Hayes JoJO HAYES (National): Thank you Madam Deputy Speaker. Today we began our celebrations of the 125th suffrage anniversary with a breakfast. Our two keynote speakers—fabulous women—were the Hon Ann Hercus and the former Prime Minister the Rt Hon Dame Jenny Shipley. They both left us with some pearls of wisdom and one I shall recite. As Dame Jenny noted—[Interruption] and it's not the one you think it is—in her speech We should focus on fighting for something"—for something—"rather than fighting with each other." And that's what I have heard in the speeches that have been given here today: that we should focus on fighting for something rather than fighting with each other.I stand in remembrance of a remarkable woman Kate Sheppard who against all odds—both personal and public—fought and won the right for New Zealand women to vote. The date: 1893. The person who signed the new Electoral Act into law was a Governor of New Zealand called Lord Glasgow. One would think that post-1893 the pathway for women would be a sweet sweet ride but it wasn't and it hasn't been. Being the first in the world to give women the vote is a proud position to be in but really how far have we come over these last 125 years? From 1893 it took 26 years before women gained the right to stand for Parliament and another 14 years before the first woman MP by the name of Elizabeth McCombs from Christchurch would enter Parliament. Countries like Ireland and Finland beat New Zealand to these two facts even though suffrage for them came some 25 years - plus later.For Māori women the journey would be longer. It wasn't until 1935 that the first Māori woman stood as a candidate. In that year Rehutai Maihi contested the Northern Maori seat. Older Māori who did not believe that she should do that went against her and she only garnered 162 votes.In 1949 Iriaka Ratana become the first Māori woman to win a seat in the New Zealand Parliament when she successfully contested the Western Maori seat when her husband who had previously held the seat died earlier that year. She retained that seat until 1969. In 1949 Katarina Nutana also stood for Western Maori as an Independent but she too faced criticism and failed. Other women known to have contested Māori seats include Hinerapa Ropiha who stood for Southern Maori in 1957 and Whina Cooper who stood for Northern Maori in 1963. In 1967 Whetū Tirikātene was elected member of Parliament for Southern Maori and retained the seat for 26 years. Like Iriaka Rātana she too followed a family tradition.Sandra Lee a candidate for The Alliance won the Auckland Central seat in 1993. She was the first Māori woman to hold a general seat in New Zealand. Following Sandra came Dame Georgina te Heuheu from 1996 to 2011 of the Tūwharetoa rangatira line te Heuheu. She became a Cabinet Minister. In Parliament from 1999 to 2007 was the first transsexual MP Georgina Beyer ex-Mayor of Carterton who won the Wairarapa seat; from 1996 to 2014 Dame Tariana Turia the founder of Whānau Ora policy and founder of the Māori Party; from 2008 to 2017 the Hon Hekia Parata who was the first Māori woman Minister of Education; and from 2005 to the present day the Hon Paula Bennett has been a member of Parliament for National and in 2016 she became the first Māori woman Deputy Prime Minister and deputy leader of the National Party.That is a brief rendition of the many Māori women that have come before us. These are but a few of our Māori woman heroines. There are many others of us who continue to fight the good fight in so many ways as we continue to shape the future pathway for all women. I'm going to conclude my speech right now—because I know I'm running out of time—with these salient words from an amazing woman by the name of Helen Reddy:I am woman hear me roarIn numbers too big to ignoreAnd I know too much to go back an' pretend'Cause I've heard it all beforeAnd I've been down there on the floorNo one's ever gonna keep me down againOh yes I am wiseBut it's wisdom born of painYes I've paid the priceBut look how much I gainedIf I have to I can do anythingI am strong(Strong)I am invincible(Invincible)I am womanHe waka eke noa—we're all in this together. Kia ora tēnā koutou."