Maiden Statements

Kei te mihi nui, kei te mihi aroha ki te Whare Pāremata, tēnā koe. Ki nga rangatira mā, ngā kuia mā, ki te hunga ora tātou hui mai nei, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa. Ko Ngātokimatawhaorua te waka. Ko Maungataniwha te maunga. Ko Hokianga te awa. Ko Ngāpuhi te iwi. Ko Clendon te whānau. Ko David Clendon ahau. Tihei mauri ora!

[I extend a huge and fond greeting to the House of Parliament: greetings. To the chiefs, elderly ladies, to us the living assembled here, greetings, greetings, and greetings to you all. The canoe is Ngātokimatawhaorua, the mountain is Maungataniwha, the river is Hokianga, the tribe is Ngāpuhi, the family is Clendon, and I am David Clendon. Behold the breath of life!]

I deem it an honour and a great privilege to be in this House today to take up the duties, the rights, and the responsibilities of a member of Parliament. I offer my greetings and respect to those who have gone before, to those here now, and to those who in turn will follow us. Earlier today I took an affirmation of loyalty to the Crown. I now add to that a commitment to uphold Te Tiriti o Waitangi as the founding constitutional document of the country I now aspire to serve, as have other Green MPs before me. However, my commitment is far from being merely a token or a follow-the-leader statement. As well as an objective or intellectual respect for the relationship that the Treaty established, I feel a close and very personal connection to it through the diverse strands of my own genealogy.

My Pākehā tupuna James Clendon came to New Zealand as a sea captain in the late 1820s, and by the time of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1835 he was sufficiently well known and trusted by both Crown and ngā iwi Māori to be one of the two Crown witnesses whose signatures appear on the declaration. There is evidence that the final drafting of the Treaty document, before it was translated into Māori, was completed at James’ house in Ōkiato, and later in February 1840 at Ngunguru he put his signature to the Treaty as a witness for the Ariki Pōmare. After the death of James’ wife, he remarried to Jane Kerenene, the daughter of Takotowī Te Whata of Mangamuka, and from that and successive marriages I trace my whakapapa that links me to this whenua, and, in particular, to the Hokianga and it to me—far beyond the five Pākehā generations of my family.

So I am in the unusual, though not unique, situation of having both Pākehā and Māori tūpuna whose tohu appear on the two documents that underpin our constitutional arrangements. My Pākehā ancestor also shared with Māori the dubious distinction of having lost a large part of his fortune through being ripped off in a land deal with the Government, but that is a story for another day. I believe that any failure of the kāwanatanga to respect and fulfil the mana and authority of the Treaty also undermines the legitimate right of this House to assert its own mana and its own authority. This is one of the principles that will direct and guide my words and actions in this place.

I owe to my father a debt of gratitude for, among other things, instilling in me a respect for my heritage, both Māori and Pākehā, and a deep affection for this country that we are so fortunate to call our home. Although his state of health prevents him from being here today, I know he will take pride in seeing a son achieve such a goal, as in his own way he has taken pride in the achievements of all his seven children and many grandchildren. Dad always worked hard and willingly to support his family. His job for many years, and from which he retired, was as a Public Service chauffeur, driving one of the big Fords that were the forerunner of today’s fleet of BMWs that ferry our Ministers and other senior officials to their work. Recalling that my own father once provided with integrity and sense of purpose a service to members of this House reminds me to show due humility and respect to the small army of people who in a myriad of ways support the work of the members of this House, and without whose efforts the work could not be done.

My mother is here today and I stand in awe of her boundless aroha, her ability and willingness to awhi and tautoko her children, her family, and, indeed, anyone in genuine need who has ever crossed her path. The courage and strength of character that enabled her parents to migrate from Wales almost a century ago and to make a life in what must have seemed such a distant and foreign land is very evident in their daughter.

To my own dear daughter, also here today, I offer my unbounded love and affection. Watching you grow into the remarkable young woman you are has been the joy of my life, and no parent could ask for more. To my partner Lindis, to my siblings, all of my whānau and friends, I thank you for the support you have given me and that I know you will continue to give me as I face the challenges and difficulties that will inevitably arise from this role that I begin in earnest today.

I thank my fellow Green Party members for the confidence they have shown in me by putting me in a position to take up this role, and I commit to upholding the party’s values and principles and to working to achieve our shared goals and aspirations. In particular, I acknowledge Sue Bradford, whose remarkable dedication, courage, intellect, and sheer endurance won the respect not only of her friends and those of like mind politically but also of many others from across the political, social, and economic spectrum. I say kia kaha to Sue; she has set a very high standard for me to reach for.

There has been a deal of speculation that, as Sue has departed from this House to return to the “Parliament of the Streets” that was the first forum for her political activism, so too will depart the Green caucus’ commitment to social justice issues and our concern and willingness to advocate and fight for the most vulnerable and least well-off in our society. One commentator went so far as to suggest that we were seeing “the rise of the intellectual Green MP: cogent, abstract, and not as connected with how people really live their lives.” Although I have no difficulty associating Green MPs with intelligence, cogency, or the capacity for abstract thinking, I certainly take issue, however, with the notion of disconnectedness from real people and real lives. Nothing, in fact, could be further from the truth. The Green choir has lost a powerful voice, but as one leaves another will step up, and the song remains the same.

Some of the misapprehension may have arisen to the extent that it is known that one of my assigned roles is to demonstrate that existing Green Party principles and policies do not conflict with, and indeed can readily align with, the interests and aspirations of much of the business community, in particular the small and medium sized enterprises that are at the heart of our economy, which are collectively our largest employers and producers. Smart business people know that as employers it is in their interest to treat their employees decently and fairly; that a relationship built and maintained on mutual respect and hard-earned trust is one of the necessary elements of a business that will survive, and indeed thrive, in good times and bad.

A recently published report from the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research suggests that “there is benefit in demonstrating progress towards sustainability, but it is important to shine the spotlight on our policy mix to ensure policy programme priorities make both economic and environmental sense.” From the Green perspective, it is impossible to do anything other than consider the environment when making economic decisions. The environment is the ultimate source of all the material wealth we may produce. The state of our ecosystems and the services they provide must be included in any genuine assessment of individual and collective well-being. Old-style economic and political systems focused solely on distribution of goods and wealth; the Green analysis looks closely at the generation of that wealth, and the unique importance of not compromising the natural capital that is the source of that wealth. The economic decisions we take and implement need to be those that reduce our dependency on a long and increasingly threatened supply chain, not least of all for the oil that literally fuels our economy.

It is the realities of geology as much as the vagaries of politics or economics that dictate that we must, as a matter of urgency, effect the transition to a low-carbon economy. The business community, and indeed the wider community, are taking a lead in advancing this programme, through such initiatives as the Transition Towns movement, and through businesses using a sustainability framework to reinvent their business models, reduce their resource use, and enhance their productivity and profitability. These initiatives reflect a growing public awareness that we need to live our lives and conduct our affairs differently, but we need not live any less well. It is past time this Government took a clear position and began to provide leadership and support for these necessary changes. Business as usual is an option, but those who have seen the movie will understand that it is an Age of Stupid option.

The business case for sustainability is overwhelming. Our “100% Pure New Zealand” branding has been highly successful internationally, which provides a powerful motivation to make the image real. A brand that oversells itself will eventually pay the price of such “greenwashing”, and selling ourselves as “100% Pure” without ensuring the integrity of that brand is an exercise in digging a hole into which our major income providers, our primary and processed food production, and our tourism industry will eventually fall and eventually fail.

Despite much of the rhetoric and its commonplace portrayal to the contrary, the economy is not an independent being—a creature in its own right. The economy is essentially comprised of a complex set of social relationships, with decisions made based on sets of values and assumptions. It is also usefully understood as being a wholly owned subsidiary of the environment, and if the parent company should fail, so too will the offshoot. Invariably every economic decision will advantage some and disadvantage others, at least in the short term. A democracy will be imperilled to the extent that the same group in society is always winning, while other groups are always losing. We need to focus our attention on reducing the income gap that has been widening for too many years, as that way lies a nation made up of a minority with too much to lose and a majority with nothing to lose, and that is not a recipe for stability or harmony.

Other policy areas in which I will be working to advance Green ideas and practice are in tertiary education; research, science, and technology; resource management; and Auckland’s governance. With these and other portfolios, it is clear that I will never lack for work. Of one thing I am sure and that is that I will make mistakes in this House. I trust they will be honestly made and not repeated. I look forward to engaging with sector groups, with non-governmental organisations, and with members of the public with an interest and expertise in these issues.

I look forward also to engaging in the substantive debate that I sincerely hope occurs within the parliamentary precinct alongside, or perhaps behind, the somewhat formulaic and superficial engagement that is too often the public face of politics. My default position in debate is to always look first for the common ground, the points of agreement, and that which unites rather than divides. Consensus-seeking, as practised by the Greens, is a powerful tool for the resolution of conflict, and I will always be willing to give ground where it will allow all parties to get some of what they need, if not all of what they may want. What can never be compromised are points of core value, core belief, or core principle. A person or a party can sacrifice their integrity only once, and that will not happen on my watch.

I look forward to the work, the opportunities, and the challenges of what I hope is a long and honourable tenure in the career I begin today. Kei te haere ahau ki te mahi.

Te toka tū moana, ka tū, ka tū, ka tū. Ahakoa i āwhātia mai e te rangi, i whakapakakatia e te whitinga o te rā, te toka tū moana, ka tū, ka tū, ka tū. Nō reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa.

[I am going to work. The rock in the ocean stands fast, firm, and resolute, despite its being lashed by gales, storms, and rain from the heavens; baked, burnt, and dried by the rising sun, the rock in the ocean stands fast, firm and resolute. So greetings to you, greetings to you, and greetings to you all.]