Hobbs Marian: Valedictory Statements 
Hobbs Marian: Valedictory Statements 
[Volume:650;Page:19183] 
Hon MARIAN HOBBS (Labour—Wellington Central) 
: 
 As I walked down the corridor to my first caucus meeting in 1996 Helen Clark asked me whether I had made the right decision because 24 hours earlier I had turned down an appointment as the principal of Wellington Girls’ College to become a member of Parliament. There have been many times in the midst of some media-driven storm—unfortunate nicknames unflattering photos and television crews trying to film across backyards into my bedroom—when I have definitely thought that I had made a mistake. Yet on reflection I know I have been given the opportunity to broaden my understanding of this country and to make a difference for my immediate community in Wellington and for New Zealand in general. I am glad that I took the risk but I am also so very happy to be going. 
As I go I have some memories many thanks and some reflections on democracy. The records show that I have held a number of portfolios. When the Prime Minister rang and asked whether I would add environment to broadcasting I advised her that I was arachnophobic to which she replied that that was covered by conservation. But then there was the minimal science education that I had had and my first public issue was genetic modification—I had so much to learn. Thank goodness there was a royal commission! It gave me some time to understand the portfolio. 
Environment was a portfolio and a ministry that I came to love. I enjoyed our weekly meetings with Barry Lindsay Sue Dave Bill Tim and many others. We all learnt together. They learnt about apostrophes; I learnt about the Resource Management Act and the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act. Our aim was to work with local councils to find solutions such as that to the deteriorating water quality in Lake Taupo and the Rotorua lakes. Sometimes our work was to listen and to enact the solutions proposed at local levels such as the Fiordland Marine Guardians solutions and sometimes it was to provide clear leadership. As someone who grew up in Christchurch smog and lived there for 40 years while people argued over whose fault that dirty air was it was great to be part of a Government that set the national environment standards for air quality. I am confident that lives will be saved because of this work. 
With the National Library and Archives New Zealand I had a clear idea—with Michael Cullen—of what needed to be done. Regardless persuading others of the way forward was just as difficult. But there were wonderful people in those communities—people such as Lydia Wevers Brad and Susan Patterson and Rachel Underwood—and together we found legislative solutions. 
In broadcasting our theme was to celebrate who we were to tell our story. The great success was a local music quota—I say thank you to Katherine Rich for her reference yesterday. Only 3 percent of music played on major stations was New Zealand music. We argued for 20 percent. “Impossible!” they said; “Eat your words!” or something like it was what Michael Cullen said. The music quota and the promotions by Brendan Smyth at New Zealand On Air have given opportunities for New Zealand musicians. We now celebrate our voice and our sound. 
When our second term of Government came around I was very happy to exchange broadcasting for New Zealand aid and disarmament. Matt Robson had worked to establish the new agency NZAID. Now we had the chance to ensure that this aid agency worked differently. We were to concentrate on the Pacific. We determined to work in partnership and thus build the capacity of say the Solomon Islands Education Department or community health in Papua New Guinea. Peter Adams and the wonderful NZAID team have built a way of working that is admired worldwide. It is the Rt Hon Winston Peters whom I must thank and also Michael Cullen for the substantial increase in the aid budget—God does work in mysterious ways! Good effective government works with parties ministries non-governmental organisations and community groups. I feel that I have been part of a very good Government able to work with different partners. 
Good government is also dependent on brilliant public servants. I experienced this when given the curriculum review to supervise for a short time. Professionally I understood this work and I knew enough to know that the review was being undertaken with rigour and energy. The supervision needed was very light indeed. We are so well served by our public servants. Personally I always feel so offended by the derisory term “bureaucrats” which is flung about so easily in this House in order to itch an ill-informed scab. 
I think you can see that I loved being in Cabinet but journalists could not conceive of a person who would voluntarily stand aside from that work. In their eyes I must have been pushed—no politician would ever voluntarily halve his or her pay. It is sad that our press gallery is full of people whose perspective is so jaundiced. It does not build respect for democracy but maybe that is the aim of the media which is increasingly owned by fewer corporations. The fourth estate I think wants to be the sole or only estate. 
In 2005 I did stand down. I dreamt of New Zealand following the Nordic example of being able to build a strong fair society around years of social democratic Governments rather than the turnover every 6 to 9 years with the consequent catch-up repair and buy-back that always has to take place. To achieve this requires excellent succession planning and anyone with a brain and eyes today can see that we in Labour have achieved it. Twenty-five percent of our 2005 caucus has retired or is retiring in favour of some very talented successors with new perspectives and new experiences. 
In 2005 it was back to the backbench and three select committees and latterly the enjoyable role of Assistant Speaker. I was particularly proud of the manner in which the Local Government and Environment Committee—John Carter—worked together to bring back positive legislation on waste recovery. And this is a good time to thank Mark Blumsky. We have worked well together in Wellington over the years and that same style was evident in select committee work. Thanks Mark for always treating me as a friend and a human being especially when I was in the poo. I also loved working with Brian Donnelly and I am so sad to hear of his passing today. He had the unenviable task of chairing a select committee that had four principals on it; that he survived is amazing. 
I have positive memories of life as a politician to take away with me and Madam Speaker I very much appreciate the support you have always given me both in Cabinet and in the House. Few people know—but I will reveal it now—that we were taught by the same nuns. That accounts for our hair colouring. These positive memories though are tempered by my concerns about the role of the media in democracy. It is not a concern about whether different news media organisations support a particular party nor is it a concern about how I personally may have been reported. Rather it is a concern about the trivialisation of decision making in society. For that is what politics is: the making of decisions be it the laws we pass or the Budgets we approve. But modern news media do not evaluate our decisions in the light of which policy is best. Instead they build a web around personalities and behaviours. It is about hockey mums versus the first black presidential nomination. It is about a smiley new face versus the one we are familiar with. The news is about the decision makers and rarely about the decisions. By focusing on the shallow world of perception we can afford not to analyse the different policies or choices. In fact we can do away with policies altogether. 
Such a light analysis of the issues of course plays into the hand of the slick and polished. I take up Steve Maharey’s point that any attempt at thinking out loud or inviting comment is dismissed as weakness and if one trips over words or confuses a term or name then one is portrayed as a poor performer. It is very interesting to note the concept of “performance”. To be successful in this world of light analysis one need only sound assertive even—and especially—when one does not know what one is talking about. The impression that one knows is enough. If one belongs to a paper whose journalist numbers are shrinking then it is quicker to accept the assertion as truth without searching for any evidence. If we continue in this unholy partnership between assertion without knowledge and a celebrity-focused media then democracy will be short-changed and we will get the politicians we do not deserve. We will be presented with the slick and image-rich and we will lose out on the politician who listens who collaborates who invites comment and who actually thinks and reflects. 
In the world of perception debate becomes the repeated exchange of carefully tested phrases—when we are in the Chair we hear them all the time—and sound bites rather than an in-depth analysis of the issues. The media are not interested in argument—only in posturing and emotion. If I had not experienced such in-depth debate in Cabinet committees and in some select committees then I would not have survived 12 years of trivia. Column inches have been wasted on perks but has equivalent space been devoted to the importance of strong Central European economies to stability in Europe? Every Christmas we learn what prisoners are eating for their lunch that day but has there ever been a story about trades learnt or literacy gained by those in prison? As a society we deserve better. 
Our taxes do provide one shiny example of good analysis: Radio New Zealand. Thank you Kim Hill for bringing science and mathematics into the mainstream on a Saturday morning. Thank you Veronika Meduna for explaining complex issues so clearly. Work on genetic modification taught me that both science and statistics were poorly understood at a time we needed to understand them in order to make good decisions. 
I end this valedictory with many thanks—first to Helen the Prime Minister. Helen you entrusted me this inexperienced politician and eccentric principal with some very interesting portfolios. Thank you—it is sincerely meant. I admire your courage and strength—it is awesome. You keep going in the face of horrible personal attack and innuendo that others would run away from. But although I admire your courage above all I love how you work so hard for New Zealanders—not for Helen Clark but for New Zealanders—so that we can all have a better life. I get so cross when people mistake the power to do good for power for power’s sake. Thank you so much. 
To Michael Cullen I say a special thanks. You were so patient in your financial explanations. I know that my Cabinet colleagues always sighed with relief when I asked my questions. You have been so staunch so principled and so clear about supporting those New Zealanders who cannot support themselves. Your service as Minister of Finance will be applauded in all the history books of the future and is that not deliciously ironic? In my role as Assistant Speaker I have come to appreciate your exceptional devotion to and leadership of this House. You treat Parliament with respect. 
I have been blessed with wonderful public servants to work with from a number of ministries and I include the staff of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and the Cabinet Office who are always tidying up after me. Thank you all for your patience your humour your honesty and your amazing hard work. To my staff in my ministerial office—Neil Trevor Grant Alistair Viv and Paula—thank you for being such a brilliant team. You and the ministry staff survived my regular post - question time depression and always supplied the missing names nouns and terms in any meeting. What will I do without you in Birmingham? 
Paula—we have worked together for 8 years and you are brilliant and reliable. I tell members not to line up to take her! No travel plan has ever been messed up and no appointment forgotten. I have enjoyed good company—in particular I have enjoyed watching you with your family; the parenting skills of you and Tony always fill me with hope for our society. I thank my electorate office staff: Sheila Anna and the ones who went before them—I think I see Jordan up in the gallery; he was known as Diggory when I forgot his name. People think that I do it all in the electorate but it is your networking your courtesy and your attention to detail that have made my service to Wellington Central possible. 
To Jimmy I give very special thanks. People think that VIP drivers are mere chauffeurs; you are all so much more. On the morning I learnt that my mother had died while Jimmy was driving me back from the airport he organised staff to come around with soup and bread and to support me while I gathered myself together before representing the Government at the Armistice Day service. Jimmy explained to the Visits and Ceremonial Office and to the army chaplain that I might cry a little more than normal in the circumstance. Thank you Jimmy for being a true friend in both sad times and happy times and for looking after me. And I extend my thanks to the security staff—and I have needed them on many occasions—the officers of this House the messengers and the staff at Bellamy’s for always being so cheerful and helpful in this House. 
To Claire my daughter and to Josh my son who is not here: thank you both for growing up into wonderful people. You did this in spite of me and my always wanting to change the world while ignoring the pile of ironing or your homework. You both work so hard for a just society. I feel so proud that in your different ways you work for social justice. I love you both and feel very loved by you. I often feel that you are both so much wiser than your ever-so-crazy mother. 
Finally I thank the constituents of Wellington Central and within that the local Labour team. You trusted me you worked with me—please shift that trust to Grant Robertson. Grant has worked with me for over 12 years. We have learnt much from each other. I go with ease and happiness because I am confident that if my constituents select Grant for Wellington Central he will serve them with commitment empathy and intelligence. He is a person of integrity and personal warmth. In my wildest dreams I could not imagine a better successor. 
Madam Speaker and parliamentary colleagues time limits prevent further stories and thanks but thank you for the privilege of working with you all in the last 12 years. Kia kaha e hoa ma; kia manawanui!