McAnulty KieranKIERAN McANULTY (Labour): Tēnā koe e Te Māngai ka tangi te tītī ka tangi te kākā ka tangi hoki ahau!" Ki te mana whenua o te rohe nei e Te Āti Awa tēnā koutou. Ki a koutou i roto i tēnei Whare o Te Pāremata tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā koutou katoa.[Thank you Mr Speaker "the sooty shearwater laments the parrot laments and I lament as well!" To the mandated authority of this region to you Te Āti Awa salutations to you. To you collectively in this House of Parliament salutations acknowledgments and accolades to you all.]Gidday Mr Speaker. I start with an apology. I am afraid the Masterton District Dancers could not make it here tonight so you'll just have to put up with my speech. But it is indeed a great privilege and an honour to stand here to deliver my maiden speech as a Labour member of Parliament based in Wairarapa.The Labour Party has placed its trust in me to represent the values and principles that have guided our party for over 100 years. We are a party of fairness opportunity solidarity freedom sustainability and equality. These are the values that will forever guide me and will influence the decisions I make for as long as I am a member of this House. I wish to thank the Labour Party for the trust they have placed in me and to thank the people who voted for us for giving me the honour of being elected as a member of Parliament. I am truly grateful.I am a proud Wairarapa man. It is where I have lived my whole life and the place I hope to draw my last breath. My family has lived in Wairarapa for 171 years. My great grandmother's great grandfather Henry Burling was the first settler in what is now Featherston and that means a lot to me. There was only one place I was going to come back to after a couple of years of rugby and high jinks in Ireland where I met my wife Suzanne. I told her on the first night we met that I wanted to return here to be a voice for my region in Parliament. And she laughed at me. But that she decided to return with me and choose a life to support me in achieving this goal is something for which I am incredibly grateful.A special moment occurred recently which could have occurred only due to my election to this House when we were able to meet Uachtarán na hÉireann the President of Ireland. Seeing Suzanne meet her president and speak to him in their native Irish was the kind of thankyou I would have never been otherwise able to give and I am pleased I could do that.The reason I was so clear in my aspirations so early on is that Wairarapa is part of my identity it is part of who I am and if I was clear as to my aspirations then my resolve has only become clearer as I have had the chance to campaign around the electorate visiting towns feeling its problems and seeing its potential. I am sure it is an experience we all share in this House: that it is the moments we spend out in contact with people within our communities that finally form our resolve to be here in a place to make changes to realise the potential of our community and this country. That is certainly the case for me.The opportunity to be another voice for Wairarapa here at Parliament means a lot for me. I am one of three members in this House representing Wairarapa. I acknowledge the National MP for Wairarapa Alastair Scott. I understand you made a special effort to come here tonight and that is appreciated. I also acknowledge the deputy leader of New Zealand First the Hon Ron Mark. The three of us exchanged pretty robust views throughout the campaign and frankly I am pleased that's out of the way because now we can get down to what is actually important. You both have my respect and I pledge to you this House and the people of Wairarapa that at every opportunity I will work constructively with you both for the betterment of our region—but just to be clear I still want your job.The Wairarapa electorate is not just the Wairarapa region; it comprises three distinct communities: Wairarapa the Tararua District and Central Hawke's Bay. Each community has a different identity with different perspectives and issues affecting them. It is vital that any representative—list or electorate MP—acknowledges that the Tararua District and Central Hawke's Bay is just as much part of our electorate as Wairarapa is.My love of the Wairarapa community is one I share with my parents who are here today. Mike and Marie McAnulty have taught me much in my lifetime. Much of what I have achieved in my life can be put down to the love and support that I have received from them. I am truly fortunate.During the campaign they were out helping with hoardings delivering pamphlets and knocking on doors. Party officials might be alarmed to learn that my mother not once stuck to the approved script for door knocking. Her approach was simple. She'd knock on the door she'd wait for someone to turn up and she'd say "Gidday I'm Kieran's mum." It was unorthodox but it did the trick. Thank you both.One benefit of being an Irish Catholic is that you have a large family. This comes in handy when there are a lot of pamphlets to deliver in a rural seat. To my family here today my auntie Maureen my cousins Raelene and Bungle—that's not his real name—Addison Lockie Karen and Bryce thank you. I want to make special mention to my little cousin Maia who at nine years of age took a real interest in this election seeming to stop everyone she met on the streets of Pahīatua to tell them quite clearly "You'd better vote Labour."This is the kind of support that I have. It's total and it's unconditional and it's appreciated. To my 85-year-old nana watching at home—the news hasn't started so she probably is watching—thank you for your support and guidance over the last 32 years.Family has played a big part in my life and it was my late grandfather who once told me something I've never forgotten. He once said to me "When the working man is doing well the whole country is doing well." That is something that I have reflected on often. It has inspired me and I deeply wish that he was here to see this day. He wouldn't admit it but I suspect he might be proud.I'm grateful to volunteers friends and family who have worked so hard to bring me to this place. You've all worked hard to see a change of Government and to get me here. It is in this moment of taking stock of where I've arrived that I must reflect on the support that I've received. I'm indebted to you all.To those who are here from the various groups and organisations that I've been involved in: the Golden Shears Wings Over Wairarapa the Bottom Paddock Cricket Club the Gladstone Waikaia and Muskerry rugby clubs Chanel College and the volunteer fire brigade—thank you all for being here to share this moment with me.It's about five hours' drive from one end of my electorate to the other and given that I drive a '97 Mazda ute with no back door it sometimes takes longer than that. We have five district councils three regional councils and three district health boards. There are nine newspapers covering our area and we have three rugby teams: Hawke's Bay Manawatū and the mighty Wairarapa Bush. I am a fanatical supporter of Wairarapa Bush and have headed along to Memorial Park in Masterton to cheer the boys on ever since I was a kid. My personal email refers to my love of the mighty Bush—I must admit when I joined the Labour Party that did raise a few eyebrows but it was easily explained.I am a big believer in the benefit of participating in sport. Its potential value is particularly so for our most vulnerable and underprivileged children. The rewards and lessons of hard work participation collaboration and commitment are ones that set people up for a life of contribution. But these skills none of us are born with. They must be taught. For some sport offers a chance to learn these skills when perhaps they would not have otherwise been able to.Not every child had the upbringing that I was fortunate enough to receive. The one thing that we cannot choose in life is our parents nor the life that they are able to give us. Our start in life truly is a lottery. I believe in the need to work hard in order to achieve results. However I still look and wonder at the views of some in this House who seem to be content with leaving things to chance. I wonder why for some there seems to be an incapacity to comprehend the concept that not every child is born equal and no amount of hard work will give them the gains that they deserve.I've worked hard to get here and this seat in this House and the privilege of contributing to making progress for New Zealand is my reward. But I have worked no harder than a cleaner in Masterton Hospital; I have worked no harder than a small-business owner in Dannevirke who is continually finding it harder to get ahead; and I have worked no harder than the farm workers across my electorate from Waipaoa and Waipukurau down to Featherston and Martinborough be they sharemilkers or shearers who slug their guts out and continue to see their dream of farm ownership drift away as it has done over the last nine years.Every single one of us in this House is lucky. We've all worked hard and we all continue to do so but somewhere along the line something has fallen into place that has given us this chance to be here. None of us is here through hard work alone and this House must never lose sight of that. There are people working harder than us yet through no fault of their own they are not getting their due rewards. This House has an opportunity to address that but it is up to us to grasp that opportunity.I've been here only a few weeks now but already I can see how much we are in a bubble in this place. I'm sure members would agree how easy it could be to lose touch with the diverse realities of life around the country—how easy it might be to forget how we got here or where we came from. As members of Parliament we are treated to benefits that other working people will never experience.I am reminded of a quote from Sir Charles Upham one of the great New Zealanders. He was a staunch advocate for egalitarianism—the belief in a fair go for all regardless of who you are what you do or where you're from. It's reported that he once said around the time of receiving one of his many accolades "I am better than no bastard but no bastard is better than me."This idea of equality and of fairness touches at the heart of what the Labour Party is about. My colleagues and I have a firm belief that the State has a responsibility to ensure that every child has the chance to reach their potential and that everyone is treated with fairness. We all have something to offer but not all of us gets the chance to offer it. What this takes is a bit of kindness. We are all kind; we just choose who to be kind to. If we were less subjective and more collective fewer opportunities would be overlooked or indeed dismissed. If our starting point is one of kindness our vision might be so much better when it comes to realising those values of equality and fairness and I can see how such a vision might be brought to bear in a rural and regional environment.I am proud to be a product of a rural upbringing. Both sides of my family have farmed for many generations. I support the primary sector and acknowledge its importance to regions like mine and indeed the need for the Government to support it but all too often the communities that support primary industries are overlooked and neglected.When I look back at the opportunities that were available to my parents or indeed their parents before them it simply does not compare to the lack of opportunities available to our youth in Wairarapa today. A hands-off approach—this belief that the market will deliver—does not benefit rural New Zealand. Job opportunities are consistently centralised in the larger urban areas regional manufacturing is too often struggling and the young in our regions are leaving and are unexpected to return. What we need is sustainable rural communities strong communities that are supported by Government in recognition of their importance to our economy society and identity as a nation. There is only one way in which to achieve that and that is what this Labour-led Government is committed to—investment from central government that will provide a chance for our rural communities and the people who live there.Wairarapa has so much potential. Our people are innovative and hard-working. They want to dive into things and make good not just for them but for their region as well. The three regions that make up the Wairarapa electorate can achieve a lot but they need the Government to give them a go. We're underfunded in terms of health—particularly mental health—education infrastructure housing rural broadband and mobile the Manawatū Gorge the Wairarapa rail line and initiatives for jobs and growth. I am proud to be of a party that believes in investing in our regions and I am excited about what this Government can deliver for rural New Zealand.I'm honoured to be standing here today as a Labour MP. It is a privilege to be here as a voice for my region and however long I am here I will be eternally grateful for this opportunity. Nō reira tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā tātou katoa.[Applause]WaiataDebate interrupted.The House adjourned at 6.05 p.m."