Hodgson Pete: Address to Her Excellency the Governor-General 
Hodgson Pete: Address to Her Excellency the Governor-General 
[Volume:617;Page:13195] 
Hon PETE HODGSON (Minister of Energy) 
: 
 There are three reasons that I have risen to take part in this debate. The first is that it is a debate substantially about history—the first 150 years of our Parliament. I have rarely spoken about history because my own thinking in my current portfolio work is focused so very clearly on the future but if my understanding of New Zealand history is correct the first European marriage in New Zealand was the marriage of my great-great-grandparents. That was well before 1854 and well north of here at Waimate North. None of my family ever went to Parliament before me but they played their part forming our history for example assuming ownership of land that was not theirs at and around Kaitaia helping to translate the Bible into Maori and much besides. They were of the Anglican Church and my great-great-grandfather would travel up and down the foreshore of Ninety Mile Beach to hold services amongst Te Aupouri. In the 1830s he reputedly travelled often by land yacht which raises the issue of customary rights. Regrettably my family will not be applying as we are unable to establish continuous use. This is a shame. The idea of claiming right of way over the steady trickle of traffic up and down the beach was momentarily attractive. 
The second reason that I have decided to speak is that I have the privilege of representing a Dunedin seat and a lot of history in the second half of the 19th century centred on Dunedin. As my immediate predecessor the Hon Stan Rodger said in his maiden speech 25 years ago this month—and I acknowledge his presence in the Chamber—Dunedin was the first to do almost everything. It has the first secondary school for girls in the British Commonwealth and I think the sixth secondary school for girls in the world; the first university in the world to confer on women the right to a degree; and the first centre in the Southern Hemisphere to establish local branches of theYMCA The Salvation Army and the St John Ambulance brigade. The Plunket Society began in Dunedin as did Karitane nursing teacher education tertiary education itself and much besides. Dunedin’s one big mistake was its decision to build Auckland. 
Many earlier politicians came from my part of the land including Mr Vogel who probably did not use the word “infrastructure” but who saw it built none the less and Mr McKenzie who probably did not use the idea of family-based farming but who saw it instituted. The three folk worth particular mention are Nordmeyer the reverend McMillan the doctor and Davidson the schoolteacher. The first two entered Parliament and “Nordy” is remembered for the “black” Budget of nearly 50 years ago. These three men conceived of a public health system designed and tested it on locals when all three were living in the construction town that built the Waitaki Dam and then introduced it in the late 1930s after they entered Parliament. It still stands strengthened by this Government’s decision to create primary health organisations through which my colleague Annette King has sought to address the gap those three men left when they placed emphasis on hospital care at the expense of affordable primary health-care. 
Dunedin is the second reason that I decided to take a call and the third reason is to reflect on what I think are the enduring features of this Parliament in 2004. MMP will in my view be enduring. Many colleagues will disagree and I could be wrong. A cataclysm may change our system again but I do not think so. The reason is the one given by Richard Prebble. We are now a lot more representative by whatever measure. It is true that we also represent the bereft and the bewildered just as we represent the brilliant and becoming. The peacefulness of our democracy has been lauded by earlier speakers so I shall not belabour that extraordinary characteristic of our history. 
The next feature of our parliamentary system that I think is worthy of some mention is our select committee process which is somewhat more open engaged and effective in our democracy than in most. The Prime Minister spoke of the Palmer reforms but since MMP the role of a select committee has become more important still—either in its legislative or its inquiry function. In that respect Richard Prebble I believe is wrong. Parliamentarians are in this regard more empowered; so is the public. In New Zealand a good argument from a member of the public can and does change law. 
Next and perhaps arguably this Parliament has given voice decade after decade to the ethos of egalitarianism. This has been threaded through much of our history. The Prime Minister has already spoken of New Zealand being the first nation to give women the vote and I have spoken of a public health system coming of age in the 1930s and for that matter what became known as the welfare State. But we ought to recall the liberalism of the 1890s—the beginnings of the care of the elderly is now over 100 years old—and the Woodhouse report which gave us a no-blame no-sue accident prevention and compensation system in the 1970s and the fact that anyone in this country over 21 years of age can go to university. This egalitarianism has been attacked by ideology by economics by fiscal constraint or by the interplay between. It faltered before and during the Depression before and during the economic reforms that began 15 or 20 years ago and it will falter again. But egalitarianism persists—never by that name of course but always as an underlying assumption in the way New Zealanders think. 
I will take an earlier Dunedin predecessor Richard Walls—who is in the House today and I acknowledge his presence. He was in the House between 1975 and 1978 before returning to being a businessman and then Mayor of Dunedin. He is still a city councillor and a capable manager of Dunedin public sector business. In his maiden speech he spoke of Dunedin’s warm humanity its community health and welfare services and the need for more opportunity for women to enter the workforce—not bad for a Tory. Not bad for a New Zealand Tory is the point I am making—a Dunedin New Zealand Tory. Egalitarianism has shifted across this Chamber and back as the years have gone by. Richard Walls’ predecessor was the indomitable Ethel McMillan—wife of the aforementioned doctor. Not only did she devote much of her substantial maiden speech to egalitarianism—and how!—she devoted the rest of it to the other remarkable feature of this Parliament: that it is internationally aware competent and active. It is not the sort of awareness competence or activity that one might expect from a small antipodean colony. 
Leaving aside the military history which has been spoken of by earlier speakers—the fighting peace making and peacekeeping; the earlier history of our country—we have been internationally active in many other ways especially since Peter Fraser contributed so much to the establishment of the UN. Ethel McMillan spoke at length about international peace. Her speech was pre-dated by nuclear weaponry but not by many years and international activity towards peace was a thread that went right through her maiden address. This quest for peace is a common thread in New Zealanders’ thinking and it is a quest that interestingly is largely unconditional. For that reason—and for others—New Zealanders and New Zealand parliamentarians have played a disproportionate role in international action ranging from Volunteer Service Abroad to the work of Don McKinnon or Mike Moore. 
What will our Parliament look like in the future? I think perhaps unimaginatively that it will look quite similar to how it is now. It will be well representative thanks to MMP or to a variant thereof; it will be peaceful in terms of our own election system—assiduously so; it will be relatively intimate because we are a small country and also because of systems such as our select committee system; it will be giving effect no doubt with hiccups to New Zealand’s ongoing attachment to egalitarianism; and it will be internationally competent and outward looking ensuring that New Zealanders including representatives of this House will continue to be good international citizens. 
PETER BROWN (Deputy Leader—NZ First) 
: 
 New Zealand is a tremendous country; it is literally a jewel in the South Pacific. I learnt that when I first came here some 40 years ago as a young officer on a British merchant ship and I literally fell in love with the place and had to come back. It is a fantastic country. Physically it has everything. It has beautiful beaches magnificent lakes splendid forests and majestic mountains. On first sight I thought it was paradise. By nature New Zealanders are great people. They are friendly hospitable hard-working and of flexible disposition. They are innovative efficient and they have a great sense of humour. In those years—some 40 years ago—I could not get back here fast enough. 
Let me remind members of what New Zealand was like 40 years ago. In those days New Zealanders had a reputation of being able to fix anything with a piece of number eight fencing wire. That is still true to some considerable degree but nowadays a New Zealander who specialises in “fixes” is usually involved in illicit drugs. In those days a chair was only something we sat on. “Getting high” referred only to going on an aeroplane trip. There were not even any skyscrapers. A gay person was a person who was vibrantly happy. In those days a street kid was a runaway young goat in a rural town. A “hoar” was a severe type of frost that only occurred south of Dunedin—certainly nothing or nobody was both in those days. 
In those days crime was at a very low level and the Minister knew every unemployed person by name. In those days everybody knew what a family was and everybody knew that it was the cornerstone institution of our society. How things have changed in 40 years! If today we are giving Parliament credit for at one time at least presiding over an egalitarian fair-minded Christian-based society we must accept that Parliament has responsibility for change—in particular adverse change. 
Today we celebrate Parliament’s 150 years of existence but before we stand on our pedestal accept the accolades and declare ourselves the champions of democracy we should consider the concerns of some New Zealanders who really do need a champion. We in New Zealand First are the champions. We are the champions—not of the world not of New Zealand but of the vulnerable. We are on the side of older people on a fixed income who have little or no opportunity to change their circumstances. We are on the side of victims of crime who so often do not know where to go or what to do. 
We are on the side of health patients who are pressing for treatment but are compelled to wait—a wait filled very much with anxiety. We are on the side of struggling small businesses. We are on the side of decency and family values. We are on the side of young people who come into the world in a situation of hardship and who have no ability to change their circumstances and to advance themselves. I invite all members to be on their side. 
I remind members of what a former President of America John F Kennedy once said: “All of us do not have equal talent but all of us should have an equal opportunity to develop our talents.” I hope that that short sentence sits very comfortably with most MPs. Our task is to implement it. 
There are people today who need assistance who need help. I like to think that many of the parliamentarians are aware of their plight and are prepared to champion their causes. As I have suggested New Zealand First is certainly on their side. I say to members who believe that a return to free-market forces will solve our problems and be our salvation that it will not be so. New Zealanders have learnt the lesson of the free market and they do not want to revert to that again for the free market has no social conscience. I say to members who appear to be committed to undermining society’s values that that also will not work. Society has values—needs values—that need to be supported by legislation. 
In conclusion I quote another famous MP—not a New Zealander but a British MP. Winston Churchill once said: “What is the use of living if it be not to strive for noble causes and to make this muddled world a better place for those who will live in it after we are gone.” New Zealand First subscribes to that. I hope most MPs subscribe to that. For the task to deliver on it is immense. We should enjoy today and get on with the task tomorrow for there is much to be done.