, thank you for letting me be a part of the wider team. It is not clear to me that what we do here is still well described as the politics of the left and right, but maybe it is better described as the politics of top and bottom. To that end, I wish everyone in this House the wisdom we pray for at the start of each day. Tēnā koutou. Tēnā koutou. Kia ora mai tātou katoa.

[Applause]

Waiata

Sitting suspended from 5.49 p.m. to 7.00 p.m.