Rurawhe AdrianHon DAVID BENNETT (National): Tēnā koutou katoa. Salaam alaikum. Sat sri akaal. Dajia hao. A recent opinion piece in the Waikato Times quoted from the Shakespearean play Macbeth saying Nothing in David's political life has become him so much as leaving it." That commentator never said a truer word. I leave this great Parliament with a new and exciting chapter in life that involves a family. This place has taught me what to value in life. Thank you Nicky for being a beautiful smart and strong partner. We are very fortunate to be able to build a loving family together. As you all imagine she is the more rational one of the partnership.Thank you for the blessing of our beautiful Julia. The little one has been a treasure and continues to bring much joy and love. Julia has a very outgoing personality and loves people—natural political skills!Thank you to my family who have supported me through this career. To Mum and Dad thank you for all your support. I would not be here or have had the opportunity to be here without your sacrifices. To my brother Tom and his children Livi Greta and Nicholas—they have grown up while I have been here and are smart caring and positive young people with amazing futures. We are very proud of who you all have become.I would like to thank Nicky's family Carol and Bill and Debbie who have welcomed me into the family and been wonderful to Julia.I stood for the Hamilton East National Party nomination in 2004 on one platform: to build the road from Hamilton to Auckland. My driver has been to get infrastructure for Hamilton to achieve its destiny. My focus has been on delivery not stories. I wanted to build the Chicago of New Zealand an industrial heartland city. Hamilton has a strategic advantage in its proximity to Auckland. The expressway meant we could build the Hamilton Auckland and Tauranga "golden triangle". Hamilton could have easily been bypassed like inland cities around the world. Instead we have connected through infrastructure to the population centre of Auckland and the export and import centre of Tauranga. As industry relocates to Hamilton we are seeing Penrose move to Pūkete. Head offices are now coming to the city. Hamilton is booming. The National Party has made this possible through the provision of infrastructure. Judy Kirk Peter Goodfellow Sylvia Wood and Roger Bridge have all been great support on the National Party board. Thank you to our leader Christopher Luxon. He is a genuine driven and aspirational leader. He will be one of New Zealand's best Prime Ministers and I look forward to celebrating your success in October. Thank you also to Nicola Willis who will make a huge contribution to New Zealand politics. [Interruption] That's the little one; she's getting confused. Ha ha! I would like to thank my good friend the Hon Judith Collins. Judith took over the leadership with a party and caucus in disarray. As with most times of difficulty a strong woman is required and thank you for keeping the party together.Thank you to the Hon Steven Joyce who always supported projects for the Waikato. Steven's understanding of politics and business is a very rare skill.The Hon Jacqui Dean and myself are the last two remaining members of the 2005 intake for the National Party and my thanks to Jacqui and the class of 2005 for their friendship over that time.The Hamilton East electorate executive have been very supportive and thank you to Bill and Judith Noble Trevor and Julie Follows John and Louise Bridgman Dave and Merle McGall Ryan Higgins Lawsen Harte Marilyn Hemming and Ron Williams. My special thanks to Stuart Anderson. Stuart has been my campaign manager throughout my time here. His loyalty and political instincts have been invaluable. Thank you Stuart. Murray Porter Jon Webb and Pienaar Piso have always been there to support all my campaigns and my best wishes to Ryan Hamilton who will be the next MP for Hamilton East.Thank you to all members in this House for their service to this country and my special thanks to the Labour ladies for babysitting Julia so I could do my House duties.After being elected in 2005 the leader Don Brash sought our portfolio preferences. Transport was mine. The new leader the Rt Hon John Key sought our transport policy for the 2008 election. I suggested to the senior spokesperson at that time that we borrow the Australian roads of national significance policy so the roads of national significance were born. We were to announce the first preferred road from Auckland to Whangārei before the election. As my reward the expressway was to be a back-up and through a twist of fate the Waikato Expressway became the preferred announcement. We wrote the press release as the team drove to Hamilton and the road was to be built within 10 years and with no tolls. It has been the most transformative event in the history of Hamilton. Waikato-Tainui have benefited greatly and I would like to thank Kīngi Tuheitia and Tukuroirangi Morgan for their support. Māori have the most to gain from an expanded New Zealand with their increasing role in land assets like Ruakura.Thank you to the Waikato Times who are a strong advocate for the region. They epitomise good reporting putting both sides of the story together. The impressive editorial teams include Jonathan MacKenzie Bryce Johns Roy Pilott and Geoff Taylor and the excellent reporters of Aaron Leaman Natalie Akoorie Nikki Preston—another one—Belinda Feek Mary Anne Gill Elton Smallman Jo Lines-MacKenzie Stephen Ward and Rachel Moore.Politics is about serving the people of your community. The Hamilton seats are on the front line of the battle of political ideals in New Zealand. I have invited Tim Macindoe and Martin Gallagher here today; we worked as a team over many years. Neither Tim nor Martin had the opportunity to present a valedictory speech—in fact there has not been a valedictory speech for Hamilton West since 1972. On behalf of the three of us we thank the people of Hamilton for their support and hospitality. It has been an honour and privilege for the three of us to represent Hamilton. Our thanks for the opportunity to serve our fantastic city. Thank you Tim and Martin.Hamilton East is a socially liberal and economically conservative electorate. I am proud of having voted for marriage equality and abortion reform. As Jamie Strange kindly commented in his valedictory I did a lot of doorknocking—so much in fact that one day I managed to interrupt a couple of teenagers who were up to no good and obviously thought I was one of their parents coming home early. I wasn't sure who was more relieved when I left.Hamilton East is the only university seat that National has consistently held since 2005. They say you aren't a true University of Waikato student if you don't have a David Bennett pen. Thank you to the student union and Nexus magazine for your support.One of my passions has been in advocating for a more open immigration system. Migrants bring aspiration a competitive spirit and they value education. Hamilton's success is very much linked with welcoming migrants to our city. In serving our communities my office has had great staff like Marianne Mclean Victoria Young Grace Shaw Katrina McCann Jan Mudgway Raiyan Azmi Alex Dykes and Jenny Young. We specialised in immigration cases and one of our special memories involved the Afghan interpreters. Many of the interpreters were relocated to Hamilton and they were deeply proud of their service. However they were not entitled to wear any medals. We enabled them to get medals and now they wear them with pride at Anzac Day services.I started the speech with the greetings of the Chinese Indian and Muslim communities. The migrant communities make up a third of Hamilton East and represent the future demographics of New Zealand and their support has enabled me to be the longest serving member of Parliament in the history of Hamilton. They are my friends and my supporters and thank you for your support. And a special thanks to those that have made it here today.Hamilton has suffered at the butt of many jokes over time. Some thought of us as a "Cowtown" a bogan capital and more recently as the city of the future. Hamilton for too long hadn't had its fair share. Hamilton is set to become New Zealand's third biggest city. Both Hamilton and Tauranga will be bigger than Wellington in the next decade. The population of the Waikato - Bay of Plenty region is effectively the equivalent of the South Island. Every dollar spent in Hamilton and Tauranga on infrastructure provides a significantly greater return for New Zealand than anywhere else in the country.New Zealand now has the same opportunity as Hamilton had when I came to Parliament. Australia through its "big Australia" policy along with Canada and Britain have made the decision to embrace population change. We have a choice of being part of that change or being a feeder for others' change. The rise of Africa climate change and the large populations of Asia will mean over 40 million people will live between Adelaide and Townsville soon. Sydney and Melbourne are projected to be cities of 9 million people each. It will initially be driven through economic reasons and then security reasons. Australia wants to be a world player and they need a population to do that. We can be part of the Australian eastern seaboard growth and springboard into the Asian-Pacific market. This is the greatest economic opportunity for our generation. The new "golden triangle" is now Greater Auckland Melbourne and Sydney.New Zealand's ability to produce the scale of population and economy to take advantage of this opportunity is firmly rooted in having a strong top half of the North Island. Auckland's role in the future of New Zealand is inevitable. As we link from Whangārei to Tauranga Hamilton's destiny is secure. We can accelerate the growth in the area and have seven million people in these four large main urban centres. New cities are possible and Hamilton can be the link for the Taranaki Manawatū and Hawke's Bay to Auckland.My passion for building a stronger Hamilton hasn't been meet with a desire for a public profile. Being a Minister was never a priority but I did have that honour. I'd like to thank the Rt Hon Bill English for the opportunity to serve in his Government. Thank you to Dell Watson and Audrey Malone for your professionalism. It was an absolute pleasure to be Minister of Racing and meet some of the most successful and dedicated New Zealanders. David Ellis Karyn Fenton-Ellis Sir Peter and Lady Pam Vela and Brendan and Jo Lindsay represent the success of our racing industry. Racing is a primary industry that will continue to shine and has great potential if linked to the Australasian market.I also had the privilege of being spokesperson for several portfolios and my thanks to leaders like Bruce Cameron from Zespri who have made a real contribution to our primary sector.For me I defined success in building the Waikato Expressway; the internal ring-route road for Hamilton just like Melbourne and Moscow; Hamilton as the first broadband city; new secondary schools in the fast-growing north of the electorate; the velodrome; and a rebuilt Waikato Hospital campus. Recent announcements of the Cambridge to Piarere extension of the Waikato Expressway Southern Links and the "Shane Reti Medical School" have meant my job in this House is done.The Waikato has unlimited potential. It has land to grow on. It has an iwi willing to invest. It has the population to deliver results. It has the natural resources to continue to be the food bowl and energy hub of New Zealand. It has the industrial base to deliver for New Zealand. In Hamilton we have demonstrated the power of promoting location and connecting with other centres building infrastructure and welcoming a diverse and growing population.Thank you for the honour to serve the National Party and the people of Hamilton East in this Parliament. Kia manawanui.[Applause]SPEAKER: Can I ask the friends and family of the Hon David Bennett to make space for the friends and family of the Hon Jacqui Dean."