Tremain Chris: Address in Reply 
Tremain Chris: Address in Reply 
[Volume:628;Page:329] 
CHRIS TREMAIN (National—Napier) 
: 
Ti-hei mauri or-a! 
Whaia te pae tawhiti kia tata 
Whaia te pae tata. 
Whakamaua kia u kia ti-na! 
[ 
Behold the sneeze of life! 
Draw the distant and not so distant horizon closer to you. 
When that is achieved grasp it firmly and permanently 
.]  
This Maori proverb commands us to reach for the horizon for the stars to bring them close and to hold them tight. To aim for mediocrity is to limit the dreams of all New Zealanders. I believe that the current leaders of this nation have set the bar too low. They have aimed at mediocrity and that is what they have achieved. More than anything else I wish to bring to this House the courage for the Government to aim for the stars. 
Tena koutou katoa! Me mihi ki Te Runga Rawa! 
[ 
Greetings to you all! Greetings as well to the Creator above! 
] 
Mr Speaker it is an honour and a privilege to stand here in the Parliament of New Zealand to speak to you in my maiden speech. 
Ki te Whare Paremata e tu nei ki a Papatuanuku kei waho tena korua! 
[ 
To Parliament House standing here and to Mother Earth outside greetings to you two. 
] 
I acknowledge this great House of Parliament. 
Nga mate o tena iwi o tena iwi me mihia me tangihia. He mihi ki a ratou. Ki a koe Rod Donald haere haere haere. 
[ 
I acknowledge the deaths of every iwi and mourn them. My condolences to them. And to you Rod Donald take your leave depart farewell. 
] 
It is important that I acknowledge all those who have gone before me—all those who have led New Zealand and who are no longer with us. They have each played a part in driving this country forward. 
Ki nga kaumatua tena koutou. E nga rangatira tena koutou! 
[ 
Greetings to you the elders and chiefs greetings! 
] 
Mr Speaker I congratulate you on your appointment as Assistant Speaker. I say thank you to Don Brash for his achievement in leading the rejuvenation of the National Party. To Judy Kirk Steven Joyce and all the fantastic team at head office I say thank you for their efforts. It has been a wonderful job. 
Ki nga tangata o tenei Paremata tena koutou katoa! 
[ 
To members of this Parliament greetings to you all! 
] 
To my new colleagues I say I am looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead. They are indeed a talented group of people each of whom has had to work extremely hard to get into this Parliament. I believe that we are a team that can take this country out of mediocrity and to the stars. To Craig Foss I say that we made a great partnership in Hawke’s Bay and I look forward to working together with him. 
Nga tangata o Heretaunga nga whanau nga hoa tena koutou katoa! 
[ 
Greetings also to the people families and friends of Hawke’s Bay greetings to you all! 
] 
At this time I would like to pay tribute to my campaign team—I see Tom Johnson up there in the gallery—and to my electorate team. They had the courage to set a vision that many—if not most I would say—said was impossible. To win the seat of Napier for National for the first time in 50 years was indeed a target somewhere on the horizon if not in the stars. Nevertheless we are now the 21st least marginal seat in the country. Without the team we would never have achieved that feat so I thank them. 
To Michael Cullen one of my constituents who is not in the House today— 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: It is customary and the convention not to refer to the absence of members. All members at one stage or another have to leave the House. 
CHRIS TREMAIN 
: I say to Michael Cullen that I look forward to representing him as his electorate MP. I will be in my Napier office on Mondays and Fridays and I tell him that if he ever feels like making an appointment to discuss Napier issues I will look forward to it. 
I say thank you very much to the people of Napier for having the faith to elect me as their MP and I thank my friends and family for their immense support. I will never let them down. 
Ko Aotearoa te kainga o taku whanau mo e rima nga whakatipuranga. He nui taku aroha mo Aotearoa ki te whenua nga one nga maunga nga roto. New Zealand has been the home of my family for five generations. My forefathers like all other Kiwis were migrants to this country. New Zealand is my home—not England Ireland or some distant land that my ancestors departed from two centuries ago. My family and I have great respect and love for New Zealand and its beaches plains mountains and lakes. I acknowledge the tangata whenua of Aotearoa for I believe that I am tangata whenua—a person of this land. I may not have Maori blood in me but the spirit—wairua—of New Zealand is in me. To me that is the very essence of being tangata whenua. It is not the mere fact of citizenship. If people still pine for their place of birth and the spirit of that country still flows through their veins then they have not crossed the bridge to this country. 
I acknowledge Maori as the first tangata whenua. I acknowledge their beautiful language te reo; their customs nga tikanga; and their treasures nga taonga. Although I am by no means fluent in te reo I am learning Maori because I believe that it is the founding language of this country and that it should never be lost. 
I also acknowledge Te Tiriti o Waitangi as the founding document of this nation. It is the document that allowed people from other nations to become tangata whenua. The treaty conveyed a number of rights on the existing property owners and in many cases those rights were not honoured. Historical grievances arising from that document must be settled fully fairly and finally and we must work to a deadline. We must resource the Waitangi Tribunal properly so that it can meet that deadline. We must move on. I see no work as being more important in this country than that of settling those grievances. 
In saying that I believe that we need to move this nation beyond the Treaty. For the sake of Maori and all other people in this land we must move on. We need to look forward in order to set a pathway for the future. Continuing to look back over our shoulder will do nothing but drive a wedge between our people. As Hone Harawira said before: tama tu tama ora; tama noho tama mate! 
[a 
 lad on his feet is a survivor an idle one is not! 
] 
In the words of the great Ngati Kahungunu proverb it is time to stand and look forward not to sit down and go backwards. 
As a nation we must reach for the horizon—for the stars. I believe that in the past we have set the bar too low. We breed a nation of winners—a nation that expects its athletes to be world champions our artists to be globally recognised and our academics to be equal to if not better than the best in the world. Yet we accept a Government that aims for mediocrity. When our athletes compete at the Olympic Games we expect them to win. We a nation of 4 million people expect to go out against all odds and win gold medals against nations that are 10 50 and 100 times our size. We set targets that other countries would only dream of and on many occasions we deliver. In both our sporting and artistic endeavours we reach for the stars and more often than not we make it. 
I ask then why the Labour-led Government’s stated goal for this nation in terms of GDP per capita—for prosperity per citizen—is limited to getting us into the top half of the OECD countries. How can that be? Here we are a nation of winners whose target is only to get into the top half. It is like Hawke’s Bay’s Caroline and Georgina Evers-Swindell aiming to make the repechage at the next world championships. It is like Greg Murphy aiming to drive to 20th place at Bathurst. Guess what? Although GDP mediocrity is our Government’s target we are not even successful at reaching that. Currently as a nation we sit in the bottom half of the OECD countries—in 21st place out of 30 countries. Our GDP per capita sits at just US$23200 well behind Australia’s at US$30100 and even further behind the United States’ at US$37600. Quite frankly that is not good enough. 
What is worse is that we in this country—and I in particular—hate playing second fiddle to Australia. Yet we sit here and wonder why so many Kiwis—so many tangata whenua—are leaving this nation. In the year ended June 2005 net departures to Australia were 19277. The Labour - New Zealand First solution is an advertising campaign and a flawed student loan scheme. Let me tell members that those initiatives will not work. People do not need an advertising campaign to convince them to come back here—they already love this country. They need better incomes and a better standard of living. Until we are prepared to set a path to take this country to the top of the OECD we will continue to languish in terms of living standards and prosperity. 
We need a culture shift in the Government. We need the courage to reach for the stars. I accept that those types of goals take years—even decades. I accept that they require solutions that will challenge many in this nation. But while we shoot for mediocrity and while our stated goal is to get only into the top half of the OECD can we guess at what we can expect to achieve? As Napier’s MP I will work hard to engender a spirit that gives us the courage to set big goals and lofty targets for our country. Accepting mediocrity for New Zealand is just not an option. 
Ko Heretaunga toku whenua. Ko Otatara toku maunga. Ko Tutaekuri toku awa. No Otatara ahau. 
[ 
Hawke’s Bay is my region. Otatara is my mountain. Tutaekuri is my river. I am from Otatara. 
] 
I am a Hawke’s Bay boy. I grew up under the Otatara hills and beside the Tutaekuri River in the Napier suburb of Taradale. I am proud to call Napier home. It is important that my parliamentary colleagues understand from day one that Hawke’s Bay is undoubtedly the best province in New Zealand. My vision for Hawke’s Bay and for Napier is simple. It is not about mediocrity. It is about reaching for the stars and being the best we can possibly be in terms of lifestyle choices active living health safety and prosperity. Our councils are already doing a fantastic job of developing lifestyle choices and active living. Sport Hawke’s Bay is also well down the path to taking Hawke’s Bay towards being the most active province in New Zealand. However I have three areas of particular concern. Our health statistics are currently below par and we do not have enough police on the streets. We are also losing too many businesses to other parts of the nation and to overseas. 
The closure of Napier Hospital has been the cause of past angst in my community. If we are to improve the health statistics across our community we must put that behind us. We must support our regional hospital to carry out major surgery and to get high-priced capital equipment. However it is important that we stand up to ensure that Napier is not gradually wiped off the public health services map by the abolition or merger of further services. The district health board has made a significant commitment to Napier through the Napier Health Centre on Wellesley Street. Whether the current centre is well placed or good value for money are still debatable points. That aside it is critical that Napier retains its own health facility with an improving level of community health services not a diminishing one. 
Throughout my campaign I stated the urgent need for additional front-line police. Suburbs such as Maraenui need to have full-time community policing not a part-time commitment. I am heartened by the New Zealand First - Labour coalition agreement to put an additional 1000 police into the community and I will be working hard to ensure that Napier gets its proportional fair share. 
Additional to that the region needs to understand that new and existing businesses are the lifeblood of the local economy. We must develop a strategy that relentlessly attracts new businesses to the bay and retains them on a long-term basis. That involves a combination of town planning the development of key infrastructure and a focus on key business clusters. Building the depth of businesses will increase the robustness of our economy and grow the prosperity of our people. We must also fight for our existing industries in particular our apple industry. The access to Australia issue is one that Craig Foss and I will continue to battle for. 
Part of growing Napier and Hawke’s Bay is continued investment in regional infrastructure. I call on my parliamentary colleagues across the floor Michael Cullen and Russell Fairbrother to help to ensure that the long-overdue Meeanee Interchange proceeds immediately and that Government ownership in our regional airport is offered for sale to local authorities so that our community can make decisions about the destiny of that most important asset. Hawke’s Bay is where my heart is. It is my home and I will do all that I can to take it forward. 
Ko Kelvin Tremain toku papa he tangata rongonui he All Black. Ko Pam Tremain toku mama. He tino kaha toku whaea. 
[ 
Kelvin Tremain a famous All Black is my dad. My mum is Pam Tremain a very courageous mother indeed 
.] 
I wish only that my father Kelvin Tremain were able to see me here in Parliament today. He was a great man he tangata rongonui who died too early while still having much to offer. He taught me that every person is equal and deserving of a smile. To my mother Pamela who cannot be here today I say she taught me the importance of values of setting high standards and of reaching for the sky. I love them both. I also acknowledge my mother-in-law and father-in-law Trevor and Jeanette Jurgens who are in the gallery today and thank them for all their support. 
Ko Angela toku wahine ko ia te kaitautoko tino kaha. Ko Samuel ratou ko William ko Millie aku tamariki. Ko Simon raua ko Mark aku taina. He nui taku aroha mo taku whanau. 
[ 
My wife is Angela my strongest supporter. Samuel William and Millie are my children. Simon and Mark are my younger brothers. I have much love for my family. 
] 
To Angela my wife I say she is my greatest supporter and I love her. She has taught me spirituality and that there is much else in the world other than the relentless pursuit of financial gain. To my children Sam Will and Lily to my brothers Simon and Mark and to their partners Hettie and Jan I say I am here for those guys and I want them to know that I love them as well. There is nothing more important in life than family. For me it is more important than the pursuit of lofty goals. It is more important than this House and its members and I am afraid as a nation that we have lost sight of that. 
We expect our sportspeople our artists and our academics to aim for the sky and to be the best they can be. We must expect our Government to set high targets and to have the courage to pursue them on behalf of the people of this country. Mediocrity has no place in New Zealand. 
Aku mihi ki a koutou. Kia tau te rangimarie ki a tatou katoa. Tena koutou tena koutou tena tatou katoa. 
[ 
My appreciation to you collectively. Let peace prevail over us all. Greetings greetings and greetings to us all 
.]