Anderson MilesMILES ANDERSON (National—Waitaki): Thank you Mr Speaker. First off I want to congratulate you on your election to the Speaker's role. I believe your sense of fair play respect for democracy and humour is appreciated by all in this House. All these attributes are essential to the essence of how politics should be played in New Zealand. I wish to congratulate the Prime Minister the Rt Hon Christopher Luxon on winning the election and leading this Government. Congratulations also to Deputy Prime Minister the Rt Hon Winston Peters and New Zealand First as well as to the Hon David Seymour and ACT. I look forward to playing my part in our coalition Government.I want to acknowledge colleagues from right across the House with whom I've had an association prior to entering politics Damien O'Connor and Jo Luxton both of whom I believe share National Party values but have been held hostage by the Labour Party for so long that they suffer from Stockholm syndrome! To the Hon Mark Patterson and the Hon Andrew Hoggard I have enormous respect for you both and I look forward to working with you as part of this Government. A special mention to my colleague and the fine representative of the Wairarapa Mike Butterick who I've previously worked alongside in Federated Farmers. I also want to acknowledge the numerous new MPs who have a direct link to the primary industries the driver of our economy which I believe has been underrepresented in this House for decades. I'm here in this place due to the hard work and support of many people. I want to take a minute or two to thank them. To my predecessor Jacqui Dean who served the Waitaki electorate since its re-establishment in 2008 thank you for giving such a large portion of your life to the people of our electorate. I wish you well in your endeavours outside of Parliament. As you know a campaign requires a campaign team and I was fortunate to have a group of friends and family who stepped up to help: Vanessa Porter Mary Strachan Nicky Coleman Jane-Ann McIlraith and our campaign chair—and my brother—David. I couldn't have had a better group of people to share the highs and lows joys and frustrations of an election campaign with. It would be remiss of me if I didn't make a special mention of Murray Elliot an Oamaru legend who was generous with his time and put so much work into my campaign. To the numerous others who put up hoardings delivered leaflets organised meetings or gave me encouragement thank you.We are a nation of immigrants. Our arrival to this beautiful country started 800 years ago and continues to this day. My great-grandfather William Anderson arrived from Scotland in 1875 and eventually settled in Southburn South Canterbury and bought the original block that has been farmed by our family for over 130 years. His wife my great-grandmother was a Ryan whose family emigrated from Ireland in 1886. My paternal grandmother's family were fascinating people: a mix of French and English who settled in Akaroa. My French ancestors the Libeaus and Brochieres arrived in 1840. My English great-great-grandfather Stephen Hunt arrived in 1858 after serving in the Crimean War. The Hunts of Banks Peninsula were a family of 27 children.Hon Member: Whoa!MILES ANDERSON: That's right 27 children—no telly in those days!—who spread throughout New Zealand and took their love of cards and horse racing wherever they went. My mother's family the Coughlans arrived in Dunedin in the 1880s and were publicans there for two generations before moving to Winchester in South Canterbury in the 1940s to take up farming. The farm my mother grew up on is still farmed by my cousins today. My grandmother Kit Coughlan was a Lynch. The Lynches and Coughlans are well-known names in New Zealand sport. Both had All Blacks in their ranks and my grandfather Maurice Coughlan was a national wrestling referee whilst his brother used to provide the radio commentary. Mum's family would often talk about Lofty Blomfield and his famous Octopus Clamp". The extended Coughlan and Anderson families have been a large influence in my life and I'm lucky to have come from such family-oriented people. My parents Jim and Mary are here today and I am in their debt for so much. I am one of 11 children—only one channel and black and white I suppose!—and their values have served us well throughout our lives. Mum and Dad worked hard often going without to provide us with a good home a good education and the skills to become productive members of society. Mum and Dad didn't regard our family situation as remarkable; certainly there were challenges raising a large family but they regarded parenting as a responsibility that requires sacrifice and total commitment. Coming from a large family means you have more fun more arguments more joy and more tragedy to cope with. I think it made us all more resilient and independent. To my brothers and sisters I want to say I couldn't have picked better siblings to have fought with and laughed with and shared tough times with. I grew up on the property that as mentioned earlier my great-grandfather settled. My primary schooling was at Southburn School and I went to St Kevin's College in Oamaru for my secondary education. I'm grateful to have been taught by so many talented individuals. St Kevin's was and still is a terrific school. After leaving school in 1986 I moved to Christchurch and worked in what was known as the commercial affairs division of the Justice Department. We dealt with the regulatory functions of company law and bankruptcies and receiverships. It was during this period that New Zealand was experiencing the greatest change in decades with Rogernomics and deregulation in full flight. I believe that the pace of change was unnecessarily brutal and this brutality was masked by the bull run that the share market was experiencing at the time. When the crash came in October 1987 the commercial affairs division was dealing with the tidal wave of human misery that came with it. The lesson I learnt was that financial regulation needs to be updated regularly to incorporate new products and financial instruments. There are too many unscrupulous people who are more than happy to take advantage of loopholes at the expense of "Joe Public". As I was interested in farming in 1988 I headed off to Massey University in Palmerston North initially dabbling with veterinary science but eventually pursuing an agriculture degree. I finished in 1991 with a Bachelor of Agriculture degree and an overworked liver. The employment environment at the time was fairly grim so I took a job labouring in a seed-dressing plant 10 kilometres from home. It was during this time that a group of local farmers were investigating the possibility of using modern ultrasound technology on farm animals to improve production. I was approached to see if I was interested in being involved and the next thing I knew I was running a pioneering business. Today pregnancy scanning is a common farm practice; back then no one was doing it and due to difficult economics farmers weren't spending money. However it was inevitable that the use of the technology on-farm in New Zealand would happen regardless because it was being incorporated into farm management in the UK. Following the first season I headed off to the UK for six months where I worked for an established contractor in Shropshire in exchange for further training. It was whilst I was in London that I met the woman who was to become my wife Kim. Starting with next to nothing we built a couple of businesses in New Zealand and Australia raised a family bought a farm built a house and have been each other's champion and critic. Through good times and bad we've managed to muddle our way through life with a good dose of humour mixed in. Kim I couldn't have done it without you. Words can't express what you mean to me and I love you dearly. Also happy birthday. With marriage comes extended family and I couldn't have asked for better people. Kim's family the Wrights are the best in-laws a man could ask for.Kim and I are also the proud parents of three adult children: Rose and Cara who are here today and our son Joseph who is currently working in Ireland. Of all the things that Kim and I have ever done or will ever do you are our greatest achievement.In 2004 we took over the family farm and in 2013 we sold our business. After 21 seasons and scanning 4.5 million sheep it was time to hang up the tools. Then began a long association with Federated Farmers which culminated in becoming the national chair of the Meat & Wool Industry Group and a board member. Federated Farmers is an incredible organisation that does an enormous amount of policy and advocacy at a local regional and national level that goes unnoticed by many in the rural sector. Being on the board gave me a good introduction to crisis management because of the myriad of unplanned disasters that occur in any given year whether they are climatic bureaucratic or biological. When my term ended in 2020 I was drawn into politics mainly because I feel farming has been given a raw deal by decision makers who for the most part don't understand the first thing about the rural sector. Farming sentiment is the worst I have ever seen. Farmers are leaving the industry due to unworkable regulations. These are costing enormous amounts of money eroding property rights and are ridiculously time-consuming. It is the family farms that have been affected the most—generally a husband and wife team who work long hours for not a lot because they love the land the environment and have an intimate understanding of their property. To see farmers unfairly targeted by decision makers and NGOs is disgraceful. It has come to a point where a number of my farming colleagues won't admit they are farmers when socialising in urban settings because of the amount of vitriol they receive from people whose information has come from unbalanced media and NGOs pushing a narrative that is far from truthful. The simple fact is that it's hard to be green when you're in the red.I come to this House as the representative for the Waitaki electorate an incredible part of New Zealand containing a diverse geography that is unmatched anywhere else in this country. From the Southern Alps to the Pacific Ocean the landscape has been shaped by the last ice age where retreating ice sheets have left behind an indelible footprint—lakes and rivers basins and valleys which provide the electorate and New Zealand income from agriculture horticulture viticulture forestry mining electricity generation and tourism to name just a few.It is the water that literally powers our electorate both in its liquid and frozen states. In researching this speech I went through the maiden statements of my predecessors. It is not surprising to note that each of them has urged that we use this resource to grow our economy and provide opportunities for following generations. I too urge that we utilise the water create more storage for the primary sector and industry and generate more hydroelectric power. It is somewhat unsettling to note that the last major project of national significance—and not one that benefitted commuters in either Wellington or Auckland—was the Clyde Dam. The dam was completed 30 years ago and since then we have collectively hidden behind a curtain of regulation when opportunity has knocked at our door. We have gone from a nation that undertook projects like the Waitaki hydro scheme to a nation that kowtows to activist pressure groups and gives up. Finally I want to talk about free speech and democracy. New Zealand has a proud history of championing free speech and democracy. I believe that tradition has been subverted in recent years. It seems that any opinion that isn't supported by activists and/or so-called progressives is deemed extremist. Why is it that supposed liberals are so illiberal when it comes to hearing opposing views? As I stated earlier in this speech a sense of fair play and respect for another's point of view is the hallmark of democracy in New Zealand. We must not lose this bedrock principle of our democratic society in a rush to either extreme wokeness or due to intolerance. We should all be able to agree to disagree in a mature and tolerant manner and that includes in this House.I begin my political journey as an unapologetic advocate for the people of Waitaki. I will play my part in free fair and frank debate in an effort to carry on the traditions and stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before me. I want to do them proud. Thank you.[Applause]Sitting suspended from 6.24 p.m. to 7.30 p.m."