Maiden Speech - Clare Curran

Patrick Leyland | 16th December 2008 | 5:00 pm

Tena koutou, koutou te kahui torangapu o Aotearoa me Te Waipounamu. Tena koe hoki e te mana whakawaa o te whare nei. He kupu whakamihi tenei no roto mai i te awa o Otakou me ona wahapu ki a koutou e noho nei ki te waha o te ika. Tena koutou, tena hoki tatou katoa.

I dedicate this speech to my grandmothers; Ellen Kinney and Peg Thompson, two strong willed, but compassionate women who would be proud, if somewhat astounded to see me standing here today.

I want to talk about honesty, aspiration and community. I stand here a New Zealander, a union member, a member of the Labour Party, a mother, and, until very recently, the owner of a small business.

I acknowledge Maori as tangata whenua and the importance of the Treaty of Waitangi.

I thank the people of Dunedin South for putting their trust in me to represent them as their member of parliament.

I thank all the volunteers, supporters and members of the NZ Labour Party who worked tirelessly on the campaign to win Dunedin South. You are the bedrock of our party.

I warmly acknowledge Pete Hodgson MP for Dunedin North and David Parker who imparted to me much wisdom in my journey this year. And Mike Woodhouse, the new Dunedin National List MP. I hope we will all work together constructively for our city.

As the first Labour woman to hold the seat of Dunedin South – I pay tribute to all the people who have come to this House before me to represent Dunedin South and St Kilda in its various forms.

David Benson-Pope, who has worked hard for the community and the Labour Party. It’s been a hard few years for David, and his family. I wish them well. Before him were the inimitable Dr Michael Cullen, Bill Fraser, James Barnes and Fred Jones.

Dunedin South electorate has a long and proud history. For decades it’s been a safe Labour seat and it remains a safe Labour seat. We are a staunch and steady lot.

From the working-class suburbs of South Dunedin, Caversham and St Kilda, to Green Island, Fairfield, Brighton and Mosgiel, from the lush Taieri Plains to the Lammermoor Range, and Graeme Sydney’s Maniototo up to Middlemarch and Hyde which includes the beginning of the Otago Central Rail Trail and the historic Taieri Gorge Railway.

The glorious coastline of St Clair and St Kilda, and the Otago Peninsula, home to some of the rarest wildlife in the world, and my home too.

I am a passionate Dunedinite. I was born in Wainuiomata but grew up in Dunedin. Like many New Zealanders, I went away to see the world, and was gone for a long time. Six years ago I uprooted my Australian partner and two little boys from Melbourne to return to Dunedin, the best decision we ever made. There is something special about Dunedin. We are innovative, we are edgy, we manifest the can-do attitude of New Zealanders and the stoic nature of our early settlers to take whatever life offers and make the best of it. And we do make the best of it. Every day.

Dunedin, particularly south Dunedin, can claim to have nurtured many of our most creative and talented people. Janet Frame, James K Baxter both hailed from Dunedin South along with a myriad of other writers, painters, poets, sportspeople and musicians.

But for many in Dunedin South – the low-paid and pensioners – life is hard. Seventy per cent of people over 15 have an income of $40,000 a year or less. I’m here to make sure their voices are heard.

I was raised in a Catholic household to do the best you can for yourself, for society and the people around you. I hail from mostly peasant Irish stock. My father Kinney worked in the Justice Department, and from him I learnt the values that underpin the civil service – behaving ethically, taking responsibility for your actions and doing the right thing.

My mother, Shirley, taught me with her strength and tireless commitment to voluntary work the difference between right and wrong and to always try my best.

At St Dominics College in Dunedin (which has produced two Labour MPs, Marian Hobbs, and me), I was one of “those” catholic girls who questioned everything, pushed boundaries, but ultimately took away strong principles of social justice and fighting to redress disadvantage. And inner strength. I pay tribute to the principal Sister Albert who instilled in me a sense of fairness and dignity.

I am not a practising catholic, but I draw strength from the collective spirit, fellowship and the underlying values of Catholicism and many other faiths.

My faith is in the ability of people to act together to do good. A belief in the importance of all people having a voice, whatever their background. Faith in the principles of community.

Becoming an MP wasn’t a pathway I mapped out for myself but rather a combination of circumstances, timing and my readiness.

Almost my entire working life I’ve been driven to work on issues that affect working people and the disadvantaged.

Motivated by a resolve to fight injustice, and I hope I always will be. My first political act was to protest against the Springbok Tour in 1981. I clearly recall what apartheid meant for our country at that time and I know where I stood on that issue.

But being a mother is by far my greatest motivation. The responsibility of bringing up two little people has made me focus on what I really believe and examine my values. As my children have grown, that drive has grown stronger.

I stand here today because of what I believe, and because I am committed to doing something about what I believe.

Shouldn’t we, as a nation, want more people who truly reflect our community to stand up for what they believe? It worries me that so many are disinterested and turned off by politics.

Why? One reason is they fear what might happen to them. That they’ll be exposed to unsustainable public scrutiny.

Of course people standing for office should be accountable. But none of us, including me, is without blemish.

One of the biggest tasks ahead is to restore faith in politics and politicians. I believe politicians of all parties have lost touch with the public we are trying to serve. It’s not confined to New Zealand, but it is up to us to do something about it.

How many of us have struck the repeated refrain from our constituents that politics is a joke, all politicians are as bad as each other, that the contest of politics is more important than the issues?

In this latest election, more than 20 per cent of registered voters didn’t vote, and in the Maori seats, 35 to 40 per cent didn’t vote.

Is it good enough to accept that perception is the inevitable reality? No it’s not! It’s time for a new politic, a new way of engaging, out of which emerges greater participation and faith in politics.

We start by listening to the people around us, taking them with us. The real politic occurs in the collective beliefs and actions of people in their communities.

And maybe it’s time to consider making voting compulsory, as it is in Australia. The ancient Greeks, who gave birth to democracy, held that it was every citizen’s duty to participate in decision-making. Let’s have the discussion.

I spent the 1990s in Australia, and witnessed the rise of the Howard Government, a period of great internal upheaval, the rise of economic rationalism and shift to social conservatism.

A period characterised by attempts to silence the voices of many people and make fear and negativity the currency of the day. Where “so-called choice” for working people meant taking away their rights, new immigrants were placed in detention, indigenous people marginalised, crime used as weapon to drive through draconian laws. This was when I learnt about the politics of dishonesty. And the politics of fear.

I don’t want those sort of politics to emerge in New Zealand.

I’m in the Labour Party because it is committed to transparency; it does have values of decency, fairness and honesty at its core.

I want to articulate a vision that is greater than one of individual aspiration.

I do believe in aspiration, that all of us should have the best opportunities in life and be encouraged to get ahead. But getting ahead isn’t just about material wealth, not just about individuals. Doing well is about fulfilling your potential. But it’s also about caring for the people around you, whether they’re your family, whanau, or community. We’re in this House today because we aspire. But I hope it’s not just aspiration for our own personal ambitions, that it’s aspiration for all New Zealanders.

Above all, I believe in community.  Community is at the heart of what Labour means. With strong communities, you have social cohesion. You have people feeling connected, settled, being able to look outwards to what they can achieve.

I believe in a society where children are at the core of all policy decisions. Where addressing the causes of child poverty is at the forefront of all that we do.

Children are our future. They need the best environment to grow up in, and strong safe communities.

I also care passionately about our country’s natural values and the importance of preserving them for the future. For me it’s about the people and the planet. You can’t have one without the other and it’s the huge challenge of our time to reconcile the two.

It’s a travesty this government does not consider it a priority to invest in a low cost means to make houses warm and dry.  I think of the houses where small children are constantly sick with asthma and other respiratory conditions.

I think of the woman I spoke to on the doorstep of her un-insulated South Dunedin flat in mid-winter who did not get out of bed before midday because she couldn’t afford to heat her home. Her story is common across South Dunedin. What a difference warm and dry houses would make to their lives.

In Dunedin there are 40,000 residential dwellings built before 1978 insulation standards, many of which need urgent attention.

Under Labour, the billion dollar energy efficiency fund canned by the National Government would have assisted families make their homes warmer, drier, healthier, reduced their power bills, saved energy and reduced carbon emissions.

Numerous speakers in the House this week have referred to this critical issue. I ask all members to press for an investment in insulation and heating of housing across New Zealand. We have the means to do it. Don’t ditch this policy.

And I believe rail is an extremely important part of our future. It was the right decision to buy it back. I hope this Government will invest in Kiwirail, and acknowledge that integrated public transport is essential for economic growth and to reduce our carbon emissions. Getting more cars and trucks off roads is a public good.

I worked for 20 years in the communications industry. I started off as a journalist, and moved into public relations. I’ve worked in Australia and New Zealand, largely in the private sector. I’ve run my own business for the last six years. I understand that small business is the backbone of our country. I also understand the importance of balance and fairness in the relationship between employers and employees to drive productivity.

Introducing a law that allows employers to fire workers at will in the first 90 days isn’t about fairness. It’s about exploitation and will create insecurity.

Instead of taking rights and protections away from ordinary people, we should create new opportunities. Let’s use information technology to punch above our weight and drive economic growth.

Already, 1.5m New Zealanders are connected to the internet, a third of our workforce does at least some work from home, and there are 200,000 home-based businesses.

We need to pay more attention to building strong communities that provide people with better choices: the ability to work flexibly, live in well resourced communities with strong public transport links and good quality housing.

Mr Speaker, along with some other Labour colleagues, I too support a republic. For us to become a truly independent nation. The time is right for a public conversation about this important issue.

And we urgently need to openly discuss the role of government in our lives. National and Act say less, not more, get out of people’s lives, private sector investment is more important than state investment.

Contrary to these views, I believe that most people look to government for stability, security, support, leadership and action. And for strong public services.

The 5th Labour government fulfilled those things and will be judged by history to have been a very good government, a strong and wise government.

I want to pay tribute to two important people in this Parliament, and in the lives of all NZers.

Helen Clark is the role model for generations of NZers. She embodies leadership, inner strength, courage and determination. She has kept our party strong and placed New Zealand high on the international stage.

Michael Cullen has made a huge contribution to our party’s thinking, and to the shape of our country. A Finance Minister who took the tough calls and protected our future. His humour, sparkle and eloquence are not matched in this Parliament.

I look forward to serving under the able and energetic leadership of Phil Goff and Annette King, and to working with and learning from my caucus colleagues.

In closing, I pay tribute to my parents, Kinney and Shirley, who are here today. To my sisters, Judith and Katherine, you have always stood alongside me and from whom I draw inspiration.

To my little family. To Doug Lilly, my partner, my friend. We embarked on this journey together and I could not do it without you.

My two boys. Callum and Riley Curran, you are the most important people in my life. You are the future. You are reason I’m here in this place, but your welfare will always be my first priority. I may be an MP, but I’m always your mum.

And finally to the people of Dunedin South. You will be my touchstone and my backbone. I will do my best to listen to you, involve you and endeavour to work with you to restore your faith in politics, strive to make opportunities for you to fulfil your potential and make our communities strong.

E aku rahi, e aku iti, koutou i areare taringa mai ki toku whaikupu tuatahi. Tena koutou katoa, ka huri.

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Maiden Speech - Phil Twyford

Patrick Leyland | 14th December 2008 | 3:25 pm

Pou hirihiri, pou ramarama Tiaho i roto, marama i roto, Wananga i roto, marama i roto, Tenei te pou Te pou ka eke Te pou kai a koe na Ko te pou o enei korero Tihei mauriora

Mr Speaker, I rise for the first time in this House, proud to be a Labour Member of Parliament, inspired by the democratic tradition this House represents and humbled by the great Parliamentarians who have come before.

I congratulate you Mr Speaker on your election and acknowledge that your experience and wisdom in this House will serve us well.  I acknowledge the Speech from the Throne, and look forward to contributing to a robust Opposition fulfilling its constitutional duty for the next three years.

Mr Speaker as I look around the walls of this debating chamber and reflect on the battles waged and lives lost by thousands of New Zealanders to help forge our young nation, I am moved by the simple but brilliant concept of this House.

Like the countless, often nameless, people who have served and sacrificed for New Zealand in war we too are servants of something bigger, something bolder, something grander.

We come from varied backgrounds but we all are united in a goal to collectively serve. At the end of our times here, some of us will be remembered but most of us not. Regardless, we all will have served our nation and for that I greet every member, no matter which side of the aisle, and look forward to working with all and strenuously disagreeing with some.

If there is one thing that unites us all in this House I would hope it is the belief we can make New Zealand the best country it can be.

It seems a minor miracle this little collection of islands at the bottom of the Pacific with only four million people can sustain a successful modern nation state that boasts some of the best quality of life the world can offer. 

What an implausible but heroic project, bringing together the descendants of the first settlers who a thousand years ago crossed the Pacific by waka to this, the last significant landmass in the world to be settled by humans;

The 19th century Europeans who sailed to the other side of the planet to build a new life, free from class exploitation;

And the 20th century “boeing” arrivals who fled poverty, oppression or were simply seeking a better life for their children.

We are all united by a desire to create a better world and the only difference between us is when our waka touched these shores.

This common bond created a whakapapa of pioneering social reform: The Parihaka prophets Te Whiti and Tohu who offered a strategy of non-violent action to resolve previously lethal disputes; Kate Sheppard and the suffragettes securing the vote for women; Richard Seddon and the Liberals introducing ground-breaking social and industrial legislation; Michael Joseph Savage creating one of the world’s most comprehensive social security systems in the 1930s; Peter Fraser at the UN in 1945 helping draft the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; Norman Kirk in the 1970s standing up for a nuclear free Pacific; and the treaty settlement process started by Kirk and Matiu Rata, a unique effort at post-colonial reconciliation over more than three and a half decades.

There is much to be proud of and to draw inspiration from. And we shouldn’t forget our other nation builders: the entrepreneurs, the scientists, public servants, our artists, our sportspeople, educators, the men and women who worked the land, the workers who built the roads, raised the kids, fought the wars when we asked them to, who clean the offices, run the footie and netball teams, look after our older and frail New Zealanders, and who work in the kitchens and shops and factories.

In spite of our national tendency to self doubt, we know this country is capable of great things.

I believe that to achieve great things there are a few things we must do first.

I believe we must unleash the talents of all our citizens. This takes great health and education systems, and a shared belief that unemployment, incarceration and ill health are above all a waste of human potential we cannot afford.

I believe we must recognise there are some things we do more efficiently and fairly together rather than privately. Smart, strong government can deliver the essentials: health care, cost-effective social insurance, education, superannuation.

These social supports mean we all get the best possible start in life. After then it is up to each of us to apply our talent and hard work.

This is, to me, modern socialism. This is, to me, the modern social democratic movement. This is, to me, what it means to be in a modern New Zealand Labour Party.

I reject the notion that Government is a burden.

In a global marketplace where billions can be moved across borders at the click of a mouse, it is easy for the big to get bigger at the expense of the vulnerable. Rules are needed for fair competition and fair markets.

Government can have a role owning strategically important enterprises.

I believe we must constantly look for ways to help our firms to grow, and create high value jobs, and seize opportunities in global markets. We have to invest more in research and development, and science based on our comparative advantages. We have to keep building the infrastructure for a 21st century economy.

And we must meet head on the challenge of sustainability. If we win, we can continue to do business in a post-carbon world, and enjoy a land that is truly clean and green. If we lose, it doesn’t bear thinking about. Is there a New Zealander who wouldn’t want their children or grand children to once again be able to swim and fish in our lakes and rivers and beaches?

None of this will happen unless we strike a deal with each other based on a shared idea of the common good.

A deal that says if we work hard and play by the rules, we will have every opportunity to get ahead and enjoy the fruits of our labours.

That we pay our fair share of taxes because they are the price of a decent society, the only way to truly protect the Kiwi way of life – that fair go for all.

They are the price of a decent New Zealand where the local school provides a great education, where access to health care isn’t determined by the size of your wallet, where if you are injured at work or play that you are taken care of and no one needs to live in a gated community to feel safe.

That is why I am proud to stand here today as a Labour Member of Parliament.

One of the issues we need to talk about is our constitution. That conversation about the nation’s destiny must be framed by the republic, and not the constitutional trappings of our colonial past.

We have been far too shy of this debate. But as our nation rapidly changes its makeup its ties to England will become even more  strained and irrelevant. As I look around this House, the most diverse in the history of this institution, the last thing I think of is the Queen on the other side of the world.

It’s not a debate we should leave for the Australians to have first and then by some kind of osmosis follow in New Zealand. We need to have this discussion on our own terms.

It is a journey that I hope to play a role in as a first generation New Zealander, the fourth child of Sam and Gillian Twyford who arrived fresh off the plane at Whenuapai, shortly before I was born in 1963, as part of the great post-war British diaspora. 

My mother, who will be watching this speech on television, more than anyone, made me who I am. She brought love and hard work to the task of raising five children on her own. We were never what you would call poor but to put jam on the bread she cleaned other people’s houses, and worked the night shift as a nurse-aid in a rest home. In mid-life a stroke left her disabled. She recovered and has lived independently for the last 23 years thanks to her grit and drive.

While my mother is the core of my being, I trace my political awakening to a couple of important moments.

As a Fifth Former at Westlake Boys High School I listened on a transistor radio at lunchtime to a news broadcast of police and army evicting Ngati Whatua from Bastion Point on the orders of then-Prime Minister Rob Muldoon.

It struck me as shameful that a democratic nation could send in the might of the state to evict these people from their land.

The second was the visit to my school of Michael Lapsley, a New Zealand Anglican priest who was part of the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa. A parcel bomb from the South African intelligence services blinded him and blew his hands off. I wagged a class to hear him speak to a group of older students and the story of his courageous refusal to compromise his beliefs before the unyielding power of the state changed my life.

My moral and political compass took its bearings through the economic and social turbulence of the1980s. Like thousands of other New Zealanders I marched against apartheid, blockaded our harbours against nuclear-armed ships, campaigned for a nuclear free and independent Pacific, and door knocked for the election of the Fourth Labour Government.

Its independent foreign policy, long overdue social and environmental reforms, and progress on the Treaty were cause for elation. But like many, the sweet taste of social progress turned to ashes in my mouth.

An economic crisis became the pretext for an ideological blitzkrieg that tried to re-make our country by imposing the commercial model on almost every facet of life.

Change was needed. But by god we paid the price in poverty, inequality, loss of productive capacity in our firms, and damaged generations. We are still paying.

We were told “there is no alternative” as a sort of religious dogma. It left me with a conviction; that there are always alternatives.

It is possible to run an open economy that welcomes good foreign investment while also protecting what is good and valuable about our landscape and our institutions and our way of life. It is possible to have a business friendly environment while also treating workers with dignity and respecting their rights. It is possible to celebrate success and wealth creation while also giving a hand up to those who need it. Of course it is possible.

During the dark years of the Douglas-Richardson experiment, I refocused my energies on humanitarianism and development, first as the founding Executive Director of Oxfam NZ, and then as the advocacy director of Oxfam International based in Washington DC. I built a business, and ran an organisation. We gave many thousands of New Zealanders the chance to help in a practical way to make our planet a fairer place.

We smuggled medical supplies into Bougainville through a military blockade so mothers who had fled the fighting into the bush wouldn’t die preventable deaths in childbirth. We funded loans to Ethiopian farmers driven off the land by famine so they could start businesses. We provided legal support for widows who lost their husbands and children in the Guatemalan civil war so human rights abusers would be brought to account.

And during the genocide in Rwanda we lobbied the New Zealand foreign affairs minister, and our ambassador to the United Nations who happened at that time to be chairing the UN Security Council, feeding them information from Oxfam staff on the ground in Rwanda.

I tell you these things to illustrate my view that we all need to stand up against what we see is wrong in our communities, in our worlds. Not to act makes us part of the problem.

My latter years with Oxfam running global campaigns showed me how much can be achieved by people of conscience fighting for a just cause.

It taught me you cannot achieve lasting change without politicians prepared to be courageous, to take risks to do what is right.

As I lobbied the UN Security Council against the invasion of Iraq, Helen Clark’s stand against the Bush-Blair-Howard war made me proud to be a Kiwi. It made it all the more exciting to return home to New Zealand with my family after years away.

As a social democrat it is hard to underline enough how important Helen Clark and Michael Cullen and their generation in Labour politics have been to our hopes for this country. 

They rescued our party and rebuilt it. They brought our nation’s politics back to a better, more sensible place. They reconstructed a working model of social democracy anchored in Labour values. For that I say thank you.

Let me conclude by thanking those who have travelled with me and helped me along the way on my political journey so far. My colleagues in journalism, my fellow members of the Service and Food Workers Union and the wider labour movement, my Oxfam mates both here and abroad, and numerous party colleagues.

I do want to single out my campaign manager Barbara Ward, and the members of the North Shore Labour Electorate Committee who have campaigned alongside me during the last two elections, particularly Frances and Bill Bell.

And most of all, today, for my partner Joanna and our son Harry I say this: this land is our land, and nothing is too good for the future generations we will pass it on to.

No reira, e nga mana, e nga reo, e nga rangatira maha, kua rupeke mai nei, ki raro i te tuanui o tenei o to tatou whare, tena koutou, tena koutou, kia ora mai ano tatou.

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Maiden Speech - Grant Robertson

Patrick Leyland | 14th December 2008 | 2:51 pm

E Te Pika tena koe, ki nga mema o tenei whare tena koutou katoa

Tenei e mihi ana ki ngaa tangata whenua o te Whanganui-a-Tara, koutou no Taranaki whanui, no te Ati Awa tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa.

Mr Speaker

I want to first acknowledge and congratulate you on your election to the position of Speaker, and I want to pay my respects to the mana whenua of this place.

I feel an enormous sense of privilege, gratitude and history to stand here today in the House.   

Mr Speaker, in 1954 and 1957 my grandfather Bob Wilkie ran as the Labour Candidate in the Wairarapa. A somewhat thankless task at the time.  His advertisement in that long lamented journal, the Featherston Chronicle just before the 1957 election reads in part (and I quote)

“I believe it is the responsibility of all in prosperity to care for those in adversity; that the welfare of the nation in the future depends on the children of today, and every  assistance financial and otherwise should be given to those who have undertaken the responsibilities of parenthood”

While times may have changed, the core values of social justice, community and family that lie at the heart of my grandfather’s words and the Labour Party’s existence, remain as important as ever.  I hope that Bob, who is in the gallery today, is proud that his grandson has made it to this place. And happy 89th birthday for tomorrow.

These values of social justice are what drew me to the Labour Party- a party of principle and vision.  I believe that the fifth Labour Government took giant strides in the journey towards social justice. History will judge programmes like Kiwisaver, Working for Families, 20 hours Free Early Childhood Education as landmarks of our economic and social progress. I felt privileged to work with and for Helen Clark and Michael Cullen- true campaigners for social justice and people who have dedicated their adult lives to the betterment of their fellow New Zealanders.   

Mr Speaker, I stand here today as, I hope not unluckily, the 13th representative for the Wellington Central electorate since it was named as such in 1905. I am humbled by those who have gone before me. My predecessors have included people of remarkable talent and vision, such as Peter Fraser, whose legacy in the area of education I will return to shortly. Frank Kitts and Dan Riddiford; men who played significant roles in the shaping of this great city outside of this House as well. And Fran Wilde, who showed enormous courage and fortitude in sponsoring the Homosexual Law Reform Act. Fran of course left this Parliament to play a key role in the development of this absolutely, positively wonderful city, and continues to serve the region today.

My immediate predecessor, the Hon Marian Hobbs was a tireless advocate for Wellington and for Labour values. She is principled, passionate and honest. I could not have had a better teacher when it comes to representing the diverse communities that make up this electorate.  I can not promise as Marian did to call everyone ‘darling’, ‘dearest’ or ‘thingy’, but I do give my commitment that I am first and foremost the MP for Wellington Central, and that I will stand up for all Wellingtonians, and for the city and its beautiful environment.

I want to acknowledge in the House two other cast members from the campaign that we called Survivor: Wellington Central.  Hon Heather Roy and Sue Kedgley are both articulate and principled advocates for the causes they believe in, and were genuinely warm and friendly in what was from time to time, a somewhat difficult campaign. I venture to suggest not many other campaigns dealt with water pistols and exploding taser guns.  But that is Wellington Central for you. I look forward to working with them and other MPs from the Wellington region to advance the well-being of our constituents.  

I also want to acknowledge those who have broken ground in this Parliament. In particular I want to salute my colleagues Chris Carter and Maryan Street. In his maiden speech 15 years ago Chris Carter said that he hoped his presence in the House would make it easier for other gays and lesbians to aspire to political or community office.  For my part, I can say that it has.

I am proud and comfortable with who I am. Being gay is part of who I am, just as is being a former diplomat, a fan of the mighty Ranfurly Shield holding Wellington Lions or New Zealand music and literature.  My political view is defined by my sexuality only in as much as it has given me an insight into how people can be marginalised or discriminated against, and how much I abhor that.  I am lucky that I have largely grown up in a generation that is not fixated on issues such as sexual orientation.   I am not- and neither should others be.

I am here today on the strength of support from friends and family. In particular I want to acknowledge the support and love of my partner Alf.  We are living proof that it pays not to stereotype- we met playing rugby. I was the No 8 and he was the halfback. A great combination.  I also have had the pleasure of sharing in his two children growing up over the last ten years, and being part of his wider whänau. Taku aroha i a koe.

I also take this opportunity to acknowledge other new and returning members across this House.  For all the differences that we may have over the direction of this country and the policies that we need to get there, I know that you are here to do your best for New Zealand, and you have worked hard to be here, and I salute you for that.  

My ability to make it through the campaign and win Wellington Central was down to the hard work and sacrifice of several hundred people, some of whom are here today.  I want to once again thank all those who helped.   

My campaign team in many ways mirrors the people of Wellington Central- argumentative, informed, creative, energetic and young.  And yes, we also had a few public servants involved in the campaign. Public servants have a right to participate in the political process, and I look forward to the new government upholding its campaign promises to support and respect public servants. Can I suggest a good place to start might be to stop referring to hard working public servants as useless bureaucrats? I have been a public servant in this town and I know that almost without exception public servants give their total commitment to the government of the day, whoever that is.   

Wellington, is of course so much more than, as Don McGlashan put it, ‘the suits and the briefcases along Lambton Quay’.  It is our most sustainable city.  More people walk to work or take public transport than anywhere else in New Zealand.  We need to do more to encourage that through better integrated, more reliable public transport services.   

Wellington Central is also home to the wonderful Karori Sanctuary which I encourage all members to visit, and other fantastic outdoor recreation facilities.  A significant part of this is the Town Belt, a tremendous legacy to the city that surrounds the inner suburbs in green space.  There are some questions around the legal status of the Town Belt and from time to time land has been taken from the Town Belt for other purposes.  In consultation with the Wellington City Council and interested parties I plan to sponsor legislation in this House to ensure that the Town Belt remains in, and as appropriate is returned to, public ownership.

Along with the outdoor activities, Wellington’s vibrancy is built around the creative sector. It is hard not to be swept along by the rich creative energy in this city.  As Lauris Edmond has put it, This is the city of action, the world headquarters of the verb”

I believe one of the great legacies of the fifth Labour Government is the growing sense of pride and identity expressed through our arts and culture.  This is more obvious in Wellington perhaps than anywhere else. Our creative industries are not only the centre of social life and tourism and also part of the growing businesses of the city.  The future of the Wellington economy, as with the rest of New Zealand relies on those who can establish sustainable businesses that leverage off our natural advantages and capatalise on innovation.  In Wellington, the self-styled Silicon Welly, a group of businesses led by young entrepreneurs is leading the way in the development of software and information technology solutions that are being picked up around the globe.

There are of course many people in Wellington Central whose lives are a world away from selling software on the world stage.  Substandard housing is a problem.  Too many homes in this city are poorly insulated and overcrowded. This makes them unhealthy, and energy inefficient.   I believe we must as a country make a key priority the quality of our housing stock, and indeed the provision of adequate social housing for those New Zealanders who are unable to pay their own way.   

Wellington is also a place where many migrants and refugees begin their lives.  We are a nation of migrants, that benefits so much from each wave of migration to our country.  Yet, I believe we do not do enough to support and welcome our newest New Zealanders.  The bursting pride I saw from the graduates at the MClass English Language course last week here in Wellington needs to be matched by a strong commitment to support and work with them as they find their feet.  

Mr Speaker, I arrived in Wellington 14 years ago, looking to find my feet.  I had grown up largely in Dunedin in the cloak of a Presbyterian family where my parents, who are here today, raised my two brothers and I to believe that we are all created equal, to treat others as we wished to be treated and to work hard for our goals.  They gave us love and support, and allowed us to dream but be practical with it.  I thank them for that.

I was interested in politics from an early age- not, however as early as my colleague Darren Hughes, whose first words as a baby I understand  were “Mr Speaker”.  

My political consciousness grew around some key events. I swelled with pride and too many sausage rolls from the school canteen when I saw David Lange on television at the Oxford Union Debate.  Not only could an overweight guy with glasses succeed, but New Zealand could stand up to world powers hell-bent on destroying each other, and the rest of us in the process.  I was proud then of our independent stance on the world stage, and I was proud to play my part in that in later years working at MFAT and representing New Zealand at the UN in New York.

Through the late 1980s and into the 1990s I became distressed at the direction I saw government take.  The unfettered market knows best, laissez faire, user pays philosophy did untold damage to my community.

At the supermarket where I worked to pay my way through school and university, the Employment Contracts Act arrived in 1991.  I experienced first hand our penal rates disappear, our conditions lost and the value of our wages sink.  I have never forgotten the impact of that law on working New Zealanders, and I have worked ever since to support the rights of workers.

At university I became heavily involved in the fight against user pays in education, and ended up as the Student President at Otago, and in turn here in Wellington for NZUSA. I learned a great deal as a student politician. I learned to organise, to campaign and what it meant to stand up for what I believed in.  After one particularly rowdy, but peaceful, protest I was accused by a policeman of being the biggest quasi terrorist in Dunedin. I told him I was trying to lose weight.   

But above all I learned that it is education that will make the difference to people achieving their potential in life. Peter Fraser and Clarence Beeby laid out the vision for the state’s role in education in 1939  “ the government’s objective broadly expressed, is that every person, whatever his level of academic ability, whether he be rich or poor, whether he live in town or country has a right, as a citizen, to a free education of the kind for which he is best fitted and to the fullest extent of his powers’.

While much has changed in the intervening years, Fraser and Beeby’s vision is the one that I come to Parliament determined to develop and make real for the 21st century.

We have a great education system in New Zealand, staffed by dedicated professionals. We must build on that to ensure that it provides the basis for our strong, inclusive society going forward. There is not enough time today to talk about all the areas where this needs to happen but I want to make mention of one in particular.

The current arrangements for the funding of special needs education need an urgent and serious review. While successive governments have put more money into this area, I know of parents that are still going through extreme stress to get the resources that they are entitled to, and in some cases those resources are not sufficient. The Education Act says that every child in New Zealand has a right to an education.  We have a responsibility to make that real.

Mr Speaker, my vision for making real the ideals of social justice I spoke of earlier is a vision for a modern, inclusive New Zealand, where we equip our people with the skills and knowledge to succeed in an ever globalising world. A New Zealand where we celebrate and promote diversity, and where we truly are our brother and sister’s keepers, and ensure that every one of us can achieve our potential.

The solutions and ways to achieve this will not all be found in Wellington or in government.  My generation of politicians must be open to a range of potential solutions.  They will be found in our communities and families, on marae and in workplaces. It is the job of government and of politicians in general to bring those together and to provide leadership and support.

I want to help build a modern, inclusive New Zealand where we do not accept children growing up in poverty.  I believe that we should set goals to eliminate poverty in New Zealand, and work out the programme of re-distribution that will see incomes and spirits lift together.  

A modern, inclusive New Zealand also needs to be one that looks after our environment.  The health of our natural environment is critical not only to our way of life, but also our economy.  If we want people to stay in New Zealand we need clean water to swim in, clean air to breathe.  If we want carbon conscious consumers across the world to buy our goods or tourists spoiled for choice to choose to come here, then we need to be able to show that our 100% Pure clean green image is a reality. In many cases it is not, and this needs to be a priority.

An modern, inclusive New Zealand will be one where we do not build more jails, but where we work with and across communities to ensure that people do not end up in prison in the first place.

A modern, inclusive New Zealand needs to ensure that we acknowledge the place and role of Maori in New Zealand as tangata whenua, and the Treaty of Waitangi.  I would like to promote one small step in that regard. I believe that Te Reo Maori should be taught in all schools, for all pupils up until at least age 14.  Learning a language is one of the keys to understanding a culture, and in this case that is our own culture. This is one small step that we could take to building a more harmonious society.

A modern inclusive New Zealand will harness the best of being a Pacific nation. The emerging Pacifica communities in New Zealand need to be supported and developed. That community also has an important role to play in New Zealand’s role as a peacemaker and conflict resolver, in the Pacific region.   

In conclusion, Mr Speaker, quite simply the reason I entered the political arena is because of my belief in social justice.  My desire is to play a part in making my community, my city, my country and the world a fairer and more equal place.  It is that equality that will drive aspiration, opportunity and success for all.   In my time in this Parliament it is my commitment that I will work to build an ever better, fairer New Zealand where we seek to ensure that achieving your potential is not just the preserve of the privileged but  possible for all.  

No reira, tena koutou, tena koutou, kia kaha, tena koutou katoa.

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