Parker David: Obituaries — Nelson MandelaText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeParker David: Obituaries — Nelson Mandela[Sitting date: 10 December 2013. Volume:695;Page:15340. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon DAVID PARKER (Deputy Leader—Labour): I am privileged to rise on behalf of the New Zealand Labour Party to pay homage to the wisdom and achievements of one of the world’s greatest leaders certainly in my lifetime Nelson Mandela. We pay our respects to a man who dedicated his life to fighting injustice. It is hard to imagine a more worthy recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize an honour that as the Deputy Prime Minister has already said was properly accorded him in 1993. Nelson Mandela’s long walk to freedom included an incredible 27 years of imprisonment from 1962 to 1990. Only a giant could endure that and then upon release pursue justice and reconciliation rather than revenge. Through the decades of his incarceration the black and coloured majority were subjugated to the interests of the white minority. They were second-class citizens in their own land. They suffered segregation and poverty. They had no right to vote fewer civil liberties and suffered egregious human rights abuses including murder.Mandela’s indomitable spirit was an inspiration not just to millions in South Africa but to billions around the world. The remarkable dignity and forgiveness that he displayed in rising above the wrongs of apartheid and the wrongs he had endured personally are truly the marks of a man of great spirit and humanity.Apartheid was an abhorrence to New Zealanders. The New Zealand Labour Party fought against it. We consistently favoured economic sanctions. We took a strong and leading stance against sporting contacts to increase pressure against the apartheid regime. Labour actively opposed the All Blacks having to send all-white teams. The Labour Government led by Norman Kirk in 1973 cancelled a tour to New Zealand. Labour opposed the 1981 tour which the Government of the Rt Hon Robert Muldoon actively sought and encouraged. Many of us here marched in protest and in support of Mr Mandela and his cause. It seems incredible that this lasted until the 1990s. It does not seem that long ago.A comment that Mandela made in Johannesburg in 2004 captures his humanity and his humility in a better way than I could do in words. He said: “As the years progress one increasingly realises the importance of friendship and human solidarity. And if a 90-year-old may offer some unsolicited advice on this occasion it would be that you irrespective of your age should place human solidarity the concern for the other at the centre of the values by which you live.” It is this love of humanity that we celebrate today. But we should be cautious not to lapse into platitudes. It is unlikely that he would appreciate fine words for their own sake.I would like to leave you with a quote from one of the speeches he made just a few years ago: “Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity; it is an act of justice. It is the protection of a fundamental human right—the right to dignity and a decent life. While poverty persists there is no true freedom.” If we are truly to memorialise Nelson Mandela we will do this with actions. Thank you.