Yule LawrenceLAWRENCE YULE (National—Tukituki): Ki te iwi o Ngāti Kahungunu tēnā koutou. To all the people of Ngāti Kahungunu greetings. Ki ngā hapū whanui o Heretaunga tēnā koutou. To all the hapū of Heretaunga greetings. Ki ngā kaumātua o Heretaunga tēnā koutou. To all the elders and leaders of Heretaunga greetings. Kia ora mō te aroha me te manaaki ki au mai ra no. Thank you for the love and support you have given me over the years. Tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā tātou katoa.[Acknowledgments to you the tribe of Ngāti Kahungunu and the subtribes at large and the elders of Hastings. Thank you for your empathy and respect towards me and so accolades and acknowledgments to you collectively my appreciation to us all.]It is a tremendous honour to speak for the first time at the beginning of the 52nd Parliament. It is a privilege to represent the people of Tukituki in this House and I thank them for voting and bringing me here. Mr Speaker I acknowledge you and congratulate you on your appointment as I acknowledge the appointment of former Hawke's Bay resident the Hon Anne Tolley as Deputy Speaker and the other presiding officers. I acknowledge all leaders of this House and all political parties and respect their seniority and mana.Congratulations to the Prime Minister the Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern; Deputy Prime Minister the Rt Hon Winston Peters; and to all Ministers. I acknowledge the Rt Hon Bill English and the Hon Paula Bennett as leader and deputy leader of the National Party. On behalf of all of us National MPs I wish to thank both of you for your outstanding performance across the nation in the recent election campaign. I am incredibly proud to be elected as a National MP and I thank you both for your time in Tukituki during that campaign.I acknowledge the party president Peter Goodfellow the board and National Party staff led by Greg Hamilton. I offer a particular vote of thanks to central regional chair Bernard Cleary for his support advice and personal help. It is an honour also to join my fellow Hawke's Bay MPs the Hon Stuart Nash and the Hon Meka Whaitiri who although across the political divide I regard as friends after working with them for many years on many issues. I also welcome the opportunity and the working relationship with my National Wairarapa colleague Alastair Scott as we work together to help the people of Central Hawke's Bay.I acknowledge and thank my predecessor the Hon Craig Foss for his dedication and commitment to the people of Tukituki. And whether they are watching or not I also greet our community leaders in Hawke's Bay: Hawkes' Bay Regional Council Chair Rex Graham Hastings Acting Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst and Central Hawke's Bay Mayor Alex Walker.Honourable members can I also thank you for the courtesy already shown to me by many of you of this House whom I have worked with in my former role as President of Local Government New Zealand. I look forward to these respectful relationships continuing.As the member of Parliament for Tukituki I want to share a little about myself. I'm married to a wonderful wife Kerryn who's with me today whom I love and who has been a tower of strength since we met and who was a superstar in this campaign. Mr Speaker I put it to you that not many wives or husbands or partners in this Chamber would actually enjoy door knocking. She does and thank you for it. I am a father of four wonderful adult children from a previous marriage who are doing incredibly well. Emma Thomas Henry and Charles continue to give me a huge sense of pride with their achievements and success in life. I love them and acknowledge them. I also thank their mother for what she did in bringing them to this world.My mum who's in the gallery and my late father gave myself and my siblings an idyllic life surrounded with love in a Christian household. We never wanted for anything but we had modest means. My brother Andrew and sister Jeanette have both been a supportive part of my nuclear family and as siblings we have all supported each other through life's rough patches. I thank Kerryn's parents although they are unable to be here today for their love and support complete with free-flowing political advice and a bit of alcohol to boot.My dearest friends Michael Hindmarsh and Peter Roil have supported all my political campaigns and are hoarding professionals to die for. They have heard on countless occasions that this would be my last time—probably about five—and when this campaign started they stuck with me again only the task was 100 percent larger. We met through board of trustees elections at Sherenden and Districts School and they have been my friends and lifelong friends ever since.To Trevor Helson Tukituki electorate and campaign chair who sits with us today: thank you for your full-time voluntary role during the campaign. You were supported by a wonderful and energetic team and we achieved a wonderful result. Thank you to all of you who have continued to support me today who helped during the campaign and who helped financially.Members I am proud to say I represent the people of Hastings Flaxmere Havelock North Whakatū Clive Haumoana Ōtāne Ongaonga Tikokino the Heretaunga and Ruataniwha plains and rural hinterland places the likes of Ōtamauri where I was brought up. I also represent the people of Ngāti Kahungunu more than 25 maraes. I specifically acknowledge my good friend Ngāti Kahungunu chair Ngāhiwi Tomoana and his wife Mere. I thank the Hon Chris Finlayson for the great work in settling all the claims in the areas I represent. We are in post-settlement positive mode now and the benefits are quickly flowing with investments and confidence.It is no accident I am here as my father was a political and National Party stalwart and supported former Speaker of the House Sir Richard Harrison and Waikaremoana MP the Hon Roger McClay. From the earliest of memories I can remember him always being at meetings and the rituals of election night parties. They weren't raucous affairs but were full of stern study opinion predictions and either elation or gloom. The gloom quickly subsided however as planning began for the next three years—just exactly what this side of the House has already done. There is a certain tinge of sadness knowing that he died too young to see me enter this House. He would however be very proud.I come here as the oldest member of the National class of 2017". I prefer the nickname "Uncle" to "Dad" but what a great group of National MPs I have joined. I also acknowledge Nicola Willis who I'm very hopeful will join us very shortly. We've all come here to make a difference to a positive New Zealand. While I've been a mayor of Hastings president of Local Government New Zealand and chair of the Commonwealth Local Government Forum I start this new journey with great optimism for both a change in the environment and for New Zealand. I have been out of National Party politics for decades but I am excited to rejoin.Unlike many I'm fortunate to have enjoyed a good life. I still have good health I've come from a loving stable family I have a university education and I've had an enjoyable career. Despite this though my work my faith and my Christian upbringing have shown me that many people are not so fortunate. I enter this place to make a difference for those who have not enjoyed what I have. I enter this Parliament to improve things for my people and all New Zealanders. I do so however from a philosophical viewpoint that we need to empower people to succeed not fund them to do so.I also have a fundamental mantra that people can spend their own money more efficiently than any form of government whether it's central or local. This does not mean I do not support the State or local councils as collective ways of doing things more efficiently. I support both but we should always remember that neither actually has any money. The money and support people receive in health education or welfare is our money. As we ration services or build infrastructure we should constantly assess what makes sense even if the approaches need to be very different from the past.My life has been a journey made all the richer for my growing understanding of what is important to Māori. In the last 20 years I have grown huge respect for the long-term relationship - driven perspective that comes from our Treaty partners. I have learnt a great deal about patience and have a very real understanding of land water and cultural assets.New Zealand is a blessed nation at the bottom of the Pacific surrounded by a pristine ocean. We enjoy a quality of life that is the envy of the world. I am incredibly optimistic about our future and the issues we face are all solvable. We punch well beyond our weight on the global stage and in relative terms our poorest are well supported. I joined the National Party because I believe in free enterprise in rewarding hard work and risk and in personal responsibility. A strong economy gives us options to address challenges. We need to constantly remind ourselves that our wealth is created by what we export whether it is food wine manufactured product or intellectual property. There is no free lunch and as a nation we have to earn it before we can spend it. Every effort should be made to support our export base.I have come to this House to try to make a difference in the following areas. Firstly the home and the family: the work done by the Rt Hon Sir John Key and the Rt Hon Bill English's last Government and outlined by the new Government in the Speech from the Throne is to be applauded. Both sides of this House want better for our families in health housing and education for those that are most vulnerable; the real difference is in the "how". We do however have an ingrained level of poverty that is hard to fix. In my view most of this stems from a lack of work and low incomes. This leads to boredom a lack of motivation often the abuse of alcohol and drugs and a slow unwinding away from productive society. A loving family can do so much but only so much if there isn't enough money to cover the basics.In Hastings the most recent living example of that was the closure of the Whakatū and Tōmoana freezing works. Four thousand people lost their jobs over an eight-year period and we are only just recovering. Recently for the first time in decades I can see the opportunity for our young people in the region. The economy in Hawke's Bay has never been so good. We cannot squander this opportunity and we need to back the next generation into work into challenges into skills and into life experiences. We need to take some risks.Two recent phenomena are adding to the new challenge in many homes: the proliferation of P and the dramatic increase in reported domestic violence impact on thousands of women and vulnerable children. I am appalled that in Hawke's Bay police were called to over 6000 domestic violence cases last year—one of the highest rates in the country. It is great that it's being reported but it's sobering in scale. We will not arrest our way out of this and it requires an attitudinal and home-based shift. Equally methamphetamine is a scourge of society like I have not witnessed before. Its availability widespread use and mind-altering behaviour are fundamentally damaging families. We can have conversations around cannabis and the legalisation of it but we must take a much stronger stance on P. It is a drug on its own and its impact on health stats is not even measured in many parts of New Zealand. In simple terms I want it gone from society.I am a strong believer in climate change and from international travel I know that we are well placed to manage it. Our deep blue ocean surrounds will temper its impacts on New Zealand but not entirely. It is my simple view that the sooner we take action the better we will support future generations. I have watched the painful Ruataniwha Dam project come to its knees. While some members of this House will be pleased about this outcome I strongly caution members that doing nothing is not an option. Climate change will have a profound impact on water distribution on the eastern edge of New Zealand and water storage of winter flows will be vital to support production in areas such as Canterbury and the Heretaunga and Ruataniwha plains. Unfortunately many New Zealanders have formed the view that irrigation and water storage is a bad thing. In reality the real issue is around nutrient pollution. I would encourage members of this House to take a long-term view about water storage. There will be no escaping from it in the long term.I'm also a strong advocate for the environment from a pragmatic perspective. I have watched people's anxiety around the state of the environment increase. I have watched a largely urban electorate show less and less tolerance to our rural friends. So while we are quick to point to cows wading in a lake in the South Island on a hot summer's day or shots of pollution in rivers the bulk of urban pollution goes unnoticed. Our urban estuarine environments are being polluted by rubber tyres brake linings and heavy metals. All these things are difficult to fix are expensive and will take a long time. These challenges are for urban and rural people alike.In closing it's also important that this House is also aware that the good people of Tukituki are looking for some Government support for some projects and I particularly put this to the Labour side now that you're in charge. A new main hospital block for the Fallen Soldiers Memorial Hospital in Hasting is likely to cost between $150 million and $200 million; there was a promise before this election for the four-laning of the Napier-Hastings Expressway; and there needs to be assistance given where possible to dealing with the Three Waters issues in central Hawke's Bay and as has been identified in this campaign an assessment and possible construction of a new school in Havelock North.In closing I'm incredibly grateful to the people of Tukituki for placing me in this Chamber. I will represent them with all my knowledge skill and humbleness. I have a faith and stand by my Christian values of honesty tolerance love and care for human beings. To this end I am completely accepting of gender diversity racial diversity culture and sexual orientation. I enter this Parliament comfortable in my own skin confident in my ability to deliver for Tukituki with an open mind to listen to others. Tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā tātou katoa.[Applause]"