Maiden Statement

Kia ora, Madam Speaker. E ngā mana, e ngā reo, rau rangatira mā, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa. Ko Tongariro me Taupiri ngā maunga. Ko Taupō te moana, ko Waikato te awa. Ko Te Wherowhero me te Heuheu ngā tūpuna rangatira. Ko Ngāti Tūtemohuta me Ngāti Hineuru ngā hapū o Ngāti Tūwharetoa. Ko Ngāti Āmaru me Ngāti Tīpa ngā hapū o Waikato, Tainui waka. Ko Louisa Wall ahau.

[An interpretation in English was given to the House.]

[Greetings to you, Madam Speaker. Greetings to authorities, languages, and leading figures, greetings, and greetings to you all. Tongariro and Taupiri are the mountains. Taupō is the lake, Waikato is the river, and Te Wherowhero and te Heuheu are the revered ancestors. Ngāti Tūtemohuta and Ngāti Hineuru are subtribes of Ngāti Tūwharetoa. Ngāti Āmaru and Ngāti Tīpa are those of Waikato, of the Tainui canoe. I am Louisa Wall.]

Kia ora tātou. Madam Speaker, I acknowledge the role you play in maintaining order in this House, and that I will have the privilege of serving in this House with you. It is with a sense of deep pride and gratitude that I stand here today in this, the 48th session of the New Zealand Parliament and as the 1,323rd member to be sworn in. I am here today because I am a proud member of the New Zealand Labour Party, and because of MMP. I represent the diverse membership of Labour, which reflects the variety of communities that make up 21st century Aotearoa. MMP is a system that ensures that every vote is counted, and that the will of the people of Aotearoa is heard. I am very honoured to represent the many peoples of this land.

I want to acknowledge my mother, Josie, and my mother’s mother, Nanny Linda, from Tuakau, whose korowai I am wearing and who are in the House today, and my whānau from Waikato-Tainui. I also acknowledge my whānau from Waitahanui, some of whom now reside in Wellington. Waitahanui is a community on the eastern foreshore of Lake Taupō, where I grew up. It is the land of my Ngāti Tūwharetoa father, Les. As my partner, Prue, often reminds me, it is part of Te Arawa waka.

My entry to Parliament is occasioned by the retirement of Ann Hartley MP, and I congratulate her on her service to the people of the North Shore and of New Zealand as a whole. I also state my gratitude to those many New Zealanders who over the last three elections have consistently chosen Labour as their party of choice, placing Labour in a position to lead the government of New Zealand. I express my gratitude to the Labour Party membership for electing me into a list position to represent and promote the Labour philosophy of ensuring that no one is left behind and that all boats rise together in New Zealand’s harbour.

I am Labour’s candidate for Tamaki Makaurau. I look forward to working with the Auckland Labour team in our quest for two ticks and a mandate to form the next Government of Aotearoa New Zealand.

At this time I also pay my respects to the Labour Party branch members of the Mt Albert electorate, who introduced me to the party. I am the 261st person to join the Labour team of MPs in the history of the New Zealand Parliament, and I am the 96th woman, the 86th Māori, and the 6th takatāpui to enter this House.

I am proud to join a Labour team seeking to make history. Just like my old team, the Black Ferns, Labour is preparing for four successes in a row. We have the leadership to make this a reality. I believe New Zealanders could not ask for better leaders than the Prime Minister, Helen Clark, and her deputy, Michael Cullen. It has been under their watch as the leaders of Labour, successfully negotiating minority Governments, that New Zealand has walked amongst the leadership of the world, showing great courage and steadfast resolve. Without question, Iraq would have been a war entered into if it were not for the Labour-led Government.

We kept true to our international obligations and to the mandate of the United Nations. We remained committed to the Security Council decision when some of our traditional friends decided that they knew best. Consequently, New Zealanders did not needlessly die in battles in Iraq, because it was not the right thing to do and because Labour listened to the great majority of New Zealanders who did not want us to go to war. Labour will continue to listen to New Zealanders and remain committed to our principled position on international issues such as our Nuclear Free Policy and our protection of whales stance. There are also policy positions related to our role as a leader within Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa in support of our Pacific whānau, which I support wholeheartedly.

It was great to see the election of the Labour Government in Australia. I celebrate the fact that one of its first acts was to admit the reality that past deeds had been akin to the cultural genocide of Australia’s indigenous peoples, and to apologise for the loss of language and culture that resulted. The New Zealand Labour-led Government is progressively working through issues of historical redress with indigenous peoples. As well, there is much more appreciation and valuing of our indigenous language and culture, as opposed to my dad’s childhood days when he was strapped for speaking Māori at school. Labour has done this by introducing a new generic education curriculum that maintains that all students should have the opportunity to acquire knowledge of te reo me tikanga Māori and to learn about Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

I am pleased with the support we are giving to Māori Television, and with the extra $23 million in radio, whose operational budget was increased by $4 million in the 2007 Budget. I note that when we launch MTV2 at the end of March it will be broadcast in te reo each night between 7.30 and 10.30. Initiatives like these are required to advance New Zealand’s Māori Language Strategy and to encourage the learning of te reo in New Zealand society. I am proud to belong to a party that values New Zealand’s indigenous language and culture.

Labour supports two particular principles of intense interest to me. First, we see the Treaty of Waitangi as the founding document of Aotearoa New Zealand. Labour reaffirmed its commitment to that at the 2007 Labour conference in Auckland, along with a commitment to consider entrenching the Treaty when the time comes in the future for a conversation about an Aotearoa New Zealand constitution.

It is worth highlighting here the historical partnership and ideals that Labour shares with the Rātana movement. During the Christmas of 1929 at a hui at Rātana Pā the Treaty of Waitangi was discussed at length. This led to 26,407 signatures being gathered by the following Easter requesting that the Treaty of Waitangi be embodied in the statute book of Aotearoa in order to ensure that the Treaty was operative and to preserve the ties of brotherhood between Māori and Pākehā for all time. The commitment to making this a reality remains a priority for Labour, Rātana, and Māori.

A second Labour principle of intense interest to me is a commitment to human rights; that regardless of race, sex, marital status, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, or religious faith, we New Zealanders will be free to express ourselves and have the support of society in doing so, and that to ensure the balance between our collective rights and responsibilities, we have open processes that enable New Zealanders to speak their truths. It is now my right and responsibility as an MP to listen to those who have truths to contribute, to identify those absent voices and the barrier to their participation, and to help them have a voice as we make laws and rules for the governance of our society. Politics for me is about being in a position of power to make informed and principled decisions of benefit to society that protect the rights of society’s most vulnerable members.

I have been reading a book given to my father as a 21st birthday present in 1964, Ratana: the origins and the story of the movement. This book documents the establishment of Te Haahi, and recounts a promise by Harry Holland, Labour’s first leader, in 1925 that lands properly belonging to Māori would be restored as part of the Labour programme of redress. The process of redress continues today. Labour is as committed as it was in the past to addressing injustices under the Treaty settlement process. This reconciliation process is critical to moving our country ahead, and I support the need to lodge all historical claims by September this year.

Labour and Rātana formed a union during the depression of the 1930s. Both organisations gained the support of many during a time when unemployment and poverty were huge problems for our country. It seemed to Māori and Rātana that Ngāti Kaimahi, the Labour Party, was the champion of the rights of the people, as opposed to the perpetuation of class privilege espoused by conservative parties. Labour adheres to that position today. Issues such as unemployment, the need for higher education, and the employment of Māori youth, in addition to the status of Te Tiriti, have long been high priorities for Māori. Under this Labour-led Government the Māori unemployment rate has decreased from 16.6 percent in December 1999 to 7.7 percent, with a reduction in Māori 18 and 19-year-old beneficiaries from 28.2 percent in June 2000 to 21.8 percent in September 2007.

Māori educational achievement is up, with participation rates of Māori children at early childhood education increasing from 84.8 percent in 2000 to 89.9 percent at last count. The percentage of Māori school leavers with a university entrance qualification doubled between 2001 and 2006, from 7.4 percent to 14.8 percent; 85,747 Māori are enrolled in tertiary education institutions and 2,243 Māori are enrolled in post-graduate courses. Māori trade training has been reignited, with over 23,000 Māori trainees participating in Modern Apprenticeships and industry training schemes. In the arts, culture, and heritage area $23.9 million has been allocated in three new investment areas to better position Māori to build and leverage off their collective human, financial and natural resources, traditional and contemporary knowledge, and skills in leadership capability. Māori are building a strong future with the support of Labour, and our work together must go on.

For those Māori like me who are on the Māori roll it is worth noting that Labour is committed to retaining the Māori seats until Māori decide that they are no longer required. At this time I would like to acknowledge a mate of my dad’s, Tariana Turia, who in the earlier stages of my political journey was a huge support when we were both members of the Labour team, and also Sandra Lee, who thought I should have a taste of life as a “poli”, so she opened her ministerial doors to me. Mark Burton has known me since I was a child. I acknowledge the support that he and Carol have given me over the years. Maybe I will get to play rugby with my mate Trevor in the parliamentary team—I am sure I qualify.

The remainder of my speech is about my parents, Les and Josie Wall. My mother was adopted and times were hard in her early life, but she managed to travel the breadth of Aotearoa, meeting my dad in Tamaki Makaurau before they eventually settled in Waitahanui. My parents instilled in my brothers, Robert and Brian, and my sister, Janice, and I, a work ethic of “what you sow you reap”. I am forever grateful to them both. Dad grew up in a house with a dirt floor. They bathed in the river and were fed by Lake Taupō, which sustained us when we were children, because dad got up at 5 a.m. to go fishing before he went to work. Education was very important to my dad. He wanted a better life for his children. On his headstone are the letters PHD after his name. He was not quite a doctor, more a post-hole digger, but my dad worked hard to improve the lot of his children every day of his life as a father. Dad would have enjoyed being here today. No doubt he will get an edited version from my mother when she visits him next at the urupā in Waitahanui.

Finally, to friends and whānau who have come to share this experience with me: you have humbled me with your presence. Thank you for making the effort. To my partner, Prue, I appreciate all your support and your commitment to sharing my journey, which has now led to Parliament. Nō reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātou katoa. Kia ora.