Maiden Statements — Georgie Dansey
Ka tangi te tītī [As the muttonbird calls]—[Applause from public gallery]
💬 SPEAKER: Well, I guess that applause means it’s all over! Thanks very much.
My time hasn’t started!
Ka tangi te tītī, ka tangi te kākā, ka tangi hoki ahau. Tīhei mauri ora. Ko Ranginui ki runga, ko Papatūānuku ki raro, tēnā kōrua. Ki te Kuini Māori, Nga wai hono i te po, paimārire. Ki ngā mate, haere, haere, haere atu rā. Ki ngā ora, tātou kua tae mai nei, nau mai, haere mai ki Paremata.
I te taha o tōku māmā, nō Ingarangi ōku tūpuna. I te taha o tōku pāpā ko Tūwharetoa te iwi, ko Raupatu te hapū, ko Nukuhou te marae. E noho ana au ki Kirikiriroa. Ko Georgie Dansey tōku ingoa. Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātou katoa.
[As the muttonbird calls, as the kākā calls, so too, do I. I claim the right to speak. To Ranginui above, and Papatūānuku below, I acknowledge you. To the Māori Queen, Nga wai hono i te po, peace and goodwill. To those who have passed on, go well. To the living, and all who are here, welcome to Parliament.
On my mother’s side, my ancestors are from England. On my father’s side, my tribe is Tūwharetoa; Raupatu is my subtribe and Nukuhou is my marae. I live in Hamilton. My name is Georgie Dansey. Greetings to all.]
Tēnā koe, Mr Speaker. It is an honour to stand as a member of this House today. I come here to work hard for all New Zealanders. My dad was born in New Zealand, but he left when he was three years old for the UK. He met my British mother in the 1980s and she said to him, “You’ve got a New Zealand passport. Let’s move there.” So my dad returned home at the age of 40. My sister and I were born soon after and we are for ever grateful that Mum dragged Dad back to his whakapapa.
My upbringing was very British. I know this because most of my known family were in the UK and at school I was teased for saying “yoghurt” instead of “yogurt”. My journey, like many New Zealanders, into my Māori whakapapa, started as an adult. It’s a lifelong journey of learning, whanaungatanga, and kotahitanga. It’s feeling whakamā when you’re asked to do your pepeha and then doing it anyway.
Along the way, I found out that I have some quite impressive tūpuna, one of whom is Harry Dansey, the second race relations commissioner in New Zealand in 1975. Matua Harry held the belief that New Zealand would find our own unique culture, drawing on the strength of both Māori and Pākehā. Well, it’s 50 years later and there’s still a lot of work to do in that space. As I enter this space, I will work hard towards a New Zealand where Te Tiriti o Waitangi is honoured, where Māori have tino rangatiratanga, and where there is a true partnership between Māori and the Crown.
When I was eight, we moved to Katikati at the foot of the Kaimai ranges. School holidays were spent packing biersticks and salamis in my stepdad Bill’s venison salami small-goods business. I don’t remember talking about politics with my parents, but what I do remember are long conversations about the financial stability of the business. What I learnt was that owning a small business is hard and that it took constant work to keep the business afloat and support employees, while also supporting our whānau.
I must have forgotten the hours of conversation about the business because 20 years later, against the advice of my mum, I bought my own business, a gym under the franchise Body Fit Training. It wasn’t long before my family conversations revolved around the business. We were determined for our business to thrive. We wanted it to be a great place to work for our 10 staff while also being financially stable. We were the first gym in New Zealand to become living wage - accredited.
Gym communities are a good example of the benefits of small business. They create jobs, build communities, bring locals together, and give them a sense of belonging while also supporting health and wellbeing.
When I was 22 years old, three important things happened to me that have shaped my life. These events were a turning point. They set me on a path of service and, 17 years later, have led me to this place.
The first thing that happened was that I got a job as an English and drama teacher at Te Awamutu College. What really struck me when I started teaching was that students didn’t enter my classroom on equal footing. Those who hadn’t had breakfast, those who had parents who hadn’t had success in mainstream education, and those who lived in households with addiction present often didn’t do as well as the other kids, no matter how hard they tried. I had never seen this kind of inequality before and it was really jarring.
What I have seen on the front lines of education in this country is that one size does not fit all. We need different pathways to success for our rangatahi and our tamariki. I want to see a system that supports all learners, a system that celebrates the uniqueness and gifts of our neuro-spicy kids, one that provides wraparound social support for our most vulnerable, and a system that recognises creativity and the arts as a cornerstone of being human.
The second thing that happened to me was that I attended my first political event. It was a women’s meeting at a local hairdresser’s with the then Labour candidate for Hamilton East, Sehai Orgad. As a young person at the time, it was the first time I had seen someone like me represented in politics. It showed me that representation matters and a diverse Parliament is crucial to our success as a country.
The third thing that happened was that my head of department and mentor, Kathleen West, asked me to join the union, the Post Primary School Teachers’ Association. I became a delegate and then, like what usually happens in volunteer spaces, I went to a few meetings and ended up being the national co-convenor for the youth wing for the Council of Trade Unions—the CTU.
Growing up, I don’t remember any discussion of unions, and Basecamp venison salamis was certainly not a unionised workplace. But I do remember the way my parents treated their workers. They recognised that beyond the work day, their workers had families to support, hobbies, goals, and dreams. However, unfortunately, the way that our system is currently set up encourages employers to value profit over people and use the employment power imbalance to exploit workers.
We need strong employment laws that balance the scales within the employment relationship to ensure all workers get a fair deal. Over the past 15 years, I’ve worked in the union movement, eventually becoming a leader of a union. I even met my wife at a union conference. Any success I have had within the union movement, I attribute to the bold leadership of people like Erin Polaczuk, Yvonne Oldfield, Rachel Mackintosh, Annie Newman, and the thousands of courageous everyday workers I had the fortune of meeting.
Most recently, I have worked with E tū union. In this mahi, I have had the privilege to advocate for some of our most vulnerable workers: security guards and cleaners. I am devastated that this Government does not value the work that these hard-working people do by repealing fair pay agreements. Letting the market decide does not work. In a competitive industry where employers must bid for contracts, it becomes a race to the bottom for employee conditions and wages.
This Government has taken a range of policies and laws that have made life harder and more expensive to be a worker in New Zealand. Widespread cuts across the public sector are linked to rising unemployment and a reduction in effectiveness of Government services. The cancellation of pay equity has left over 100,000 workers underpaid. One of the sectors who have had their pay equity claim thrown out by this Government are care workers. These are the workers who care for our elderly, those that work with our disabled people, and those who support those struggling through poor mental health and addiction. These workers are essential to our communities, yet they are undervalued for the exceptional work that they do. Well-paid workers with steady jobs put down roots in our towns and cities. In a fast-growing city like Hamilton, good jobs are vital to support local businesses, contribute to the economy—contribute to the community and grow the economy. There, I got it!
I am in this House as a voice for all the people who live in Hamilton Kirikiriroa, a place which has been my home for 20 years. My elevator pitch for this epic little city is that it’s not too big and it’s not too small, and it has the most playgrounds per capita of any city in New Zealand. Innovation is a big theme in New Zealand’s fastest-growing city. Three recent projects—the Ruakura Inland Port, the Waikato Regional Theatre, and the Pasifika Fale—were born under the sixth Labour Government; initiatives which gave us jobs, built community, and grew the economy in the Waikato.
But at a time where homelessness is growing in Hamilton and it’s getting harder and harder to afford to live, I want to see a Hamilton where everyone has access to secure, dry homes, whether they are buying a house, finding an affordable rental, or accessing State housing; a Hamilton where the Government takes serious action on climate change and builds infrastructure that is resilient and future focused.
I am proud to be Labour under the leadership of the Rt Hon Chris Hipkins. To the Labour caucus, to our president Jill Day, and members of the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions, and the wider Labour movement, thank you for putting your trust in me.
To the Rt Hon Adrian Rurawhe, former Speaker of the House—he kōtuku rerenga tahi [a white heron of single flight]—you put the people we represent first. I am honoured to follow in your footsteps and aspire to serve with the extraordinary values, dedication, and leadership you have shown to our motu.
To the members of Hamilton East and West local electorate bodies, who have volunteered and donated over the years of my candidacy: thank you. To Norbert and Jenny Abel, Wendy Lee, Gaylene Bobsien: thank you. To Hayden Munro and Holly Snape, for getting me through the 2022 by-election; to previous Waikato-based Hamilton MPs, some of whom are here today: thank you for your wisdom and your aroha.
Finally, to my family: to my dad, who would be so proud of seeing me here today, even though he spent many years delivering leaflets for the Conservative Party in London. To my mum: for teaching me resilience by example, kindness by action, and love without condition. Thank you for your constant belief that I could do more than I ever imagined. To my stepdad Bill, and my bonus parents Libby and Jeremy; to my sister Kushla, for being the only person that I can truly rely on to give an honest critique of my outfit; to my children, Fallon, Johnny, and JJ, who give me hope every day and a vision for a future where all New Zealand kids are loved and can thrive. Finally, to my gal pal and wife for life, Ruby, for giving me the courage to go to mahi every day and fight for our communities.
I leave you with a whakataukī that has been used to describe the actions of my great-grandfather Roger Dansey, a captain in the Māori Battalion of World War I. He served our country proudly overseas. This whakataukī is a strong message of encouragement, urging one to be courageous, determined, and persistent; never giving up in the face of adversity, no matter how difficult the struggle. As I start my journey in this House, for as long as I am privileged to be here, may I walk in the courageous footsteps of my tūpuna for a fair and just society. Kaua e mate wheke, me mate ururoa. Kia ora.
[Do not die like an octopus, die like a hammerhead shark.]
Waiata—“Tirotiro”
[Applause, hongi, and harirū]
💬 SPEAKER: The House is suspended for the dinner break.
Sitting suspended from 5.58 p.m. to 7.30 p.m.