Valedictory Statement

Karanga mai rau rangatira mā me ngā hoa hoki. Te Whare e tū nei, te papa e takoto ki waho, tēnā kōrua. E ngā mana, e ngā reo, e ngā tāngata o te wā, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa.

[Call to me the chiefs of a hundredfold, and colleagues as well. To the House that stands before me and the earth lying out there, greetings to you two. To the powers, languages, and the people of the moment, greetings, greetings, and greetings to you all.]

Having greeted this House in the first language of our nation I now just want to say, in the language that I must admit I am most comfortable in, how really delighted I am to be able to be here today, and to say thank you to all my fellow members for their agreement for me to speak at this time, instead of yesterday. I would have liked to be here yesterday to share the occasion with my colleagues who are also retiring at this time, but I just could not make it. Actually, I underwent neurosurgery last Monday, and I needed to see my doctor this morning to get the staples removed before I came down here. And yes, I did say staples, not stitches or sutures—it is amazing to learn of the different procedures they carry out in our wonderful health system. Although I have to admit that I did not much like the look of the staples, they did seem to do a very good job.

The other thing I am a bit sorry about today is that Richard Prebble is not here. Some members, indeed most members, may be surprised at that, given that Richard and I have never been what one might call great mates. But I had promised myself the indulgence of having a long-deferred go at him for the game he played on the occasion of my entry to Parliament. He may not be here, but I have decided not to be done out of my chance to make a public comment—after all, I am the only member who has ever had to sit in the gallery and listen to the House debate whether or not I should be permitted to take my seat. Never mind that all the rules and requirements had been met—the honourable member wanted a debate about it. There had, of course, been a number of changes to personnel of the House before I came in, 2 years into the term, but the issuing of warrants had always taken place during recesses, so there was no opportunity for debate. To be fair, Richard did make the point that his objection was not personal, but constitutional. The debate did, however, delay me taking up my seat, and required the rescheduling of my maiden speech. Still, that is politics, and I guess we would all agree that games are part of the fabric of this House, and they can provide a bit of light relief at times. I certainly appreciated finally making it to my seat.

My time here, although not the shortest of the current retirees, is not as long as I would have wished. I had hoped, before learning of my illness, to stand for another term. But as it seems unlikely that I would see out the session in good health, I feel, with real sadness, that I have to say goodbye. I want to thank all my colleagues from all parties for their continuing expressions of concern and support for me through some very difficult times.

Coming into that first MMP Parliament was not an easy experience for many of the new MPs, especially for those on the list, as it was largely uncharted waters. But I have to say that coming in 2 years into the term and trying to set up an office on the North Shore, with a limited budget and absolutely nothing left in the Parliamentary Service store, was quite a test. That we managed to set up a pretty respectable office was a real testament to my wonderful North Shore team. I do give special thanks to my staff at that time, Kerry and Karen, for all their wonderful work. One thing that did amaze me was the number of people, right from the start, who came to us for help. As an Opposition list MP, I had not expected there would be much demand, but from the time of the first newspaper notice we had lots to do. I think being an MP must have the least pre-service training of any job with similar responsibilities. I know how hard I worked to come up to speed on accident compensation claims, benefit entitlements, medical misadventure, and tax issues. I must say, though, that those issues are much less of the workload now than at that time.

Then, of course, after the 1999 election of the Labour-Alliance Government, everything changed. Not only did I have my friend Ann Hartley as another Labour MP on the North Shore but I was also appointed as deputy-chair, to Graham Kelly, of the special select committee established to consider, first, the new industrial relations legislation, and, second, the restoration of the social contract between the State and the people for the provision of accident compensation. I cannot think of anything that has meant more to me than both those pieces of work. The workload was huge because, as well, I sat on both the Education and Science Committee and the Social Services Committee. The special committee met each afternoon and evening. We heard hundreds of submissions, read thousands, and considered a mountain of reports, and I enjoyed almost the entire process. It was certainly on a par with leading the New Zealand Educational Institute Te Riu Roa to the first pay parity settlement, and I had never expected I would be involved in anything quite as momentous as that again. I count myself as being very fortunate, because the chance to be part of a team working to make a positive difference in people’s lives is a wonderful experience.

I did not set out to have a career in politics, and although I am usually referred to in this Chamber by members of the Opposition parties as having been a trade union official, that was actually only for 2 years of my working life, when I was the elected national president of the Educational Institute. The rest of my working life I spent as a classroom teacher, and about half of that time was spent in the special-education field. For that reason I am glad to have had the chance to serve on the Education and Science Committee for my 7 years here. I want to place on record my thanks to both Liz Gordon, for her work as chair from 1999-2002, and to Brian Donnelly for chairing it for the last 3 years. They both chaired the committee with dignity, charm, and good humour, and always showed concern for submitters, which has meant that it has always been a pleasure to attend that committee.

The establishment of the Teachers Council and sensible, forward-looking legislation in a host of areas have made great improvements in education provision. The excellent research being done at Waikato University may well hold the key to better outcomes for our underachieving students—I do hope so. There has been a huge growth in the tertiary sector, and although there have certainly been some problems we could all have done without, the need to increase the skill level of our workforce is imperative. New Zealand needs apprentices, industry trainees, and constant retraining opportunities, if we are to become the high-skill, high-wage economy that our people deserve. I find it difficult to understand why those who argue vehemently for the need for executive salaries to be internationally competitive cannot extrapolate that lesson to the payment of their workers. For instance, it is not low taxes that lure Kiwis to Australia, since its tax rates are higher than ours, but Australia’s pay levels are certainly more attractive than ours. The remedy for that lies in the hands of employers, especially as we have had 6 years of excellent economic performance.

In the university sector we can be very proud of the performance of our institutions in many areas, but I do remain concerned about the way they cling to the competitive market model. Large amounts of money are squandered on fancy advertising campaigns that serve no useful purpose, while staff salaries languish. Competition should be only in the achievement of excellence in academic results—not in which university can expand the fastest into other regions, or attract the most sponsorship.

While on the subject of education, I cannot let this opportunity pass without commenting on the series of seminars sponsored by the Royal Society of New Zealand and the Education and Science Committee. Started by Liz Gordon and Brian Donnelly in 2002, and continued in this session, the seminars are designed to improve the understanding of science issues by MPs, and to give the two groups a chance to get to know one another. We have considered some fascinating topics, from crime-scene analysis to the origins of the first Pacific settlers. The Royal Society puts on a lovely meal, enjoyed by an enthusiastic group of regular attendees. For those who have not tried the seminars, I thoroughly recommend that they do so in the next session. I know they are one of the joys of my time here, and one that I will really miss.

Being a member of this Labour-led Government has been a really satisfying experience in so many ways that I cannot possibly detail them all. But some of the highlights for me have been the restoration of income-related rents in State houses, and the upgrading and building of State houses to replace those neglected or sold in the 1990s. No one who visits those communities can doubt the huge, positive benefit of that work. As well, the improvements to the delivery of benefits, coupled with the huge increase in employment, are a source of real pride to me. The huge investment made in public health has made life a lot easier for many of our most vulnerable citizens, and I am happy to place on record my appreciation of the care I have had in our hospitals and clinical services. Of course I have had to wait for treatment at times, but now that we have increased numbers in training, particularly in areas such as radiotherapy, the delays are no longer critical.

Probably my proudest moment here was when I became the chair of the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee, and likewise the saddest time was when ill health meant I had to resign. Still I have enjoyed both that first year and the last 2 years as a member of the committee, with Mark Gosche as a great chair. Which Auckland MP would not have loved to deliver the wonderful roading progress and, as well, the improvements to the industrial relations legislation and the Holidays Act—sheer bliss! Paid parental leave, enhanced childcare provisions, the improvements in the minimum wage, the appointment of the Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner, the Property (Relationships) Act, and the Action Plan for New Zealand Women are all policies dear to my heart that make a difference for women. As a feminist from way back, that is really important to me.

I want to take a little time now to talk about MMP. This is another little indulgence that I promised myself I would have, if I got to make a valedictory speech. It stems from the occasion of the valedictory speech of my dear old mate Graham Kelly. I was actually sitting beside Graham as he launched into his opinion of the work and usefulness of list MPs. Although careful to acknowledge the hard work of many list MPs, Graham compared unfavourably the relative workloads of list and constituency MPs. Although he may have had some justification for his opinion that the community pressures are greater for those who represent a constituency, unfortunately he forgot to factor in the difference in staff resources provided to the two groups for the work they do. In any case, his view that all MPs should be allocated a patch, or a constituency, would hugely increase the complexity of the system, and I do not believe that it would add the accountability that he felt was lacking. From my own work, and from my observation of my fellow list members from all areas and parties out and about in our community, I can say that most are working damned hard.

I am a true believer in the MMP system and in its ability to deliver a better form of democracy to the people. Under first past the post, we too often saw the party that won the most votes winning fewer seats, because of the way the electoral boundaries were configured. That has been, and always will be, a problem with electorates. But under MMP that becomes less significant, because it does not decide the final result. That is a plus, but it is not the really important factor. The really important issue that lies at the heart of democracy is the right to be represented in Parliament and to have one’s political views represented there. Prior to 1996, too many people were denied that right. Large numbers of people voted for parties, such as the Social Credit Party or the Values Party, which won a significant share of the vote but, on most occasions, no seats. Of course, the double jeopardy was that people were often discouraged from voting how they were truly inclined to vote, by perceiving that their vote would be wasted. Even quite large votes could yield no result, and probably the most potent example of that occurred in 1984, when the New Zealand Party won about 20 percent of the vote, yet not a single seat. Regardless of whether we thought that was a good result, a number of us started to think seriously about electoral reform at that time. I do realise, of course, that the 5 percent threshold does disenfranchise some small groups, but I believe that the balance between delivering true representation and maintaining stable Government is about right.

The other non-representative scenario from first past the post that really bugged me for the first 20 years I lived in Auckland was the safe seat. I lived first in the Tāmaki, and then in the Remuera, electorate. Although I always cast my vote, it did sometimes seem a little pointless, as I watched Sir Robert Muldoon, and then Sir Douglas Graham, sweep in as my representative. The current situation is much better. Communities still get the constituency representative that suits their taste, but at least the overall, truly democratic party vote is the electoral decider.

In conclusion, there are a number of people that I do want to thank. It may seem a bit effusive, but having a terminal illness does make me want to say things that I feel are important. So, here goes. I want to place on record my appreciation to Mayor George Wood and the North Shore City Council for their inclusion of list MPs in civic affairs. I really enjoyed working on issues such as the Tāmaki land and the Bayswater Marina, and I believe that it was to our mutual benefit. To the messengers, security, catering, and select committee staff—in fact, to all the parliamentary workers—I say they do a great job of looking after us. I thank them. To Chris, who spent 6 years as my electorate secretary, I express my heartfelt gratitude. You have always done more than asked, and have been a wonderful support to me and to those who seek help from me. Thank you. To Audrey, who has looked after me better than anyone has any right to expect for over 5 years, I say you are a wonderful friend, a brilliant secretary, and probably the most willing worker whom it has ever been my pleasure to know. Thank you.

To my wonderful North Shore Labour electorate committee, and to Francis and Bill Bell in particular, I say they have been great to work with, and I truly appreciate all their efforts. I also want to thank the North Shore Labour team. It has been great to work together across the three electorates, and those people have become really good friends.

My friends in the New Zealand Educational Institute and the union movement are too numerous to mention individually, so in the spirit of collectivity I will just say a representative thanks to Ross and Carol that includes all of my comrades.

To my caucus colleagues, I say thank you for the extra work you took on to cover my absences for treatment. To the lovely, long-suffering whips, I say thank you for uncomplainingly sorting out leave for me when needed—no matter at what notice—and also for the personal support they have provided. To Ann Hartley and Lynne Pillay, I can only say thanks, you two, for cheering, comforting, and cosseting me through some really hard times. No one could ask for more. I want, too, to say a special thank you to Helen Clark, who went that extra length to make sure that I felt sure of her unequivocal support to continue in my MP role for as long as I felt able. While I am on that subject, I also say thank you to Helen for restoring my faith in the Labour Party, and so making my service as an MP possible.

I guess all of us have friends who are very special in our lives. For me, Fiona Johnston is such a friend. We have known each other for over 25 years, and I have shared a lot of activities and interests with her. She has been my campaign manager for three elections, and has served above and beyond the call of duty. I just cannot possibly say how much her unfailing support has meant to me.

I have an amazingly wonderful family—too numerous to mention—but I just want to say thanks to my three sisters, who are here today, to my brother in Australia, and to my beautiful children, Scott, Leigh, and Blair, who have supported and encouraged me in everything I have done. I must also say that I have seven grandchildren who fill my life with joy. To my very special man Alan, I can only say that you are my support, my rock, my anchor, and my love, and I am so lucky to have you in my life.

I have loved this job, and I know I will miss the work and all the wonderful people. Good luck to you all.