Mallard Trevor; Roberts AngelaSPEAKER: I call Angela Roberts to make her maiden statement.ANGELA ROBERTS (Labour): Tēnā koe Mr Speaker. Ehara taku toa takitahi engari taku toa i te toa takitini.[Mine is not the strength of one but of the many.]These were the words with which Hēnare Hūtana the Post Primary Teachers Association's kaumātua sent me to this House. He told me that I do not stand as an individual; I stand here representing the people. So why do I stand? And what gives me the courage to take this stand? As a teacher of the arts for more than 20 years I'm reminded every day that it is our artists whether they be playwrights songwriters painters carvers or dancers who have always been the ones to hold up a mirror to our society. They bring us joy; they bring us tears. They expose us to our own ugly underbelly and they bring us hope. They give a voice to the voiceless. They send us away with another perspective. But it isn't the artists who can change the world; only we the people can. Ru Mundy one of Aotearoa's finest young protest writers brings the voice of a future generation to us in a song full of sadness and regret. When thinking back on Love in the Time of Coral Reefs" she asks "Do you remember when we still had time if not to reverse things … at least not to cause worse things and we decided not to it was easier not to." These confronting words that came from a future full of so much loss. Coral reefs permafrost polar bears the land our Island nations equality and affordable housing brought me to tears. And no Ru I haven't got the T-shirt yet. And she brought me some action. It is for our children and their future that I stand. I was born beside the Wairau but I've been lucky enough to spend much of my life in Taranaki. It is beautiful a deeply spiritual exciting and tranquil place to be. The story of my little settlement is typical of many. While it's always been a place of bounty colonial settlement and land confiscation have left their scars. It was once a thriving township with a school a pub a dairy factory a saddlery and even a train station. Over the years we've seen valiant entrepreneurs come and go: butchery furniture maker sports store petrol station and cafes. I remember the shock of going for a run late last year and seeing the local community hall being put on to the back of a truck. Along with it the clubrooms for the disbanded cricket club and a few months ago the reality of COVID-19 saw the local cafe closed for good.Austerity hits our rural communities hard. When cuts are made often decisions are based on economies of scale on bang for buck and the impact can be brutal. Ambulance services police stations tertiary education the postie mental health maternity and primary healthcare services public transport banks decent connectivity and pothole-free roads—the list goes on. Austerity to rural communities means death by a thousand cuts. Rebuilding our rural infrastructure has started but we must do more to ensure access to quality healthcare and education modern infrastructure decent jobs and healthy homes.Our nation thrives when our farming communities are flourishing. It is for our rural communities that I stand. My understanding of the challenge of achieving climate justice is intensely local. As I've said I've spent much of my life in Taranaki and as an economics teacher a member of a rural community that has until now thrived because of the energy and dairy industries clearly appreciate how hard it will be to find a consensus around how we reset our economy and build a sustainable future.Our farmers are doing amazing things taking real action to strengthen our biodiversity and restore our river catchments and build sustainable practices across the food and fibre sector. Their contributions to projects such as Taranaki Taku Tūranga - Towards Predator-Free Taranaki are immeasurable although you could argue that the 10000th trap to hit the ground this week is a pretty good measure. We need to embrace and support the approach of the Taranaki 2050 Roadmap the first attempt at building consensus and taking real action on sustainable development and decarbonisation so we do not just survive but thrive. The rest of the nation would do well to follow this lead if we have any hope of reaching our sustainable development goals. It is for those who are striving for climate justice that I stand.During lockdown while most of our team of 5 million were doing their bit and staying home the lights in my neighbours' milking sheds still flicked on at 5 every morning. The shelves continued to be restocked overnight in our supermarkets and for more than eight months we have had a huge committed team of workers at our borders and in managed isolation in incredibly trying circumstances to keep us all safe. Our students despite the challenges presented by studying in isolation and sometimes like the rangatahi in my community without any reliable connectivity carried on with their mahi for all of our futures. It is for those who give their all for the team of 5 million so that we in New Zealand have the best chance on the planet to build back better that I stand. So what gives me the courage to take this stand? I've spent most of my teaching career focusing on two subjects that I'm really passionate about: drama and economics. While some might suggest that this is an odd combination of skill sets it could quite possibly be one that suits me well in this House. Economics has had a bad rap; not surprising when you are clear about what capitalism has done to our planet. In my economics classroom I have been liberated by my students as they challenged the assumption that our Curriculum brings to their desks—that the market is the natural place to start even when we are looking at the way to resolve the immense challenges that our society faces such as climate change inequality and housing affordability.Our young people are fabulous. They are ambitious for us curious and really happy to challenge the status quo. Why not look at something other than capitalism? Why not try a different approach? They aren't bound by precedent or ideology and they're enthused by different world views and fresh ideas. They're inspired by doughnut and circular economics socialism and Te Ao Māori. They are confident that there are ways to make decisions about how we use our resources more wisely that enable humanity and our planet to flourish. We need to be brave and take a fresh approach to how we view our economy so that Papatūānuku and humanity are at the heart of our decision making. It is my students and the progressive thinkers who are fighting for climate justice and social justice that give me courage.Not only do we need progressive economics but also a return to a progressive education system. Our curricula—Te Marautanga o Aotearoa Te Whāriki and the New Zealand Curriculum—are the envy of the world progressive and wide ranging but in recent years teachers were constrained by the narrow drive for literacy and numeracy standards and this meant there was little space for knowledge or creativity for science the arts or New Zealand history—all the things that inspire our students to learn and grow. But there is hope. Again it is helpful to look to artists for guidance. In 1946 Clarence Beeby the Director-General of Education under Fraser's Labour Government appointed Gordon Tovey to try to establish the intellectual respectability of the "frills" of education. Tovey delivered not only arts and crafts to our tamariki but also firmly embedded ngā toi and enabled students to gain an appreciation of art from both a Māori and Pākehā perspective. He ensured that Māori carvers and painters became an integral part of our public education system. By the mid-1960s despite controversy he ensured that New Zealand students and teachers were aware of and participating in their bicultural heritage for the first time.Not only do we need to find space in the Curriculum for the building of a wide range of knowledge but also to improve the support for our teachers and schools to build their capabilities in te reo and tikanga Māori. Teachers have overwhelmingly expressed their desire to learn te reo honour the diversity of identity in our schools and to truly meet our obligations to Te Tiriti and tangata whenua. They are ambitious for their students. There has been a commitment to supporting this critical mahi but just like with the implementation of a stronger New Zealand history curriculum the reforms of NCEA and the greater focus on supporting our most vulnerable learners the current heroic model isn't sustainable. Better resourcing is needed. It is those wonderful kaiako who give their all for our students who give me courage.I love the union movement and especially my former union the Post Primary Teachers' Association Te Wehengarua. I was privileged enough to serve on the PPTA's national executive for over 17 years including four as president. Those years taught me how productive a process of robust intelligent democratic debate can be that a worker's voice and Te Ao Māori are integral to both problem solving and innovation especially when courage and imagination are required. My comrades give me courage.I need to acknowledge what might well be the smallest and mightiest campaign team in New Zealand history. My first question to Mel Dorian our Labour Electorate Committee chair when I called her a few short months ago was "How can I help? Can I deliver some pamphlets or something?" Well I hope you're OK with what that something turned out to be Mel! It's amazing what can be achieved when you bring together a farmer a student and a unionist. Paul Ben and Mel organised and grew a movement across Taranaki-King Country a place where it was always assumed that there wasn't one to be built. It was so exciting to be talking to people inspired like I was by our Prime Minister's leadership who felt safe and hopeful. I am humbled and grateful that New Zealand voted for a Labour Government with such confidence—so much confidence that a teacher a unionist from rural Taranaki can be the first-ever 65th member of a Labour caucus in this 53rd Parliament. It is my party and my community—those who are so ambitious for our future—who give me courage.My family has taught me so much about the value of hard work. My mum Jenny Roberts taught me what a truly good employer looks like. She always treated her people with dignity. They were never seen as a cost but always as an investment. She spent decades not just training apprentices in their craft but supporting them as they grew into adults with patience and kindness. She had the vision and fortitude to fight to retain and strengthen an apprenticeship system when the national structures were collapsing. My dad taught me that some of the most impactful work that we can do is outside of the workplace in our community. There are generations of cricketers—good cricketers—who have been fortunate enough to have Barry Roberts' patient hand guide their batting and talk them through the intricacies of that beautiful game. My brother Greg a man of the land reminds me daily of the value of loyalty and perseverance in our work.I was born into a family of workers but I married into a family of unionists. My in-laws Bev and Dan Anglesey were not people to just sit back and complain about the state of the world. When they saw rights being trampled on if they saw injustice they spoke up stepped in and took action. Pick your battle—Springbok Tour Clancy Action Group or the TET share distribution. Dan was a union delegate for the boning floor at the Waitara Freezing Works before my husband was born and was president of the local Labour Party. Politics was always the topic of conversation at Dan's table. I had the great privilege of spending many hours on Sundays after one of Bev's amazing roasts talking to him about politics unionism and being reassured that we are right not to become cynical to keep up that good fight.I need to acknowledge my husband and our children. Ian is my rock but he also makes sure I don't forget to laugh—usually at myself. And as for James and Sarah when you meet them you are filled with hope for our future. They are smart they have huge hearts they are impatient for true social and climate justice and they fill our house with music. Thank you for bringing me such joy every day. It is my family that gives me courage.I started with an artist to help me to explain my reasons for taking a stand; so I think it only appropriate I look to another one for my final dose of courage—Billy Bragg a songwriter who has inspired so many of us with stories of hope where the power of organised workers clearly enables progress to be made for all of us. To be in a union means much more than that; it includes our efforts to collaborate to listen to and truly understand each other. It is a collective approach—community iwi farmer youth employer and worker. Achieving a sustainable timely just and equitable transition of our lives and rebuilding our economy is the most important work to be done for our nation our children and our planet. So to Billy for the last word: there is power in the factory power in the land power in the hand of the worker but it all amounts to nothing if together we don't stand. There is power in a union. Kia kaha kia māia kia manawanui tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā koutou katoa.[Applause]"