Doocey Matt: Address in ReplyText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeDoocey Matt: Address in Reply[Sitting date: 22 October 2014. Volume:701;Page:155. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]MATT DOOCEY (National—Waimakariri):It is a great honour to be delivering my maiden speech to the House today. There are many values that we as New Zealanders cherish and work to uphold. As one of the 14 new National Party MPs in the 51st Parliament who are starting out on this journey I like so many before me have reflected on which values will guide me and which I will strive to ensure we protect: equal opportunity individual freedom and choice personal responsibility competitive enterprise and reward for achievement limited Government strong families and caring communities and sustainable development of our environment. These are my reference points for my work and contribution to the making of good law in the 51st Parliament of New Zealand. Like a compass I will seek to refer to these points as I navigate my way through my journey in this House. In application I will reflect learn and set course many times as I strive to benefit my electorate Waimakariri my region Canterbury and my country.Mr Speaker may I congratulate you on your re-election. It is a privilege to be part of a strong National Party a strong National-led Government and a strong National Party caucus. This strength is a result of the hard work of our leader Prime Minister the Rt Hon John Key our party president Peter Goodfellow our Canterbury/Westland regional chair Roger Bridge and our other regional chairs our Ministers our MPs and National Party members and supporters.I would like to acknowledge one Minister in particular the Hon Gerry Brownlee for his unwavering focus and commitment to the Canterbury earthquake recovery following the devastating earthquakes that hit the region and my electorate first in September 2010 primarily in Kaiapoi and then the subsequent fatal earthquake in February 2011. The party votes in all our greater Christchurch electorates clearly demonstrated that Cantabrians support Mr Brownlee’s tireless efforts. We as Cantabrians have achieved a lot since these earthquakes first struck and there is still a lot of work to be done to rebuild one of the greatest regions to live in New Zealand and that is a fact.Some of my fondest memories of growing up in Canterbury are from the early 1980s during Canterbury Rugby’s famous Ranfurly Shield era. I remember going to Lancaster Park on Saturday afternoons to watch and support the Canterbury Rugby team defend the Ranfurly Shield. Lancaster Park was known to be a hotbed of hostility for visiting sides but for me this was an opportunity to meet other young kids from all over Canterbury who had come to support our winning rugby team. As I look back remembering through a young child’s eyes it seemed a special time in Canterbury when the whole region came together as one to support our team. Looking forward as Canterbury rebuilds and rises again I hope we can create an environment that will allow other young Cantabrians growing up to have those memories of a unified Canterbury—one region one Canterbury and I am proud to say somewhat one-eyed.Can I acknowledge my mum and dad Joan and Tom my wife Viktoria and those from the Waimakariri electorate who have travelled up to Wellington for this speech and who are in the public gallery today. To the Waimakariri electorate team led by Jim Gerard Dan Gordon and Jill Spooner which has provided me with so much support over the last 6 months and to the many listeners and viewers back home in the Waimakariri electorate I am humbled by all your support. Can I also make special mention of the Waimakariri National Party supporters group led by Judith Parrott which celebrated its 40th anniversary this year.It is with much pride that I stand here today delivering my maiden speech as only the fourth member of Parliament to represent the Waimakariri electorate. I acknowledge those who have gone before me: Jim Gerard Mike Moore Clayton Cosgrove and Kate Wilkinson. I owe a great debt to all those in the Waimakariri electorate who have placed their faith in me as their representative. I offer my commitment to represent and work for all in the Waimakariri electorate to the best of my abilities.Waimakariri is a large electorate made up of both urban and rural areas. It spans from Casebrook Northwood and Belfast in northern Christchurch up over the mighty Waimakariri River to the town of Kaiapoi heading north to Woodend Pegasus and Waikuku then west towards Tuahiwi Marae and then to the main town of Rangiora then through the lifestyle areas including Fernside Clarkville Ōhoka Mandeville Swannanoa Eyreton through Cust to Oxford in the west. The electorate has seen some extraordinary population growth. It is the third-fastest growing area in New Zealand. The GDP of this region has increased well over 25 percent since 2010. This has been driven partly by the earthquake rebuild and also by businesses that are benefiting from a strongly performing agricultural sector. Like we see in wider New Zealand when the farmers are doing well the whole country benefits. Waimakariri is no different. When local farmers are doing well the region benefits.People ask me why I wanted to enter politics and become a MP. I answer this on two levels. The first is an instinctive feeling I have felt from a young age. I have always known that this is a path I would like to take. The second level is a rational one. For many years I have worked at the front line of health services and saw every day in the communities I worked in the benefits of better jobs and better incomes on people’s lives. I went into health care to make a difference. For me politics is a way of continuing to make that difference both for Waimakariri and New Zealand.I was educated in Christchurch at St Patrick’s School in Bryndwr and St Bede’s College in Redwood—yes another Bedean. Following high school I studied counselling psychology and went on to graduate with an honours degree in social policy and a Master’s degree in health care management. I worked at the front line of mental health services and in the management of health care services for a number of years both here in New Zealand and in London.As we move through the Canterbury earthquake recovery international research tells us that years 3 to 5 post-disaster are important for both psychological and social recovery. Nationally and internationally better mental health is important. We know that as the number of elderly people in our community grows we will need to have better support in place for the expected number of elderly people with dementia. With children we know that developmentally the early years are important and that if a child does not receive the emotional support they need then this can be problematic. For working-age adults mental health problems are one of the biggest causes of disability in the workplace and one of the biggest causes of loss of productivity for a business. It is considered that poor mental health such as depression will be the biggest cause of disability in the world. All of us will experience good and bad mental health over our lives. We are all in this together.I travelled to London in the late 1990s for my OE with £100 in my back pocket. By the time I left over a decade later I had not only built a rewarding health care career but also backpacked over 50 countries. Travelling at the grassroots of many countries taught me a lot about people—their culture their history their traditions. I learnt a lot about myself and what I want to achieve in my life. I am very thankful that I have had the opportunity to live in London while on my OE and I do hope my children will have this opportunity also. It is true what they say: travelling broadens the mind. The experience of living and travelling overseas has expanded my world view.It was while living in London that I was selected to attend Birkbeck College to study a Master’s degree in global politics. From these studies and from my travelling through many countries I learnt a lot about the globalised world we live in where countries collaborate and compete and how important it is that we have good economic management for the well-being of our people. We are living in a global market place where investment information and goods and services flow freely around the world with no borders. In this global market place competitive countries can provide growth and jobs for their people while uncompetitive countries do not. We have a choice.There was a well-known philosopher in the 18th century a Scotsman by the name of Adam Smith. He is the godfather of the market economy. He coined the term “comparative advantage”. This is where countries produce goods and services that they have a competitive advantage in doing so. For us our biggest strength is the primary industries. We need to ensure that we gain access to other countries’ markets through free-trade agreements to sell our goods and our services. We also need investment into these sectors to promote innovation and research for higher productivity so we can add more value in our exports. Crucially we will need innovation and research to ensure we find answers to sustainability concerns.I come from a family that has a long history of contributing to the community. My late grandfather Maurice Carter was a Christchurch City Council deputy mayor and committed philanthropist. My mother Joan Doocey has dedicated her career as a teacher to young people with learning difficulties empowering them to study in mainstream education settings. My father Tom Doocey received a Queen’s honour for his services to rugby and sports administration. Having role models like these in my life teaches me the commitment required for public service and the resilience needed for public scrutiny.I am very fortunate that my wife Viktoria is supportive of my political ambitions. For Viktoria her politics is real life. She was born and grew up behind the Iron Curtain in communist Hungary. She knows firsthand what it is like to live without the freedom and choice that we take for granted here in New Zealand. The effects of the poor economic management of the left are still visible in her homeland today. Just to make things a bit more interesting though along the campaign trail my wife and I had our first child. In fact my wife Viktoria started having contractions at one of my National Party selection meetings. I am happy to announce that we have a beautiful baby girl Emily who is now 7 months old and up in the public gallery today.Having a young family makes me committed to ensuring families and communities are at the heart of growth and development in the Waimakariri in Canterbury and in the whole of New Zealand. For me it is all about family. I want to see mums and dads have better jobs and better incomes. I want their children to have a great education so they can achieve what they want in their lives. I want grandparents to have great health care and security in their retirement and I want families to grow up in safer communities.I am conscious of the challenges that lie in front of me in the Waimakariri electorate: roading and traffic congestion the earthquake recovery—particularly the rebuilding of the town centres of Rangiora Kaiapoi and Oxford—the future of the red zone land the importance of water the issues surrounding nitrate levels the completion of the Rangiora health hub and working with and helping the Waimakariri District Council whose work during difficult times has been acknowledged as exceptional. Then there are other groups and issues such as the Rangiora Kaiapoi and Oxford high schools with their building programmes.To conclude I come to this House like so many who have gone before ambitious for our country and keen to make my contribution and work hard for the interests and aspirations of all constituents of the Waimakariri electorate for the wider region of Canterbury and for New Zealand. It is an honour to be the elected MP for Waimakariri. I will never forget the privilege I have been offered in being elected and the responsibility of the job I have been given to do. Thank you.