Valedictory Statements — Hon Dr Duncan Webb

Thank you, Mr Speaker. [Applause] Easy on—just the once.

SPEAKER: I don’t think you’re going to top that, so we’ll just call it there, shall we?

Hon Dr DUNCAN WEBB: Yeah—call it a day. I will if you will, Mr Speaker. Ha, ha! Look, there’s never a right time to leave Parliament, but I guess there’s one way to leave Parliament, which is by choice, and there’s the other way, and I guess I can just be lucky that I’m leaving by choice.

You do sometimes, I think, wonder, in the hurly-burly of this place, whether you have any impact at all, and I certainly know that some of my constituents wonder that as well. But it does make you reflect on why you came here, and I suppose that’s what valedictories are all about. In fact, Mr Speaker, it was your work in Christchurch that drove me to become a member of Parliament.

SPEAKER: Very happy to be an inspiration to you.

Hon Dr DUNCAN WEBB: Well, you did call me an ambulance chaser, and I might have called you a few things as well. But, look, the scars of the Christchurch earthquake were very real and raw, and in my maiden speech I said that on the day of the earthquakes, the heart of Christchurch stopped beating. What drove me here, it wasn’t a big policy goal; it was actually quite personal. I still recall one incident that stood out, which was when a very old man in his 70s or 80s called my office and was really apologetic to trouble us, because he didn’t really have any money. He said he’d been living in a caravan in east Christchurch in his backyard for two years because the Earthquake Commission (EQC) hadn’t come round to assess his badly damaged home and he didn’t have any sanitation—was that OK? It wasn’t, and that’s one of the reasons I chose to come here.

I do want to recognise some of the young lawyers I worked with back then who worked really hard on cases like that to change people’s lives who really needed help. Some of them are here today, and that was a team I was proud to be part of. But I joined a different team—I joined this team, and it’s a team I have loved working with. When we came in, we were focused on the Christchurch earthquake and what had happened there. Certainly, the Christchurch MPs were.

When I look back and I see that we launched a royal commission into EQC—that actually did change the culture of EQC in significant ways. We created a claims resolution service that still exists to assist people through natural disasters, and we established an earthquake tribunal. Perhaps most importantly, we established the on-sold programme which meant that people got their houses and their dodgy EQC repairs fixed without having to go through court. They were all transformative changes for the people of Christchurch. That earthquake story isn’t finished. People are still struggling 15 years on, but I think we changed the focus to what it should be, which was on the people.

Another project that I was involved in was an innocence project in Christchurch—and it was great, and I’ve got Andrew Little here in the House—to see the Criminal Cases Review Commission established. I think sometimes, as a party that’s been in Government, you can focus on the reversals instead of some of the changes that have really stuck, and I do think that they’re just some of the changes that I came to Parliament wanting to see happen and indeed they have, so that’s something I think we can all be really proud of.

I know we all come here with the vision of making people’s lives better, and we disagree what that might mean—sometimes fiercely—but I do worry, sometimes, that we don’t give enough weight to community, culture, recreation, and art, and we value a society where every spare hour is spent working, making ends meet, and we miss out on friends and family and the things that really matter. It’s the tyranny of accumulation.

I want to recognise the work that Grant Robertson did when we were in Government—he really understood the importance of what mattered, and I think his wellbeing Budget was a transformative way to look at how we manage our economy and make a fiscal plan. I know that this Government hasn’t continued along that road, but I think the foundations are there, the work’s been done, the knowledge is there, and I hope that in future Governments, we will go back to asking the question of how we make people’s lives better through the Budget process.

When I got here, I was sitting over there, and when I did my maiden speech and I stood up and said, “I’m a member of the Labour Party. We believe in democratic socialism. I am a socialist.” [Applause] It’s good to see that that line still works. I was surprised to get a cheer because I actually didn’t think I was saying anything particularly outrageous for a Labour Party member. But I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that the word “socialism” sends a shiver up the spine of some people on the other side of the House, but to me it’s not an ideology; it’s an approach. It’s not necessarily about State ownership or things like that; it’s just about the idea that where you start, someone’s circumstances of birth, should not be determinative of their course in life. Out there, in the real world, we see people with compassion and humility and humanity that they bring to their lives every day and I think that’s the kind of socialism I think we should be bringing into this House.

I guess policy, for me, is personal. Perhaps it comes from all that time I spent in church, but when I see jobs being cut, emergency accommodation being harder to get, support for disabled people being taken away, I wonder if we should frame it as something some old bloke did a very, very long time ago when he said, “Insofar as you turned away the least of them, you turned away me.” That seems to me to be a sound basis for public policy.

Sometimes we spend far too much time sitting down and not enough standing up, and as the election rolls around, I think we should ask each of us and each of the parties who we’re standing up for. Some groups and people are easy to stand up for, but some aren’t. When I think of the homeless, people in prison, unemployed, youth offenders, I wonder who’s standing up for them, because if it was easy to stand up for them, we wouldn’t really be needed in here anyway, would we?

I do want to recognise what a huge privilege it is to be in this House and I really appreciate the confidence that the people of Christchurch have put in me. One of the jobs I really quite enjoyed was being chief whip—[Laughter] I did!—of 65 MPs; oh, no, 64.

Hon Member: Too soon—too soon.

Hon Dr DUNCAN WEBB: Ha, ha! Of course, one of the jobs of a chief whip is to not get a great big deal of attention. If you do get attention, you’re doing the job wrong. But it was a real privilege to manage a large caucus in a way which let the Ministers in Cabinet do their job and make sure that the backbenchers were meaningfully engaged in supporting that ministry. I want to give a shout-out to all the whips past and present: keep it up, keep out of the news.

Most MPs’ headlines don’t hit the headlines, my own included, but I do want to recognise the importance of every MP that comes here, both in their own caucus and in ushering through important legislation. I can actually remember a real sense of pride as we sat in the Environment Committee passing the zero carbon Act, thinking this can change the direction of climate change in New Zealand and the world. That is something which is a very special place to be, and it happens here a lot.

I was also very lucky to be given a ministerial role, Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs—not glamorous, and that’s probably why I got it, but I actually did really enjoy the work there, particularly the consumer-oriented stuff. Obviously, the insurance contracts bill that Andrew Bayly mucked up. I actually thought that was an important piece of work that’s going to change a lot of what goes on in New Zealand. I did learn, in that role, that banks, supermarkets, insurers, and the like are articulate, well organised, well funded, and very close to Government. Any Government needs to work equally as hard to hear from those on the other side of those conversations, and there’s still a lot of work to do there.

Don’t worry, Mr Speaker. I’ve spoken to Matua Adrian, and he said I can take as long as I like. No, look, it’s usual to thank a few people in these speeches, and I suppose I should. Firstly, Suzanne, who’s tolerated me and nine years of politics, which isn’t easy—it’s probably more public service than anything I have ever done. Thanks for your patience and your wisdom and for keeping me grounded and for all that time that I’ve taken from you. My kids are here—Albert, Lewis, and Felix. Keep it real. Treat me with disdain and scepticism! Only young men can master that. But it’s been really important to me to have them, and it’s great that they’re here tonight.

In Christchurch, Sonya Rowell’s been my electorate office manager since 2017, and that’s quite some feat. Some people say we’re like an old married couple, but I didn’t think it was quite that bad. Thanks to her and all the many staff who’ve helped me out in that office. Of course, there is the Wellington crew. Frank, Marleen, and Casper have helped me as executive assistants here and have tried to manage the chaos. Also Claire Szabo, who’s here today as well. She was my ministerial adviser, and she really looked after me. There were a couple of occasions—or perhaps more; I’m not quite sure—where she disappeared letters that I had written handwritten responses to people on, telling them what I really thought. They would appear the next week as clean copies that were safe to sign. So thanks for that, Claire. You didn’t save the Government, but you did save me.

Politics is a local activity, and I want to thank those people who helped me on the ground. When I started campaigning in 2017, John Key was Prime Minister, and Labour, to be fair, was in the doldrums. Christchurch had a National MP, and people thought I was mad to give up a job in law and come here—they may be right. By election day, much had changed. Bill English was the leader of the National Party, Jacinda was our leader—and a rising tide lifts all boats, but I was also lifted by absolutely hundreds of not just Labour Party members but supporters and friends who had a belief in me. That is a huge thing, so I want to thank them all. They are truly too numerous to name. Some of them are here tonight, but thank you very much. The only one I’ll call out is Aaron Campbell, who’s here today. He campaign managed three campaigns. He’s got an eye for detail and energy and obsession that pays absolute dividends. Thank you, Aaron. Of course, every campaign gets the odd disgruntled volunteer, but not everyone becomes a National Party MP. Thank you, Vanessa Weenink.

I also want to thank the people of Christchurch for your support, because I don’t think a constituency MP can actually do the job unless they have a fairly broad base of support across a broad section of their community—across party political lines. Obviously, as a constituency MP, you want to see the best for all of your constituents. I think that it’s been a real privilege to work with business, with community groups, and with schools across the board in Christchurch. It’s been a real honour to be the MP for a fabulous central city electorate.

In terms of this place—look, this is an odd place, and I think sometimes you need to reflect on that. To be honest, as you kind of slowly slide into the shadows, you see it in stark relief. It’s got a strange mixture of tradition, procedure, personalities, and institution, but the thing I love most about it is that it’s representative. That is exactly what it should be. From the four corners of the country, we come here, and we bring a diverse group of voices to the arguments and discussions we have.

To be fair, when you’re a lawyer, you do have to have a certain degree of arrogance, particularly as a litigation lawyer, and so when I arrived here, I did thank I was going to do OK. It didn’t take me long to work out that I had to take a big chunk of humble pie and recognise that I was back in school. I actually want to give a shout-out to my Māori colleagues in particular, who have been really good in both nurturing me and also leveraging a little bit of my skills. I think we’ve worked really good together on some massive issues. I do remember one Waitangi when Kelvin Davis was there, and he kind of did that with his head—you know, that “Get over here, boy”. As I walked over, he’s got this inscrutable face, and he looked at me, and he said, “I saw your video on the Treaty principles bill.” I thought, “Oh my God! I’ve done it wrong—big tikanga breach.”, and he just did this wry smile and said, “It was good.” That’s pretty high praise. That’s about as good as it gets from Kelvin.

Sometimes the antics that go on here bring this place into a bit of disrepute, but I think everyone around here understands that it’s actually important that we apply ourselves to good legislating and good government. The rules are strange, the hours are oppressive, and the place is foreboding, and sometimes there’s more performance than policy, but, ultimately, it’s a place of hard work, and it should be, because this is the centrepiece of our democracy.

I just want to mention that the oil that runs this place, of course, are the many staff. Their attitude, their kindness, their friendliness, and their manner makes our job so much easier. It’s exemplified by the day I arrived here. It was all very exciting, and I had my new swipe card. I came back about half past 9 at night and thought, “I’ll have a look around the building to get my bearings.”, and I got hopelessly lost. I was in the depths of the basement, with the buzzer going that I couldn’t go through that door, when I was stopped by a security guard. When I said, “Look, I’m a new MP and I’m having a look around, his face lit up, and he said, “Sweet.” I got a one-on-one tour, for an hour and a half, of the entire building. The oldest urinal is in the old library building. It’s the place to go.

We do reflect on this place, and it’s usual to say that things are going to hell in a handbasket. This place isn’t falling apart, but we do need to be vigilant. It’s so precious. I do think we do need to be wary of excessive lobbying, of an excessive use of urgency, and of retrospective legislation, and we need to be constantly vigilant that whoever has the Treasury benches values not just the rules but the principles that underpin our democracy. If we don’t do that, the frustrations will spill out of here on to the streets outside.

I want to acknowledge the media because they have a—thanks for coming. They do such an important role, and I think they do it, on the whole, very, very well indeed. They keep us honest. I actually knew my career was on the slide when Luke Malpass did one of his ministerial kind of “How Ministers are doing”, and he said, “and then there’s Duncan Webb—affable and competent”—damned by faint praise. I’ve been questioned by media on all kinds of things—insurance, law, consumer data rights, earthquake recovery, and so on and so on—but the best question ever was about two weeks into my time here when Jenna Lynch said, “Do you still think it’s OK to eat kiwi?” You need context for that one.

Some might think it’s surprising that I’m calling it a day, but this is the longest I’ve ever held down one job—not a proper one. But I’ll miss this place a lot, and I’ll miss these people a lot. This is a fantastic group of people. It’s a fantastic Labour caucus. From the outside, it looks unified, focused, and committed. From the inside, it’s pretty much that as well—believe it or not—and, Chris, that’s a real credit to your leadership. You’ve done an amazing job. We are here, and it’s going to be a tough election, but this caucus is ready to govern.

I leave optimistic about this place, about Parliament, about Christchurch, and actually about New Zealand. Christchurch Central will be well served by its next candidate, George Hampton. If I could offer him one piece of advice, it would be this: ka tae koe ki te whareumu, tihorea te kūmara—when you get to the kitchen, peel the kūmara. This place is full of noise, drama, strategy, process, personalities, ego, but in the end, the job is actually very simple: find those people that need help, find the fix, do the mahi. Thank you.

[Applause]

Waiata—“Tūtira Mai Ngā Iwi”

Sitting suspended from 6.01 p.m. to 7.30 p.m.