Valedictory Statements

Members, the House is resumed for the valedictory statements. Members, following the valedictory statements, the House will suspend for the dinner break and will resume in committee on the Water Services Economic Efficiency and Consumer Protection Bill at 7 p.m. I call on Todd Muller to make his valedictory statement.

Whilst this boy from Te Puna might have dreamt of being a President of the United States, it was the Mayor of Te Aroha, my grandad, Henry Skidmore, that planted the seed of purpose in my teenage mind. Seared in my memory were my grandad’s trips to collect the mail, years after he had retired, and shaking hand after hand of that community as he slowly walked back to his car. It was genuine affection from him to them and much in return. I saw, in my grandparents, how fulfilled one can be through a life of service.

By my late teens, I was determined to one day stand in this place—so determined, in fact, that according to Michelle, on our first date, I used that pretty cool pick-up line about how much I wanted to MP. Clearly I was a keeper.

For some reason known only to her, that did not put her off and, 25 years later, here we are. And it is in thanking Michelle that I want to start. I think this House knows it hasn’t been the smoothest of rides over the last nine years—in fact, at times, pretty dire—but Michelle kept our family together through it all, under the most intense of stress. She prioritised everyone else at the expense of her own health and career. Thank you for your intuition, selflessness, and being the glue for our family. In a world that feels increasingly conditional, your love was unconditional and, in a very real sense, I can stand, still, here today, because of you. I love you.

To Aimee, Bradley, and Amelia: from little kids having their photo taken with John Key nine years ago to the remarkable young adults that you are today; my choices have been tough on you all, even tougher than Dad talking about you now! But thank you for your love and support. Aimee, I so love your humour and immense work ethic; Amelia, your passion for theatre, singing, and your insights on life; and Bradley, our Aquinas College captain of the first 11 football team—Aquinas captain of the basketball team who broke his leg on Friday in an interschool competition two weeks out from the national qualifiers, watching now in Tauranga. Your courage and resilience that you are demonstrating right now is an example to me. Mum and Dad are so proud of you all.

To my dear Mum, Trish, who has personally lived every political twist and turn and media interview as only mums can, thank you for your constant love and support, especially in the last six years without Dad at your side. We have all missed his wisdom and love but I, like you, can sense his guiding force still. To my brothers Gavin, Craig, Nathan: thanks for always reminding me that brotherly familiarity and depreciating wit, normally at my expense, is a love all of its own.

To my close friends Lain Jager, Mike Graham, Sarah Paterson, Hamish Crafar, Lewis Graham, and Carrick Graham. Thank you for caring for me and bringing a large disinterest and buckets of humour to the machinations of day-to-day politics, which was hugely appreciated.

To my Papamoa staff over the last nine years, Nigel, Raiha, Jo, Karen, and Greer. Nine years of constituent advocacy, nine years of making a difference in helping those most vulnerable navigate an often bewildering array of public agencies. You have changed people’s lives.

To my Wellington staff: Stefan, Sharon, Aaron, Megan, Nikita, and Jess, thank you for your remarkable commitment and passion to bring the very best of yourself to the job.

Special hugs to Claire and Celia, for the tears and laughter and most extraordinary loyalty to Michelle and I. To my long-time supporters Jim and Joan Bolger, Sir Paul and Cheryl Adams, Sir Dryden and Margaret Spring, Craig and Shayne Greenlees; my Tauranga mafia mates Grant Eynon, Mike Chapman, Doug Voss, and Sir Peter Trapski, thank you for your remarkable belief in me and for your consistent perspectives, insight and support.

To the GGPA—you know who you are—thanks for having my back through thick and thin. To the many parliamentary staff I have met and chatted to over the years, from security, to messengers, to the Chamber staff, to the cleaners, thank you for your quiet, humble service, and for sharing some of your own stories with me—a welcome drop of perspective in a place that can easily lose it.

To my local National Party members, thank you for being there for Michelle and I, through the remarkable highs and lows of these last nine years. The commitment of your often precious time to advance our party’s values is a treasure I will never forget. Thank you to Sean, Mary and Jim, Sandie, Bonnie, Valda, Don, Pam, and Jacci.

To my Bay of Plenty electorate, it has been a genuine honour to represent the community I have lived amongst for 50 years. We fought hard for each other—petitions and protests for more roads, schools, health services, police—with some success but Tauranga is a city that continues to grow significantly faster than the infrastructure and services provision and, frankly, it’s time for a National Government. Talking of future National Governments, can I personally thank you Christopher and Nicola for your private support and values-based leadership. I do deeply thank you. You are a partnership that this country desperately needs.

Well, it has certainly been a ride, but I wouldn’t change a thing—well, apart from perhaps a few less colleagues to get mistaken for! Earlier last year, I arrived in Christchurch and jumped into a taxi and headed north. The local taxi driver, disconcertingly, spent more time looking at me than he did the road, for many, many kilometres. After quite a while, he got up enough courage to turn to me and say, “It is an absolute honour to have you in my car, Mr Luxon.” I felt I couldn’t disappoint him so I to him, “No, no; I’m your local MP Matt Doocey.”

So, in the spirit of valedictories and the knowledge that what I am going to say can be attributed to at least two others, I would like to share some highlights and reflections. I hope political colleagues, the wider House, and media can see these comments for what they are—personal not political, conciliatory not critical, wary but not lacking in hope. I have two highlights I wish to reflect on. Firstly was the negotiation of the zero carbon Act with James Shaw. It was tough; we didn’t get everything we wanted but we were focused on delivering something that would stand the test of time, a framework that would give New Zealand surety that this Parliament and those to come would prioritise climate action.

Whilst I don’t agree with pretty much everything the Green Party stands for, I want to acknowledge James as a gentleman and a friend. However, while we have embedded a useful advisory structure it will become increasingly meaningless if we don’t follow its advice. I believe the Climate Commission must mature into an institution that this House respects. But that respect will come from telling truth to power. That truth will be uncomfortable for us all. I’ve just got to try and grab a water here for a moment, excuse me.

It’s a thing I’ve always had from my father—shaking hands when you have a water; he’s thinking of me. That truth will be uncomfortable. The nations of the world will not keep global warming to below 1.5 degrees, rather they will overshoot 2 degrees by some measure. As the global climate continues to warm, New Zealand will bear significant costs due to the impacts of climate change and attempting to adapt to it over time. These impacts, on our coastal and stretched infrastructure, will dwarf the medium-term challenges and costs of emission reductions. I hope the commission’s future advice will include principles that could inform how we could share this adaptation cost within and between generations in an equitable manner, because, with the possible exception of agriculture, we will be a technology taker, so we need to balance our international obligations with our capacity to scale up new technologies at pace.

We are a tiny country seeking to play a meaningful role in global action on climate, but we must be realistic about our size, distance from market, infrastructure vulnerabilities, and balance sheet capacity. But all that strategic context cannot mask the inevitable: we must reduce our gross emissions and seek efficient ways to offset them in the short term. It is a challenging path for a country so small and so distant, but it will become impossible if dispassionate assessments of complex options provided by the Climate Change Commission get drowned out by simple tag lines of denialism or catastrophisation, or even “kick it down the road” - ism.

As we sit here today, we cannot meet the gaze of our youth on climate action and that should not sit easy with us. The achievement I am most proud of was becoming the leader of this great National Party. I walked into a school hall 34 years ago as a young man, seeking a tentative political home and found New Zealanders who were hard working, entrepreneurial, deeply caring for their communities, and I felt immediately comfortable. To become leader of New Zealand’s most successful political movement was humbling and exciting in equal measure, but as is well documented, such sentiment was quickly subsumed by anguish and horror. As I slowly pulled the pieces of my life together, I struggled with regret and loss.

I turned up here late-2020 caught between trying to apologise and rebuilding a career, walking around constant triggers of what might have been. There were many messages of support from this place, which I was grateful for, but, unfortunately, behind the public utterances of many, there remained a persistent view that somehow having a mental breakdown was a function of poor political execution, as opposed to a contributor to it. I acknowledge this is a sensitive space, but we should be open about the unique challenges of experiencing poor mental health when you are a political figure. It is important to provide suitable space for rehabilitation, including some distance from scrutiny and accountability. We do that for cancer; we should do it for poor mental health.

In my case, that largely happened with the mainstream media, but less so with some in my party still coming to terms with a terrible 2020 result. I hope that when the occasion arises in the future, for it surely will, empathy replaces silence, and understanding—blame.

To the many hundreds of New Zealanders who have reached out to me over the last three years, nearly all of whom spoke of their own moments of suffering and hope, thank you for your care, for your searing honesty and words of encouragement. Please know that apart from my family, friends, and professional support, there was no greater comfort or contribution to my recovery than those messages—especially your words of hope despite your often very private hell.

This needs to be the bipartisan cause. I commend MPs for establishing a cross-party committee on mental health, but we are losing New Zealanders, every day, including a friend of mine just last week. We can’t care for them to the level they need, and we have to fix it. When you or someone you love is suffering, you don’t care about political blame, you don’t care about policies or working groups or reviews or dollars to be spent over the next four years; you just want someone to help—you just want the pain to stop. We have to support the many hands that can reach out to them. Thank you Sir John Kirwan, Mike King, and many others for your relentless pursuit of the care of others. Because you walked it, survived it, but most of all shared it, many others stand up, still—kia kaha.

Finally, there is a broad change occurring in New Zealand that concerns me, and I can sense in our private moments, concerns many in this House. There is anger at a level I have not seen before. Boiling frustration, weaved through the personal conversations of many of our fellow New Zealanders. From this discontent swells greater partisanship, which is fuelling a level of political toxicity that is corrosive to our society.

I think the most explicit example of community division at the moment is the issue of Māori and economic and political aspirations. There are two polar opposite views that are pulsing through our communities. One: that this country is being radicalised by the Māorification of our society, and the other is that we are very slowly, but inexorably, moving to a Treaty-centred future which was imagined in 1840.

From these opposing philosophies emerge policies calling for the Treaty’s impact on New Zealand’s life to be seriously curtailed, and policies that seek to apply Treaty principles more broadly to guide all we do in this House. There is a building resentment that fundamental legislative changes are occurring without due consultation, and there is intense frustration that the promise of 183 years ago continues to be denied. As we would hope in a representative democracy, these perspectives are not only represented in this House, they sit side by side, but their world views could not be more at odds.

How we deport ourselves on this issue matters. We are a House of Representatives, political debate in this unique New Zealand cauldron should be strong, ideas tested, and their articulation critiqued. But we must ask ourselves: are we standard bearers of civility and decency or amplifiers of division? We set an example here, and the ability to temper our language when we are fighting for closely held beliefs is not a weakness, but a strength. We need to model the capacity to disagree with respect.

The two great tribes of New Zealand politics—the Labour Party and the National Party—have a real responsibility here. As collective representatives of the significant majority of the country, we need to be mindful of where these debates and policies are taking us. One of the great examples of bipartisanship of the last 30 years has been our focus on settling historical Treaty claims—often in innovative and inclusive ways. But the areas of common agreement around the role of the Treaty in New Zealand are being eroded by increasingly fierce and partisan demands and responses.

We progress as a society when the centre holds, whilst slowly moving that centre to reflect the changing nature of our aspirations and beliefs. But if the centre collapses because the extremes are too unyielding, or either one of the main parties rapidly moves to embrace that extreme, we put the bonds that bind our society at great peril. But the political centre has to move as well.

I believe one person, one vote is the bedrock of democracy, but bedrocks can be built on, so where there is inequality in political representation, we should be open to ensuring these voices can see a pathway for greater representation. For if our political institutions are to endure, they must reflect our changing country.

In 1993, I voted against MMP; I was fearful that the National Party’s political power was going to be diffused. I was right, it has been. We lost the clean efficiency of majority Governments, but gained the capacity to govern taking into account a more diverse range of perspectives. The future is more of that, not less. Framing Māori aspiration as a binary choice between radicalism and conservatism is as dangerous as rapid changes to our institutions without due diligence and consultation.

So I ask the two great tribes of New Zealand politics to quietly begin refreshing and strengthening their relationships across the aisle on this kaupapa, and work together to allow the centre of NZ politics to move but also to hold.

But enough of my reckons; it is time to leave. So with a sense of immense pride, love of family intact, close friends still close, and many handshakes and nods as I walk around my community, I will take my leave. I have done some things well, some less well, but I gave it my best. My grandparents were right: there is much value in a life of service. Thank you very much.

[Applause]

Waiata—Tauranga Moana

I now understand that folks in the gallery will be departing and we’ll have Mr McKelvie’s friends and family locate themselves in the gallery.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. This is kind of the time when you know there’s no going back—ha, ha! I’m done.

Oddly enough, I’ve lived my 28 years in public life with a lot of things in the back of my mind—but one in particular, by an unknown author, has stuck with me. It goes like this: “I have wept in the night for the shortness of sight that to somebody’s need made me blind. But I never yet shed a tear of regret for being a little too kind.” Now, anyone who knew me in my 20s would not believe that this is the same person they knew then. That’s the effect life experience has on one; it’s also why this place needs people with life experience, because we change a lot from our 20s and 30s to our—I’m not going to say how old I am—to our 70s, ha, ha!

When I entered this place, I had no great expectation that I would have a profound impact here. So, as I leave 12 years later, I can only hope that I have enabled others to live a better, more enabled, and independent life than they could before I came. I hope that I have been able to give more Rangitīkeians hope and aspiration to achieve, to enable them to feel better about life, and to encourage them to visit and speak to their MP at any time in the hope of making their country a better place for them and their families to live.

I have never been a pothole-and-road man or a person who worries about the cost of a council lunch or the colour of the library door; I have always been much more interested in where we want to be in 20 to 30 years and how we get there. As such, I joined the National Party and came to Parliament, having been elected as the member of Parliament for Rangitīkei in 2011, having previously served nine years as the Manawatū mayor, a role I really enjoyed but needed to move on from, as I don’t believe mayors should stay around for much longer than nine years—probably nor should backbench MPs.

One of the principles I brought to my public life was never to deny a problem or failing, to admit to a problem, and get on with fixing it. I have to say one of the greatest downfalls of successive Ministers in this place is their failure to recognise or admit to a problem and getting on with fixing it; after all, they have the power—and some, the ability to do so. It seems we are able to go on blaming previous administrations for years and years. If I had a piece of advice for members of Parliament it would be that: don’t blame the others, don’t hide from the problem; admit your shortcomings, and use your considerable influence and power to change what you can while you are here. One further piece of advice is: never be convinced by a senior Minister to swim in a very public place—ha, ha!

If I have a single regret on leaving this place, it is that I have been unable to encourage more collegiality within and some degree of common acceptance universally around the big decisions facing us—climate change, child welfare, family violence, and progress on environmental changes needed to ensure our futures as a world-leading food and fibre producer, and that’s not to mention health and education.

Sadly, I have to report that I have failed in the collegiality thing; however, it is not for the lack of trying, meeting with MPs across the House; the former Speaker Trevor Mallard—who inexplicably wanted the best for this place but showed it in very odd ways at times!—participating in cross-party events, select committee, and Speakers’ tours, even cricket tours. That cricket tour allowed me to have lunch at 10 Downing Street, and, on the same day, attend the bulk of the infamous world cup cricket final at Lord’s—stuff dreams are made of for a romantic like me. All of this to pretty much no avail, and if you go back to my maiden speech, it was all about “creating more collegiality in Parliament”.

One big issue I want to comment on before I leave this amazing place is the wellbeing of MPs and their staff. In my experience, we generally look after each other pretty well; we also look out for each other when personal wellbeing is at stake. There are two matters which break these boundaries and cause much stress. One is thinking that staff of politicians can be politically neutral while working under a party banner—it is just not plausible.

The second is the extreme and unacceptable prying into the private lives of MPs which has no relevance to their ability to perform the roles they are elected to undertake. This would never happen in the corporate world or down on the farm, and it shouldn’t happen here. If we don’t reach some agreement as a society as to the boundaries here, we will undermine democracy and chase the very people we want running for Parliament away for good. We come here accepting the risks but our friends and family do not, and it is totally unacceptable that they should be compromised by the fact we choose to serve.

You might ask what I’ve been doing in this place for all those years—well I wonder that as well! But I’ve ended every day in politics wondering if I have done enough, wondering what I could have done better, and if I could have done a little bit more to help people; even wondering at times if I am a very poor actor. I have listened to so many people tell me how to do things better, with great ideas for the future, and, consequently I might ask of all of you, as I leave here, what are you going to do about it? Because we all come here knowing what needs to be done—we just take such different paths as we strive to put it right. I hope you will forgive me for stealing a phrase from a great New Zealand retailer Alan Martin—who most of you won’t remember—“It’s the putting it right that counts”.

One thing I have been doing here is passing two members’ bills, with a third picked up by the Hon Andrew Little with help from the Hon Kieran McAnulty and planted in a Government bill all under a Labour Government. These concerned three subjects very dear to me: horses or racing, livestock, and dogs. That’s why we come here, to promote the issues we’re interested in, and it does show that collegiality is achievable if one chooses to work at it.

One role I really enjoyed was my short time in the Speaker’s Chair as a temporary Assistant Speaker. The help I got from the team behind the wall in the Clerk’s office was amazing, and there is no doubt they could make any person appointed to the Speaker’s role look great—that is no reflection on you, Mr Speaker, ha, ha! Sorry to give your secret away!

Whilst on the people behind the wall, there have been so many who help us on a daily basis, from the security team; to those who clean up after we leave for the day; to the messengers; to the House team; to the select committee staff, who are amazing; to the team in Bellamy’s—you have been so kind to Sue and I, and I thank you.

Another role I particularly enjoyed was my spokesperson for seniors—it’s quite appropriate, I imagine—and subsequent involvement with our National SuperBlues, a wonderful group of older New Zealanders. It’s been an amazing experience talking to older New Zealanders. It’s interesting what you find out.

I am a farmer, born a farmer, and never intended to be anything else—oh, how life can change. As such, I recognise that change is essential to achieve our aspiration to be the world’s cleanest and greenest food and fibre producer, and it needs to be done in an incremental manner that most can agree to. To achieve this, we need a plan bought into by the majority of this House, particularly the two major parties and all businesses and producers affected by it. It has to allow those businesses and those responsible for the implementation of change to be able to plan and budget for the future with certainty, to know the plan is achievable, and to be confident that achieving this will ensure they are valued and have a business with a certain future. One Government starting these processes and the next one stopping them will never see us making the progress our farmers deserve.

Whilst on the topic of agriculture, I will quote from my maiden speech. I said, “I want to make a plea for us not to encourage, through suspect policy, the planting of pine trees on land that can be used for food production”. How prescient that proved to be, as we continue to allow the planting of pine trees in the permanent forest sink on land that should otherwise be available to agriculture and the productive forestry sector. This is one of the biggest single challenges we face in New Zealand with respect to our future as a food-producing nation, and one that must be resolved urgently—and will be by a National Government when elected in October. Having said that I also firmly believe that the emissions trading scheme has a place in our climate change response.

I have spent a lot of my time in Parliament sitting on select committees and have had the privilege of chairing two of—one while in Government and one whilst in Opposition. As I leave here, I am sad to say that they do not work any better than they did when I arrived. By that I mean, they miss the opportunity to achieve much more for New Zealanders because of the partisan nature of them. Were they able to operate in a semi-bipartisan manner, doing what is best for the legislation or the inquiry or financial review in front of them, we would produce a much better result, for the Parliament, the Government and the people of New Zealand.

This approach to select committee work would also help maintain a very strong democracy, which I believe is being weakened by the day in New Zealand. Remembering whatever the select committee does can be overturned by the Parliament—or the Government of the day—if so desired. The Minister concerned would then have to have a much stronger and more public reason for doing so, and that would be great for democracy and the legislation concerned.

I have seen so much legislation bulldozed through select committees and returned to Parliament, only to need a quick and poorly-thought-out fix at committee stage or need to be returned to Parliament shortly after Royal assent. Haven’t we seen, this very day, an ill-considered and ill-conceived water legislation rushed through the select committee under urgency, only for a 250-page Supplementary Order Paper to be dropped on the Parliament a few days later. A four-year term would make that process much easier.

One of the things many will have noticed is my reticence when it comes to asking questions of Ministers, and I will explain this very quickly. One of my early questions was to a Minister—who shall remain nameless—a primary and three supplementaries. Being a new and very clever MP, I listened very carefully to the answers, knowing that the Minister concerned had answered the third supplementary in the answer to the second. I did not ask the third—and amid much glaring from the Minister concerned, I sat staunchly in my seat. Needless to say, I didn’t get a question for another 18 months.

I have been privileged in my time here to have been looked after by some amazing people, hereby Fiona Julian, Leanne Marshall, and Ainslie Newell—who has put up with me for the last 11 years—in the electorate offices by Norma Humphries, Jacky Short, Suze Redmayne, Hilary Webb, Bernadette McIlwaine, Jane Cameron, Leanne Marshall, and the Taumarunui version of the MP Kay Kidd, who’s been with me from the very start.

I have also been fortunate to have had two excellent policy advisors here in Ben Henderson and Jamie Allan; and voluntary and special ones in Grant Hadfield, Simon Taylor, and Wiremu Te Aweawe—and, of course, I’ve got a vintage model on some days in Rob Webb. I have also had four great youth MPs in Jacinta Gulasekharam, Ben Henderson, William Wood, and Daisy Tumataroa, all of whom I am sure will make a great impression on New Zealand during their lives—possibly as a result of that experience.

A few words about my Rangitīkei electorate, who without the great support of, I would not be here today. Electorate chairs, the late Bruce Mills, Gary Massicks, Jamie Cunningham, and Shelley Dew Hopkins, all of whom have been great support to me; my campaign chairs Simon Taylor, Jamie Cunninghame, and Grant Hadfield; my campaign organisers Kathy Johnson and Adrienne Pierce; and my sign teams bosses, the late Mervyn Craw, the late Johnny Monckton, the late Brendon Mickleson, the late Bruce Mills, the late Anton Smith, and the late Neville Wheeler—it’s a very tough job, that sign job! And those surviving—there have been some—in Cameron McKelvie, Greg Weston, Mark Monckton, Jamie Cunningham, and Shelley Dew Hopkins.

Special people in Elaine Wheeler, Jacqui Campion, Marion and Bill Abbiss, Diana Hansen, Claire Hare, Jane Bolton, Stuart Picken, Norma Humphries; and my late brother BJ, who was both a great critic and a great supporter; my late mother Rosemary, who kept on asking me, when the Labour Government came to power, “Have you seen the Prime Minister today?” I said, “No, Mum, I haven’t!” She’s no longer with us, of course. And so many others who have been special to Sue and I.

I followed a very good MP and senior Minister in Simon Power into this place, and I hope to be followed by an equally good one in Suze Redmayne. I wish her all the best in the upcoming election; I know she will be a star in a future Government—the fact that Simon and I played a role in her education ensures that. Gotta claim it now!

I have always had a good relationship with my neighbouring MPs, and I must mention particularly—because there’s been a number more, too—Tangi Utikere, the Rt Hon Adrian Rurawhe—Mr Speaker—and my own National neighbours Nathan Guy, the late Chester Borrows, and Jono Naylor. We are all loyal to our region. Finally, in this respect, I must mention the person I rate most highly and that’s Dame Tariana Turia—I think she’s the most courageous politician of my time.

Other very important people, especially to our provincial MPs, are our mayors. I’ve had a few—16 in all—and all have worked very hard for our region and been very supportive of me. I must especially mention—because I can’t mention them all—my successors at the Manawatū District Council: Margaret Kouvellis and Helen Worboys, Don Cameron, Andy Watson, Grant Smith, Tracy Collis, and Brendon Duffy.

The class of 2011—I have loved our time with them. We started as a group of nine, grew to 11, and I wish the four of you left standing—Simon O’Connor, Mark Mitchell, Scott Simpson, and Paul Goldsmith—all the best in the upcoming election. I will never forget Paul Foster-Bell’s take-off of Tim Groser or Paul Goldsmith just being Paul Goldsmith—or Maggie Barry just being Maggie Barry, even if it was at 2 o’clock in the morning. Also to demonstrate the somewhat treacherous nature of this job, there have been 98 National MPs here with me; now there are 34 left—64 have been and gone.

When I appeared before the interview panel for selection to become a candidate in May 2011, one thing in particular stuck with me and that was being told by the chair that my wife would play very little part in my political life. Well, I told her that—you can imagine how that went down with her. Of course, she has effectively been the other half of the MP for Rangitīkei for the past 12 years. How lucky have I been to have had a hugely supportive family and Sue, who lived the business for all those years. She has also driven many of the 850,000 km our cars have travelled, just touching the brakes from time to time when she got a little bored—with me sitting on the computer; your head goes up pretty quick when that happens.

I am sure she will miss this place and its people more than I will. She has seen the world while I have been an MP, as is only fair; as we become slaves to our roles, our partners need a life of their own. We will wake up on the morning of 15 October with nothing to do—the first time since we went to school 66 years ago. It will be a new adventure in a life together that has been full of them. To our very adult children—Diana and Thaine, Cam and Rachel, Angus and Harri—and our eight grandchildren, thank you for putting up with the at-times unwanted publicity and the fact that we cannot attend birthdays, sports events, and other family occasions that “normal” people do.

I have loved my time in here, serving the people of the Rangitīkei, visiting businesses, people, and houses all over the country—in fact, in many parts of the world—battling with constituents from all over the place, and some have literally been all over the place. I know and have learnt so much, and as I leave here, I have no idea what will happen to that or what I will do in the future.

I will not be joining the critics of this place on leaving—that’s the job of the press and the voters. Finally, I have served under two great New Zealanders in Sir John Key, Sir Bill English, the unlucky Simon Bridges, Todd Muller—and we just heard today what might have been—and the courageous Judith Collins. I wish Christopher Luxon, Nicola Willis, my 2011 colleagues, and the National team led by Sylvia Wood all the best in the upcoming election. They will make a fantastic Government for all New Zealand, if elected—albeit in very challenging circumstances. Thank you, Mr Speaker.

[Applause]

I’m going to now ask Ian McKelvie’s family and friends to vacate the gallery so that we can have David Bennett’s friends and family come in. Thank you.

Tēnā koutou katoa. Salaam alaikum. Sat sri akaal. Dajia hao. A recent opinion piece in the Waikato Times quoted from the Shakespearean play Macbeth, saying, “Nothing in David’s political life has become him so much as leaving it.” That commentator never said a truer word. I leave this great Parliament with a new and exciting chapter in life that involves a family. This place has taught me what to value in life. Thank you, Nicky, for being a beautiful, smart, and strong partner. We are very fortunate to be able to build a loving family together. As you all imagine, she is the more rational one of the partnership.

Thank you for the blessing of our beautiful Julia. The little one has been a treasure and continues to bring much joy and love. Julia has a very outgoing personality and loves people—natural political skills!

Thank you to my family who have supported me through this career. To Mum and Dad, thank you for all your support. I would not be here or have had the opportunity to be here without your sacrifices. To my brother Tom and his children, Livi, Greta, and Nicholas—they have grown up while I have been here and are smart, caring, and positive young people with amazing futures. We are very proud of who you all have become.

I would like to thank Nicky’s family, Carol and Bill and Debbie, who have welcomed me into the family and been wonderful to Julia.

I stood for the Hamilton East National Party nomination in 2004 on one platform: to build the road from Hamilton to Auckland. My driver has been to get infrastructure for Hamilton to achieve its destiny. My focus has been on delivery, not stories. I wanted to build the Chicago of New Zealand, an industrial heartland city. Hamilton has a strategic advantage in its proximity to Auckland. The expressway meant we could build the Hamilton, Auckland, and Tauranga “golden triangle”. Hamilton could have easily been bypassed like inland cities around the world. Instead, we have connected through infrastructure to the population centre of Auckland and the export and import centre of Tauranga. As industry relocates to Hamilton, we are seeing Penrose move to Pūkete. Head offices are now coming to the city. Hamilton is booming. The National Party has made this possible through the provision of infrastructure.

Judy Kirk, Peter Goodfellow, Sylvia Wood, and Roger Bridge have all been great support on the National Party board.

Thank you to our leader Christopher Luxon. He is a genuine, driven, and aspirational leader. He will be one of New Zealand’s best Prime Ministers, and I look forward to celebrating your success in October. Thank you also to Nicola Willis, who will make a huge contribution to New Zealand politics. [Interruption] That’s the little one; she’s getting confused. Ha, ha!

I would like to thank my good friend the Hon Judith Collins. Judith took over the leadership with a party and caucus in disarray. As with most times of difficulty, a strong woman is required, and thank you for keeping the party together.

Thank you to the Hon Steven Joyce, who always supported projects for the Waikato. Steven’s understanding of politics and business is a very rare skill.

The Hon Jacqui Dean and myself are the last two remaining members of the 2005 intake for the National Party, and my thanks to Jacqui and the class of 2005 for their friendship over that time.

The Hamilton East electorate executive have been very supportive, and thank you to Bill and Judith Noble, Trevor and Julie Follows, John and Louise Bridgman, Dave and Merle McGall, Ryan Higgins, Lawsen Harte, Marilyn Hemming, and Ron Williams. My special thanks to Stuart Anderson. Stuart has been my campaign manager throughout my time here. His loyalty and political instincts have been invaluable. Thank you, Stuart. Murray Porter, Jon Webb, and Pienaar Piso have always been there to support all my campaigns, and my best wishes to Ryan Hamilton, who will be the next MP for Hamilton East.

Thank you to all members in this House for their service to this country, and my special thanks to the Labour ladies for babysitting Julia so I could do my House duties.

After being elected in 2005, the leader Don Brash sought our portfolio preferences. Transport was mine. The new leader, the Rt Hon John Key, sought our transport policy for the 2008 election. I suggested to the senior spokesperson at that time that we borrow the Australian roads of national significance policy, so the roads of national significance were born. We were to announce the first preferred road from Auckland to Whangārei before the election. As my reward, the expressway was to be a back-up and, through a twist of fate, the Waikato Expressway became the preferred announcement. We wrote the press release as the team drove to Hamilton, and the road was to be built within 10 years and with no tolls. It has been the most transformative event in the history of Hamilton. Waikato-Tainui have benefited greatly, and I would like to thank Kīngi Tuheitia and Tukuroirangi Morgan for their support. Māori have the most to gain from an expanded New Zealand, with their increasing role in land assets like Ruakura.

Thank you to the Waikato Times, who are a strong advocate for the region. They epitomise good reporting, putting both sides of the story together. The impressive editorial teams include Jonathan MacKenzie, Bryce Johns, Roy Pilott, and Geoff Taylor, and the excellent reporters of Aaron Leaman, Natalie Akoorie, Nikki Preston—another one—Belinda Feek, Mary Anne Gill, Elton Smallman, Jo Lines-MacKenzie, Stephen Ward, and Rachel Moore.

Politics is about serving the people of your community. The Hamilton seats are on the front line of the battle of political ideals in New Zealand. I have invited Tim Macindoe and Martin Gallagher here today; we worked as a team over many years. Neither Tim nor Martin had the opportunity to present a valedictory speech—in fact, there has not been a valedictory speech for Hamilton West since 1972. On behalf of the three of us, we thank the people of Hamilton for their support and hospitality. It has been an honour and privilege for the three of us to represent Hamilton. Our thanks for the opportunity to serve our fantastic city. Thank you, Tim and Martin.

Hamilton East is a socially liberal and economically conservative electorate. I am proud of having voted for marriage equality and abortion reform. As Jamie Strange kindly commented in his valedictory, I did a lot of doorknocking—so much, in fact, that one day I managed to interrupt a couple of teenagers who were up to no good and obviously thought I was one of their parents coming home early. I wasn’t sure who was more relieved when I left.

Hamilton East is the only university seat that National has consistently held since 2005. They say you aren’t a true University of Waikato student if you don’t have a David Bennett pen. Thank you to the student union and Nexus magazine for your support.

One of my passions has been in advocating for a more open immigration system. Migrants bring aspiration, a competitive spirit, and they value education. Hamilton’s success is very much linked with welcoming migrants to our city. In serving our communities, my office has had great staff like Marianne Mclean, Victoria Young, Grace Shaw, Katrina McCann, Jan Mudgway, Raiyan Azmi, Alex Dykes, and Jenny Young. We specialised in immigration cases, and one of our special memories involved the Afghan interpreters. Many of the interpreters were relocated to Hamilton, and they were deeply proud of their service. However, they were not entitled to wear any medals. We enabled them to get medals, and now they wear them with pride at Anzac Day services.

I started the speech with the greetings of the Chinese, Indian, and Muslim communities. The migrant communities make up a third of Hamilton East and represent the future demographics of New Zealand, and their support has enabled me to be the longest serving member of Parliament in the history of Hamilton. They are my friends and my supporters, and thank you for your support. And a special thanks to those that have made it here today.

Hamilton has suffered at the butt of many jokes over time. Some thought of us as a “Cowtown”, a bogan capital, and, more recently, as the city of the future. Hamilton, for too long, hadn’t had its fair share. Hamilton is set to become New Zealand’s third biggest city. Both Hamilton and Tauranga will be bigger than Wellington in the next decade. The population of the Waikato - Bay of Plenty region is, effectively, the equivalent of the South Island. Every dollar spent in Hamilton and Tauranga on infrastructure provides a significantly greater return for New Zealand than anywhere else in the country.

New Zealand now has the same opportunity as Hamilton had, when I came to Parliament. Australia, through its “big Australia” policy, along with Canada and Britain, have made the decision to embrace population change. We have a choice of being part of that change or being a feeder for others’ change. The rise of Africa, climate change, and the large populations of Asia will mean over 40 million people will live between Adelaide and Townsville soon. Sydney and Melbourne are projected to be cities of 9 million people each. It will initially be driven through economic reasons, and then security reasons. Australia wants to be a world player and they need a population to do that. We can be part of the Australian eastern seaboard growth and springboard into the Asian-Pacific market. This is the greatest economic opportunity for our generation. The new “golden triangle” is now Greater Auckland, Melbourne, and Sydney.

New Zealand’s ability to produce the scale of population and economy to take advantage of this opportunity is firmly rooted in having a strong top half of the North Island. Auckland’s role in the future of New Zealand is inevitable. As we link from Whangārei to Tauranga, Hamilton’s destiny is secure. We can accelerate the growth in the area and have seven million people in these four large main urban centres. New cities are possible, and Hamilton can be the link for the Taranaki, Manawatū, and Hawke’s Bay to Auckland.

My passion for building a stronger Hamilton hasn’t been meet with a desire for a public profile. Being a Minister was never a priority, but I did have that honour. I’d like to thank the Rt Hon Bill English for the opportunity to serve in his Government. Thank you to Dell Watson and Audrey Malone for your professionalism. It was an absolute pleasure to be Minister of Racing and meet some of the most successful and dedicated New Zealanders. David Ellis, Karyn Fenton-Ellis, Sir Peter and Lady Pam Vela, and Brendan and Jo Lindsay represent the success of our racing industry. Racing is a primary industry that will continue to shine and has great potential if linked to the Australasian market.

I also had the privilege of being spokesperson for several portfolios, and my thanks to leaders, like Bruce Cameron from Zespri, who have made a real contribution to our primary sector.

For me, I defined success in building the Waikato Expressway; the internal ring-route road for Hamilton, just like Melbourne and Moscow; Hamilton as the first broadband city; new secondary schools in the fast-growing north of the electorate; the velodrome; and a rebuilt Waikato Hospital campus. Recent announcements of the Cambridge to Piarere extension of the Waikato Expressway, Southern Links, and the “Shane Reti Medical School” have meant my job in this House is done.

The Waikato has unlimited potential. It has land to grow on. It has an iwi willing to invest. It has the population to deliver results. It has the natural resources to continue to be the food bowl and energy hub of New Zealand. It has the industrial base to deliver for New Zealand. In Hamilton, we have demonstrated the power of promoting location and connecting with other centres, building infrastructure, and welcoming a diverse and growing population.

Thank you for the honour to serve the National Party and the people of Hamilton East in this Parliament. Kia manawanui.

[Applause]

Can I ask the friends and family of the Hon David Bennett to make space for the friends and family of the Hon Jacqui Dean.

Mr Speaker, we certainly couldn’t start this without my favourite sister being seated in the front of the gallery. Oh, no, that way [Points to the gallery] No—anyway, I’ve got so many of them, just putting it out there.

I was sitting in the hairdresser’s chair—I don’t know if anybody noticed, but I was sitting in the hairdresser’s chair—at about 11 o’clock this morning, after having bunked off my Speaker duties. I wanted to make myself presentable for this important speech—you know, 18 years; maybe I have made a contribution. You know, it’s really important—I just wanted to give it something, and my hair was going to do that. So the hairdresser was back-combing me and he looked at me and he said, “Were you really on Play School?” And I thought to myself, “OK, there are some things you just cannot leave behind!”

When I entered Parliament in 2005, I did that to serve my community of Otago; my province. So I came in as the member of Otago. As electorate boundaries changed, I became the MP for what is now known as Waitaki, which is twice as big and one of the big five blue electorates in the New Zealand Parliament. You know, I’ve always smiled as other MPs in this House talk of “getting around” their electorate. For me, getting around has meant traversing Central Otago, the Upper Clutha and Wānaka, the Waitaki Valley, the Mackenzie Country, East Otago, North Otago, Waitaki District itself, and South Canterbury. That’s nearly 10,000 kilometres of roads in total, and obviously there’s an enormous amount of driving involved in getting around the traps. You know, I can drive for eight hours a day or more in a recess week, and I can do that for a few days in a row. So if my productivity was measured in meetings and engagements and constituency work, it would be a major fail in the business environment—and this news I haven’t shared with my leader.

The real challenge, though, starts in the business involved in travelling to Wellington. So first question: where to fly from? It could be Dunedin Airport or it could be Queenstown. It could be Timaru Airport or Christchurch Airport. So on Monday of a House sitting week, I work my way from my home base in Ōāmaru to say, well, Queenstown Airport, stopping along the way in Ōmārama, Tarras, maybe Cromwell for appointments. Then I fly to Wellington—job done. The next challenge at the end of a sitting week is to decide where to fly back to, and that depends on where in the electorate I need to be on Friday. So the next question is: will my car be at the right airport? Where is my car? And that is the question—quite seriously—that is asked very often.

So for 18 years people have turned to me for help and advice. And while I am the wife of a well-known Ōāmaru lawyer, I do decline to give legal advice. No, I’m not magically a lawyer just by virtue of being married to one, and no, I won’t casually ask Bill what he thinks about a constituent’s issue. Some people have asked me to do that.

I have the most wonderful team: Charlene, Alice, Rachael, Charlotte, Makona, and Sarah. Most of them have been with me for many years and they really know their stuff. Their roles include looking after constituents, managing my diary, and being my eyes and ears around our many communities. And a large part of their work is organising getting me to where I need to be and back again. Although, there was this one time back in 2007 when I was trying to find my way to a tiny remote rural school in the Maniototo in Central Otago. This was way before smartphones and Google Maps. I used an AA road map and it did not go well. So when the maps are folded, they are this big, right? But once you open them to try and find where you’re going to be, you’re dealing with something that is like literally this big; it’s really hard to do while you’re driving. So I set off through Ranfurly, past Gimmerburn and on to a really tiny remote school somewhere—somewhere—somewhere near Patearoa. Well, of course I got lost. Actually, I had absolutely no idea where I was and the stupid map, of course, was no help at all. I did have some signal, that is a miracle in and of itself, so I called the mothership, my Ōāmaru office. All I could say was: “I’m lost”. Pathetic, yeah, I know. To her credit, Char—hi, Char—may well have been rolling her eyes, but her tone was very helpful. Long story short, I didn’t know where I was, she had no hope of knowing where I was, but that was the day she ordered me one of those newfangled satnavs.

So I was sorted—except for the time when we set off, this time all of us in the car, for, again, the Maniototo. The highlight of the trip this time was to be a visit to the new Lammermoor whiskey distillery, literally—literally—many miles from anywhere. Not only did we get very lost, but we took a very wrong turn and ended up travelling on what best can be described as a goat track. It was so rutted it was becoming impossible to literally drive any further, and can I just say that there wasn’t much happy chatter in the car just at that point in time. So we ended up having to reverse back quite a long distance, probably about a kilometre it felt, or more, before there was even enough room for us to safely turn the car around. And we were so late; we were very, very late. But when we finally arrived our gracious hosts plastered smiles on their faces, welcomed us into the distillery, and gave us a nice dram of whiskey, and happiness was restored.

The Waitaki electorate is a special part of the country and one that I have advocated for and championed every step of the way. Over the years there have been issues that I have felt very strongly about and have campaigned tirelessly for. I think of maternity services in Wānaka and Central Otago—I have fought for years for the maternity facilities that this fast-growing region desperately needs, and it’s not the region that needs the maternity services, it’s the mums and the babies and the dads and the families. So I expressed cautious optimism when it was finally announced last year that a birthing facility had been secured and would be open in January of this year after it needed a short amount of renovation. Sadly, my scepticism was justified as this important facility for our mums and babies has still not opened its doors and will not likely do so until next year. How many more babies will need to be birthed on the floor of the midwife’s office or on the side of the road on the way to Dunedin Hospital? I just think it is a failure.

I’ll stay on health; recently many of you will have seen the headlines around Oamaru Hospital and the repeated closing of its emergency department during the night hours due to a locum doctor shortage. Just to give you a little bit of background on that, when Healthcare Otago withdrew from health services in 1998, Waitaki District Health Services rose from the ashes. It is a company owned by the local community through the council. Waitaki Health Services took over the provision of health services for us, and ever since then successive mayors, including Mayor Gary Kercher, council, and Oamaru Hospital themselves have had to fight endless, endless battles to get adequate funding. I just feel throughout that time that Oamaru Hospital has been very much the poor cousin to other health facilities elsewhere. You know, recent closures of the emergency department are heartbreaking—heartbreaking. Hospital management have tried everything. It’s particularly galling for the Ōāmaru community to have to compete with Te Whatu Ora for locums. How can that be?

Part of the problem has been immigration policy. This has meant that the doctors and the nurses that we need have gone elsewhere these last couple of years. The region I have been very proud to represent has been held back by immigration settings which I don’t believe in any way meet the needs of our local community and our local economy. Aged care, hospitality, agriculture, horticulture—they’ve all suffered from lack of workers. Just while I’m at it, we now have a proposed housing and commercial development just out of Cromwell being opposed by Waka Kotahi because it would mean that people would be too reliant on private vehicles. What? We have no public transport!

It’s not like Mayor Tim Cadogan and his council haven’t tried. Any Government—and I mean any Government—needs to understand what life is like in places like Central Otago, where there is a chronic and severe shortage of housing for workers. With 3 to 4 percent growth year on year, we just need to plan for that, and we need to make it possible, because if we don’t allow these projects to proceed, if we don’t allow for more housing, affordable new housing, New Zealand will never be able to thrive in the regions. And I’m here for the regions.

So I want to acknowledge the mayors and deputies here today. Look, I’ve so appreciated your willingness to work with me on matters that have been large and small across many years. It has been most helpful.

Well, just to brighten things up, I want to acknowledge the members of the Kurow community who staged not one, not two, but three separate events to celebrate the opening of the new Kurow bridges. Full credit to them—they knew how to lobby me, they knew how to lobby our Government, and they sure as heck know how to party. Shout-out again to the council and all of those who worked so hard in the establishment of the UNESCO Waitaki Whitestone Global Geopark. That is a significant, significant thing to happen for New Zealand and Australasia. It is the first in our part of the world. Again, you’re it—you’re it, you guys up there.

Meanwhile, back in Parliament, early on in my career, I tried and failed twice to get Easter trading reform through the House, with two members’ bills. I had more success with increasing the fines for the smuggling of native species, and failed again with another member’s bill which aimed again to protect native species. I’ve sat on many select committees over 18 years, chairing four of them, and I’ve really enjoyed the collegial and challenging nature of the work.

Occasionally, though, there is some high drama in select committees—actually, it can be a lot of fun, select committees. We were in Christchurch with the Environment Committee some years ago hearing submissions on Resource Management Act reform. The room was absolutely packed, and submitters and supporters were making some very strong points and the passion really just began to build. The chair was Nicky Wagner, and she kept things well under control, but, ultimately, things did get a bit too fiery so, as chair, Nicky did all she could do and she stood, suspended the meeting, and cleared the room so that everybody could cool off. Look, I just want to thank you, because I will never forget the professional way that the clerk of the committee faced the crowd. She wasn’t a big lady, but she faced the crowd and she calmly, with authority, cleared the room so that we could all go, “That was intense.” and then start again.

I asked for the job of an Assistant Speaker, and I’ve relished the role. My family in the gallery, including four of my five siblings, may well say that the role allows me to indulge my bossy tendencies, but I couldn’t possibly comment. Members may think that when I’m gazing into the middle distance with sort of an unfocused stare while they’re speaking that there’s not much going on in my head. Well, I can assure you there is. There’s a fast and furious internal conversation going on, and it goes something like this: “Are they speaking to the bill? No, they’re not speaking to the bill. I just wish they would speak to the bill—how much time have they got left to go? OK, they mentioned the bill; that’s OK. They’re not straying too far from Standing Orders. Oh, good grief—they’ve still got two minutes. Never mind. Well, OK, so, who’s speaking next? I’m going to have to remember their name—oh, my dear Lord! I call…” Anyway, on it goes. It is a blast.

You know what, though? I don’t always get it right, and members certainly let me know when they disagree with my rulings—thanks very much. But more recently, as some of the newer members have found their confidence and found their feet, we’ve had some really good, quality debate in this House, and I think that democracy is being well served. I do have a plea: in the debate, in the heat of the moment, let’s just play the ball—let’s just play the ball.

While I’m here, I want to thank, again, the Office of the Clerk—endless source of support and advice. We’d be hopeless without the support of our officials, so thank you all very much.

A cross-party group of us have been considering the Debbie Francis report into bullying and harassment here in Parliament. We’ve made progress, but there is more work to be done. While we’ve established the parliamentary commissioner for MP standards, I believe that more clarity is needed in the expectations of what is good behaviour for all of us who work on the parliamentary precinct and who have signed up to the code of conduct. This is work for the next Parliament, but, you know, it’s a bit like what Patrick Gower said recently: he found himself at times forgetting that MPs were human—I really think that’s something for all of us to think about.

And my family, all of you: I’m beyond thrilled that you’re here, and my friends. Bill, you have been a most patient and supportive husband. Thank you. One of the best things about you, though, is that you intuitively know whether it’s a “put the jug on” kind of welcome when I come home or a “Oh, God, I better quickly knock the top off a nice bottle of pinot gris” kind of a welcome. I mean, the guy is just perfect. My adult children have shared me with constituents, with the National Party, and the wider public for the best part of 20 years. To Mick, Steffy, and Aiden: I’m so proud of you all.

When I first stood for Parliament 18 years ago, Otago was held by Labour, and I was told by National Party whip Simon Power to “just win or else”. Well, I did win, and I’ve won five more times after that, but I have to say, that last election in 2020, oh my God, it got a bit dodgy at times. I’ve done all that with the support of family, friends, and amazing volunteers and supporters. I’d like to thank you all, but I’d like to particularly mention Ele and Grant Ludemann, who have given so much of themselves to the National Party and to causes dear to their hearts. To my littlest sister, Ra, who is so loyal and so politically very astute. For 18 years, she has supplied me with gifts of barley sugars and muesli bars to keep me happy and safe in the car on long trips.

Serving as a Minister in the Bill English Government was an honour and a privilege, and I’m very proud of what our Government achieved in those nine years as we navigated New Zealand through the global financial crisis and built the economy, the strong economy that New Zealand needed. Over the years I’ve held many roles across different portfolio areas and have been absolutely blessed with fantastic support staff in Wellington. Some of you are here today: Gareth, Olivia, Paige, Charlotte, Makona: I want to thank you.

With the election only a few weeks away, I want to wish all the best to the Christopher Luxon - led National Party. Christopher, you are a fantastic leader, and you have a very talented team full of energy, focus, and talent—and soon you will have a caucus full to the brim with new talent, which is good, because there’s going to be plenty for you to do. It’s a true privilege to have been a member of Parliament in the National Party and in this place, and to have made my contribution. I want to acknowledge Madam President, Sylvia Wood, and wish Miles Anderson all the best as he aims to take the seat.

Recently, I was asked for advice on what the new crop of MPs should do when they’re elected. My answer, and I didn’t even give it too much thought, was—well, it was simple: work hard, read your papers, put your phone down, and remember why you are here, and that’s it. Man, it’s been tough sometimes, but I have thoroughly enjoyed it. Thank you.

[Applause]

Sitting suspended from 6.20 p.m. to 7 p.m.