McLellan Tracey; Mallard TrevorDr TRACEY McLELLAN (Labour—Banks Peninsula): Thank you Mr Speaker. Tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā koutou katoa. Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou katoa. It is with a tremendous sense of pride and a great sense of awe and responsibility that I stand here in this House for the very first time as the new member of Parliament for the beautiful Banks Peninsula. May I start my first contribution Mr Speaker by adding my congratulations to you and to your fellow presiding officers. My aim in this House is to learn and I look forward with some trepidation to your guidance. May I offer my first thankyou to the people of Banks Peninsula for affording me the opportunity to represent you in this House and to work with you and alongside you in our communities. I have enjoyed meeting many fantastic community leaders volunteers and passionate advocates. Thank you to the groups and the organisations who got together to support me and to the people who simply called out things like Go Labour!" or "Can you say hello to Jacinda for me?"Hon Member: Go Labour!Dr TRACEY McLELLAN: Yeah! The beautiful Banks Peninsula electorate—every member I'm sure has claimed that their electorate is the best electorate. It's not up to me to dismiss or to diminish those claims but with a healthy dash of deference to those I wouldn't dare dispute I emphatically claim top 10—and I'll let you work that out. The Banks Peninsula electorate has been well served over many years and has seen some beloved and formidable women MPs. Elizabeth McCombs was the very first woman elected to this House in 1933. Dame Ann Hercus famously knocked on every door in Lyttelton. But I would like to pay special tribute to the Hon Ruth Dyson the outgoing member who served the people of Lyttelton Port Hills and Banks Peninsula so effectively authentically warmly and selflessly for 27 years. I've been told many times that I have big shoes to fill and while this is indeed true it became clear as I knocked on doors throughout the electorate that it was not so much shoes but hearts that were full. I feel very proud to join this amazing Labour caucus in the 53rd Parliament. This caucus not only reflects New Zealand as many of my colleagues have already highlighted but it reflects upon the work and the aspirations of the New Zealand Labour Party. I acknowledge our members who are the lifeblood of our party and I commend my New Zealand Council colleagues both current and past some of whom are here today—Claire Tane Dianna Fleur Beth and brother Tolly—who prioritised a goal that this House should look like our houses. In achieving such a goal we correct erroneous assumptions about the definition of merit because merit isn't elusive. We come from various walks of life and we may have different life experiences but we share our values and we are here to effect those values together.Growing up I had a friend. His name was Burt. Burt had been a friend of my grandfather's whom I didn't get the chance to meet. Burt was great fun. He never tired of playing board games he believed with conviction and passion that chocolate biscuits could be for breakfast and he let me drive and practise driving his maroon Toyota Viva on the back roads long before I should have. Burt didn't always have a lot to say but he would frequently impress upon me some sort of variation of the message that life isn't always easy. It's a simple enough sentiment as was his solution: never waste an opportunity to learn and always vote Labour. Burt was the proud union rep for the Mataura paper mill and every Tuesday he would drive down from Mataura to take my mum to the supermarket. This was his contribution to making life a little easier for Mum as she adapted to raising a young child as a newly single parent and a new life in a wheelchair. I grew up in Southland and I started school in Bluff. One of my earliest memories is standing beside the electric range watching my plate being loaded with crumbed oysters again and thinking "Oh oysters again!" One of my next memories was watching my mum being helped as she grasped her head in pain. After seven months in hospital we moved to the big smoke of Invercargill when I was six years old. We were lucky to live in an excellent State house adapted for Mum that was warm dry and always made to feel like our own. If my friends had more than me it wasn't obvious. And when it was it didn't occur to me that it mattered. I recall my childhood in Invercargill as winterless—warm sunny days spent tearing around with my friends on my red Cruiser. Likely inaccurate—sorry to the Invercargill people here—but we do remember details fondly when we're happy and when we're secure. It is my quest that all of our tamariki remember only sunny days.My childhood also impressed upon me the need to continually strive for better accessibility for people who live with disability. Accessing the elements of everyday life shouldn't be merely accommodated with workarounds sought. To do so is exhausting and it becomes easier to simply make life smaller. All lives should be big lives. After a stint in Australia and working at Telecom during endless rounds of redundancies I decided to go back to school. I completed my degrees in psychology and picked up extra work often as a bouncer—should that be any of service to you Mr Speaker—and in 2002 my young family made Christchurch home and I completed my PhD. I've been fortunate to work within science and to indulge my love of the human being through psychology and neuroscience. I've added my contribution to what we know about dementia disorders and remain committed to the need to improve our societal response to what is a growing issue. I've added my contribution to what we know about traumatic brain injury. As I had growing up I saw that vulnerability begets more vulnerability. It remains too easy for young people who sustain injuries to end up within the criminal justice system and far too easy when the socio-economic factors are not in their favour. We must do better. My passion for people also extended to work within social psychology and as a result I've authored a variety of papers. I was asked during the campaign whether a particular paper I once co-authored might help me deal with the egos in Parliament. It would be remiss of me not to emphasise that the paper was indeed a serious contribution to a men's health issue but the dreaded Google search was bound to catch someone's eye—thank you Sam Sachdeva. To answer the question may I simply say that the short answer is no.I want to thank Labour for recognising the importance of the training incentive allowance. It gave me a second chance at education and I am grateful that thanks to the Labour Government other people will no longer be denied the same opportunity. Before entering this House I worked as a union organiser for the New Zealand Nurses Organisation. I believe in the power of unions and that our whole society is stronger when workers are organised to fairly achieve better outcomes that improve the lives of everyone. In my role it was a privilege to see the myriad ways our nurses are at the heart of our health system. So I'd like to take this opportunity to acknowledge all nurses and to thank our nurses working in managed isolation and quarantine facilities. Your contribution towards keeping COVID at the border and keeping us all safe is immense and I know that you and your families sacrifice much more than most people understand to do this work.I like to think that Burt would've been proud to know that while my journey wasn't always linear or easy I can proudly say that I am a lifelong learner. And not only have I always voted Labour but I stand here today in yet another role as part of the labour movement a movement in which he placed so much trust.My involvement in the Labour Party started when coming home late and tired from work one evening walking up the stairs my son Jake responded to my question about whether the dishes were done by yelling out "No but I joined us to the Labour Party." Within a month I had a call from Elaine a visit from Martin Ward a delivery block an invitation to join a meeting to plan the 2011 campaign and a mental note to get a new dishwasher installed. There has not been much of my spare time since that hasn't involved Labour and I wouldn't have it any other way.I want to say thank you to Jacinda Ardern—this time in particular for declaring a climate emergency. Last Wednesday I had the pleasure of welcoming the first school visit from Banks Peninsula. The students from Governors Bay School who are passionate about climate change and their futures asked to meet me on the steps of Parliament to share their thoughts and ideas. There's no doubt that they want to see some more action but your declaration not only acknowledged the next generation but specified directly to them that they are not alone. All of the great thoughts and ideas that they have are valid and that is important.I'd also like to thank and acknowledge Megan Woods for her support and friendship. Despite having one or two things on her plate she always makes time offers the kindest words of support is astute is loyal notices the smallest cues and with grace often says things like "Now tell me if I'm interfering." before offering what turns out to be just what you needed to hear. This thankyou extends to Lynley John and Nick as well—I am very grateful for you all.Earlier I mentioned my mum. I want to thank my parents Rayna and Russell for never failing to show up for me. To my mum Rayna for a long time it felt like you and me against the world but you were up every morning without fail Milo and Marmite toast at the ready determined that we would have a good day. To Russell thank you for loving my mum—your "my sweet"—and for being such a lovely poppy to Jake and Taylor. My gorgeous cousins and my equally gorgeous Auntie Marleen are here today to represent Mum and Russell also so thank you for being here.My election to the seat of Banks Peninsula was a real team effort. I want to thank the many volunteers who pitched in cracked on and offered their expertise support and friendship. Special thanks to Jake Kaitlyn and Jeremy and their hoarding teams; Elaine and John Kier and Caroline and Jackie and Judy; Nicola Ken Chris Sara Marianne Phil Paul Joe John Oliver Sigrid David Andrei several Claires and Jill. Speaking of campaigns I want to acknowledge my clever friends Hayden and Anaru. About five years ago we attended Russell's parents' 70th wedding anniversary where the groom Ben at a mere 96 years old rose to say a few words. He recalled the Depression their service during the war struggles the cost of buying your house relative to wages and the many accomplishments of every single Labour Government carefully crafted to remain within the brief of an actual anniversary speech. He expressed hope that soon there would be other Labour Governments—ones that would tackle the unenviable challenges that the great-grandchildren gathered that day would face. A wee dram has since been raised in remembrance but the impact that Labour has on real people's lives and how much that impact means to people when they look back and when they take stock is what drives my commitment.In closing I'd like to say thank you and acknowledge my lovely boys Jake and Taylor. I love and adore you and I'm very proud of you both. We've found ourselves a family hobby complete with family holidays to places like Labour Party conferences in Wellington Auckland Palmerston North Dunedin and Whanganui. I look forward to sharing this next challenge with you also. Nō reira tēnā koutou katoa.[Applause]SPEAKER: You go first—you say "Mr Speaker" and then I say—Anna Lorck: Mr Speaker. SPEAKER: I call Anna Lorck for her maiden statement."