Maiden Statements

According to the determination made by the Business Committee, the House will adjourn until 2 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 July following the maiden statement from Dr David Wilson. I call on Dr David Wilson.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I hope to raise the tone a little in this speech! E ngā mana, e ngā reo, rau rangatira mā, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātou katoa.

[To the authorities, the representatives, the many leaders, thanks and greetings to you all.]

Céad míle fáilte. Dia daoibh. Ver heill ok Sael. Wesaþ hāla. Bonjour à tous. Greetings, everybody. I just paid respect to your mana, your discussion, and your leadership. Then I wished you 100,000 welcomes, that God be with you, that you have happiness and prosperity, and that ye be healthy, in the ancient languages of my tribes: Gaelic, Celtic, Norse, French, and Anglo-Saxon.

I did that because I wished to convey my whakapapa in how I came to stand in this place, this Parliament, this country. We all have many heritages, many places, and many people that form a part of us, that influence who we are and what we bring to this place.

Let me start with a personal story. Born in Auckland, my adoptive surname is Wilson. My birth father was a Pinfold, and my birth mother, her maiden name is McKeating. The McKeating name, as one strand, traces back to the 12th century and the time of the legendary Strongbow, aka Richard de Clare, Earl of Pembroke, and later justiciar of Ireland, who was sent by King Henry II to conquer Ireland. In 1170, Strongbow led an Anglo-Norman protestant army, along with a few Welsh mercenaries, and they travelled to Leinster to invade Ireland.

One of his soldiers, my ancestor, was so skilled at the longbow [Mimes firing an arrow from a longbow]—

Missed me!

Dr DAVID WILSON: —that he was given the name—I deliberately aimed at the press gallery up there, but there’s nobody reporting, so it’s all good. He was given the name Céitinn, which literally means to rain fire down on your enemies. You see, sometimes they wrapped the end of the long arrows and set fire to the thatched roofs and wooden buildings of enemy strongholds before an all-out attack.

Longbows were superior weapons at the time, and Strongbow and his army were successful in conquering Leinster, aiding in the Norman invasion. However, many of Strongbow’s army remained—including my lot—married, and settled into the Irish way of life, where some said they became more Irish than the Irish. Later, they were to fight alongside their Catholic Irish families to try and repel the English Protestants once again. This reminds me of a story by the great philosopher Rowan Atkinson about religious tribes, but I will not repeat that here. We’ll have to have that some other time.

Recently, I had the privilege of visiting the 850-year-old Céitinn Norman keep in the south of Ireland. Still standing, it was a very poignant reminder that history is the greatest teacher. Céitinn is the root name for Keating and McKeating—and, no, I don’t think Ronan is my relation. The McKeatings in New Zealand are far more peace-loving these days.

I tell you that story because in all our own personal ancestries, tribes have raped, pillaged, and ransacked others. I’m pretty sure that everyone in my tribes visited merciless mayhem on the others at one time or another in history. Thank God for the Enlightenment, is all I can say.

Born in Auckland, I grew up in Glendowie. I went to Mount Taylor Primary School and Glen Innes Intermediate, which at the time you would have described as decile-one schools. My father worked very hard to allow me to cross the Tāmaki Estuary to board at Saint Kentigern College—yes, decile 10, and back to those Protestant roots—where I formed lifelong friendships with farmers’ sons and day pupils who owned cars.

I had one older adopted brother who left home when I was about seven. Later in life, I met both of my birth families. I’m the eldest of six brothers and sisters on both sides—so I figure I can field a football team—with numerous cousins and grandchildren. A far cry from being virtually an only child, I’m now surrounded by love and acceptance.

I was sporty: Auckland football rep, first XV, basketball, volleyball, athletics, Dux Ludorum, and all of that. I learnt that a team can lift performance far beyond what you are capable of alone, and there is a zone where words don’t matter and are not needed. I also learnt that the true meaning of the word “encourage” is to place courage in another.

Coming from both sides of the tracks has been very formative for me as my life has been met with both triumph and disaster, and, yes, I’m still learning to treat both of those imposters just the same. After the death of my father in my last year of school, I had to drop out of university as his carpet businesses crumbled. I lost everything due to the avarice and criminality of others.

So “Get a haircut, get a job, get a place to live—go surfing.” was my answer. I landed a great job selling surf-wear and sports equipment. I was on the ground as a buyer for Kmart in New Zealand, working alongside the future owners of Pumpkin Patch and the like. I later set up my own surf shop, of course. I sponsored young surfers, and had R & D trips to Hawaii, Fiji, and Samoa. I learnt a lot about small business, and, hey, I got married.

Later, with my wife’s support, I was able to return to university as an adult and find my way to a Master’s in public policy and a PhD in governance and economic development. However, in the words of Thomas Sowell, “It takes considerable knowledge just to realise the extent of your ignorance.”

Nevertheless, this grounding culminated in me leading the Institute of Public Policy at Auckland University of Technology and partnering with the Committee for Auckland—thank you, Sir Ron—and the Auckland Regional Council to create the Auckland metropolitan action plan, the antecedent to the amalgamation of Auckland. Lots of learnings there.

Subsequently, I became CEO of Northland’s Regional Economic Development Agency—and thank you, Grant, for stealing all my thunder. It was at this time that I was invited to work on New Zealand First’s regional development policy and serve on the advisory panel for the Provincial Growth Fund.

I count myself fortunate to have had many influences that have shaped me as the person I am today. Key amongst those is my beautiful wife, affectionately known as Dr Anna, who holds me to account daily; my son, Ash, who challenges my philosophical and political beliefs; and my daughter, Jess, a dancer who has taught me about the beauty of the arts and gaining insight and meaning from movement and musicality. Coaching our kids, on the other hand, taught me humility.

To all of my families—the Wilsons, the Pinfolds, the McKeatings, the Tabuteaus—thank you. To all of my fathers and mothers, I wish you could be here with me today. To my cousin Carolyn and father-in-law, Vaughan, you were both invested in my success during the election, but, sadly, you have since passed away, making today somewhat bitter-sweet.

To all my wonderful friends who have stuck by me through thick and thin, thank you.

To my academic influences, the late Professor Ian Shirley, Professors Marilyn Waring, Tagaloatele Peggy Fairbairn-Dunlop, Paul Dalziel, Caroline Saunders, and Phil McDermott, thank you.

To my heroes: Martin Luther King, for your principles of integrity, dedication, and unity; Winston Churchill, for your courage, forbearance, and wisdom; and to my wife, for your perfectionism, dedication, and compassion.

To Winston Peters, thank you for constantly reminding us of our history and for your decades of service to New Zealand. To paraphrase John Ralston Saul during the neoliberal revolution, “they are downgrading economic history in the universities, as it is an unfortunate reminder of reality”. Thank you for bringing reality.

We face, as a nation, turbulent times: geopolitical unrest in a multipolar world, old intransigent enmities, tribalism and war, religious fundamentalism, intolerance and tyranny, a global recession with trade barriers, a pandemic hangover from State overreach and profligate spending. Have we learnt nothing?

Actually, we have. Over the long run, things look different. Life expectancy in New Zealand in 1870 was 34, and today it is 84. Never before in global history have we lived in more democratic, free, and prosperous societies. We have never lived longer or had better education and health access. We have reduced global poverty and infant mortality in the last 50 years at rates never seen before in history. This is progress. Far from perfect, more to do—much more. The last five years in New Zealand have set us back. It’s time to pick up the tools and rebuild together.

Let me give you some sense of what I hope to bring to Parliament. Firstly, this institution is important. Parliament is important. It builds on the demos and the polis over thousands of years, and even if emancipation came far too late for many, the foundations are set. There is no better way to organise a nation or society than Western liberal democracy. Liberal democracies correlate more strongly with human rights, prosperity, fairness, trust, and equality before the law than any other system of government.

The temptation to raise one group over another, or subjugate one group to another, is deep in our DNA and has the entirety of human existence as proof, and yet citizenship, with its rights and responsibilities, is the greatest leveller. It provides us with the mechanisms to unite, not divide.

The last 20 years of my career have focused on economic development for New Zealand. Why? Prosperous nations have strong institutions, high degrees of trust, and the wherewithal to create the living standards and conditions we all aspire to. Without prosperity, we have little hope of addressing the critical issues we face today. It is the basis. It is the foundation.

Economics, if you go back to its roots, had welfare as its goal. They are inseparable. A swing too far to market fundamentalism, where the market is the primary determinant of who gets what, is dangerous. Likewise, a swing towards too much Government control is even more dangerous. Balance is important.

Adam Smith, commonly regarded as the father of economics, who was the author of The Wealth of Nations in 1776, is most remembered for his oft-quoted “invisible hand of the free market”. This quote, however, needs to be viewed in context. His previous book, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, laid down the moral, ethical, and philosophical foundations for The Wealth of Nations. The economy, in Smith’s view, was always meant to improve society as a whole, not the wealth of a few.

Thus, there is a role for the State in economic development and in determining the future of our nation. It is our future, our economy, our society, and our environment, and this is the people’s Parliament.

My work has often involved projects and programmes that variously combine iwi, community, Government, and business to bring jobs and prosperity. One of the greatest compliments I’ve ever had in my professional career came from a colleague and friend, Phil McDermott. He said, “David, you have an ability to relate to academics, the private sector, Government, and communities at all levels.” I sincerely hope I can live up to that whilst here.

Our people, our cultures, our relationships, our trust in one another, our institutions, our resources, and our strengths, assets, and potentialities are at the core of meaningful development. It’s the combination of these things that matters. “Ki te kotahi te kākaho, ka whati, ki te kāpuia, e kore e whati”—when a single reed stands alone, it can be broken, but when the reeds are bound together, they are unbreakable.

Not surprisingly then—I hope for you all—my interests lie in economic development, regional development, investment, infrastructure, energy, innovation, technology, and digital futures. I am particularly keen to foster industry and regional specialisations that will increase productivity and export intensity. I’m also interested in addressing the drags on our economy, such as monopolistic behaviours—a sure sign of market failure and, sometimes, Government failure.

You know, when it comes down to it, Churchill said that all great things are simple, and can be expressed in single words: family, freedom, justice, honour, integrity, duty, dedication, compassion, hope.

I’m immensely proud of our nation and honoured to be a member of Parliament. I will do my best to live up to the expectations that come with serving.

It’s not the first time that this little country has faced immense adversity, but I have no doubt we will come out the other side stronger. We always have.

New Zealand was once one of the most prosperous nations in the world. With all hands to the pump, it will be again. Thank you.

[Applause]

The House adjourned at 6 p.m.