Andersen VirginiaVIRGINIA ANDERSEN (Labour): Ko te mihi tuatahi ki Te Atua nāna nei ngā mea katoa ko te mihi tuarua ki Te Whare e tū nei e Te Whare Pāremata tēnā koe! Kai aku rangatira e ngā tini me ngā mano o ngā hau e whā nei te mihi kau atu ki a koutou katoa! E kore e mutu ngā mihi ki te whānau me te hunga e tautoko i ahau tēnā koutou! Kai te haere tonu te pakanga ki te whiwhi i te tūru o Waiwhetū kia ea ai ō rātou wawata ō rātou hiahia hoki kāore e roa ka oti nō reira tēnā koutou tēnā koutou huri huri mai tātou katoa![The first acknowledgment is to God. He indeed created everything. The second one is to the House standing here; thank you Parliament House. To you my esteemed ones you the innumerable and the thousands of the four winds I acknowledge you all. Tributes to the family and those who supported me will never end thank you collectively. The contest to gain the Waiwhetū seat will continue which will fulfil their aspirations and hopes. It won't be long when it will be done. So acknowledgments and congratulations to you collectively and around coming back to us all!]It's a great honour to stand and to speak in this House for the very first time. First and foremost Mr Speaker I would like to congratulate you on your election to the position of Speaker of this House. Your experience attention to detail empathy and knowledge of how this place works will serve us well. I also wish to acknowledge you as the outgoing member of Parliament for Hutt South. The people of Hutt South know you well for being an effective and caring member for these past 24 years. I know this because I have knocked on a lot of your former constituents' doors over the last few months. While I was disappointed for Labour not to retain the seat of Hutt South I wish to congratulate my colleague Chris Bishop on his success and the work that he has put in over the past three years. I look forward to seeing more of you than ever before over the next three years.The issue that has dominated the campaign in Hutt South was clearly housing. I am proud to stand here as part of this Labour Government knowing that the issues that are so desperately needing to be addressed for people finally will. The people in Hutt South stood and watched as State houses were torn down. That land has lain vacant for six years now while families have remained homeless. I look forward to now seeing warm dry affordable homes being built on that land under a Labour-led Government and I will continue to strive to make sure I see every child in Hutt South go to bed at night with a roof over their head.My own childhood was not spent in the Hutt but on Great Barrier Island. I grew up on the beach. We ran pretty free and wild. It was a big day if a dead shark washed up on the beach. As a daughter of two schoolteachers we moved around quite a bit—Hawke's Bay Wairarapa Great Barrier and Christchurch where I completed high school and university.If I had to trace back to where my Labour-ness began it would have to be from my parents John and Patricia Andersen who are here today. They dedicated their working lives to teaching in low-decile schools in New Zealand. I grew up seeing the impact a teacher could have on someone's life. Going to rural schools often meant having mum or dad as my teacher. I sat next to kids and saw the beginning of the year when they were quiet withdrawn even angry and violent. By the end of the year a lot of those children became star performers. A bit of time effort attention and care turned many lives around. It gave me faith in human nature—something I bring with me to this House. More than anything I am grateful to my parents for teaching me to stand up and fight for what I believe in.When I started high school I was required to take an intelligence test. You were either in the top stream and got to choose languages; the middle stream which was tech drawing and typing; or the lowest stream home economics—or as it was known then cooking and sewing. I was lucky enough to make it as a language girl and I chose Māori and French. The dean informed me that Māori was not considered an academic language and I should consider revising my choice if I wanted to remain in the top stream. She also told me I'd be the only Pākehā girl in the class. I chose French and Māori. The dean informed me—oh sorry. I chose Japanese and French—I changed.When I got home from school I found my dad digging in the garden and told him what had happened. He leaned on his spade and looked up at me and said Well what do you want to learn?" I looked up and said "Well I want to learn Māori." He said "That lady will still be in her office. You go back and give her a call and tell her that you've changed your mind." So I did and it did changed my life. I passed School Cert and Bursary Māori. I completed a BA in Te Reo Māori and an MA on the Ngāi Tahu settlement. I got my first real job as a negotiator for the Office of Treaty Settlements. My Māori isn't that flash but what I love the most is it has given me a glimpse of life from a different perspective.To my dad to my mum and to my brother Patrick: thank you for everything you've done for me. I'm proud to come from a long line of socialists. There's a couple of communists in there as well. Both sides of my family hold strong beliefs in fairness and the rights of workers. Ingrained in me is the ethic of working hard and the belief that if you work hard enough anything is possible in New Zealand. I want to make sure that New Zealand stays this way.On my mother's side I would like to acknowledge my grandfather Patrick McKinley one of 11 children who grew up in the Rai Valley. He was a soldier a truck driver and a unionist who believed in standing up and fighting for what he believed in. He was a worker and a true Irishman—when the doctor recommended he make his drinks smaller he just bought a smaller glass.On my father's side I would like to acknowledge Bill Andersen. My first awakening to politics was listening to heated discussions around the dinner table about what he'd been up to. He was involved in the 1951 Waterfront Lockout. His front yard along with many others' was dug up and sown with vegetables to feed those families affected by the strike. He was the president of the Northern Drivers Union and the president of the National Distribution Union. Bill supported the Ngāti Whātua occupation of Bastion Point and organised union support during that protest. From 1972 until 1981 he stood for Parliament in the seat of Tāmaki against Robert Muldoon. While unsuccessful he took much delight in letting Air New Zealand staff always seat him next to Muldoon whenever they flew together always greeting him with a "Hello comrade." Both Bill and Pat were fearless when fighting for what they believed in. I hope I can continue in their footsteps.During the past 16 years I have served Ministers from both sides of this House. I've worked as a political adviser for the past Labour Government and I've worked as a political adviser for both Labour and National Governments. During this time I've seen both robust and poor policy developed and made into law. I have seen people placed under immense pressure and seen how they have treated others during those hard times. While this institution can be an unforgiving one I know that people are remembered for not only what they have achieved but how they have achieved it. The tension between developing good policy and meeting the demands of politics to achieve "quick wins" will always exist but so many of the issues that confront New Zealand are not able to be resolved within a political term. I'm of the view that if you are going to do a job you should do it properly. If we are serious about reducing child poverty homelessness and the number of New Zealanders in prison then I believe we need a greater degree of cross-party collaboration.One thing that has motivated me to take the leap from being a public servant to a politician is seeing good policy thrown out because it was not popular. While consultation is an essential part of any decision-making process I believe that it should not be purely driven by focus groups and polls. The public servant in me prefers a balance with research and evidence to show what works. I would like to acknowledge the work done by public servants that goes on behind the scenes. This House would cease to operate without their ongoing dedication and support.The job I've enjoyed the most would have to be working for the New Zealand Police. It has been an honour to work alongside people who share the single common purpose of making New Zealand a safer place. I acknowledge their presence here today. My time at police confirmed to me that I have a strong desire to see positive changes made to the New Zealand justice system. As New Zealanders we would not tolerate a health system that made us sick nor an education system that made our children illiterate or innumerate so why would we tolerate a justice system that makes people more likely to offend? This year we have reached the highest number ever of prison inmates in New Zealand: over 10000 with over 2800 on remand. While it is easy to acknowledge that building another prison is a mark of failure to this country it is much harder to do something about it. It is all too easy to push the fear button and generate public support but it is much harder to take real steps to reform our criminal justice system.There are few "quick wins" in this space but there are huge opportunities for change and improvement: greater access to mental health support drug and alcohol treatment social housing employment closer working partnerships with iwi and just being open to doing things differently. This Government has set a bold target of reducing our prison population by 30 percent over the next 15 years. I undertake to do whatever is required of me to work towards that goal.Police is also the place where I met my husband. My mum gave me very clear instructions that I was to marry a neurosurgeon from Roseneath. I got a dog handler from the Hutt—love you honey. Quite simply Geoff without your love and support I would not be standing here today. I love you and our four children—and I'm sorry that I don't do the washing more often.One of the hardest things in making it this far has been finding a balance between being a mum and a worker although I reckon that knowing how to continually function when exhausted and how to remain calm in the face of epic tantrums might just come in handy here. I am proud to be the stepmother of Piper and Corban and the mother of Jack and Eliza. You constantly remind me of what matters the most in life.I am grateful to the New Zealand Police in particular Catherine Petrey for enabling me to further my career while being a mum. For each of the children I gave birth to I was able to take a full year of maternity leave. After my first child I returned to work at three days a week and after my second child I returned to work at four days a week and was promoted to policy manager. I can really remember having interagency teleconferences while pushing both kids on the swings—I learnt to bring my own can of CRC. This flexibility enabled my children to see more of their mum a luxury that many families in New Zealand cannot afford. It is good to see the first piece of legislation introduced under this new Government to be 26 weeks' paid parental leave. This and upskilling people through free tertiary training is a bold step towards creating a higher-wage economy. I want New Zealand to be where parents have more flexibility and choice as to their working arrangements and women get paid the same as men. If we wish to ensure our children are resilient enough to deal with this world then we must give them the best possible start in life. Time with mum and dad is number one.I am heartened to be part of an intake of MPs that has more parents of young children than ever before and part of a Government that is committed to prioritising the well-being of children. I wish to give my thanks to those women that have helped me on my path to this House. Margaret Wilson Maryan Street Marian Hobbs Annette King and my mum: you have given me advice and strength during the times that I have needed it the most. I am excited to be part of an intake that has more women Māori Pacific and Indian MPs than ever before. It is good to see the face of Parliament changing to be far more representative of the people it serves. I've always worked within this system to drive change and I will continue to do so but it is this opportunity right now with these people and with Jacinda Ardern as our Prime Minister that has offered the greatest opportunity I have ever seen to change New Zealand for the better. I look forward to the challenge.[Applause]Waiata"