Maiden Statements

Tēnā koe, Mr Speaker. E ngā mana, e ngā reo, e ngā karanga maha e huihui nei, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa.

[Thank you, Mr Speaker. To the powers, the voices, and the many callings assembled here, salutations, greetings, and acknowledgments to you all.]

Mr Speaker, members, family, friends, and supporters, it is with a mixture of exhilaration, aspiration, and trepidation that I rise to make a maiden statement in this 50th Parliament of New Zealand. I am delighted to be joining the parliamentary team of the National Party, led by the Rt Hon John Key. National is, I believe, the only party capable of leading the sound, stable, and sensible Government that this country needs. This Government is delivering the increased economic growth rates, thriving and safer communities, efficient public services, and personal freedoms that all Kiwis want and deserve. I congratulate the Prime Minister and his excellent Ministers on their unstinting work on untangling the mess created by 9 years of socialist misrule, and on leading this nation to a brighter future in years to come.

It is a real honour to serve as an elected representative of the people of our beautiful country. At the same time, it is almost impossible not to be awestruck by the weighty responsibilities of a new MP. Enacting the laws of the land, scrutinising Government expenditure, assisting constituents with their issues, and having input into the policy of the governing party must all be taken very seriously. I intend to keep my head down and learn from older and wiser members. I am grateful to the Hon Chris Finlayson QC, the Hon Judith Collins, the Hon Tony Ryall, the Hon Dr Nick Smith, the Hon Bill English, and all the National MPs of the 2011 intake, in particular, as well as the entire National Party team, for their advice and the warm welcome to this House they have given me.

I particularly look forward to being a member of this House when the National War Memorial Park is opened in Wellington, where I am based. The centenary of Gallipoli marks a momentous event in our evolution towards independent nationhood a century ago. The plaques in this Chamber commemorating that campaign and others in which New Zealanders have fought serve as a constant reminder to members of the Kiwi lives lost to secure our democracy and to safeguard our way of life. As John Key said, the National War Memorial Park will be a significant legacy to commemorate the centenary of Anzac Day. It is a special gift to the capital and will become a wonderful civic amenity as well as a focal point for the national commemorations. Earlier plans for a national war memorial park fell by the wayside, through neglect by a previous Government, and the current precinct remained divided by State Highway 1 until Chris Finlayson and Gerry Brownlee set out to deliver on a vision for an upgraded Buckle Street area. I look forward to supporting other initiatives that will contribute to Wellington remaining a thriving and wonderful place to live.

Giving a maiden speech is one of the very few occasions when a member in this Chamber may make references to guests in the public galleries. I ask that you indulge me in mentioning a few special people who are here today. I would like to acknowledge the president of the National Party, Peter Goodfellow, the board of the National Party—in particular, the lower North Island chairman, Malcolm Plimmer, and the lovely Linda—and all the office holders, activists, and members of the party who have supported me. I am very grateful for the help of our wonderful people locally in Wellington. I was most fortunate to have as my campaign chair Brett Hudson, who put in an enormous effort in 2011. I would also like to thank stalwart campaign and executive committee members Dr Pat McCarthy, Murray Radford, Richard and Elaine Westlake, Sir Christopher and Lady Anna Harris, Graeme and Judith Sugden, Peter Milne, Alistair Scott, Aaron Hape, Chloe Oldfield, Brian Anderton, Carolyn O’Fallon, Carsten Schousboe, Carina Aiken, Haimona Gray, Jim Guo, Joe Rousseau, Bridget-Anne Fowler, Rainer McAlister, Victor Cauty, Lliam Munro, Dr Rosie Fenwicke, Julian Light, and Henry Williams, as well as Cameron Pickering, who has come down from Christchurch—or up from Christchurch, I should say. Many thanks to the “super blues”, especially Nancy McDonald, Joan Farrance, Pam Finlayson, Bernie Poole, and Patricia Morrison, for their kind assistance. Thank you to David Farrar and Neil Miller for their guidance. We were also very well supported by an exceptional group at party headquarters: Jo, Greg, Cam, Liam, Donna, Beth, and Sean. And to the hundreds of volunteers who gave so much of their time, thank you all so much.

I want to make special mention of the Young Nats. This was the group that gave me my start in politics, and I am thrilled that it has never been in such good heart and strength on the campuses of New Zealand as it is today. I would like to acknowledge Dan Fielding, who led the Young Nats for over 3 years; Sean Topham, who is capably chairing it today; Christian Hermansen, who chairs the regional Young Nats; and Joel Rowan from our local VicNats branch. The Young Nats won some real victories on longstanding youth issues in recent years, such as lobbying to successfully remove compulsion from student unions, keeping the age for the purchase of alcohol at 18, addressing teen depression and suicide, and supporting equal access to marriage for all Kiwis. I hope the Young Nats keep rattling cages, and keep me on my toes as a new MP.

To friends who could not make it today—Malcolm and Marian Cone in Temuka, Peter and Sarah Walker and Robyn Broughton in Dunedin, Ele Ludemann in Ōāmaru, Professor John and Jenny Leader in Blenheim, Emma Mellow-Sandford in Sydney, Tiffany Cone in Canberra, Kezia Bibby in England, Geoff and Chris Pope in Seattle, the Cammock family in Jakarta, and Johnny and Chantal Rayner-Burt, along with my godson Hugo, in Italy—I am most grateful for the loyal support I have consistently received from you over the years. And, most important, I would like to pay tribute to my family. To my parents, Bob and Alyse, a child could not have had a better start in life than I got, thanks to you. The example set by you, Dad, of putting your family above all other concerns, and working every hour of the day to provide for them, was an outstanding one. And, Mum, the lesson you taught us, that learning is something to be treasured, and that with a sound education the world can be one’s oyster, is something that I hope, one day, every Kiwi kid will be inculcated with. I could not be prouder that after more than 30 years you are on the cusp of completing your own PhD. I would also like to send special greetings to my brother and sister, Shaan and Greg; my niece, Caitlin; and grandad, Ayers Robert Foster Snr, who will be watching this on the TV in Whangarei, along with Dulcie. And warm regards to my Aunty Eleanor Ashcroft, who will be tuned in, along with Vic Reid, in Rotorua.

I have been privileged to serve our country, both onshore and offshore, in the Foreign Service over the past 9 years. It was a real pleasure to work with some of the most capable and dedicated senior officials in this country’s public sector—ambassadors Hamish MacMaster, Rod Harris, Jonathan Austin, and Wendy Hinton, to name a few—as well as some of the absolutely first-rate colleagues and workmates, both Kiwis and locally engaged staff. I have also enjoyed a range of experiences overseas that few visitors to other countries get, including seeing, from a behind-the-scenes perspective, how a number of countries really operate. Of all the countries I worked in, none is as free as New Zealand. Some, such as Iran, would actually fall at the opposite end of any objective scale measuring corruption, transparency, and the rule of law. Thankfully, it is the people of New Zealand, not the State, who have a larger degree than almost anywhere else in the world of power over their own lives and the ability to decide their prospects for the future. This reminds me of a quote from the late, great Baroness Thatcher of our right “… to have the State as servant and not as master … on that freedom all our other freedoms depend.” This is just as true today as when the Iron Lady first said it. We should be rightly proud of the advances towards freedom that we have made, but there are areas where further work is needed, in my view, if we are to retain our place as a country where liberty and freedom of speech, of thought, of belief, and of action are cherished. The abolition of blasphemy as a criminal offence for which one can be imprisoned for up to a year is one example of such an area crying out for reform.

Of all the countries I spent time in, none is as clean, as green, and as endowed with such a pristine natural environment and spectacular scenic splendour as New Zealand. In demonstrating that economic growth and environmental values can go hand in hand, and showing that good science is essential to high-quality environmental decision-making, New Zealand is leading the way. I am glad that New Zealanders are able to enjoy our unique birthright and to access our special places—the beaches, rivers, lakes, and mountains for which our land is rightly renowned.

Of the other jurisdictions I have worked in, none is as well served by its public servants as ours. Across a range of departments, from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Treasury, and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment through to the Ministry of Defence, the security services, the police, and the Prime Minister’s department, I have worked in and for a State sector that has seen increasing levels of resource shifted to the front line from bureaucracy and administration, that is operating more efficiently than ever before, and that is carrying out this Government’s policies to achieve unprecedented positive results—results like the lowest crime rate in a generation or record numbers of elective surgeries for those who need them.

Of the developed economies I have visited, few are as well positioned as New Zealand to ride out the world’s current period of economic instability, and a lot of that is thanks to our excellent Minister of Finance, the Hon Bill English. We are well positioned to take advantage of the opportunities offered by exporting to a rapidly growing Asian middle class, or by servicing the food security needs of the arid but prosperous Gulf States, or by hosting increasingly high-value tourists and students from abroad in our safe, tolerant, and welcoming nation. None of this is to say that we have all the answers here in our island home—quite the opposite, in fact. There is a lot we can learn from other successful smaller States, such as Singapore or the United Arab Emirates. And, of course, as a small trading nation we are utterly dependent on a stable, rules-based world order to ensure our own future prosperity. Our first woman Prime Minister, the Rt Hon Dame Jenny Shipley, tidily summed up this concept when she said that New Zealand needs the rest of the world a heck of a lot more than the rest of the world needs New Zealand. This sentiment certainly echoes my own experiences in the field.

The National Party was founded 77 years ago as a coalition between sectors that were diverse in origins but that had aligning interests and shared objectives. National’s founders were those in the productive sector, whether farmers or urban manufacturers. They were those in business, both employers and employees, professionals practising on their own account, and tradespeople. They were those hard-working mothers and fathers who aspired to a better life for their children and equal treatment for everyone, irrespective of colour, creed, or class. They were those who valued property rights for themselves and others, and who wanted a limited government that encouraged free enterprise and rewards for effort. National is still the bastion of equal opportunity and the rule of law. These timeless values are why the public has elected National to the Treasury benches for 40 of the past 60 years. Our party continues to govern in the interests of all New Zealanders, and that is why I am proud to call myself a National Party member.

I have come to this esteemed place to do more than simply occupy a seat. I have come to this House to support sound economic management, growth, and sensible public spending. I stand firmly against ruinously high borrowing, inefficient public services, and incentivising irresponsibility through unfettered welfare. I have come to this House to back the Prime Minister and this Government. I stand resolutely opposed to socialism and its overweening conceit that redistribution and governmental meddling in private enterprise can deliver positive outcomes for our people, for they cannot. In the words of Sir Winston Churchill, “for a nation to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.”

I have come to this House as a champion for trade, tourism, and closer linkages with other countries, and for the transformative effects that these can have through higher incomes and more employment. I repudiate xenophobia and protectionism, which damage our overseas relationships, our reputation, and our earnings. I have come to this House to advocate strongly for our capital city and for all the residents of Wellington Central and Hutt South. I have come to this House as a bluegreen. I want to see pragmatic protections for our stunning natural environment, balanced against the need to derive economic benefits, where appropriate, from our national resources. I have come to this House as a blue liberal and a defender of diversity, liberty, and equal treatment by the State for all of its citizens. I will be a trenchant enemy of any laws that seek to implement here in New Zealand the hideous apparatus of the police State. In the words of our national anthem, “May our mountains ever be freedom’s ramparts on the sea.”

I have come to this House as a proponent of the constitutional monarchy, which has served us so well for over 170 years. I will fiercely resist any measures that seek to weaken this essential pillar of our robust democracy. To paraphrase Alfred Lord Tennyson, I have come to this House “Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will, To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.” I look forward to working with you, Mr Speaker, and all likeminded members to achieve these objectives. Thank you.

Ko Whetūmataurau me Rākaumangamanga ngā maunga. Ko Karakatūwhero te awa me Tangaroa te moana. Ko Tutua me Rāwhiti ngā marae. Ko Ngāti Ruataupare me Ngāti Kuta ngā hapū. Ko Ngati Porou me Ngāpuhi ngā iwi. Ko Claudette Hauiti ahau. Ehara taku toa he takitahi, he toa takitini.

[The mountains are Whetūmataurau and Rākaumangamanga. The river is Karakatūwhero and the ocean is Tangaroa. The courtyards are Tutua and Rāwhiti. The subtribes are Ngāti Ruataupare and Ngāti Kuta. The tribes are Ngati Porou and Ngāpuhi, and I am Claudette Hauiti. My strength is not that of a single warrior but rather of many.]

I come not alone but accompanied by the many—those who have passed, those who have yet to breathe life on this earth, and those who are here with me today by thought and by presence. I acknowledge my whānau and friends who have travelled to Pōneke to be with me today. Ki āku whānau me ngā hoa, tēnā koutou katoa.

[To my family and friends, I salute you all.]

This afternoon I rise before the House full of gratitude to the Prime Minister, the Rt Hon John Key, the National Party board, president Peter Goodfellow, and past presidents Michelle Boag and John Slater, without whose support I would not be here today.

I come to the House with all that I have: my whānau, my iwi, my people, my life’s experiences. I am Ngati Porou and Ngāpuhi by birth and by blood. I am explicitly Māori and unequivocally a New Zealander. I would like to acknowledge my whanaunga and colleagues the Hon Tau Henare and the Hon Hekia Parata. I would also like to mihi the Hon Tariana Turia, the Hon Pita Sharples, and co-leader of the Green Party Metiria Turei. To my Māori colleagues across the parties, tēnā koutou katoa.

I come to this House in all humility as a descendant of Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti, and although one of our most revered rangatira has passed from this world, it is with the greatest honour and humbleness that I can continue to carry the tribe’s name and to honour the Hon Parekura Horomia. E te rangatira, haere, haere, haere atu rā.

My views have been shaped by the many people who have touched my life. My mother, Josephine Lucus, and father, Jerry Teretiu Hauiti, left their rural roots of Moerewa and Te Araroa for better lives. In the late 1950s they migrated to Auckland along with 25,000 other Māori, chasing their dreams of getting a job, buying a house, and seeing their children get the best education possible. My parents lived in Māori boarding houses in Parnell, in Ponsonby, and then in Harding Street in Auckland City. Friday and Saturday nights they ballroom-danced at the Orange Hall and the Māori Community Centre and on Sundays they got politicised at Tātai Hono Anglican Church on Khyber Pass Road. On weekdays my parents worked at lolly factories, as machinists, on the wharf, at the freezing works, on the roads, and on the railways.

The more Māori migrated, the more they experienced socio-cultural upheaval—a loss of language, dislocation from papakāinga, disconnection from whānau. What we saw instead was a gravitation to alcohol and drugs, while some substituted traditional whānau for life with patched gangs. Sadly, we are still experiencing the fallout of that era, where manual mahi went from boom to bust, and lay-offs spread through our people like wild weeds, and we are now trying to unbundle the stranglehold of dispiritedness that comes with intergenerational unemployment and social welfare dependency. Today too many of our precious babies are dying, too many of our wāhine are being bashed, and our tāne are in jail.

It is education, employment, and building strong economic foundations that will help lift the spirits, the hearts, and the minds to break the shackles of dependency. With God-given strength my father turned his sights to education, where—he reinforced in us, his children—lay the answers to many of life’s challenges. A solid education would give you options. Good results would get you opportunities. An education would allow you independence, freedom to choose, and the ability to make wiser choices.

Options, opportunities, independence underpinned by perseverance, determination, personal responsibility—these are the attitudes I have inherited. There is a whakataukī: “Whāia te iti kahurangi ki te tuohu koe me he maunga teitei”—strive for the highest peak, and, if you must bow, let it be to the loftiest mountain. To me, this means having a dream and following it, backing yourself as a winner.

As a business owner working in the commercially aggressive television broadcast industry, it demanded innovation, strategic acuity, and ingenuity. I am proud to say that my company was part of the $10 billion Māori contribution to New Zealand’s GDP. In fact, small to medium sized enterprises are the backbone of the New Zealand economy. Small companies like the very successful start-up operation Kapu Tī Productions, run by Brent Job-Iremonger and Michelle Lee, are an example of great product—simple, smart, durable. Brent, Michelle, and Kapu Tī Productions are Kiwi know-how, Māori can-do, New Zealand at work.

I come to Parliament rich in knowledge and wealthy in experiences, working for, living with, learning from, and loving a diverse range of people. With gratitude I acknowledge my colleague Louisa Wall, Labour MP for Manurewa, for introducing the marriage equality bill to the House. Ki a koe e te tuahine. Tēnā koe. And to all of those who voted in favour, I thank you. The fundamental principle of equality is one law for all.

To the takatāpui community, my friends, my queer family Rangitūnoa Black and Mihirāwhiti Schranke, who taught me that the strength in being takatāpui is in knowing you are Māori, and Michael Gullery, whose gentle nurturing of minds reinforces our valued place in Aotearoa New Zealand and is worthy of great celebration—you are my mentors.

I would like to take this moment to remember some of our whānau who have departed this world: Rangi Chadwick, Bossie Mana, Jason Rāmeka—loyal, trusted friends, all talented young men steeped in Te Reo me ngā tikanga—and Kuini Mihaere, a gifted and generous artist. Haere, haere, haere atu rā.

Thanks to the takatāpui community, I bring to this House and my Government the strength of courage to overcome adversity, tolerance in the face of rejection, acceptance where there is love, and an ability to recognise diversity as being the fabric that makes up this young, beautiful nation. If we go forward as a nation, united in our diversity, then we do so with purpose and with passion. We may not agree with one another’s policies, processes, or procedures. We are not a homogenous people, but I respect the right of anyone to voice their opinion, and I welcome the opportunity to debate robustly.

The ability to challenge with vigour, with passion, and with authenticity, all the while preserving the integrity of your opposition, is what I learnt from my dear friend and colleague Willie Jackson—shrewd, witty, astute. I count myself fortunate to have worked with one of the sharpest political commentators in New Zealand.

My broadcasting career was launched through the generosity of Dame June Jackson, Willie’s mum. If not for her funding of my very first television programme for TV3, my career may very well have floundered. In fact, Dame June Jackson assisted in the rehabilitation of some of the country’s most notorious criminals. She did it because she felt compelled, she did it because no one else would, she did it because they were whānau.

Strong whānau breeds strong communities, and, for me, my Ngāpuhi cousins have given to me unconditional love. My Nathan, Haunui, and Kōmene cousins showed me the beauty of eeling, the joy in creek swimming, and the thrill of rat shooting at the Moerewa tip. To my Ngati Porou girl cousins Jodi Īhaka, Ērana Reedy, Nērina Howe, and Kath Ākuhata-Brown, for your grown-up advice on business and on how to craft great stories, I thank you.

When asked “Why are you here?”, I think of my sisters, Rosina and Loraine, and my brother, Michael, whose honesty, hard work, and integrity inspire me to contribute positively to this growing nation. When asked “Why are you here?”, I think of my mum, my father, my stepfather, Pita Mōrunga—a generation of Māori who came to town for a better life so that we, the children, could prosper. I do not want their sacrifices to count for nothing.

When asked “What do you have to offer?”, I say I can offer a strong sense of loyalty to my Prime Minister, my colleagues, and my Government. When asked “What do you wish to achieve?”, I say that I wish to continue the legacy left by my father to work hard, to build a strong economic future, where business innovation thrives and ingenuity is celebrated and encouraged. When asked “What do you wish to achieve?”, I say that I wish to continue building tolerance and compassion, and to celebrate diversity as an integral part of this nation.

To my beautiful wife, Nadine, for 25 years you have given me unreserved love and three beautiful tamariki. To Kiamana, your perseverance is an inspiration to me. Te Ua, your individuality is something to be cherished. And to our darling, beautiful little Manawa, you are the centre of our universe. Nō reira, nāku te rourou, nāu te rourou ka ora ai te iwi.

[With your basket and my basket the people will live.]

Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa.

Waiata

Sitting suspended from 5.58 p.m. to 7.30 p.m.