Address in Reply

It is a fantastic time to be a New Zealander and to be here in New Zealand. One only needs to turn on the TV news every night to understand just how fortunate we are to be here in Aotearoa, when around the world COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc on economies and societies and lives.

The good news continues for New Zealanders, and we saw that just this week, when employment rose by a further 17,000 people in work during the December quarter. That is a significant improvement in our employment statistics, at a time when all the forecasts had suggested we would be going backwards. Our unemployment rate fell from 5.3 percent to 4.9 percent. Compare that with Treasury’s Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update, where they forecast the unemployment rate would grow to 6 percent. Of course, that in itself was lower than their projections at the height of our COVID-19 response, where they expected it to go significantly higher than that still.

New Zealand is doing very well. Consider the construction industry. Construction jobs rose by 21,000 annually, which included those people working as plumbers, electricians, and roofers, and that more than offset the impact of COVID-19 on our tourism-related industries. These results are the result of the Government’s decisive actions to keep New Zealanders in work and to make sure that we are supporting New Zealanders through the challenges caused by COVID-19. In the middle of a global pandemic, New Zealanders have put their trust in this Government. We recognise the big responsibility that comes with that, and we are absolutely committed to seeing this through.

We have three overarching objectives that are guiding our response: first, keep New Zealanders safe from COVID-19; second, accelerate our economic recovery; and, third, lay the foundations for a better future. The protections that we have put in place against COVID-19 have been amongst the most effective in the world: 105,000 New Zealanders have returned home through our border since we established our managed isolation facilities, and yet we have had fewer than a dozen incidences of people transferring COVID-19 to others during that time through our managed isolation facilities. That makes them among the most successful in the world—more successful than those in Australia and other countries. We can all be proud of that, and we should be proud of those working at our border, and we should thank them for their commitment.

In terms of accelerating our recovery, New Zealand is doing incredibly well. Our five-point economic plan to cushion the blow to the New Zealand economy is working. We are investing in our people. We are seeing people upskilling, we are seeing people taking on apprentices, we are seeing people enrol in tertiary education, and we are seeing people taking up training opportunities through the reinstatement of things like the training incentive allowance, which is assisting sole parents to get back into work through better training and better qualifications.

We are creating jobs through a big economic stimulus package, and we see that up and down the country in the infrastructure projects that are under way and that are developing, whether it be in transport, whether it be our schools, our hospitals—we are picking up the pieces after a decade of neglect of our infrastructure. This is the infrastructure Government.

We are preparing for the future by making sure that we’re increasing the amount of our electricity that comes from renewable energy, with a goal of getting to 100 percent renewable electricity by 2030. We are supporting our small businesses through things like the Small Business Cashflow (Loan) Scheme, and we are making sure that we are positioning ourselves globally in the wake of the pandemic.

We’re tackling the big challenges of the future: climate change, child poverty, and challenges like housing that have been too long neglected—a challenge that built up under the last Government. They did not rise to that challenge; they did not address that. This is a Government that has been relentlessly focused on the issues that matter to New Zealanders.

And that is a bit of a contrast to what we are seeing from the members opposite. What did they spend their summer holidays doing? Well, David Seymour spent his summer holiday taking out a two-page personal ad in the Woman’s Weekly. We then saw Dr Shane Reti so determined not to be distracted from the issues that matter that he got very quickly distracted by issues that didn’t matter, and thought that the liaison between a managed isolation worker and a returnee was a ploy by the Government to distract the National Party—just pass the tinfoil hats, Mr Speaker.

ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): Or Madam Speaker.

Madam Speaker. Then we have the absolute pearler. We have David Bennett. David Bennett wants a road to Tauranga, a Waikato medical school, and apparently wants to pay for them by introducing “lover taxes”. I would quite like to know who’s going to have to pay these lover taxes. He must be committed to them because he took out an ad in the local paper to promote his new concept of lover taxes—something that either people of Hamilton clearly didn’t leap at, given that he lost his seat. I think it was the lover taxes that did him in, in the end. I want to know who has to pay and what the criteria for his lover taxes will be.

Poor old Simon Bridges continues to “count my chickens for granted”. I’m not entirely sure exactly what he was meaning there. And then, of course, we had Paul Goldsmith’s bizarre theory that we would stop teaching economics in our schools if we didn’t make it part of the history curriculum. I am sorry to disappoint the member who would be the member for Epsom, but whilst, of course, things like historical attitudes to racism will be covered as part of the New Zealand history curriculum when it’s taught in our schools, I wouldn’t be banking on a sudden surge of demand for his biographies of Don Brash and John Banks, Mr Speaker. I think he should stick to falling asleep during Judith Collins’ speeches, Mr Speaker; I think that’s going to serve him far better.

ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): Or Madam Speaker.

Then, of course, we have Christopher Luxon, yet to make his debut here in Parliament, but in his first public debut as a member of Parliament, he fell down at the first opportunity, and, of course, today we have clearly learnt that he has recently graduated from the “Murray McCully school”—

💬 Matt Doocey: Point of order.

ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): Point of order. [Interruption] The member will resume his seat.

💬 Matt Doocey: Thank you, Madam Speaker. Sorry to interrupt that speaker, but he is a very experienced member of Parliament, and will clearly be aware this is not a general debate slot but a debate on the Speech from the Throne.

ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): Thank you. The Minister will resume his speech. This is a very wide-ranging debate. Thank you—the Hon Chris Hipkins.

It is indeed. Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. Clearly, Mr Luxon has recently graduated from the “Murray McCully school of ethical diplomacy”, and I’m sure that we will hear more about that in the days and weeks to come.

Mr Speaker—Madam Speaker—

ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): Order! Order!

Sorry, Madam Speaker.

ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): Thank you.

It’s force of habit, Madam Speaker. New Zealanders have given this Government a great responsibility—the responsibility to ensure that New Zealanders are kept safe, the responsibility to ensure that we bounce back from one of the greatest economic challenges that anyone in New Zealand will have seen in their lifetimes, and we are absolutely committed to making sure that we will do that. As the Minister for our COVID-19 response, I am absolutely committed to ensuring that we have a very safe and secure border, and we are seeing evidence of that on a daily basis, as thousands of New Zealanders return home on a weekly basis, and they do not bring COVID-19 into our community. Again, I want to acknowledge the work of tens of thousands of people up and down the country working at our borders to make sure that is happening. I want to thank the international airlines for their cooperation in that effort. They have been remarkably successful in working with us to keep COVID-19 out, and we appreciate that.

We are preparing for a vaccine roll-out, the largest vaccine roll-out New Zealand will have ever seen, and I think that that is something that we should all be taking very seriously. We should be looking very closely at the international evidence around vaccine efficacy, and that is the approach that this Government has taken. We have purchased four different vaccines so that we can make sure that New Zealanders get the right vaccine for them, the most effective vaccine for them, and the science on that is still being settled, which is why our approach of a balanced vaccine portfolio has absolutely been the right one.

There are huge constraints on vaccine manufacture and supply around the world. New Zealand is doing very well, and I think when people see the vaccine roll out around New Zealand, they will see that it has been very well planned for and prepared for. The one remaining thing to be determined is the exact date on which that campaign will start. I can tell you it will start within a couple of days of the vaccines arriving in New Zealand. They still have to be unpacked, and they still have to be prepared for the vaccination campaign to begin, but that work will start the hour that they land in the country—we’ll be working very quickly to get them out as quickly as we can. We do not have a specific date for the arrival, but we are prepared for it whenever it should arrive.

All New Zealanders can be proud of our COVID-19 response. We are a very, very fortunate country at the moment.

E te Māngai, tēnā koe, tēnā koutou e te Whare. It’s—I mean, I would genuinely say a pleasure to stand and speak in this House for the first time in 2021, but I will be completely honest and say that, in walking back into this place, it felt and smacked, immediately as we started the argy-bargy throughout question time, to be completely separated from the reality of the many New Zealanders that we represent.

💬 Hon Scott Simpson: Who’s next on your list? You can go.

CHLÖE SWARBRICK: So, Scott Simpson, what I’m here today to talk about—what I will use the Address in Reply debate to talk about—is the housing crisis. Members in this House may recall that throughout the election we had the Minister of Finance and the shadow Minister of Finance, the Hon Paul Goldsmith from the National Party at that point in time, playing a game of Monopoly. It was a charity game to fund-raise for a worthy cause, philanthropic, but, none the less, to me it smacked of quite a bit of irony. The reason for that is, for those who aren’t aware, the game of Monopoly has its origins in a game originally devised by a woman called Elizabeth Magie in 1904. At that point in time it was known as The Landlord’s Game. The Landlord’s Game was intended to be “a practical demonstration of the present system of land grabbing with all its usual outcomes and consequences”.

Now, I don’t at all intend to read too much into what these two members of Parliament were up to. Of course, this was for a charity match. But, none the less, what is represented in that game of Monopoly, formerly The Landlord’s Game, is not supposed to be an aspiration in this country. It’s supposed to be a warning that all of us in this House should heed, because when you do high school or undergrad economics, you’re taught about the supply and the demand curve, you’re taught about the way that the market is supposed to operate through exchange—free exchange—driven by self-interest. And that self-interest—that rather ahistorical theory and way of teaching economics—is supposed to provide the most optimal, the most effective, and the most efficient allocation of resources. But to any who’ve been paying attention to the way that housing and wealth are allocated in this country over the past 30 or 40 years—far longer, even, than I’ve been alive—it is pretty evident that it hasn’t been operating that way.

The question, I guess, is where is the housing crisis in this picture of the economy and economics, particularly as often lauded by particularly members of the Opposition? I’m sure that the so-called libertarians that sit next to me in this Chamber—haere mai—would say that the market just isn’t free enough. And I have engaged in debate with them a substantive number of times where they’ve said, “You simply have to remove the rural-urban boundary, because you’ve got to let the city sprawl.” No, not the slightest mention of how we’re to build the infrastructure that is, of course, to enable exactly that—you’ve also got to allow these massive apartment blocks to just be built and crop up, but not in our backyard.

Look, fundamentally, what we’re talking about here, if we are to realise some version of the so-called free market, is to realise that right now the market is entirely geared towards what the so-called rational man in this ahistorical economic theory would absolutely be gearing themselves towards, because you, effectively, have a State-guaranteed investment in the form of housing at present. What I mean by that, if we’re to run through all of these facts and figures—in fact, at the Finance and Expenditure Committee, which a number of members presently in the Chamber were present for, we had the Reserve Bank Governor in front of us, I attempted to—but unfortunately was cut off as a result of the time running out—have the Reserve Bank Governor agree or admit to exactly this, because the facts are this: two-thirds of wealth in this country is held in housing stock. Loan-to-value ratios have been so low for so long that many investors have leveraged themselves up to the hilt—many being enabled to do so as a result of the capital gains that have continued to accumulate on the properties that they have in their back pocket. As a result of all of those things, those potential defaults of those mortgages present a huge financial system liability.

This is a huge, huge ballooning problem, and it will not be satisfied by simply attempting to deal with it on the supply side. We have to deal with the fact that, again, these economic theories, of the rational man or otherwise, effectively, mean that all sensible people who were simply looking to increase their self-interest and realise greater gains out of the market would, of course, be investing in housing. It simply makes sense at the moment. So the question then becomes: why have we taken off the table and labelled as too much of a political hot potato one of the things that experts across the board are calling for, and that is a sensible conversation about taxation in this country?

I’ll refer to a column by Marc Daalder from Newsroom, who said, “The average house in Auckland, Tauranga, Wellington, [the] Kapiti Coast and Queenstown earned more in untaxed capital gains over the final three months of 2020 than the average New Zealander earned in pre-tax income over the entire year.” You may remember that our Minister of Finance wrote to the Reserve Bank asking them what to do with regard to the ballooning housing crisis and the housing unaffordability issues that came up in question time today, further and further escaping particularly first-home buyers. In both that response from the Reserve Bank and also other letters which have recently been uncovered by Stuff.co.nz’s Thomas Coughlan, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand has advised that when it comes to unconventional monetary theory or application, as the case may be, such as quantitative easing, it is for the Government to take action to deal with the social consequences thereof. It is for the Government to figure out how to best implement policy—be they laws or regulations—to ensure that inequality does not take deeper root in this country.

All of these issues are fundamentally interconnected, and that’s something that I’m really proud that we in the Green Party of Aotearoa understand at a base level. You cannot begin to meaningfully engage with conversations like climate change and the terror that global warming can bring upon oneself when you really engage with the science on that if you are stressed on a day-to-day basis about survival. If you do not have a house that is a home, then the amount of transience, particularly as a renter, that may befall upon you and your whānau has flow-on effects into your ability to get a stable education. And speaking to those who are teaching in many different schools across this country, particularly in lower socio-economic areas, that is, indeed, a massive issue—our young people are moving from school to school to school as they move through the rental market, as their whānau does not have enough money to put food constantly on the table.

I guess my final question to this House today in this first speech on this first day that we’re back in 2021 is: do we have the guts to have these conversations, or are we just going to continue to throw accusations back and forward at each other? Are there going to continue to be escalating narratives and bogeymen about the idea of taxation? And God forbid that we tax wealth as we do work in this country, because right now there is a huge burden that is falling on people in this country who already do not have enough, and it continues to compound the more that we continue to enable and allow, by virtue of doing nothing, inequality to run rampant throughout Aotearoa New Zealand. I actually hesitate to suggest that all of us in here actually kind of know that. We kind of know that the tax system is quite fundamentally unfair in that respect. We all kind of know that we should be able to have this debate and discussion as, actually, a number of us do behind closed doors, but in this place in a more sensible and mature manner.

So if I can put one hope, if any, on the table for 2021, it’s that we’re finally able to debate, progress, and discuss and solidify meaningful, fair tax policy in Aotearoa New Zealand to address inequality—fundamentally the housing crisis. Kia ora.

E ngā mana, e ngā iwi, e ngā reo, e ngā kārangaranga maha, tēnā koutou, kia ora koutou katoa.

[To all authorities, all people, all voices, all affiliations, my greetings to you all.]

I do that because I think there are certain occasions in this House where the first words ought to be Māori. There’s just something quite special about the beginning of a year, particularly when you’re in Government. I want to also say happy New Year to my colleagues on that side of the House. I do so because I felt a sense of the anguish or the despair that they felt. I couldn’t even get a smile out of Simon Bridges, I couldn’t get a smile out of Chris Luxon, and certainly Miss Judith Collins was not smiling at all. So I say happy New Year to my colleagues on that side of the House.

It’s been an awkward year, moving from last year where COVID-19 hit the nation and then suddenly we were in the Christmas period. Some of us travel overseas during the Christmas period, but, alas, this did not happen on this occasion and those of us who are Ministers of a Government—or privileged to be Ministers of a Government—found ourselves not quite sure whether to fully embrace the spirit of Christmas and the parties that go with it, mindful that we were still in the middle of a global pandemic.

So I want to acknowledge all of New Zealand for their patience, but also in particular for the trust that they have given to Jacinda Ardern and the Labour Government. I acknowledge that what New Zealanders have done in last year’s election was to vote for certainty and stability, and that’s quite humbling. And for me it’s equally a sense of gratitude, because not only is it a privilege but we now find ourselves with a responsibility, but more so the responsibility sits on the shoulders of Jacinda Ardern.

I want to acknowledge her leadership. I want to acknowledge the way that she conducts herself despite the bullets and the arrows and stones that are thrown because of the political arena that we operate in, and that she’s able to maintain her dignity and her mana and to keep that smile going. I also want to acknowledge Mr Chris Hipkins, in particular, because most of us might have had a day or so and enjoyed time with our families. I know that he—most of all because of his responsibility in keeping New Zealand safe—probably didn’t sleep well at all during the Christmas break.

So we are in the middle of this global pandemic and people have put their trust in us, and I want to say, as I have engaged across the country and mainly with our Pacific communities, I am uplifted with the confidence, with the trust that they give us, and I’m so grateful to them.

I want to say that in accordance with our experience and the context of last year and this year, this Government’s overarching objective in the next three years will be focused on keeping all New Zealanders safe from COVID-19. That’s first and foremost. The second thing is that we want to accelerate our economic recovery, and this is in particular important for Māori and Pacific and for vulnerable communities, women, and young people, in particular, because it has been our past experience that whenever there is an economic downturn it is the most vulnerable in our communities that are hit the hardest and often are slow to recover.

Our third objective as a Government for the next three years is to lay the foundations for a better future and to build back better—not build back to the same as how others wish it but to build back better. And the statement that was delivered this morning by the Hon Grant Robertson was about the focus of our wellbeing approach, re-emphasising again what I would call those transformational pillars which we introduced to the country in 2019 and that we will continue using as foundational pillars going forward—but it is going to be important that we continue to focus on our people.

It is like the whakataukī, “What’s the most important thing in this world? It is people, it is people, it is people.” We need to make sure that we’re looking after people throughout the next three years so that they are able to support their families, giving them confidence. That’s going to require leadership. Leadership at this particular time is a person that can stand up and provide a good positive vision for the rest of the country. Sure, you can be critical, but criticising for the sake of being critical doesn’t cut it in times where people require stability and certainty.

We will be focused on jobs. It’s about protecting existing jobs. It’s about creating new jobs. It’s about looking at the future and seeing what opportunities there are. And for Māori and for Pasifika, for many of our young people that are leaving high school, I’m going to be encouraging them to embrace the digital economy. We need to embrace it so that we’re creating a new generation of innovators, creators, who can fully own the digital economy. Small businesses for a long time have always been the lifeblood of economies, and we need to make sure that we’re providing that support and opportunities. Big business are big business and often they don’t think of anybody else but themselves, but we know in times of challenge it is small businesses that come to the fore, and certainly we want to focus on that.

Preparing for the future is also about tackling climate change, and putting a stake in the ground and moving towards those goals. And I think the climate change commissioners’ report sets us up nicely for what we have collectively to do as a nation going forward. And that’s also being mindful that we are a Pacific nation. We have a role and responsibility to the Pacific region. We are firmly anchored here. I’m so proud that we’re able to work closely with the Realm island countries, with the Polynesian sector, and we have a role and responsibility to bring the rest of the Pacific region so that we’re united in our focus for our shared aspirations, for prosperity, for security and peace.

I love the way that Nanaia Mahuta has delivered core and fundamental principles that will guide our engagement with the world and, in particular, with the Pacific region—the principle of whanaungatanga, the recognition of our kinship, the recognition of our genealogical connections; the principle of kotahitanga, the recognition that we have shared in a collective purpose to work for the benefit of all peoples; and, of course, the principle of kaitiakitanga, the recognition that we all have roles to play in being guardians of our planet and being stewards and being really responsible in reporting back.

For Pacific peoples, in the next three years, I’m going to be working hard across the board with my ministerial colleagues but across the board with of a lot of agencies to deliver the Pacific wellbeing approach that we started in the last three years, where languages and cultures are important and young people can be confident in their diversity of colours, diversity of parentage, diversity of the languages they can speak. The goal of economic prosperity for this generation coming through is no longer working on the factory floor. It’s about them being their own bosses, being their own authors of their own legacy, being able to design and implement the solutions that will make them safe and that will also ensure that they prosper and thrive.

The other goal is about wellness. I know we all point and say it’s about sickness. But it’s actually about wellness. I want to put a positive spin on that, because the challenges are huge and the needs are many, and these challenges we cannot solve overnight. It takes a bit of time and we’ve got to build those strong foundations of being able to access quality healthcare that recognises the mana and dignity of people. And, of course, the youth, the Pacific youth I proudly promote as the “Generation Six Bs”: people who are brown, beautiful, brainy, bilingual, bicultural, and bold. This is the generation—I describe it that way because that’s what I see. It’s beautiful, it’s diverse, and I see that that’s the future, and I’m very pleased to be part of the Government that’s trying to deliver on these things.

Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. It’s a pleasure to rise in this Address in Reply debate today, and to come after that former speaker, Aupito William Sio, who I always enjoy listening to. He’s got those calming, soothing tones of a storyteller, a bit like a parent who’s calming a young child to sleep with a lovely fairy tale. But, unfortunately, what we know at the end of the day is that that young person grows up to realise that fairy tales, in reality, are not real. It’s interesting. We’ve heard from a Minister and then another Minister and three or four Labour callers today who actually didn’t even refer to the Speech from the Throne that we are debating today, because they know that it is a fairy tale.

I will be pointing out some of the key issues that we on this side of the House think this Government is not delivering on that were outlined in the address from the throne, because, of course, this Government has a track record in failing to deliver. It was a failed socialist experiment that put up ideas and didn’t deliver them.

But what I want to do first off, in the first opportunity I’ve had in the House since the election, is to acknowledge the good people of Waimakariri—very humbling to be re-elected in my third term. I want to thank them for all their support, and I give them my commitment that I will be working hard for all in the Waimakariri to the best of my ability, because we do know that in the “Waimak”, “Waimak” people reward hard work. You can go back to Jim Gerard, Mike Moore, Clayton Cosgrove, and Kate Wilkinson. They know that if MPs go out and talk about the real issues, they will reward them, and, unfortunately, last term, what we had in Waimakariri was that the Prime Minister did not visit Waimakariri once. What was worse was we didn’t even have one Minister come into that electorate.

We have a small town in Waimakariri called Woodend. It’s a small rural town that’s got a State highway running through the middle of it. Mums and dads take their kids across that State highway to school every day. Car movements in the last three years have risen from 16,000 to 20,000 car movements a day, and why that three-year measurement is important is it was three years ago that the Labour Government came in and cancelled the Woodend bypass. No Prime Minister to come and explain, no Ministers, no transport Minister, and that community waits. They’re put at risk. Here we have the address from the throne and the fairy tale, but the reality is not real and true.

Can I also say, while I think of it, that this is a special day for me. My youngest son, James, starts school today at St Joseph’s primary school in Rangiora, so I want to wish him all the best. While we are talking about family, I want to take the opportunity to acknowledge the Rt Hon David Carter. Many will know that David is my uncle, and I want to acknowledge his knighthood in the Queen’s honours over new year. I wish him well, and well deserved.

What I want to talk about in my call today is mental health. Remember mental health? The Government made it a big issue in 2017—one of their top priorities. But—

💬 Anahila Kanongata’a-Suisuiki: It still is.

Oh, so we hear from a Government MP that it still is. So explain to me, then, if mental health is still a big issue, why in the address from the throne it commanded two sentences out of 13 pages? Two sentences, and it said, “It will roll out mental health support to all primary and intermediate school age students, and continue to roll out nurses in secondary schools.” Interesting—number one priority, or one of the top priorities, apparently, for this Government, but two sentences out of 13 pages.

Why not talk about the flagship, $455 million, new front-line mental health service that was trumpeted in Budget 2019? Flagship—that was going to change the way that we responded to mental health services. Well, I’ll tell you why you won’t find it in the address from the throne and you won’t find it being spoken about by any Government Minister or any Government MP: because that $455 million flagship front-line mental health service—so far, the Government’s spent $56 million of it. How many GP practices, currently, are now delivering this service in just under two years? Eleven percent.

💬 Hon Scott Simpson: How many?

In two years, they have rolled it out to 11 percent of GP practices and have only spent $56 million of the funding. What’s even worse is that under written parliamentary questions, when we asked how many people are employed by this new front-line mental health service, in July, it was 232 full-time equivalents, and in October, it was 195. They had lost a quarter of their workforce.

People are leaving, the roll-out is stalled, and when I asked probably the most pertinent question of a new service—a flagship, front-line mental health service being rolled out. Going to change the face of mental health in New Zealand—that’s what New Zealand was promised in 2019. When I asked how many people had been seen by this new front-line mental health service—because let’s remember, it was promised it would be scaled up to see 345,000 people a year—the answer was, “We don’t know, because we’re not gathering the data.” When you set up something, would you not be interested to know how many customers you have? What we all know, and on this side of the House we know, is that that’s code for another Government failure. They’re embarrassed to tell us that they’re actually not seeing a fraction of those 345,000 people, and that’s disappointing, because that’s not the level of service promised to New Zealanders.

But let’s listen to some of the professionals. Irene Begg, who’s a trauma counsellor based in Whakatāne, with, of course, White Island. A new flagship, front-line mental health service—why would you not prioritise it for that region after that disaster? Why not prioritise it for Canterbury after March 15? There’s no plan to, and this professional says, “It’s all very vague. The Government says it’s going to roll out this and that, but we haven’t seen it in the provinces.” “This and that”, “very vague”, “we haven’t seen it”—what an embarrassment.

How about “Mental Health Foundation chief executive … said the ‘appalling’ lack of access to mental health services for children and youth across New Zealand had worsened since the Inquiry into Mental Health and Addiction which reported to the Government in November 2018.”—over two years ago. This Government came in, spent $6.5 million, held hundreds of meetings, and encouraged thousands of people to make submissions, and what’s happened?

💬 Hon Member: Nothing.

Nothing. In fact, they’re saying it’s got worse. They raised expectations and haven’t delivered.

Then we have the retiring Mental Health Commissioner, who retired yesterday, and in his final report—a scathing report—said that there is considerable and growing concern about the lack of transparent action plan to implement He Ara Oranga and provide a long-term plan to promote mental wellbeing. Basically, there’s no plan. The inquiry put out around 50 recommendations and there’s no plan for delivering them, and that’s a problem with a Labour Government. They’ll tell you what you want to hear to get into Government—“Put us in. We’ll change things. We’ll make a difference.”—and they get in and they fail, and they don’t have a plan.

What’s really disappointing is I supported a petition from a young girl to Parliament. She’s attempted suicide, tragically, a number of times, and when I spoke to the medical professionals working with her, they said, “We are yet to see evidence that the large amount of funding that’s been promised is flowing into the system.”

We were promised $1.9 billion into mental health. We were promised services at the front line. We were promised a Government that was going to get in and implement a plan, and they’ve failed to deliver.

For a five-minute call, I call Rino Tirikatene.

Tēnā koe e te Mana Whakawā. Tēnā koutou e ngā mema o te Whare Pāremata. I’m delighted to speak in this Address in Reply debate. I’m not sure, the member that’s just resumed his seat, Matt Doocey, what parallel universe he resides in, but it’s full of doom and gloom, and it’s really quite contrary to the actual reality that we have here in Aotearoa, and that’s the reality of a Labour Government with the biggest mandate that we have received from across the country. I’m proud to be a member, with all of our caucus members, of this Labour Government under the leadership of our Prime Minister, the Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern.

I’m proud to be a member of the largest Māori caucus in the history of the New Zealand Parliament, and I’m also proud to be a Parliamentary Under-Secretary in the first majority Government in MMP history. This Government is making history, and, as has been outlined in the Speech from the Throne and in the speeches to date from our Prime Minister, we are addressing the three overarching objectives that our Government is focusing on—namely, keeping New Zealanders safe from COVID-19, accelerating our economic recovery, and laying the foundations for a better future.

We all know what devastation COVID is wreaking across the world. Every day, I’m thankful. I’m thankful for the leadership of our Government, of our Ministers, and of our Prime Minister that has kept our country and Kiwis safe from COVID-19. We’ve been committed to our elimination strategy, and it has worked. We have kept outbreaks at bay. We now have the strongest, most world-leading—we are admired worldwide for our border and our managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) processes. I want to acknowledge all of those wonderful folks who are working on the front lines every day to ensure that they keep our borders secure and safe as we welcome back folks through our MIQ facilities.

So we are keeping New Zealanders safe from COVID-19. We acted fast. We gave the best economic response, which was through our health response. And what has that done? That has provided us the space to keep our engine going as an economy. We have not slowed down at all. In fact, our merchandise exports have increased from over a year ago. So we are doing well as a nation despite the impacts that COVID is having, in particular in specific sectors like tourism and overseas education, international education. We note that there are impacts there, but our economy as a whole is going very well indeed.

I’m proud—and one of the responsible areas that I have is in the trade area, which is very important for our overall wealth and wellbeing as a nation—to see the great work that we’re doing in international trade under our first wahine Māori Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Hon Nanaia Mahuta, who looks after our foreign policy, and the Hon Damien O’Connor, who is looking after our trade and export growth. In spite of all of the difficulties that COVID is raising, we have been able to continue with our trade agreements that we have signed. We’ve just upgraded the free-trade agreement that we have with China. We have signed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement, a massive agreement with over a third of the world’s population, and are making sure that New Zealand is right in the middle, where all the action is happening. We are right there. We are working on expanding our architecture with the UK and with the EU. So we are doing a lot of work as a country, and all of that not only benefits the total New Zealand economy; it benefits the Māori economy as well, which is particularly dear to me: all those suppliers of the lands and produce from the seas and from the bountiful lands that we have right across Aotearoa.

So in the spirit of the last remaining time, I want to acknowledge the spirit of Waitangi and the positive vibes that were emanating from Waitangi as we celebrate 180 years of our Treaty partnership, no more evidenced than by the presence of our Prime Minister right throughout the duration of those celebrations. Those positive vibes have been felt right across Aotearoa, right through where I was, right down there in Bluff, at the bottom of Te Waipounamu. Our country is on a great track. We are keeping out COVID-19. We have sound leadership with our Government and our Prime Minister, and I’m very proud to be a part of it, and we’ll be taking great strides in the term ahead. Kia ora tātou.

I call Dr Deborah Russell—five minutes.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, members of this House, I ask you to cast your minds back to a year ago. A year ago, when we returned to this House after the summer break and after the celebrations at Waitangi, and at that time the first rumours, the first knowledge of a new coronavirus was making its way to New Zealand. We were looking at the stories coming out of other countries and starting to realise that this could be very serious. At that time the virus had not even been named, it was still the novel coronavirus. It was only, I think, towards the end of February that it acquired the name COVID-19. How much our world has changed since then, how much it has changed, and how much our response to COVID19 has had to shape what the previous Government did, the Government in the 52nd Parliament, and what this Government in the 53rd Parliament will be doing, and I’m proud to be part of that Government.

We have three overarching objectives set out in the Speech from the Throne. We will be keeping New Zealand safe from COVID-19, we will be accelerating our economic recovery, we will be laying the foundations for a better future. Those are the overarching objectives of this Government. Our work to keep us safe is ongoing. It’s in the border controls, it’s in the increased testing at the border, it’s in the requirements for pre-departure testing, it is in our contact tracing if ever a case of this virus makes it out of the border, as indeed it does from time to time as it is a tricky virus, and that’s where we all have a part to play with scanning—we’re recording where we’re going, through Bluetooth tracing and so on. So that ongoing work carries on. That’s what we’re doing to keep New Zealand safe and so far it is working.

We are accelerating our economic recovery. We started with the wage subsidy, right at the start, to keep people in jobs and to keep businesses going. We carried on with training and free apprenticeships, we had no- and low-cost loans for businesses, all designed to keep business and jobs going. It has turned out to be an excellent response. The latest employment data from Stats NZ shows that our unemployment rate is down to 4.9 percent. Of course we’d like it to fall further, of course we are very worried about employment of women and of Māori and Pasifika where that unemployment rate is higher for those particular groups. Nevertheless, this is a good outcome compared to Australia at its 6.8 percent, 8.7 percent in Canada, and the OECD average of 6.9 percent. We are doing well on employment, and that will accelerate our recovery.

And we are laying the foundations for a better future, particularly where we work on climate change and on child poverty, and where I want to focus on housing. There was an impassioned speech from a previous speaker about what is going on in the housing market. To that speaker and others, I say the market is doing as markets will do—it is responding to signals. I perhaps prefer not to think of it as market failure but as a market delivery that does not deliver the social outcomes we want, and the social outcomes we want are warm, dry, secure, affordable homes for New Zealanders. If ever there is a case for Government intervention it is in the housing market, and that is precisely what we are doing with our focus on new social housing. So instead of selling off social houses, we are building them and increasing dwellings to ensure that there will be many more places in social housing. We have social housing places going in all around the country, and especially in Auckland.

I want to talk of the 300 or so new dwellings that have been built or are being built in my electorate right now. Just a few months ago, with Minister Megan Woods, I visited the Thom Street development—80 new dwellings, 80 families with warm, dry, secure homes. Close to public transport, close to shops, close to schools, homes where people can build a life, where they can develop, where they can be secure, where they can be part of a community, where they can hold down a job, because they have a warm, dry, secure home provided through Kāinga Ora. It is this focus on social housing that will be critically important to solving at least part of the housing problem, and I am very proud to be part of a Government that is looking after our people and making a better New Zealand.

Thank you, Madam Speaker, and I stand today to reply to the 2020 Speech from the Throne. Before I get into my talk, I’d just like to take up a point that was made by the member who’s just resumed her seat, Dr Deborah Russell. Much has been made over the last few days, and especially in the media, around the 4.9 percent unemployment rate and how celebratory it has been that we have achieved that—or the Government has achieved that. But what it does not take into account, and it was referred to by that member, is the number of women who have been made unemployed. But what we are not seeing in those statistics are the number of women who are second income earners in families, who do not factor into the unemployment stats. So what that has virtually done is carved a huge amount out of the income of households and so those women—a lot who worked in the hospitality sector and have lost their jobs—don’t feature in those statistics of 4.9 percent.

Also what doesn’t feature are those who were employed and whose hours are reduced as a consequence of the downturn in the economy. So again what we are not seeing in the statistics is the downturn in income from reduced hours. So there are families across this country, very much acknowledged, who are struggling at the moment because of the situation we are in. It would be wrong for the Government to rest on its laurels and celebrate a 4.9 percent unemployment rate when hidden behind that are a huge amount of other statistics that we need to be very, very concerned about as a country.

Now, one of the opening lines in the Speech from the Throne told us that New Zealand had voted for stability and certainty at the election. I know from my own patch down in West Coast - Tasman that a lot of farmers actually did vote for certainty, and the thing they wanted to be certain about was that the Greens would not have a place in the halls of power. What happened immediately following the election was that the Greens were found a ministerial place and you can be certain—the one thing that there is certainty about—is that their influence will be felt as we move forward.

Now, I would like to draw some attention to an event that now forms part of New Zealand’s history and that event took place on 9 December 2019 and that was at White Island. At that time and over the days following and the weeks following, 22 people’s lives were lost and 25 further people were seriously injured and suffered extensive burns. So that’s 47 families that were tragically impacted by the events of that day. Yet this Government fails to want to initiate a royal commission of inquiry into that event. I don’t understand the rationale for not wanting to do that, because in most other major events such as that a royal commission is called for and that helps us understand all of the events that happened in the lead-up to that, all of the signals that may have been missed, and the procedures that may not have been perfect, and that’s how we learn from the mistakes that have been made, and that’s how we are a lot more certain that those mistakes are not repeated. It’s a deep dive into the issues surrounding the whole event. So I do challenge the Government to reconsider and undertake a royal commission of inquiry into that event.

As spokesperson for emergency management, it is of particular interest to me to make sure that we learn from all of those experiences. So in my role as spokesperson for emergency management one of the things that I did earlier this year was to submit some written questions to the incoming Minister. What I was trying to do was to flesh out some of the priorities that the new Minister had and so I asked, “What are the priorities in your role that you have written to the Prime Minister about?” I was referred to the Speech from the Throne, so I went back to the Speech from the Throne to see exactly what was said about emergency management, because there are some areas in this country that are very vulnerable and will require some special attention in terms of the preparedness for emergencies. For instance, we know that a lot of people in this country now are concerned about flooding, sea-level rise, but also there are people who live in the South Island who live near to a fault line. So there is a lot of work done over time and will be in the future about preparedness for those events. So when I went back and had a look at the Speech from the Throne, there was actually no mention of it, so I ended up in this circular debate about what the priorities are. “Refer to the Speech from the Throne.”, I was told, but the Speech from the Throne actually didn’t mention it.

So the next one that was of concern to me in my other role—the community and voluntary sector. I had the same process for the new, incoming Minister there and asked for some feedback on what the priorities were and was again referred to the Speech from the Throne, and again there was no mention of it in there. So I have to wonder: is there actually a plan, are there priorities for the Government, and does it extend beyond the two areas that I was inquiring about and roll into a whole lot of others?

We’ve heard today—and Minister Hipkins referred to it earlier on—about the three priority areas that the Government has, and over the last three years we saw it relentlessly pursuing press releases and making statements and making announcements. But there was no delivery and I just have to ask if people remember what the year of 2019 was tagged as by the Government: the year of delivery—the year of delivery. So where is that delivery? Oops, nowhere to be seen. In fact, all three areas that the Government prioritised in the Speech from the Throne, all of those areas, have actually gotten worse; not just a little bit worse, but a whole lot worse.

The Labour Government proclaimed in their Speech from the Throne that they’d have three overarching objectives. We heard about COVID. I mean, we hear a lot about COVID, and rightly so, and we’ve heard a lot about vaccines in the last few days. But the one point of weakness that we have is in our border and our border control. Yet the Government continues to let infected people get on planes and come to New Zealand and into our managed isolation facilities. Now, Judith Collins and Dr Shane Reti have been calling since August last year for pre-flight testing, but that has failed to be implemented.

The other issue that was raised in the Speech from the Throne was to accelerate economic recovery. And what we’ve seen too is, again, a whole lot of money being allocated—billions of dollars, in fact—but promising money and making an announcement is not the same thing as planning and delivery. And, again, we end up in the same argument, in the same debate where delivery is actually a stranger to this Government.

I would like to talk about one particular project that was allocated $24 million, and that was in Franz Josef, an area of the West Coast, one of the most stunning places on the planet, I believe. Twenty-four million dollars—that money will be circulated around the community and it will invest in some really important protection work for that community. So it was announced last July and then what happens? It’s decided that it needs to be reassessed; reassessed to make sure it’s value for money.

💬 Barbara Kuriger: Another broken promise.

Another broken promise and a lack of delivery. But then it brings to mind what the other projects are that are going to be reassessed and whether they will deliver value for money and how many other projects around the country are at risk of having the same scrutiny put over them.

One of the other issues that it would be remiss of me not to mention is tourism. The third objective is to lay the foundations for a better future. We have a $16 billion GDP contribution coming directly from tourism and a further $11.3 billion from indirect contribution. That industry is hugely under stress at the moment. We have had ad hoc contributions from the Government, unfair processes. I welcome the Auditor-General’s review of the Strategic Tourism Assets Protection Programme funding because I think it’s going to highlight—

Order! Order! The member’s time has expired. I call Mark Cameron for his maiden statement.

Thank you, Mr Speaker, and the gathered members. “Employ your time in improving yourself by other men’s writings so that you shall come easily by what others have labored hard for.”—Sir Winston Churchill. On 10 a.m., December 12, 1944, Stuart Franklin, Geoff Bale, and five others flew on that day aboard Juliet-Echo-Echo NG-351. They flew stoic in their silence, brave in their intent, and petrified in their stare, and, yet, they flew on. Help arrived. Enemy aircraft strafing, munitions ever constant, ever threatening, only to appear, then disappear just as quickly. Altitude was evaporating. Controlled mayhem erupted. Their plane smashed into the ground—no landing gear, little hydraulics, and a 4,000 pound “cookie” bomb on board. Unbelievably, all survived.

Geoff Bale was just 21 years old, a sheep farmer from Masterton. Within weeks, these men were back in circulation. My grandfather among them, Stuart Franklin, was a man of few words, boundless wisdom, and I loved him beyond measure. What so many young New Zealand men who served would have done to be back home like Geoff Bale, back on the farm. It is for this sake, I believe I owe them a debt I will struggle to ever repay. To have risked so much—the loss to family, potential not realised, dreams never met—and yet all those brave souls flew on. Thousands upon thousands flew on for the freedom of democracy and prosperity, to embrace all things heartfelt, and, for Geoff and Stu, all things home, all things Kiwi.

Churchill also said, “We shape our dwellings, and afterwards our dwellings shape us.” My speech here today is for all the men and women farmers, the fishing folks, and all of New Zealand blue-collar workers, like all those who risked to dream beyond the war, that allowed the rest of us, in time, to do the same. People like Geoff Bale, the sheep farmer who became a living metaphor for all of those that desired to farm, would go to any lengths to hold on to what was dear. He was one of so many who chose to risk everything to preserve a life I now choose to enjoy, a life of freedoms that, sadly, evermore seem to be taken for granted.

This embodiment of a desired better tomorrow goes back to our earliest settlers, those men and women, and the love of the land against all the challenges that it might bring—that true pioneering spirit, a journey in and of itself being one with the land. This was the nature of farmers and labourers throughout New Zealand’s history, going to such extraordinary lengths to live on the land and enjoy the toil they’re in. The farm I now own in Northland has a long and colourful history. It is a canvas of 150 years of farming in New Zealand steeped in pride, passion, and zeal. This is unparalleled in so many other countries. In 1869, Ann Rogers left Auckland with her 10 children. By some accounts, it is believed she set sail from Helensville, up the Kaipara Harbour, following the tide. This journey would have taken weeks, making landfall when nature allowed, following the tide north. Many weeks later, they arrived in Rēhia, Northland, on the farm I now own. Joseph, her husband, a printing press operator in Auckland, was destined to follow the year later. Within 12 months of Joseph’s arrival, their farming dreams laid out in front of them, Joseph was to lose his life to a terrible fever. Farming in the wilds of Northland in the 1860s was fraught with danger and disease. His loss sadly left behind Ann and her 10 children in these untamed lands of Northland.

Yet, Ann’s dreams of making good in this journey remained undaunted. Ever the farmer’s way, ever determined, she remained steadfast and unwavering. Although her challenges were vast, her willingness was ever greater, and she stuck at it. The generations that followed must have such immense pride. Men like Bob Berridge, following in her footsteps, some 50 years later, on the same farm. He carried the baton forward. He also dared to dream. As a teenager, Bob, in the 1910s, would clear scrub all day to create farmland, giving him just enough pasture for a few cows, which he would milk by hand when he could, in fact, catch them. To supplement his meagre income, he would ride his horse six or seven hours to supply salted meat to the shepherds miles away, often returning after midnight, his journey lit by the moon.

These are but some of the people that preceded my career on the farm I now own. Many decades on, I beam with pride and respect at their exploits. Though the challenges have changed and the difficulties are still frequent, that desired passion of New Zealand farmers to work the land, to be one with nature, and to embrace the farming ideal remains strong—for now, at least. I think every farmer has it, like those Albertlanders who settled on the shores of the Kaipara Harbour and their aspirations, or the Geoff Bale of this world. We now see this belief locked in so many farmers—three, four, or five generations whence. It is that something special that our farmers, our fishing folk, and our rural people feel. It’s just something in our bones. But evermore, unfortunately for many, that feeling is slowly dying. I think most farmers and rural people would reluctantly agree.

My old friend Winston Churchill again: “The farther back you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see.” I am afraid our farmers are finding that image ever increasingly more difficult to discern. All our farmers and growers identify with who they are by what they do; ever increasingly, that identity is being taken from them.

As a young boy of five and six, this saw me growing up on a dairy farm in Northland. Small town, rural New Zealand is where my life journey began. Every day was an adventure, a learning experience, the rigours of daily farming, life ever present, and a community in which everyone knew everyone—and I loved it. Although I spent my teenage years at Auckland Grammar School, the pull towards the countryside and rural New Zealand was always strong. The land, the animals, farm machines, all were powerful magnets for a young boy. It was because I felt part of something, something bigger than myself, and like so many of us who feel it, it was tremendous.

My life on the farm has been a journey shared with my wonderful family. My darling Jodie—my partner—my mother Julie and sister, and my uncle Brian are here today. They shared in my dreams to see me succeed in one of the best industries in New Zealand and amongst the best farmers in the world. I have now been farming for 30 years non-stop and in that time I’ve seen all sides of rural New Zealand: the trials and the tribulations of those in my community and those that have stood beside me in their rural journey. I have worked with livestock for decades, whether goading dairy cows or being chased by wild bulls, the latter of which resulted in breaking both collarbones and eight ribs on several different occasions, or being on farm with pneumonia in a perpetual wet winter that caught so many farmers out. Also, living with the pangs of depression for three or four years in my early thirties. This has been my life in farming. These won’t be unfamiliar anecdotes to most farmers, many of whom now know colleagues and friends who found the going too tough, sold up, moved on, or, in too many cases, took their own lives.

Yet, despite an environment of increasing uncertainty, we farmers are still here. We are hanging on, always working. After all, the world needs feeding and clothing and it’s our job to do it. But what has remained, till now at least, has been the farming communities and an occasional politician who might choose to listen. “But are they listening really?”, many would ask. There is a sadly ever-widening divide between urban and rural New Zealand. It is a divide which I and the ACT Party have promised to come here and address. It was heartening to see COVID-19 briefly bringing New Zealand farming communities front and centre again, a temporary shift in perception which was so wonderful to experience and seemed by the wider public to be gratefully received. Farmers rightly asked, though, why did it take something like COVID-19 for so many people to realise how important farmers are to this country and how good we are at what we do?

I joined the ACT Party long before anyone had heard of COVID-19 because I saw a need for real change. My mission was to return a sense of pride to rural New Zealand, and I thought the ACT Party would help me provide that opportunity. I want all farmers again to feel that sense of fairness, which for too long has been missing. We farmers are tired and weary of being political fodder for some New Zealanders’ guilty conscience about their own environment, or being pandered to during an election campaign to then only be ignored when the votes have been cast. Ever more, the political class speaks less to the provincial communities it once embraced so vigorously. Those communities now feel more distant from their urban cousins, more at odds with the way they see their own backyard.

For the good of New Zealand’s collective wellbeing it must not be this way. That is why I have come to the ACT Party to balance the conversation. We can no longer accept cynical soundbites like “dirty dairying” and suggestions animals are destroying the planet or that industry perpetually pollutes. Rural New Zealand deserves better than being told to desist and diversify by people with so little experience on how farming and industry actually works, especially when so much has already been done to improve our environmental footprint and the country’s collective farming operations.

I intend to help change this narrative so more people recognise the good works of all New Zealanders, not the chosen few. We have always been a country that embraces technology, and our Kiwi farmers are the best in the world at doing it. We should see our future as one that builds on the foundations that have been made and support techniques that allow industry to be on equal footing with that of the environment, not its whipping boy. As the ACT Party rural spokesperson, I will bring this advocacy. I will extol of all good things in rural New Zealand, including the protection of the environment and equally, ACT’s fundamental principle of the protection of private property rights.

I will advocate for sensible-based environmental policies for all New Zealanders, which are attainable and pragmatic. I ask all politicians here in this Parliament to bring honesty, integrity, and practicality to the process of regulating the operations of all New Zealand communities, not virtue signalling and catch phrases that cannot be applied to real farming and those that do it. Farmers remain so bloody important, such strong threads in the fabric of this country and New Zealand society. My goal here is to restore that understanding, so that once again, self-belief will be farmers’ and growers’ and rural folks’ greatest asset.

That is why I am here, to pay off this debt to my constituents: the farmers, the rural communities and all those beyond, to the descendants of farmers like Geoff Bale and the Albertlanders and those that followed them. But most of all, I owe my debt to those brave souls who flew on that day in 1944 and served their country in its darkest hours so that we might all enjoy our lives across this great land, so our farmers and our town folk alike can once again rejoice with shared pride and that we all here can embrace this highest altar of our democracy and, in doing so, bridge that ever-widening urban divide. Thank you, Mr Speaker.

[Applause]

I call on Dr James McDowall to make his maiden statement.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. It is an honour and privilege to be sent here by the 219,031 people—New Zealanders—who agreed with our principles and lent us their votes at the 2020 general election. All members owe this privilege to the people of New Zealand, and it is for them who we work.

To those who chose not to vote for ACT but perhaps considered it, our caucus will be working hard for you in Opposition, and we hope to earn your support during this parliamentary term. New Zealand needs a strong and enduring classical liberal party, and growing from one to 10 MPs is just the start of that journey. We stand for economic and social liberty, and the rule of law.

I pay tribute to my talented, diverse, and united caucus, and also to our candidates who didn’t quite make it into Parliament last year. Please stick around, for our best days lie ahead of us.

As I stand here today I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Stuart Pedersen, an ACT stalwart and former candidate who tragically passed away at sea in 2019. Stuart was a cheerful, intelligent, and generous man, respected by his political allies and opponents alike. He was planning to give the 2020 campaign his all, and he really should be sitting with us here in this House. My thoughts are with his family and friends.

My core team in the Waikato played a major role in the success of our party in that region. I acknowledge the hard work and perseverance of Myah, Roger, Bruce, Les, Garry, Harry, Mo, and Steve and Rom and their wonderful children, Olive and Elle. I, a libertarian, vegetarian, firearms enthusiast, wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for all of you. You kept the faith and stayed loyal, and you have the party’s eternal gratitude.

I was born on 6 January 1988 during the reign of David Lange here in New Zealand, Ronald Reagan in the United States, Margaret Thatcher in the United Kingdom, and Gorbachev in the Soviet Union—what a time to be alive! A month after my birth, the gradual collapse of the Soviet Union began. The dissolution actually took about three years, but good things take time. Just over half of my life ago, I got into politics, having attended an ACT function in Auckland. I got to meet the likes of Roger Douglas, Richard Prebble, Rodney Hide, who had just won Epsom, a younger David Seymour, and many others who are still involved in the party today. I found them all to be straight-shooting people who say it like it is and talk a lot of economic sense. I never thought I would go on to eventually represent the party in Parliament, but here we are—life is full of unexpected twists and turns.

I thank my family and friends, many of whom are here in the gallery today, for their enduring love and support. I have my parents to thank for my perseverance, resilience, optimism, and even my musical upbringing. Thank you all for taking on the burden of time and expense in travelling to our nation’s capital to support me from the gallery. Thank you so much.

I also think of family members such as my grandfathers, Lou and Laurie, who I wish were still around to see me being elected as a member. I’m sure all members think about whānau who have passed in recent years, especially when they never got to see their election to this House.

I acknowledge my wife, Sushan, who has given me her full support for my political endeavours, despite the many negative stories about the toll that being a member can have on families. I also thank my daughter, Sofia, though she’s only three years old and doesn’t really know what’s going on, for not kicking up a fuss, which is unusual, and for enabling an easy job transition. She loves to tell her friends at day care that her daddy works at the Beehive, which is not quite true, but you never know what the future may hold. I do find it quite entertaining when she tells me to be careful of the bees at work—I actually think she’s wise beyond her years. As an aside, my daughter is a half-Chinese seventh generation New Zealander, and I certainly hope that she doesn’t experience the horrendous racism that my wife has experienced and continues to experience in this country.

I’m actually not the first person in my family to work within these halls, though it has been a while. My great-great-grandfather, Samuel Marsden Baker, fluent in most dialects of te reo Māori, was the chief interpreter in the House of Representatives and was a close friend of the Rt Hon Richard Seddon. This cohort of my family actually spoke te reo Māori at home, which must have been very unusual for a Pākehā family at the time. My great-great-great-grandfather, the Rev. Charles Baker, first arrived in the Bay of Islands in 1828, and because of his association with James Busby, he was present at the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, and he is depicted in the famous painting by Leonard Mitchell. I’m proud to have this ancestral link to the Treaty, and it was a privilege attending the commemorations in Waitangi last week.

From my schooling background, I’d like to thank two teachers in particular—I didn’t have a great deal of success until I met these two people—Mr Singh, my economics teacher, who introduced me to the Austrian and Chicago schools, and Ms Anderson, my business studies teacher, who is, funnily enough, related to our former deputy leader, Beth Houlbrooke, who is in the gallery today. In addition to the practical lessons learnt, they taught me to put trust in my own abilities and to take ownership of my learning. Frankly, many of my prior teachers were nothing but cruel—sorry to say that. I’ll never forget my teacher in intermediate telling my classmates that I was the most useless student in the class, which set me up for years of verbal and physical bullying while the school turned a blind eye. But enough about that.

The visits that I made to partnership schools had a profound impact on me—students have a place that they can call home; they’re much more than just schools. I wish I went to one, and I wish we had more of these across New Zealand, but unfortunately these community-driven initiatives were torpedoed and future students will be left to fend for themselves in the same State education system that failed them in the first place.

We live in a country that grants its citizens constitutional freedoms, including freedom of expression, that many around the world do not enjoy. That is why so many risk everything to set up their lives here. This House must maintain those freedoms, at the very least, and I will steadfastly use my time here as a member to enhance them. We must promote the rule of law and respect the separation of powers. This Parliament is merely a cog in the constitutional wheels of our nation; we share the power that is given to us by the people.

Seemingly contrary to popular belief, New Zealanders also look after our environment, mostly, not only because it is the right thing to do but because we are directly incentivised to do so. To act against the environment can be economically disastrous. I contrast this with scenes that I witnessed firsthand while visiting several towns and villages in Asia a few years ago. Residents were dumping all of their household waste, including heavy metals, directly into the tributaries of a major river. The banks were absolutely littered with rubbish that hadn’t made it all the way down. That river flows into the South China Sea—this happens all over the world. So when I see images on TV of the floating rubbish islands in the Pacific Ocean, I know exactly where that stuff came from. Here in New Zealand, we obviously don’t tolerate that sort of behaviour, and I also don’t think that we give ourselves enough credit for the positive work that we do.

In New Zealand we have unacceptable levels of material hardship, poverty, homelessness, and significant over-representation of tangata whenua in our prisons and in our courts, among many other issues. No one in this House wants to see this. The Government has three years of seemingly limitless power to tackle these issues, and I hope for all our sakes that they are successful. Take care, though, the more laws that are written, the more criminals that are produced.

I also hope that the Government looks at supply side economics in the housing market, and makes it easier to build quality homes throughout the country. Our out-of-control housing market is debilitating for my generation, and even more so for those that come after.

I mentioned migrants before. An efficient, high quality, and respectful immigration system is an essential part of any country’s machinery. I hope that one day we will have such a system. The bar needs to be raised significantly at Immigration New Zealand, or it needs to be replaced altogether. Whether it’s the appalling delays in processing visas, the lack of transparency, the inhumanity, the inability to work remotely, or immigration officers who get their own policies wrong time and again, it’s simply not good enough. Migrants make huge sacrifices to call New Zealand home, and more often than not they show the rest of us what hard work really means. They have moved to a foreign land far away and flourished, just like our own ancestors. Christopher Columbus once wrote, “You can never cross the ocean unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.”

I think of my in-laws, who I’m very close to. Decades ago, they left communist-controlled lands and made their way to New Zealand. My father-in-law was a refugee who escaped Pol Pot in Cambodia, a Marxist dictator who murdered at least 2 million of his own people, including my father-in-law’s father and sisters. My mother-in-law left behind a nation still grappling with the after-effects of the Cultural Revolution and years of famine. Say what you like about Muldoon at the time, but I think I know where I’d rather live. My in-laws set up successful businesses and worked hard in physically demanding jobs that they themselves created from nothing. Since arriving in New Zealand the only day they have taken off each year is Christmas Day, and work every other day. I’d like to say that this is exception but actually, for many migrants, it’s not, it’s quite normal, and I pay tribute to each and every new New Zealander.

I want to acknowledge, briefly, the many work and student visa holders who have been stranded overseas since March 2020 through no fault of their own, with their jobs, homes, possessions and, in some cases, family members, left behind here in New Zealand. I know that you’re in a huge amount of distress. It is unacceptable that you have been shut out and given no certainty about your futures in New Zealand. If New Zealand is to maintain its image as a world-leading destination for work and study the Government has to work on its kindness and come up with a fair solution.

My political ideology is simply that our morals and ambitions are our own and that they should not be forced upon anyone else, not least of all by the Government of the day. Everything else just flows from that idea. The enforcement of immoral laws restricting the rights of citizens to make them morally upright is unjust for it violates a person’s right to individual autonomy. As Rand said, “A Government is the most dangerous threat to man’s rights: it holds a monopoly on the use of legal force against its citizens.” By extension, we should act as global citizens and not be afraid to call out Governments around the world that not only abuse individual and human rights but also venture into our own backyard with nefarious motives and ideals. We can ignore reality, but we cannot ignore the consequences of ignoring reality. The wolves are getting closer to our doorstep.

I thank the many thousands of people who contacted me in support of using Cantonese in this House during my oath, it was a pleasure to share this side of my family with you.

I conclude by thanking the ACT Party board and caucus for investing their time and confidence in me. We’re all working for a more productive, thoughtful, intelligent, and fearless New Zealand, where people seek and achieve a better quality of life. We are the masters of our own fate, to also quote Churchill. Learn to value yourself, which means fight for your happiness. I want my daughter to grow up in a New Zealand that is filled with ambition, innovativeness, and envied productivity. I honour the heritage of this nation, its unique constitution, and its Treaty. Thank you, Mr Speaker.

[Applause]

I call on Karen Chhour for her maiden statement.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. We often don’t have the hard conversations that are needed for many reasons. They are too hard to hear or we don’t want to face the truth that things are not as they should be. I’ve come into this role, knowing that I’m going to have to have some of these hard conversations about the care of our children in this country. In an ideal world, we would not need someone like me to stand here and say New Zealand deserves better; unfortunately, that’s what I’m having to do. I’ve watched over the years as Governments, past and present, tiptoe around issues that are so important to the average New Zealander. I’ve waited for a Government that had the courage to stand up and start saying what needed to be said; unfortunately, this never seems to happen. For years I’ve never really told my story, as I was ashamed of it. As I got older, I realised, unless we are honest with ourselves about our past, we cannot move forward. So here it goes.

I myself was born in Australia and brought to New Zealand by my mother when I was around a year old. I was taken to live with my grandparents in Kaeō. Life was simple, power and running water was not a thing, and, unfortunately, neither was indoor plumbing. But I was in a loving environment, which was the most important thing. I was moved to Auckland to live with my mother when it was time for me to start school. This is when my life changed. My mother had just got married and was starting a new life, and now they were taking on a child they didn’t really know at all. To the outside world, we looked like the perfect family, but, unfortunately, nothing could have been further from the truth. Life got so bad that, by the age of nine, I didn’t think I was going to survive to the age of 10. It was around this time that I ran away from home and cried out for help. Unfortunately, my cries for help went unheard and I was sent back into the same situation that I had run away from. Around this time, my mother’s marriage was ending and, eventually, she ended up on the DPB.

What was going on at home was affecting me in my day-to-day life in many ways. I was quiet and reserved and easily upset. This made me a target for bullies. The bullying got so bad in intermediate that it was decided it was best for me to leave, rather than dealing with the problem. How often have we heard that? I felt alone, with nowhere to turn, in a system that had let me down in so many ways. So I kept to myself and tried hard to simply stay unnoticed. By this stage in my life, my mental health was in the toilet and I was at the point where I didn’t know if I wanted to wake up the next day. The simple truth is I was at rock bottom.

This is when a lady by the name of Dona noticed something was not right. She came to me and asked me one simple question: “Are you OK?” Dona offered me a lifeline that day—one I knew I had to choose. One night I ran and ended up on her doorstep, with just the shirt on my back, and she took me in, no questions asked. Now, this is was my second experience with the system. They organised family group conferences and tried to find members of my family that would take me in. My mental health did not seem to be of a concern to them. I was made to feel like a burden. Their questions made me feel like I was to blame, and I was being labelled a trouble-maker.

Time went by and, even though I loved living at Dona and Clarke’s, I knew I couldn’t stay there for ever, so I started to ask questions. This is when a social worker told me, “I’m sorry, none of your family wants you.” I asked whether I could go back to my grandmother and was told, “Your grandmother can’t take you again—it’s too hard for her.” I spent years resenting my grandmother for this, and it was only when I got older that I found out she had begged social services to have me, only to be told she was too old. Can you imagine being a child and hearing from a social worker that nobody—not even your family—wants you? I have lived with these words my whole life.

The system needs to learn that children are not just a number or a problem to be got rid of. They have minds and hearts of their own, and our words can break them. Eventually, I was placed with a family member that did their best, but I always knew that I was forced on them and I never felt welcome. I was a teen moving around from relatives’ houses to friends’ couches, and back with my mother when I had nowhere else to go. I was bounced from pillar to post, and, by the time I was 14, I had moved schools seven times. I could not keep up, so I did what so many have done before, and I simply dropped out. I got a job and I saved what I could, and eventually I moved into a flat and became completely independent. I worked graveyard shifts at McDonald’s while I tried to continue my education by day, doing a course. I drank a bit, I cried a lot, but I was doing OK.

One night I promised myself that, if I ever had a family of my own, I would never allow them to go through what I went through. Yes, I made mistakes—I was young—but it was then that I decided to take on every opportunity I could to try and better myself. I have worked hard over the years to make something of my life that my children can be proud of. It has not always been easy. I’m grateful to my husband, Meng, who has stood by me through all the tough times. We started our family earlier than expected: having our first child at 18. Meng found a job as a compressor mechanic and supported me while I searched for work. Once the baby was born, I worked nights at any job I could find. Eventually, Meng managed to find an apprenticeship in telecommunications. That apprenticeship has led to so many opportunities for us. I won’t pretend it was easy. The hours were long and the income was low, but he is now a project manager in his field.

Marriage came and then a second child. Then a year later we had saved enough to buy our first home. It wasn’t much, but it was ours, and it was so much more than just a house. It was the happy home that I had never had. Two more children followed, and we ended up living there for 15 years until we could finally afford the house we’re in now.

I worked many jobs over the years to help where I could, but all I wanted was to be home for my kids. So I stopped working and started helping my mother-in-law with her business. I sourced work and helped prepare clothes for deliveries. In return, she taught me how to sew. This was amazing as it allowed me the time to do things I wanted with my children, while learning a new skill. I’ve spent the last seven years volunteering with the St John Youth programme, holding the position of assistant divisional manager for five of those years. Over the years I’ve been that mother in the classroom, helping with reading groups, school trips, and anywhere else I was needed. And when we moved into our bigger home, I took the skills my mother-in-law taught me and became self-employed in the New Zealand - made clothing industry.

This brings me to today. Over the years, I’ve watched and listened to people in my community telling me their stories. It became clear to me that the system has not got any better than when I experienced it. In fact, it’s getting worse. My heart would break because I could relate so much to what they were saying, but I felt there was nothing I could do to help them. I’ve watched so many promises being made to improve the system, but it seemed that every time a promise was made, they changed the name but not much else. Whether it be Child, Youth and Family, Ministry for Vulnerable Children, or now Oranga Tamariki, it’s the same system with a new letterhead. This simply isn’t good enough.

I am one of the lucky ones. I had people that helped me believe in myself just enough that I could see my way out. It’s because of them I am able to stand here today and say enough is enough. We can’t keep doing what we’re doing. Society needs to take a stand and decide what is acceptable and what is not. I had the privilege of giving a similar speech to an audience during the election campaign and I’m going to say the same thing I said to them. It is high time the Government stopped the lip service and did something that actually helps the people that need it the most. Governments past and present have spent years avoiding making any real meaningful decisions, but at least we can now say we’ve had an inquiry into abuse in State care.

The royal commission report is a good thing. It brings some closure to the victims and I am grateful that these people have been given the opportunity to speak up and finally have a voice. But does this report really tell us anything we did not already know? Now we need more than just words. Apologies only go so far and cannot be taken seriously when what we apologise for is still happening.

I stand here today not only as a survivor of abuse as a child but a survivor of our system’s abuse. It is time we said what needs to be said: enough is enough and we won’t tolerate it any more. We must focus on our most vulnerable, our children. Parents are grownups. They can make their own choices and decisions. Our children don’t have the ability to make big choices yet, and they shouldn’t need to. They deserve our guidance and protection.

ACT thinks this can’t really take place while there’s such a focus on race and culture in an organisation delivering that protection. As I recently said, when Grainne Moss stood down as Oranga Tamariki chief executive, ethnicity and culture should not be how we decide what’s in the best interest of our children. Oranga Tamariki should be colour-blind and open to whatever will ensure a child’s wellbeing and safety. It is not a one-size-fits-all thing, and having legislation that tries to make it that way doesn’t work for our children.

If that means placing a vulnerable child into a home of a family who desperately want to love and care for them, rather than doing everything possible to place their child back into a family that made them vulnerable in the first place, then that should be the solution. As someone who has experienced three elements of placement—non-family who wanted me, family who didn’t, and extended family who did—I can tell you, as a young person you’ll take love, compassion, stability wherever you can find it. That’s why ACT believes Oranga Tamariki needs reform, just not in the way the reform looks likely to be done under this Government. But who knows? They might listen to me.

We actually need to set up a better system of support for people in this country, proper care for survivors so they can move forward with the hope of a better life. I’m really concerned, if we don’t do something fast, our next generation is going to suffer in ways we can’t comprehend. For years, I’ve been frustrated watching the numbers for homelessness, child poverty, and mental health rise. There seemed to be no party that was willing to have an open and honest discussion around these issues. I want to have these conversations and work to find a solution that is more than just throwing money at the problem.

We need to set up targeted help and put that money where it is needed the most. I think we spend far too much time on the -isms in this country: racism, sexism, and classism. I firmly believe that they can be used as weapons to distract us from the important issues instead of focusing on what needs to be done in these areas. The consequence of constantly putting labels on things seems to be that we’ve created an environment where expectations are lowered and personal responsibility is no longer a requirement. I want to focus on people being the best they can be and celebrate their successes in these areas instead of constantly focusing on the negatives that give these people the platform they desire.

Oh, please don’t misunderstand me when I say this; I know these things happen. I, myself, have been on the receiving end of bullying for some of these very reasons. I was judged when I was younger, sometimes very openly, about just being another Māori dropout that would never get anywhere in life. I soon learnt that it did not matter how hard I worked to improve myself. If someone wants to, they will always find a reason to try and drag you down. We cannot just accept that this is OK, but we also can’t let this distract us from reaching our goals. We cannot afford to get this stuff wrong any more. Our next generation is relying on us to learn from the past and get better.

That’s why I’m proud to be standing here as a member of the ACT Party team. They are willing to look at issues from an understanding of what’s good for the country and not just what’s good for the party. I would like to thank everyone who voted to support us and look forward to serving you and all New Zealanders in the years to come. Thank you, Mr Speaker.

[Applause]

I call on Toni Severin for her maiden statement.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I am humbled to be standing here as one of ACT’s new list members for the 53rd Parliament. First of all, I would like to thank the public of New Zealand who voted party vote ACT. If it was not for them, I would not be standing here today. Next, I would like to thank our ACT leader, David Seymour, for what he has achieved in the last six years as the lone voice of ACT in this Parliament. Finally, thank you to all the ACT candidates and helpers for all their hard work this last year.

As the youngest of six, I grew up in Invercargill in a family that had its problems. Some days, I didn’t want to be there. But I have to thank my parents, who instilled in me the values of hard work and self-responsibility. I have carried them throughout my life to achieve the things that I have.

It was not easy for me growing up. I had struggles in school with my reading and spelling, but I did make it to the seventh form—year 13, for you young people. It was not until I joined the serology unit at Canterbury Health Labs that a lovely lady, Sheryl Young, suggested that I get tested for learning disabilities, as she noticed I was struggling. At the age of 21, I went to Seabrook McKenzie Centre in Christchurch to be tested, and found that I had a learning disability, a form of dyslexia. They were shocked that I made it to the seventh form. With this knowledge and understanding, I still achieved to become a qualified technical assistant in immunology. Later, I studied part time for three years and worked full time to finish a diploma in marketing at Christchurch Polytechnic, now known as Ara. During my years at Canterbury Health Labs, I was a Public Service Association delegate, team manager, and team member for the Canterbury health dragon boat team.

For the last 25 years, I have been a part owner of a successful small business with my husband, Richard. Now I’m a member of Parliament. Going through all this, I have a message for you all: do not be afraid to ask for help. Most of all, do not give up. Ask for help and keep asking for help until you get it. Richard has been a great partner in life and in business. It’s because of Richard that I’m standing here today. Richard volunteered me to Sir Roger Douglas as a candidate in the 2008 election, and, as they say, the rest is history.

One wish I would make is that my parents were still with us to see what I have achieved, and have my dad tease me that he voted for Winston Peters, which may not have been true, as he liked to bait people into disagreements. I thank my dad for his service in the Royal New Zealand Air Force, No. 14 Squadron, J-force. Mum, thank you for making the best home that you could.

With the values of self-responsibility, freedom of choice, freedom of speech, less Government intervention, ACT is the only party I have supported, since the beginning of MMP. I am humbled to be here in Parliament to further these values.

As a small-business owner, the red tape and the taxes consistently piled upon us add costs that many of us cannot afford. Two years ago, I read a statistic in the Air New Zealand magazine, which has stuck with me: 97 percent of businesses in New Zealand are small businesses, of up to 20 employees. That’s a total of just over 515,000 businesses, generating 28 percent of GDP, and employing around 631,200 people. I am happy to be the voice, with my ACT caucus here in Parliament, to ask questions on behalf of these business people. One thing I would ask this Government to do is please listen to what New Zealand business people have to say. They know best what needs to be done to help them to make New Zealand prosperous in this COVID time.

Over the years as a small-business owner, my main role was making enough money to be able to pay our staff, bills, and taxes. It has not been easy. There were times where Richard and I would have no money, as there was not enough in our bank accounts for us, our staff, to be paid. We always made sure they were paid first. We had to negotiate flexibility paying suppliers, sometimes over a few months, because we had a tax payment due. Most small businesses don’t always have spare money sitting in their bank accounts, and if they do, there’s always something that will happen to take that spare money away.

When small-business people need a bank loan for their business, they are most likely to borrow this against their home—if they have a home. So not only do they risk their business but they also risk their family home. Then, once you have a successful business, people say things like “How lucky you are! You must be successful, because you own all this.” But what they forget is all the hard work we had to put into our business. Long hours, personal money, one partner working another job or two, no holidays—just some of the sacrifices we have made because we believe in our business.

I quote for you from the Roman philosopher Seneca: “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” That pretty much describes the grind that goes into creating a successful business. But just when you think it’s all working out, more red tape, taxes, compliance costs arrive. We work hard to keep our business running, our employees employed, but year after year it gets harder. So why do we do it? We do it because we have invested so much time and money into a business that employs staff and services clients. I am proud to be a small-business owner. Our hard work is starting to pay off, but there are so many small businesses out there that are having a hard time. I know this because it could have been us. All it takes is customers not paying due to an event like COVID. Finally on business: we don’t want hand-outs, that’s not sustainable. We want an environment that supports small businesses to be able to grow through hard work to succeed.

My second request of this Government is: please listen to our children. Our children understand more than what us adults think they do. We need to ensure our children have access to the best education we can give them. I am sad to say we are failing too many of our children in education. Too many are not receiving the help they need in our schools. One-size-fits-all schools do not work. We all have different needs and abilities. Please put the choice of education into the hands of our children and their parents. They understand their needs better than someone in Wellington. I compare one-size-fits-all schools to a pair of socks that says “one size fits all”—in my experience, they don’t. If you have an average sized foot, you’re fine, but if you don’t, you’re out of luck. Just don’t let our children down.

We are the House of Representatives. We need to listen to all groups who come to us. We may not agree with all that they say, but we will behave conciliatorily. We can always find middle ground and find solutions that can help as many people as possible. We have to keep an open mind. What I think I know today might be proven wrong tomorrow, and just the view that I’m right and you’re wrong does not help deliver practical solutions. If we, as people, can look at differences as opportunities, rather than threats, we can do so much more for one-another. So often it’s environmentalists versus farmers, teachers versus student learning, victims versus prisoners. We have to find a balance and make sure all these groups are helped. We are letting too many people down on both sides of the fence. Let’s remove the fence and have solid, practical solutions and great guidelines to make the best public policies we here as MPs can.

I would like to leave you with some quotes that say a lot about what shapes my political thinking: “Free marketing and deregulation are not right wing policy stances. They are the policies of those who believe in individual liberty and the availability of choice in a competitive environment.” That was Aubrey Begg, Labour MP for Awarua from 1972 to 1975. “The problem is not that people are taxed too little, the problem is … Government spends too much.” The great Ronald Reagan reminding us all that we must question every dollar governments spend on our behalf. Thank you.

[Applause]

I call on Dr Emily Henderson to make her maiden statement. [Interruption] Order! Order! This is Emily’s time.

Mr Speaker, tū ake tēnei. Tēnā koutou Te Āti Awa, e ngā mana whenua o Te Ūpoko o te Ika. Tēnā koutou ngā hapū, ngā whānau o te rohe o Whangārei, me kī, ngā kaitiaki, ngā kaimanaaki. He mihi ki a koutou ngā hapū, he mihi ki a koutou tohu o nehe. Ngā maunga whakahī, ngā awa, ngā moana. Tēnei te mihi o te mana o te Whare Pāremata ki ngā kaiārahi me ngā kaimahi o ngā wawata o te iwi. He karere tēnei mō ngā iwi o Whangārei, hei mihi ki a koutou.

[Mr Speaker, I now take my stand. Greetings Te Āti Awa, the authority of this land of Te Ūpoko o te Ika. Greetings also to the subtribes and families of the Whangārei district, that is to the caretakers and carers of the land. I greet all the subtribes and all your ancient landmarks; the ancestral mountains, the rivers and the oceans. This tribute is from the authority of Parliament to the leaders and fulfillers of the aspirations of the people. I am but a messenger for the people of Whangārei. Greetings to you all.]

He mihi kia koutou ma to my family and my friends and my Labour team, who have travelled all the way down to support me, and to those at home I know are watching too. Huri noa, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa.

Ka huri ōku whakaaro ki te tini me te mano kua mate. E te matua Rudy Taylor kua oti nei tō mahi rangatira, moe mai rā. Rātou ki a rātou, tātou ki a tātou. Me ū tātou ki te kaupapa kua takotohia.

[Let me reflect upon the myriads that have passed on. Sir Rudy Taylor, you have completed your chiefly tasks, rest in peace. Them to them, we to us. Let us turn to the agenda that is before us.]

I am a sixth generation Pākehā. He tangata tiriti ahau. By birth, I’m a Wellingtonian, and the fourth generation to feel Ko Kāpiti te motu, ko Pukerua te takutai, engari i ēnei rā nō Whangārei ahau [Kāpiti is the island, Pukerua is the beach, but I now call Whangārei home].

In fact, the day I made my first stump speech last May was nearly 40 years, exactly, to the day that my mum and dad drove us into Whangārei, seven-year-old me in the back seat with the first four of what would become six siblings. Mai i te ūpoko o te ika tae noa ki te hiku kua hoki mai au ki konei.

[From the head of the fish all the way to its tail, I have returned here.]

We went from the head to the tail of the fish and now I am back full circle, to my great honour, as the Labour MP for Whangārei, and also as a proud member of team Tai Tokerau alongside Minister Davis and Willow-Jean Prime for Northland. They were so generous in taking me under their wings, but always behind us all was the wide, wide wings of the late, great Rudy Taylor, lifting us all to where we are now, in a position to make good on the Te Tai Tokerau saying, “It’s the tail that powers the fish”. But in what direction? Throughout last year’s campaign, the words of another big man, Norman Kirk before his election to Prime Minister, were a touchstone for the Labour Party. “New Zealanders”, he said, “don’t ask for much. Someone to love, somewhere to live, somewhere to work, and something to hope for.” But it’s the words he said afterwards that echo in my head. On the night of his election he said, “And now comes the job of making dreams come true.”

We, each of us, come here with the hopes and dreams of thousands of people on our shoulders—in my case, the hopes and dreams of the 98,300 people of Whangārei—and for all of us now comes the job of making dreams come true. New Zealanders don’t ask for much, but in Whangārei, over the last 40 years, we got it less than most. I am not old enough to remember Kirk, but I remember the Whangārei I grew up in. It isn’t the Whangārei in which my kids grow up. Like the rest of Te Tai Tokerau, Whangārei has never been wealthy, but over the past 40 years we have got progressively poorer until, in fact, we bump along the bottom of the bad end of just about every set of statistics going. Now, some of us do OK, but as a Family Court lawyer and as a criminal lawyer, I have seen what happens to the others. Violence, drug and alcohol abuse, suicide, and neglect handed down from generation to generation, over-crowded, run-down houses filled with hungry, sick kids and worn-out parents. After 40 years of neoliberalism and trickle-down economics, that’s what trickles down in Whangārei. That kind of poverty causes more than material deprivation, it squeezes out that fourth Kirk necessity—room for hope, room to dream. It creates what my mum, after 30-plus years of running a crisis agency, calls poverty of hope, and nowhere more than for our young people.

Yet Whangārei has massive potential. The same young people who sometimes feel they have no future are stunningly talented, and we have amazing resources with which they could be building a great future. A stunning marine and coastal environment, innovative home-grown industries, and a nascent tech community set to explode. Not to mention the deepest, best-located port with the easiest access for our overseas trading partners. But in order to realise that potential, we need support. Only in the last three years under the Labour-led Government we start to see some real investment. Now we need to follow through and restore a level playing field in the North.

The Labour Party of Kirk believed creating a level playing field was the State’s first responsibility and the basic measure of a decent society. In the years since, we’ve been shamed into thinking that ideal is in some way naive or even presumptuous, that equity and justice are dreams we can’t afford, that a level playing field is just too much uphill work. Whangārei is over feeling ashamed. Because we are not naive. It is not naive to think a country can be run on the basis of equal opportunity and fairness. It is not naive to think it is worth shouldering responsibility for uplifting the vulnerable. It is not naive to expect that the interests of the people should be at the heart of their Government. And the truth of that was amply demonstrated by the last Labour-led Government, which spent 2020 proving over and over that putting its people first is the best and smartest way to protect a country. It is the ethos that helped build this country. It is what has sustained us through the last dark months. It is the kaupapa that can see us thrive into the future. That is the dream I am here to help secure. That is the job I am here to help get done. With help, Whangārei can achieve our dreams. And, what’s more, we know achieving them will help this country achieve its goals, including, for example, an improved coastal shipping and rail network utilising the best and deepest port in New Zealand.

Now, I know now is not the easiest time to have these dreams. As a country, we’re all aware of how precarious is our tiny lifeboat balanced on the edge of this global storm. We know that the safety of all our people has to be the economic priority, but it’s my job to raise them anyway as the representative of the 98,300 people of Whangārei. Not just because I represent Whangārei, but also because if leadership is about ensuring people’s survival it’s also about articulating the dreams that will see them thrive. However big the seas you have to cross first, it is about articulating the dreams that show us where on those seas we are aiming.

Even so, and looking at the world outside and the scale of the problems inside, it is hard not to be pessimistic about my chances, but it’s Whangārei itself that gives me hope because it’s there I’ve seen change happen. As a courtroom lawyer, working in a system under strain is not new to me, albeit on a somewhat smaller scale, and nor is working to turn around a system whose practice has come adrift of its ideals. Both the Family Court and the Criminal Court are under immense strain and there are times when neither does the job they set out to do. Nowhere in the Criminal Court are the cracks more evident than in the plight of vulnerable defendants and vulnerable witnesses: children, rape complainants, those with issues that impact their ability to communicate in and understand trials.

Now, it may be shocking to hear, but I know as a lawyer and as the daughter of a lawyer and as an academic who studies lawyers that lawyers are in this job to protect people, not harm them. Yet we do harm not only to individuals, but also to the search for truth. And we do that harm through some of our most time-honoured, centuries-old practices. It’s hard to turn a ship that thinks it’s going in the right direction, but six years ago, in Whangārei, we did just that. We designed a pilot that became the District Court sexual violence court and the basis of a national training programme for judges and lawyers. It wasn’t easy, but now more and more lawyers agree that if a defendant or a witness is going to struggle to communicate or understand standard trial process, we change the process. Some still see that change as a threat, but the rest of us know that if the way you’re acting is endangering the very thing you’re trying to achieve, change is good.

There is still much more to do in the Criminal Court and a lot more to do in the Family Court, and some of that we can discuss when we debate the Sexual Violence Legislation Bill, much of which was also piloted in Whangārei—I told you, this tail moves the fish. As a nation there is so much more we have to move, but if a bunch of crusty lawyers can abandon centuries of tradition because it’s not fit for purpose, there’s hope for us all, and there isn’t really any other moral choice but to try. We have to give those kids in Whangārei, in Levin, in Moerewa, and in Kawerau—we have to give our kids back Kirk’s room to dream, room to hope. We cannot lose another generation’s promise. And on the environmental plane, science is telling us very clearly there’s absolutely no time for delay.

It’s for these reasons I stood. But as a parent I can say, hand on heart, one of the worst moments of parenting is when you realise the buck stops with you. Most especially, we cannot pass this buck to our kids and expect their activism to somehow do the trick while we get on with business as usual. No one is more scared of leaving the job to us than our children. In declaring a climate emergency, Prime Minister, you said that our children feel this crisis in a truly visceral way. You were right. They are anguished. They are angry. They doubt our preparedness to do the job. And I know this up close and personal because up there in the gallery four of them are mine. But just as our lawyer colleagues want justice and change tack to get it, as parents, as grandparents, as aunties and uncles, there’s not a one of us who doesn’t want what’s best for our kids, wouldn’t give everything for our kids.

That being so, the country that dreamt up the eight-hour day, whose mothers first fought for and won the right to vote, whose every citizen one way or another descends from voyagers and visionaries, is a person who risked everything for the dream of a better life for their children, this country can face up to the challenges, rise up to the challenges. It can create new dreams and become something even greater.

Just last week at my first Waitangi, I watched our Government face up to the challenge of restoring our partnership in Te Tiriti, just as days earlier it faced up to the challenge of the first Climate Commission, and the few days before that, it began the challenge of rebuilding Oranga Tamariki, all for the sake of that dream of a better future for our children, because ours is the job of making dreams come true. And to those four kids in the gallery and all the others, should you ever doubt that commitment because it’s taking too long or we hit hurdles, the little song that our family chose today is the song that my grandma chose to have sung at her funeral as a message to her children—that generation, today, my parents, my aunts and uncles have come here to sing it to me. I sing it for you.

If I have words to make a day with you

If I had words to make a day for you

I’d sing you a morning golden and new

I would make this day last for all time

And give you a night deep in moon shine.

If I had words to make a day for you

I’d sing you a morning golden and new

I would make this day last for all time

And give you a night deep in moon shine.

[Applause]

I call on Dr Gaurav Sharma to make his maiden statement. Sorry, just hold that up. Because there was an interruption, I thought all the people were in who needed to come in. I’ll call the member in a minute, but could I just get some indication from security as to why all these seats aren’t full already? [Pause in proceedings] Can I just ask the messengers upstairs to open both doors there so we don’t have people coming through one at a time, thank you. I call on Dr Gaurav Sharma to make his maiden statement.

Mr Speaker. He aha te mea nui o te ao? He tangata, he tangata, he tangata. What is the most important thing in the world? It is people, it is people, it is people. Today, I stand in the House of People as a representative of Hamilton, which has been recently named as the most beautiful large city in Aotearoa New Zealand. While I only form one-third of Labour’s team from Hamilton with the Hon Nanaia Mahuta and Jamie Strange being the other two, I strongly believe that when it comes to Hamilton, West is the best. But don’t just take my word for it.

Many years ago, another handsome man from Hamilton West stood right here in this House to give his maiden speech. In fact, he didn’t look much different from you, maybe a tad bit younger and with a bit more hair on his head. His name, too, was Trevor—Trevor Mallard, in fact. I follow today in the footsteps of young Trevor Mallard and eight other members who have had the honour of representing the great people of Hamilton West. Only three out of the previous eight MPs in Hamilton West have been from the Labour Party and I want to acknowledge today in the House former Labour MP Martin Gallagher, who, along with you, Mr Speaker, and one Dorothy Jelicich round up a strong history in the electorate.

As you know, Hamilton is a very special seat. As the bell-wether seat of the country. Hamilton West is a diverse electorate with a very heterogeneous mix. While on one hand we have the CBD, million-dollar houses around Lake Rotorua, and are the economic hub of the Waikato, on the other hand we have some of the most economically deprived areas where families are struggling to make ends meet. While on one hand we have one of the largest hospitals in the name of Waikato DHB and a fine polytech like the Waikato Institute of Technology, on the other hand, we have people struggling to get access to doctors and some of the lowest decile schools in the country. On one hand we have international rugby and cricket stadiums, while on the other we have people working three jobs who have neither the luxury nor the time to afford to watch a game on TV. The stark contrasts of Hamilton West make it an electorate with a lot of challenges, challenges that I’ve seen not only after becoming an MP or as a candidate in the last two elections, but also as a local doctor in the community.

Until October last year, I worked in a large medical practice with 12,000 patients, many of them with high needs. I saw firsthand in my community the effects of domestic violence and abuse, where a young woman was raped and beaten by her partner for many days before she could escape to seek help. I saw our rangatahi stuck in vicious cycles of methamphetamine addiction. I saw parents who lost their kids to Oranga Tamariki. In more than one way, my personal experiences from the past have helped me to relate to my patients and will continue to do so with my constituents.

I was born in the Himalayas in India, and first came to New Zealand when I was 12 years old. My father migrated to New Zealand a few years before me and my mother with $250 in his pocket and a dream for a better life. It took him over six years to find a job in his field of work in engineering. But he did not give up. He slept at night on benches in Auckland Domain, eating meals at Hare Krishna and Auckland City Mission, working as a labourer putting tarmac on the road and packing food in cold storage units, selling vacuum cleaners door-to-door, and driving a taxi so that I could have access to the best education in the world. My mother worked as a caregiver in a retirement home. Both my parents have been heavily involved in volunteer work in local communities in New Zealand. My dad volunteered for the St John Ambulance in Kaikohe and my mother volunteered in an NGO for many years.

I started my schooling in New Zealand in form 5M at Auckland Grammar under the stewardship of former headmaster John Morris, who is present in the gallery here today. Grammar gave me a good education and inspired me to learn more, dream more, do more, and become more. It also taught me resilience. I was bullied at school, but Mr Hawkes and Mr Schmidt taught me to stand up against bullies.

In my three years at Grammar, I went from 5M to form 7N, graduating as the proxime accessit. While at Grammar, we were encouraged to take up extracurricular activities, and I decided to volunteer in a retirement home. This chance decision changed the course of my life for ever and led me to working as a caregiver in rest homes for a further four years on a part-time basis.

As I was finishing my last year at school, my father was diagnosed with a bile duct tumour. At this point, I met Professor John Windsor, a world-renowned hepato-biliary surgeon who performed an 11-hour surgery on my father. Not only did he save my dad, Professor Windsor was also the first person to hand me a stethoscope, at the tender age of 17. Inspired by my mother’s and my own experience of working in a retirement home and looking up to Prof Windsor, I went on to study medicine at the University of Auckland.

At university, aside from surgery, I developed an interest in public health issues and policy making and was the elected representative for over 3,000 medical students. This is where I got the first taste of broader issues that affect our healthcare delivery. In my fifth year of medical school, I was involved in presenting a paper that examined climate change as a population health issue, the global impact on threatened food supplies, re-emerging infectious diseases, poor water quality, extreme weather events, loss of livelihoods, and forced climate-related migration within the Pacific. My group won a public health prize at the University of Auckland for this presentation and based on this I was encouraged to apply for and accepted for an internship at the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva. At WHO I was able to broaden my public health experience by working with the non-communicable disease cluster on research findings in developing countries, many of which suffer from extreme poverty and poor health outcomes. The coffee table discussions at WHO with my peers on how to question the current status on public health led by Antonio and I to launch a public health festival in Spain.

Following my European adventures I returned home and joined the board of the Auckland Refugee Council to fight for the doubling of our refugee quota. Simultaneously, I worked at hospitals around the country, wanting to follow in the footsteps of my mentor, John Windsor. Somewhere along the way, I also had the pleasure of working in Mongolian hospitals, travelling over 2,500 kilometres in the Gobi Desert from one clinic to another. The great bond that I established with the people of Mongolia led me to seek ways to help increase access to medicine and surgery for the locals, but this was easier said than done. I realised that as a doctor I did not possess enough technical skills to launch, fund, and run a large-scale organisation. I was only able to care for my patients one-to-one but in order to make a system-wide change I had gaps in my knowledge that I needed to bridge. This is what led me to take a break from medicine and go to business school at the George Washington University. I was lucky to receive a Fulbright scholarship for my MBA and even luckier to spend two years in Washington DC.

The MBA helped fill a lot of gaps in my knowledge about finance, human resources, business strategy, and planning. It also opened me to study mergers and acquisitions in France, to learn about emerging markets in Mexico City, and to work on a Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement on agriculture products in Vietnam. But living in DC also made me realise the difference that good and bad politicians can make. Not long after I arrived in Washington for my MBA, the first of the TV debates on politics started. What seemed like a big joke then has turned out to be a bitter reality for America and the rest of the world. A lot has changed in world politics since, and most of it has been for the worse. The constant attack on media, the populist and nationalist rhetoric, the fake attack ads on openness, the utter disregard for facts and science: a post-truth world that in hindsight had all the hallmarks of its making, but at that time still could not be imagined in our worst nightmare. This is why a collective global effort is required to get rid of fake news and misinformation created in this new world order, and our politicians need to step up engagement with our grassroots citizens.

Four years ago, while living in DC, concerned about climate change, environments, healthcare, and women’s rights, I marched on Washington with men and women, young and old, theist and atheist, straight and queer, of all colours against erosion of society’s moral fabric and the rhetoric of device and unscientific conspiracy theories that are at the cusp of being normalised in this post-truth world. This is what made me run for Parliament in 2017 in my last semester of my MBA as I shuttled every few weeks between Washington and New Zealand, doing my assignments at the San Francisco airport in transit. The question that everyone asked me, though, is why the Labour Party? Well, my family’s journey in New Zealand, starting from my father’s homelessness to receiving my Fulbright scholarship, has been full of perseverance and is a true example of Labour’s motto of providing opportunity to all Kiwis.

My whānau and I have always been thankful to the Labour Party’s policies and social security measures, as well as education and health reforms, and this is what inspired me to join Labour, firstly as a party member, secondly as a grassroots volunteer for Phil Goff in 2014, and subsequently as a candidate in 2017. But being a candidate is never a smooth journey. In 2017, I found some people who refused to shake my hand, not because they did not believe in my political ideology or that of my party’s policies but because my skin tone did not match that of theirs.

As people in the streets of Hamilton said to my good Pākehā friend and campaign volunteer, “Could you not find a candidate who looks like a New Zealander?” It shocked me. In the most recent election, I woke up one morning to find one lovely Hamiltonian was harassed and verbally abused by two sets of people for having signs supporting “a curry candidate”. Racial discrimination is not new to me, neither in politics nor in other spheres of life. When I was at the university, a prominent paediatric surgeon bullied me for months and said, “You people come to our country, I will kill you and ruin your career.”

While these incidents do not represent the majority of people in Aotearoa who have embraced me with open arms and whom I now represent, it is important that we acknowledge racism is still alive in Hamilton and in Aotearoa. As I said in 2019 after the Christchurch mosque attacks, how we deal with racism as a community and as a country will not be decided by how many bouquets of flowers or cards we leave at the mosques and how many social media messages we write but by how we stand up for others when next time another adopted Kiwi is being racially targeted. Speak up not for one religion or one community but for our collective identity as a peaceful and diverse country, a country that may not be perfect but is definitely our home, my home.

We are lucky still to be in a country where we have the right to take part in choosing our elected representatives. We are lucky that despite a global pandemic we were able to go into polling stations without wearing masks. While in many countries politics and campaigning has become more formalised with paid roles, we are lucky that most of our campaigning is done by passionate grassroots volunteers who put the time and effort behind a cause, not for personal gains or money but for something they truly believe in.

It was humbling for me to find out that I was the first ever MP of Indian origin to win an electorate seat, until I was joined by my colleague Priyanca Radhakrishnan after the special votes were counted in. But this has been a long journey, and today I stand on the shoulders of many giants who have gone before me, giants like former Governor-General Sir Anand Satyanand, and the first person of South Asian descent to be a list MP, Dr Ashraf Choudhary, both of whom are present in the Chamber today. I also want to acknowledge former Labour list MP Dr Rajen Prasad, as well as Mr Kanwaljit Bakshi and Dr Parmjeet Parmar from the other side of the aisle, along with Mahesh Bindra, whose side of the aisle depended much on what Mr Winston Peters decided on the day.

To the voters of Hamilton West, thank you from the bottom of my heart. I am so humbled that you have chosen me to represent our community. I have big boots to fill, following Tim Macindoe’s footsteps, but I’m going to put my all into it and rise up to the challenge. To Tim Macindoe, I have thoroughly enjoyed our debates and conversations over the last three years, thank you for always being kind and gracious. We have often not agreed on policy, but our mutual respect for each other will for ever continue.

To my colleagues in this House, as I said in my first caucus introduction, I couldn’t help but feel in awe of people in the room who I had grown up with as my heroes. From the amazing Nanaia Mahuta, who I first heard speak at the Mahatma Gandhi Centre in Auckland many years ago at a husting, and Grant Robertson, who kindly took me out for a coffee in Ponsonby when as a twentysomething-year-old I had an idea I wanted to share with him. To stalwarts like David Parker, Andrew Little, and Phil Twyford, and of course, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who I voted for on more than one occasion as a medical student living in the Auckland Central electorate. To be sitting in the same room as all of you incredible Kiwis who have given years of your life to public service was, and is, very humbling. While the feeling hasn’t sunk in yet, I know that I’m surrounded by people with a lot of mana in their communities and mahi behind them.

To my patients, I would like to express my sincerest gratitude for everything you’ve taught me about medicine and life. I am here today for you because of you. To the 150 or so people in the gallery today, and many who are watching from home, thank you for being part of my journey. The gallery today includes people I went to high school and medical school with, my high school professors and medical school professors, my nursing and GP colleagues, as well as many Labour supporters, candidates, volunteers, and New Zealand council members. There is my 89-year-old grandpa, my mother, who has been my biggest strength and supporter, as well as our campaign manager, Emma Pike, who despite having two jobs led an exceptional team. There is Max Kristofferson who despite a shoulder injury put up 200 hoardings. There is Simon Jenkins who helped us doorknock thousands of houses while wearing a moon boot on his fractured foot. There is Mike Tribe, our Labour Electorate Committee chair, and Jaspreet Saluja, our phone coordinator. There is Bill Barwood and Sandy Kristofferson who coordinated the delivery of 56,000 pamphlets.

There are so many of you. All of you form a part of me, and without each of your parts I would never be whole. We went from losing by 7,731 votes in the 2017 election to winning by 6,267 votes, a change of 13,999 votes and the first time a candidate has ever received 20,000-plus votes in Hamilton. To my entire volunteer team sitting in the public gallery, thank you once again for putting your faith in me. It’s been a long road, and there have been many challenges. The 2017 election, the revival and rejuvenation of local Labour branches, the candidate selection for 2020, and the general election. You have walked with me every step of the way, and I am for ever grateful. But our work has only just started. The challenge now is to make sure we prove to the people of Hamilton that we are worthy of the opportunity that has been given to us to make a change. And once again, I look to you, my volunteers, supporters, friends, and mentors, as we work together across party lines to make our beautiful city one of the most livable in the world. We must not stop until every New Zealander can afford a roof over their head, food on the table, free education, access to timely primary hospital and dental healthcare, as well as the guarantee that our mokopuna will have a clean, green planet.

I asked at the start of my speech, what is the most important thing in the world? Yes, it is people, it is people, it is people, and the true measure of our society is how we treat our most vulnerable people. The path ahead is still challenging, but I know that under the leadership of Jacinda Ardern and the watchful eyes of many New Zealanders who have put their hopes and faith in us, we will be able to stand up to our next set of challenges with the same determination, focus, and empathy that we did through this global pandemic.

Hoake tonu tātou, let’s keep moving.

[Applause]

Can I now ask those people in the gallery who have been here to support that speech to make room for the people who are here to support the next. Thank you.

Waiata

Ahumairangi maunga, Te Āti Awa tangata, ngā tāngata whenua o te motu whānui, tēnā koutou. Tātou ngā mema Pāremata, te Tiriti o Waitangi, nāna te motu nei i whakapou. Māku koe e hāpai. Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātou katoa.

[Greetings to Ahumairangi mountain, to Te Āti Awa people and to all indigenous people throughout the country. To the members of Parliament, and to Te Tiriti o Waitangi, the document that underpins this country, I will uphold your values. Greetings one and all.]

I begin my speech as I have begun every part of my personal journey here in Aotearoa New Zealand: in te reo Māori. You might recall that I took my affirmation in this place as a member of Parliament in te reo. Several years ago, I also took my affirmation of citizenship in te reo. It’s important to me to acknowledge Māori as tangata whenua of this land and to mark my personal commitment to upholding Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Mr Speaker, may I also add my voice to those before me who have congratulated you on your re-election to your role. I fully support the heartfelt words of my colleagues, but, on a more personal note, thank you for being one of the first senior MPs to offer support and a kind word to this rookie candidate.

In my previous role as a midwife, I became used to dealing with unexpected arrivals. However, perhaps one of the most unexpected arrivals of my career was myself in this place. It will come as no surprise that this happy delivery could not have taken place without an amazing team, but my very first thankyou must go to the people of Ilam, who have put their trust in me and given me this opportunity. That trust is no small thing. To them: I promise that I will serve you to the best of my ability and always work hard for you all. I also acknowledge the Hon Gerry Brownlee for his time spent representing the electorate since it was created in 1996. Mr Brownlee, you spoke in your maiden speech of the pride and humility that you felt upon being elected to this place for the first time. I echo those sentiments. I’m sure that in future, we will disagree on many matters, but at this particular time I extend my genuine and grateful thanks to you for your 24 years of service to Ilam.

No campaign is ever successful without the efforts of a wide group of people working toward a goal they believe in, and so my heartfelt thanks go to my incredible Ilam campaign team. What the team lacked in size it made up for in energy and enthusiasm, and I’m proud and honoured to have had you all working by my side. John Sullivan, Anthony Rimell, Alex Seren-Grace, Merav Benaia, and my campaign manager Matt Seren-Grace, you all rock. To everyone who agreed to have a hoarding on their fence or waved a sign by the side of the road, made a phone call, delivered a leaflet, baked a muffin, staffed a table, donated a dollar, held a home meeting, or tooted their car horn in support of our team, I thank you. Huge thanks too to our amazing Labour campaign team and the team at Fraser House, and, of course, our wonderful president Claire Szabó, and women’s vice president Fleur Fitzsimons.

On a more personal note, Dad, watching, I know it was a shock initially to find that I was on the red team, but thank you for your unconditional support and love. I love you. My two daughters, Alex and Bea—strong, fearless, relentlessly intelligent, and loving—never forget who stands behind and beside you. You fill me with such pride and love every single day. Gloria Clegg, also watching, you have loved me and my daughters like a mother. I love you and miss you, darling. Megan and Amy, my extra daughters, I am so blessed to have you in my family. Andy, my best friend, my biggest cheerleader, my partner in everything, thank you for being exactly who you are, the man that I love and can’t wait to be married to—and thanks for asking, by the way. You often have more faith in me than I have in myself, and I know that you always have my back, as I do yours. I’m a better person in every way because you’re by my side.

If you’ve ever visited the University of Canterbury—moving on—seen the lions and giraffes at Orana Wildlife Park, or flown into Christchurch Airport, then you’ve visited Ilam. Ilam is also home to Kate Sheppard House, Te Whare Waiutuutu. Standing in the garden of her home in September 1893, she read the telegram announcing that women had achieved the right to vote. In December last year, when Te Whare Waiutuutu was opened to the public, I was proud to stand in that same garden as the first woman MP for Ilam. Standing there, I felt what I feel now: not the thrill of power but the weight of responsibility to the people I serve. I welcome that responsibility.

I’m well aware that I am here because of the inspirational women leaders who have gone before, women leaders who have climbed the career ladder and then tied it off firmly for those who were coming up behind them, rather than kicking it down. I would like to acknowledge the Rt Hon Helen Clark, Hon Lianne Dalziel, Hon Dame Ann Hercus, and Hon Ruth Dyson, in particular, for being truly extraordinary examples of this style of leadership. And I stand here because of the inspirational women around me: the Canterbury Labour women’s branch, a group of exceptional women who will do and are doing great things to support women; the amazing women I see in this place—too many to mention, but I want to acknowledge my Canterbury colleagues Hon Dr Megan Woods, Hon Poto Williams, Jo Luxton, and Dr Tracey McLellan. I’ll also sneak in a mention for Dr Duncan Webb—clearly not as a woman but as a feminist ally—and, of course, our Prime Minister, the Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern. Prime Minister, in a short time you have changed the conversation about what it is to be a genuine leader and had the courage to bring compassion and kindness back into leadership. I am often frustrated by how kindness is conflated with weakness, when rather to lead with kindness takes enormous courage. In the best possible way, Prime Minister, you have set the bar higher for us all.

I stand here too because of two particular women in my family. The first of these women is my great-grandmother. She all but ran away from home to serve as a nurse in the Boer War, much to the horror of her family, who had raised her to be largely decorative rather than useful. I was told that she resisted orders and used her designated rest time to treat soldiers who she was forbidden to help in her official duty time. In at least one case, her actions saved a young man’s life. She was disciplined at the time, but her actions were later recognised by Queen Victoria. She was a woman of courage and strong belief in helping others, no matter the personal cost to herself. The other is my mum.

I was born in Jersey, in the Channel Islands. Jersey is nearly 19,000 kilometres away, and only has a population now of 100,000. As I grew up, my mum was a nurse and midwife working permanent nights so that she could see me before and after school. My dad was a shop manager. We didn’t have much money, but I always had a roof over my head, and I never knew what it was to go hungry.

Earlier in her life, Mum had been a midwife who rode around the East End of London on a bicycle, catching the babies of women who were living in the extremes of poverty. The stark realities of life for people living in those conditions were made clear to me in the stories she told. So while I had a privileged upbringing in many ways, my mum was always quick to remind me that the purpose of privilege and, later, of power is to advocate for, elevate, and support those who have less.

My dad’s stories were of his childhood lived under Nazi occupation in the Second World War, of the bravery of his father in acts of rebellion that would have resulted in his removal to a labour camp at best, had he been caught. But Dad’s childhood wasn’t a simple story of good versus evil, but one of good people that were just following orders; of people not standing up against fascism when they had the chance and before the opportunity was lost. It was another important lesson for me that good intentions have to be backed up by actions, or they are meaningless.

When I was 21, my mum died of breast cancer. She was just 53—the same age I am today. She was first diagnosed when I was eight, and later on the symptoms of what I now know were metastatic bone cancer were written off as just being in her mind. For years, she was referred to a psychiatrist instead of an oncologist. Suffice to say that it’s left me with strong feelings about how women’s pain is commonly dismissed.

Following Mum’s death, I moved to England, got married, and had my two amazing daughters. When they were very young, I ran my own small business—a cloth nappy laundry service—endeavouring to balance employee welfare, the financial bottom line, and whole-of-life environmental costs and benefits.

My then husband and I made plans to emigrate to New Zealand in 2003. However, this was not to happen as we’d hoped as I was diagnosed with breast cancer myself, aged just 36. But I was one of the lucky ones. The cancer was caught early. Prompt diagnosis and State-funded treatment undoubtedly saved my life, yet cost me nothing. Personal experience should not be necessary to understand the benefits of universal healthcare, but it does tend to focus the mind when you are facing the possibility of leaving two small children motherless.

A few months after my successful treatment, we completed our move to this beautiful country and made Ōtautahi—Christchurch—our home. With hindsight, it’s somewhat ironic that we chose Christchurch because we felt that the earthquake risk here in Wellington was too great—good one!

We settled quickly, although there were a few hiccups along the way. On one memorable occasion, in true Kiwi tradition, I was asked to bring a plate to a party. Ever helpful, I literally took along not just one but a dozen empty plates. If one plate was needed, surely 12 plates would be better, but apparently not.

I also had to teach my daughters that Goldilocks did not, in fact, have three “beers”—that is far too many beers for a small child. It took me a while to get used to Kiwi vowels.

Soon after, I decided to take a new career path and joined the amazing women and men who are able, after years of study, to call themselves midwives. As a midwife, I’ve been blessed with the trust of women and their whānau through the best of times and the worst of times. I’ve seen life at its most beautiful and ugly. I’ve seen the unmitigated joy on the faces of new parents, perhaps after years of infertility. And then I’ve seen young people pregnant and traumatised by years of abuse, the empty cupboards that greet a new family returning home, the bruises that a mum can’t hide, the pain of addiction across the spectrum of rich and poor, the kids that I sneaked into the hospital to get their first hot shower for months—their parents couldn’t afford to turn the water heater on, ever—and the baby being admitted to hospital with a preventable respiratory infection caused by the mould and damp in their home. Moving home was not an affordable option. These are all things that are not too far away from the stories that my mother told me of her experiences as a midwife 60 years ago.

Many of these experiences involve women and systemic inequities. They resonate through many aspects of women’s lives and in to the lives of everyone around them. They resonate across generations, and when they are eliminated, we all benefit.

According to family legend, my first word was “No”. This will not come as a surprise to those who know me best. It does seem to be a trait in the family. My great-grandmother said no to orders, and treated injured soldiers; my dad’s family said no to accepting Nazi occupation, and resisted; and my mum said no to poverty and deprivation, and spent her life trying to help others. Just like them, saying no is, for me, not enough without taking action and trying to make a difference, which is why I stand here now.

I will bring my ethic of hard work and, hopefully, some of my mum’s boundless strength, fearsome determination, and relentless compassion to say no to policies and values that keep people in poverty, no to systemic injustices, and no to systems and processes that leave many at a disadvantage through no fault of their own. And I will say yes to the values that this Labour Government brings, yes to achieving gender equity, yes to warm, dry, affordable houses, and yes to a robust health system that cares for us all. I’m here to work hard to make the greatest possible positive change for the largest number of people, and to advocate for, elevate, and support those whose voice is smaller.

I am honoured that the people of Ilam have elected me to be a part of this Government of strength and kindness, one that sees, cares, wants to make changes, and is now getting on with it, and I will back up my promises to them with action in this place.

In closing, I’d like to share some advice that was given to me by a very good friend—wise advice to guide me through my time in this House. “Be yourself,” they said, “and don’t be a deck.”—I’ve got a lot better at those Kiwi vowels.

Huri noa i tō tātou Whare, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātou katoa.

[Applause]

Could I ask the people who were here to support Sarah to now move out so the next crew can come in, please? Thank you.

Waiata

Before I call the member—because I can see some movement up there—I’ll just indicate, if possible, that at the end of the speech a couple of things will happen. The first is, if there is to be a waiata, it should start at a point fairly soon after the end of the speech rather than catch everyone by surprise. The second thing is that the House will be suspended at the end of the speech until 7 o’clock, so we don’t need to do that stuff afterwards.

Whakataka te hau ki te uru

Whakataka te hau ki te tonga

Kia mākinakina ki uta

Kia mātaratara ki tai

Kia hī ake ana te atākura

He tio he huka he hauhū

Tīhei Mauri Ora

[Cease the winds from the west

Cease the winds from the south

Let the breeze blow over the land

Let the breeze blow over the ocean

Let the red-tipped dawn come with a sharpened air

A touch of frost, a promise of a glorious day

I know begin]

Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa. Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou. Ki te atua, tēnā koe. Ki a Papatūānuku, tēnā koe. Ki te Pāremata, tēnā koe. Ki te hunga mate, ki te hunga ora, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātou katoa.

[Greetings one and all. Abundant greetings to all. Greetings to the Lord. Greetings to the Earth Mother. Greetings to all in Parliament. Greetings also to the deceased and the living, greetings one and all.]

My life’s work has been all about serving people and serving our community. However, I am an unlikely politician. I’ve always stood for people’s rights. I’ve been a voice for those who have had no voice. But power and titles, they mean very little to me. Sometimes I’ve seen them in such a bad way—that power and title oppress instead of liberating.

I always said “No, no, no.” to the idea of running for Parliament, but that no was eventually massaged by many people in this room, including the Prime Minister’s own auntie and local New Plymouth identity Marie Ardern. So here I am.

My approach to life is best summed up by the Aboriginal artist and activist Lilla Watson, who said, “If you have come here to help me, you are wasting your time, but if you have come here because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.” I’ve followed this mantra in my life and in my work, not by fixing everything for everybody and doing everything but by walking alongside them, working together for our liberation.

Now, I say that I wasn’t into politics and here I am, but, let’s be honest, 1984 was quite a big year for me. I was nine years old and David Lange was this larger than life character. His passion, his oratory, his humour, it captured this nine-year-old school boy from Dominion Road School in Mount Roskill.

The year 1984 was also the year that I wrote in my school journal—don’t look too closely at the crosses. It said this: “When I grow up, I want to be like my dad. My dad’s a Salvation Army officer. My dad helps people. When I grow up, I want to help people.”

My parents’ Salvation Army work was rather hectic. Take aside the timbrels and the tubas, the Red Shield Appeals, knocking on doors, and moving every few years, as mum and dad gave themselves to the work; there were also the unique experiences that my parents gave me: the drunk who spent a few nights sleeping in our garage sobering up, the family from overseas who had experienced trauma and were staying with us, and the skinhead having Sunday lunch with us for his birthday, as well as the countless prison girls that came and went from our home.

The year 1984 was also the year that I have a vivid memory that’s changed me—the person that I am today. My mum was the chaplain at Mount Eden women’s prison. Times were different back then, Kelvin, and we used to get easy access down the corridors of the prison, into the cells, and into the common areas. It was quite regular after school for mum to swing by home, pick us up, and take us to the prison to visit some of these girls, or to visit some of those who’d recently been released.

This one afternoon, mum swung by home, and I was just there by myself, and off we went to visit one of the girls who’d just got out of prison, and her baby. Now, this was nothing different or unusual—and then we arrived at the old Onehunga rubbish dump. I was confused—we were visiting a mum and her daughter. We drove through the dump to a working shed out the back. We hopped out of the car, and I can still smell the smell of that dump and remember the confusion, thinking “What are we doing here in this dump?” We knocked on the door, and this mother and her child answered it. We went inside. We sat on the edge of the bed in the shed in the back of the dump, and it was immaculate. What little she had, she took great care of. Mum had the conversation. We left and went home.

Now, I don’t remember the conversation that mum and I had in the car that day, but I do remember thinking that something is wrong that a women and her baby, in New Zealand, are living in a shed at the back of the dump. That experience changed me, and it’s never left me. I now also think it will shape my work here in Parliament.

My life’s call to serve people has led me to being a foster parent over the past 20 years. I want to acknowledge some of those tamariki who are here and those who aren’t here. Kōwhai, Tainui, Nigel, Dennis, George, Kevin, and Blaide, to you, and to your whānau, I love you. I’ve committed my life to you, which means that it’s a sacred honour for me to be here serving you in this place and for me now, at this beautiful young age of 45, to be koro Glen. But I stand here because of you. Every day that I walk into this House, I think of you and of the chances that you never had, of the trauma that is your unwelcome friend, of a system that wasn’t responsive to your needs or your culture.

I think also of the children today who are going through similar things. I stood for Parliament to make a difference on a larger scale than just my community work. I want to see a transformed society where my mokopuna will have more opportunities, face less prejudice, and be part of a country that loves and looks after our most vulnerable.

This place is a place of power where decisions are made to change people’s lives; I’m a living example of that here in Parliament today. Because this place, as I said, has the power to oppress but it also has the power to liberate. Today I feel liberated standing here wearing this korowai, due to the courage of this House that yesterday I was able to marry the man that I love and cloak myself in his whakapapa, represented in this korowai. Man, my nine-year-old self in 1984 would’ve been pretty happy, but pretty confused about this whole experience. I actually still am, to be honest, but I feel liberated in this place. This place of power has liberated me. So thank you to all those who work for liberation.

I know what it’s like to be on the margins, to be mocked. Sadly, I know that there are still some in this country who struggle with their bigotry and old thinking. John and I have been called “faggots” over the fence of our own home. When on the campaign trail I was challenged for my perversions, one person wanted to make sure that everyone knew that I was gay because then no one would vote for me; that didn’t work. This man denied my Christianity and tried to wield the Bible against me that day. That day, Minister Andrew Little stepped in and he said to this man “This is not about your religion. This is about your prejudice.” Our society has come a long way, but we have a long way to go. Thank you, Andrew.

Louisa Wall, thank you for your fight for us, that we can be married here, and those who go before you, before us.

Today, I’m proud to stand here as the member of Parliament for New Plymouth. I also want to acknowledge that it was 34 years ago that the last MP for New Plymouth gave a maiden speech in this House—Harry Duynhoven, thank you for being here. I’m humbled that the constituents of New Plymouth have placed their trust in me to champion their causes, their needs, especially the needs of our most vulnerable.

There’s a few thankyous, which is a risk, I know, but none the less—

💬 Hon Member: Good luck!

Yeah, luckily this isn’t being recorded. Our campaign team, Grant Hassall, Bali Haque, Lorraifne Webber, Colleen Hammonds, Esme Eastment, Gordon Gower, Antony Rhodes, Colin Bell, thank you so much. To Bruce Gatwood-Cook, Virginia Winder, Shelley Baldwin, Mike Baldwin, Brendan Lister—this is where I go rogue and name a few people, I probably am going to muck it up now but anyway—Lesley Olley, Marie Ardern, Troy Ryan, Eileen Kiffin: gold star volunteers. But you all are gold star volunteers because here we are and here I am standing in front of you. To the New Plymouth LSC, to members and supporters, we got there. To Andrew Little, again, thank you for putting your trust in me, and for you, Prime Minister, thank you so much for allowing me, having faith in me, and probably getting some texts from your aunt every so often to tell her what things I’ve been doing wrong.

I also want to thank to Tu Tama Wahine o Taranaki, who have been on my journey with me. To Community Taranaki who have helped me, empowered me to be here as your representative and as representative of our people. To Incedo, my faith community, who always keep me grounded, thank you.

And to my family, to Mum and Dad, to Drew and Delwyn, Jackson, Montana, Leo, Charlie, to Mark and Nikki, to Ezra, to Micah, to Judah—I think I got them all. Lucky we’re a Pākehā family! And to Jon, my rock, my world, I wouldn’t have run if it wasn’t for you walking alongside me. Thank you—I love you, husband.

Most of all, I want to thank the people of New Plymouth, of Waitara, of Ōākura, of Ōpunake, and everywhere in between for putting your trust in me. Our electorate is blessed with natural beauty, resources, and talented, hard-working, down-to-earth people. To my constituents, as your member of Parliament I will work for you all. I will be an MP for you, even if you voted for me or did not vote for me, and I am brimming with ideas and how we can bring the possibilities of our community together; my door is always open. My vision for New Plymouth is a city that leads New Zealand’s green energy future, that we ensure that it is a just transition. I will continue to ensure that everyone has a place to call home, that we have a world-class medical-care system for our people in our region, and that our communities rediscover and reimagine the connectedness between neighbours and communities. I want to serve our region and our country, where it’s not about just talking about issues and problems but it’s talking about possibilities and the assets of the people within our communities.

I spoke earlier about a woman and child living by the dump, and today we have a housing crisis in New Zealand. I strongly believe in this Government’s vision that everyone has a warm, dry place to go home, a vision of houses that shelter them from the wind and the rain, and one where the young people of Taranaki can afford a house to raise the whānau.

I stand here proudly as a Labour Party MP and see the wonderful challenges and excitement we have: the fact that we are going to be teaching our own history in schools, that we have our own public holiday that represents this nation, and that tonight in this House, legislation begins to deal with Māori wards and allowing councils to have a better representation. Many of you in this room have fought for that, so thank you.

I close and to speak to this korowai, and to this te raukura that I wear. I especially want to thank Māori women in my life who have guided me. They give to me this raukura, the three feathers of Parihaka, and so it is with this taonga front and present with me today that will guide me as I serve this House. The raukura connects me to our creator, and grounds me to love and the service of the people of Aotearoa, honour and glory to God, to our creator, peace on Earth, and goodwill to all people.

He hōnore he korōria ki te atua, he maungārongo ki te whenua, he whakaaro pai ki ngā tāngata katoa. Kia ora.

[Honour and glory to God, peace on Earth, and goodwill to all mankind. Thank you.

Kia ora.]

[Applause]

Waiata

Sitting suspended from 6.14 p.m. to 7.00 p.m.

Ā, kāti rā, tēnā rā tātou katoa. The House is resumed. I understand the Government will move an adjournment to the Address in Reply debate.

I move, That this debate be now adjourned.

Motion agreed to.

This debate is adjourned and set down for resumption next sitting day.