Nimon KatieKATIE NIMON (National—Napier): I second the motion that a respectful address be presented to Her Excellency the Governor-General in reply to Her Excellency's speech.Mr Speaker may I first congratulate you on your successful election as Speaker. I know you will bring respect fairness care and honesty to the House and to the role particularly given the number of new MPs that enter Parliament alongside me.I'd like to congratulate the Prime Minister the Rt Hon Christopher Luxon and say how proud I am to be a member of his Government. The Prime Minister's leadership from the day he became the leader of the National Party has been nothing but motivational: integrity and intelligence and relentless dedication to delivering better outcomes for every New Zealander.I look forward to giving everything I have to help get New Zealand back on track. It is important that I start by thanking the people of the Napier electorate for putting their confidence in me as their representative in the 54th Parliament. I want to acknowledge my intention when I say Napier electorate" rather than simply "Napier". I am the representative of Napier City yes but also the Wairoa District and parts of the Hastings and Gisborne districts. Every township and settlement is equally important to me and I commit to staying connected to all 9482.6 square kilometres of it. I started the way I wished to continue being positive approachable connected and always taking the high road. I am now privileged to officially represent you in that way.I want to thank my opponents—plural—for a competitive campaign that constantly kept me on my toes. I also want to acknowledge Cushla Tangaere-Manuel for her successful campaign in Ikaroa-Rāwhiti. I look forward to working with you for the communities that we share. I want to acknowledge Catherine Wedd the new MP for Tukituki—while we have multiple neighbours the partnership between Napier and Tukituki needs to be strong and united. I look forward to working with you for our twin cities and region.While the people of Napier elected me I am here today because the National Party believed I was the right person to contest the Napier seat in 2023 after first contesting it in 2020—but we won't talk about that. What is most humbling is having people believe in you so deeply that they sacrifice their time and join the fray. To call these people volunteers is an understatement. They've become family. Some of them are here today while some of them are watching from home. While I'm now part of a team of National Party members of Parliament you are the team that got me here and I thank you for everything.While I'm saying thank you I want to acknowledge the Young Nats. I was a Young Nat and so were my parents so I know why you do what you do but your tireless dedication to the party and its candidates is astonishing and I will continue to learn from you and absorb your energy so thank you.Finally to my family who are here today thank you for your unwavering support in ways too many to list. My parents Bill and Sue Nimon never stood in the way of me becoming myself no matter where it took me. I am strong-minded often outspoken and always questioning. I was never going to be a housewife. Despite that my husband Jeremy still married me a year ago and has been my constant reprieve. I am a Nimon before I am Katie. My surname has always defined me. My family's history is their legacy and my responsibility. My father's maternal great-grandfather William John Geddis his namesake came to New Zealand on the British Trident and during his career in journalism bought or established several newspapers including Napier's Daily Telegraph. In 1917 during World War I William was chosen as one of six delegates to represent New Zealand at an Empire Press Conference followed by a tour of the British and French fronts. I have a copy of a treasured photo of him with his two sons Clifton Geddis and my great-grandfather Trevor where they were fighting in the war when he visited. Having a visit from family during the war is a privilege denied to most soldiers. In 1918 William was appointed by the Massey-led Reform Government to the Legislative Council and he was the representative for Napier until his death in 1926. The Napier Daily Telegraph was survived by my great-grandfather his son and grandsons and merged with The Herald-Tribune in 1999 to form the Hawke's Bay Today. My great-grandfather Trevor chief Rotarian and chair of the Napier Harbour Board after the 1931 earthquake was responsible for setting up the Napier Reconstruction Committee and launching the village settlement scheme. Trevor received an OBE in 1952 for his service to local government and journalism. John Giles Nimon known as Jack is dad's paternal great-grandfather and started the bus company that has shaped who I am today. He came to New Zealand in the 1880s via Dunedin settled in Hawke's Bay and through work as a stable hand bought a bus service in 1905 and started Nimon and Sons. From horse-drawn carriages to Studebakers Seddons and Bedfords the business evolved with the community as did the family. Jack's son John Joseph—known as Joe—carried on the business also serving as the Mayor of Havelock borough receiving the coronation medal in 1952 and an MBE in 1972 for services to the community. My grandfather also John an engineer went to England to join the air force returned for a surgery met my grandmother and appropriately stayed in Hawke's Bay. At the time he decided there were too many family members in the business for it to sustain his family as well so he started a new business Roadair a nationwide refrigerated trucking company. He went on to run the bus company as well and was heavily involved in the Bus and Coach Association being awarded an MBE for services to business management and to the community.My mother's maternal great-great-grandfather Thomas Wilmor McKenzie was known as "The Father of Wellington". He came to New Zealand with his mother in 1839 on the Adelaide. Shortly after his arrival Thomas and a friend inadvertently strayed on to a tapu site in Thorndon. To prevent them from being killed by Te Rīrā Pōrutu the paramount chief of Ngāti Awa Ruhia—his daughter-in-law—threw a cloak over them to make them tapu. That cloak alongside the story is now in Te Papa.As an apprentice he helped produce the first papers of the New Zealand Gazette and started the Wellington Independent newspaper. I do appreciate the coincidence that McKenzie and Geddis both started newspapers and often wonder if during their time in Wellington they knew each other well. I imagine the furthest thing from their minds would be that they'd share a descendant that would become a member of Parliament and even less so a great-great-granddaughter. My mother's paternal ancestry is largely unknown due to her grandfather dying before her father was born. However we have found out since that they were storekeepers. One thing my ancestors all had in common was service to community; something I have inherited along with my interest in transport business and writing. I share with you this history because who I am my values my experience and my passion was set in motion by their actions.My personal history is somewhat dichotomous. During high school I was simultaneously racing ministocks at Meeanee Speedway and tracking through the grades in speech and drama. My favourite subjects were classics art history and history but on the weekends I watched rugby. I worked in the weekends at an information centre and in the school holidays for my parents at the bus depot. When the time came for university my interest and persuasion led me to study towards the advertising industry and I spent two years there as part of the Clemenger Group Graduate Programme.In Auckland I became known as the ambassador for Hawke's Bay. When I got the chance to come back and work in the family business the decision was simple—Auckland wasn't my place and I wanted to work on my own legacy not Batten Barton Durstine and Osborn's.Tourism was turning a corner in Hawke's Bay and I wanted to be part of it smoothing out the peaks and troughs of the seasons. Being part of the passenger transport industry the regional tourism industry and the local school network showed me that provincial communities are powerful and that service is my calling. I went from business development to general management and I managed to jam an executive MBA in there somewhere as well. After a rocky two years including an election and another career change I continued to serve my community by becoming the transport manager at Hawke's Bay Regional Council. My time in local government was insightful impactful and enhancing. It aged me but in a good way. Although it sounds like it work isn't my entire life. I am passionate about mentoring young women. I have been on a journey of self-awareness and understanding my whole life. My brain is my favourite feature and I feel strongly that knowledge is power. The world benefits from more powerful women and the rising tide lifts all boats. There was no one day where I thought "Ah ha! I'm going to be a politician."; rather it was a natural progression based on the life I was leading. There is only so long you can serve a business an industry or a community before you reach the limitations of your own influence. While I didn't know I was going to be a politician my parents would argue that I did. What I do recall was secretly wanting to be an All Black and be part of a high-performance team. Sadly I'm not an athlete but I am part of a high-performance team—not in black but in blue. I would never call myself a political junkie; politics just happens to be neatly—or not so neatly—intertwined with life. Unfortunately the more involved a Government becomes in people's business and businesses for that matter the worse things seem to get. In life I have seen how different Governments have impacted communities through business. I have seen years where small businesses have become untenable mum and pop owners sell to corporates corporates grow employment relations break down unions grow and service diminishes and at some point along the way the wind changes and the sun comes out. Instead of playing political whack-a-mole I strongly believe in Adam Smith's theory of the invisible hand. The argument for limited Government is a strong one which is one of the many reasons why I stand here on this side of the House. I don't claim to have all the answers but you can't spend your way out of every problem nor can you regulate your way out of it. All you get is debt and dependency. My political values have come from growing up in a family where work was life not just a job and seeing the real-life impact of theoretical experiments. When you grow up in a house where your landline is the after-hours phone number for a transport company and your holidays are bus conferences you see the importance of competitive enterprise and reward for achievement. Business owners landlords and farmers take risks to provide goods and services. When there's no reward why would they take that risk? Sadly in the last six years a growing number of these people no longer see the risk worth taking. Economics 101 will teach you that when suppliers leave the market supply doesn't match demand and you lose market equilibrium and it doesn't take much to learn who loses in that scenario. You might consider me a liberal conservative. I've been told I'm fiscally conservative but socially progressive. What I hope is to help more people see that you can deliver improved outcomes for those that need it most with more localised delivery and in partnership with the private sector. There is a book I used to frequently check out of the Wellington Library called The Secret Language of Birthdays. Whether you believe in astrology or not my birthday is the day of the bridge. Whether it's written in the stars or because I was the middle daughter in a family with parents less like Venus and Mars and more like Mercury and Pluto I'm known to help people see eye to eye. Whether it's helping the Government understand the needs of Napier or helping Napier appreciate the intention of Government my job is to be the bridge between them. It hasn't been an easy road since 14 February but regardless of the impacts of Cyclone Gabrielle the provinces have been left behind. It is unjust to prioritise the niceties of urban Wellington and Auckland when the locals of Tiniroto and Ruakituri are still taking a two-hour detour because the roads have been closed for nearly 10 months. The top half of the Napier electorate is cut off on a weekly basis and without access to healthcare and education it is hit and miss. Napier City was an island once again after the cyclone crumbled or closed every surrounding bridge cutting off power supplies and medical care. The Napier electorate has all the ingredients to be the place to move for opportunities. It is the place that people could stay for their dream career. From Onekawa to Māhia the industries are there—energy space tourism film ag-hort construction—and we just need to get out of their way. I want this for the whole region but I want to make a special mention of Wairoa the heart of the Napier electorate. Wairoa has endless potential and its people are strong but what I want for Wairoa is for its rangatahi to not have to leave to find opportunities. Wairoa will achieve this for Wairoa but we can meet them halfway with health infrastructure and services that make life there not only possible but enviable. I am here today as the representative of the Napier electorate. For Napier City and Matawai for rural and urban for employer and employee for landlord and tenant—for every person no matter how they cast their vote. I want the region to flourish for the sake of the rest of New Zealand. I intend to start the way I wish to continue. While I have spent the last 15 minutes talking I will spend the rest of my career listening advocating and delivering because the Nimon family motto states "I show not boast"."