Brewer CameronCAMERON BREWER (National—Upper Harbour): E ngā iwi e ngā mana e ngā reo tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā koutou katoa. [To the peoples the preeminent ones to the representatives greetings and thanks to you all.]I arrived as an MP in October exactly 25 years after I started at Parliament in the National Party's research unit and then on to the leader's office. Two big changes I've noticed around this place: I have yet to see a drinks trolley being wheeled down a corridor and MPs can no longer smoke in their parliamentary offices. Today Parliament is positively healthier more inclusive more representative more supportive and more family friendly. I congratulate you Mr Speaker from transitioning from junior whip to senior Cabinet Minister and now father of the House. I know that you will work hard to ensure Parliament continues to reflect today's norms while upholding the many traditions that not only make Parliament special but effective.My motivation for being here comes from the opportunity to be part of a team relentlessly focused on unleashing New Zealand's potential and regaining—and in fact building on—what we had when we were at our best. Our country is unique here in the south-west of the Pacific Ocean. We are truly ourselves and what's more we don't have to be like the rest. In fact let's not turn into one big monolithic suburb with all the problems of a big country and a big city. Let's keep being New Zealand and let's get back our revered way of life. Let's grow New Zealand both economically and socially but let's stay distinctly ourselves. We know how to be a truly great country. We know the ingredients required and together we will do it again. Our forebears worked too hard for us not to.With the best of intentions this House has tried many things over the years. The public however has now demanded we correct New Zealand's path and on this side we're up for the task. We have a good majority and strong mandate with 68 MPs in Government and 55 in Opposition. Change is what most Kiwis want and so it's change that we must deliver. So I come to this House in support of correcting and creating a New Zealand where our children and their children want to stay and where we are once again one of the most enticing nations on earth for those lucky enough to live and move to.I would not be here without a lot of people doing the work—the hard mahi. I wholeheartedly thank the electorate committee electorate chair my campaign committee and the many party volunteers who made sure Auckland's Upper Harbour electorate returned blue. Our local victory belongs to them. I was merely tasked with delivering a sensible speech on election night—one job! Can I also thank my wonderful partner and my three children as well as my parents and my two brothers and their families.In the olden days three sons meant one on the farm one in the army and one in the church. You can only guess where my two older brothers had me! They were good days growing up in rural South Taranaki near Hāwera on a West Coast leased sheep farm with local iwi Ngāti Ruanui our landlord. The Brewers were among the early settlers arriving in Auckland in 1855 with my great-great-great-grandparents buried under the Grafton Bridge. My Scottish first name is a nod to my mother's side of the family some of whom landed in Waipū Northland in 1858 having first tried Nova Scotia.I want to thank the many colleagues and friends who supported and encouraged me when I founded community newspaper Inside Otago in 1996 when I worked in Parliament in the Auckland city mayoral office as head of the Newmarket Business Association as an Auckland councillor and more recently as the owner of a public relations consultancy.The north-west of Auckland has been home for nearly a decade and after buying a house we moved into the heart of the Upper Harbour electorate just last week. Created in 2014 the Upper Harbour electorate stretches from Massey in the west to Wairau Valley in the east and the likes of Royal Heights West Harbour Hobsonville Point Greenhithe Bayview Unsworth Heights and part of Glenfield in between. It's one of the youngest electorates in New Zealand and one of most diverse with an estimated 40 percent - plus of pan-Asian descent. Upper Harbour is rich with Chinese Kiwis Korean Kiwis Indian Kiwis and Filipino Kiwis. As the new MP I will work hard to represent everyone and to be accessible and visible. The pressures of population growth and housing intensification mean we need to do more when it comes to transport infrastructure and services. I will be Upper Harbour's No. 1 advocate.With that I am delighted the Minister of Transport views the construction of the Northwest Rapid Transit corridor—a dedicated busway alongside State Highway 16—as a priority project to help ease Auckland's congestion. Bring it on! And bring on our new Government Policy Statement on Land Transport.National's larger Auckland caucus is strong in its commitment to deliver for New Zealand's largest city and commercial capital and Aucklanders are up for it. In fact Aucklanders were up for it over 20 years ago with an overwhelming number of them happy to pay a toll or for congestion if they meant quicker travel times. That was when the city was just over 1 million people and by the end of this decade Auckland will likely be home to 2 million.Aucklanders strongly voted for change in the 2022 local government elections and again in the 2023 general election and that is what must now be delivered. Again I am here because I have long wanted to be part of such change. It's great we are getting serious about public-private partnerships (PPPs). That is long overdue and I believe PPPs should go beyond transport infrastructure.An example of the possibilities is Auckland's Spark Arena. As New Zealand's first major public-private partnership it was constructed nearly 20 years ago for $94 million which Auckland City ratepayers partly contributed but it has since been owned and managed privately. The arrangement is dubbed a BOOT——Build Own Operate Transfer. In the 2040s 100 percent ownership of Spark Arena will be transferred to Auckland Council. The next generation of ratepayers will effectively get Spark Arena in mint condition for free. How good is that! Let's use the balance sheets of the private sector as we continue to build our country's infrastructure and public amenities. In many cases it's the only way we will do it.New Zealand is at its greatest when we maximise the power of our communities. We used to be known as a can-do country. Remember? Sadly we haven't heard that term for a while. The foundation of the National Party is built on the values of ambition and success; with lower taxes reward for hard work and equal opportunity for all at its core. As a member for 28 years I am proud to be part of a party where strong families and caring communities is a key value and where our philosophy is to empower community organisations not to compete with them.Since the COVID-19 lockdowns many Kiwis have struggled to fully reintegrate both socially and at work while many of our kids who turned on their iPads have not since turned them off. As parents we all hear ourselves too often say how we used to play much more outdoors but there are simple things we can do. Sport Waitākere tells me that across West Auckland this summer at least 17 school pools remain closed—all while temperatures rise to 30 degrees. How crazy is that? It has just got too hard for many school boards with liability and operational costs. Being can-do is actually essential because being can't-do is costing us and the next generation much much more.I want to acknowledge the thousands affected by the Auckland floods and the cyclone a year ago. In Wairau Valley we lost lives. In Tōtara Vale the second storey of some homes were flooded and at the bottom of Massey many homes remain abandoned. As representatives and as communities we must continue to support these people as the pain and loss continues. The buy-outs in Auckland have begun but many residents remain in limbo and many impacted simply don't qualify for assistance. They cannot be forgotten.Education is a major determinant in people's lives. We all know the turn-around job is big but we've had a world-class State education system before and we can do it again. No one can argue the worsening statistics of the past 30 years but we must not accept them. I am proud to be part of a Government that's unashamedly about standards a knowledge-based curriculum and delivering excellence for our children—a Government that will finally tackle the crippling and unacceptable attendance and truancy rates. With me I have a Good Attendance Certificate". It certifies that despite having to ride miles to school every day on her pony in often cold and wet central Taranaki my eight-year-old grandmother was "present every time the school was open during the period of 12 months ending December the 31st 1913". We've done it before and we can do it again.Fast forward to when I was growing up my parents had a yale key that was permanently in the front door so you could just turn the key and walk in. When we went away or as we slept inside that key always remained in our front door. Also back then you never lost your car keys because they were permanently in the ignition! We've enjoyed safe communities in my lifetime and New Zealand can be one of the safest countries again. However things need to change and they will. Kiwis have had enough. They want a Government focused on law and order and that is another reason I am here.New Zealand is a country of small businesses and if they weren't cleaned out during COVID many have folded since. Not only is National the party of limited government and personal responsibility but another key value is competitive enterprise and rewards for achievement. The farmers the tradies the retailers the moteliers the cafe owners and the many others working dawn till dusk in small businesses have kept our country going in recent years and now deserve a break. We value local businesses and National will always fight for them.Good news: strong economic performance and lifting productivity have returned as key motivators for the Beehive. Our Prime Minister knows that without economic growth we simply won't have the resources to protect our environment and rebuild our healthcare and education systems let alone retain our best and our brightest and attract skills and investment.New Zealand has always been committed to supporting those who find themselves out of work. Tragically with labour shortages at record highs a great opportunity was missed in the past few years to get more Kiwis off a main benefit and into a job. Fortunately getting people who can back into work is once again a key focus. In fact the very people the previous Government purported to represent were sadly the ones who have suffered the greatest. Those hit the hardest by the cost of living crisis are Kiwis on the pension those Kiwis on the factory floor those Kiwis trying to make ends meet—it's Māori it's Pasifika—they've been absolutely walloped.In the first few weeks of the 54th Parliament we then had to endure the Opposition parties' claim that we are the party for millionaires and even billionaires. I only wish that they had been out campaigning and waving on Glenfield Road with some of us last year. The toots of support were not coming from the rich; they were coming from working New Zealand. Thousands of lifetime Labour voters went for National for the first time ever in October. They felt betrayed abandoned and let down. They're now relying on us to deliver for them and their families.Out and about this summer break has shown many of us that this Government and its policy programme have great support across rural and urban New Zealand. The 1.5 million Kiwis who voted for this coalition Government like what they see and now just want us to get on with it. Kiwis voted for change and unapologetically that is what they will get. Over the coming months and years we will dig deep to deliver the New Zealand our children and grandchildren deserve—the greatest country on earth and a place where hard work is rewarded. We've done it before and New Zealand can do it again. Ngā mihi nui. Thanks so much.[Applause]"