Tangaere-Manuel CushlaCUSHLA TANGAERE-MANUEL (Labour—Ikaroa-Rāwhiti): Where we liveThe grass is greenThe water's pureAnd the air is clean.And if you wondered where heaven is on earthWe're telling you yes telling youIt's our place of birth.Ko Hikurangi te maunga[Hikurangi is the eponymous mountain]Ko Waiapu te awa[Waiapu is the glistening river]And we arewe areNgāti Porou children.AhaNgāti Porou children.E te Māngai o te Whare tēnā anō koe.Ko taku mihi tuatahi ka tika ki tō tātou nei runga rawa nāna nei ngā mea katoa. Ka mihi hoki au ki ngā mate huhua o tēnei wā. Koutou mā haere haere hoki atu ki te wā kainga tuturu mō tātou te hunga tangata. Otirā ki taku whānau Reipa tēnā koutou aku hoa katoa o tēnei whare ahakoa nō tēhea pāti tēnei te mihi atu ki a koutou ki a tātou. Huri noa ki a tātou katoa aku hoa aku whānau aku kaitautoko katoa. Tīhei mauriora! Kei te aha? Ā mō taku whānau Paniora—adelante para siempre![My first acknowledgment rightly so is to our most high for he is the creator of all that exist. I acknowledge also the many who have recently departed. Return back to our true home. Also to my Labour family thank you all all my friends of this house no matter which party you're from I express my utmost respect to you all. Also to our friends our families and all our supporters let the force be with you! How is it? And to my Spanish family—adelante para siempre!]Now let's see what I've got written on this paper.It is truly humbling to stand here as a member of the 54th Parliament of Aotearoa New Zealand. I actually want to start by saying thank you to the people of Ikaroa-Rāwhiti who brought me to this House: the whānau who created unprecedented queues in Ruatōria to vote and those of you who deemed me worthy of your first ever vote. Tēnei te mihi ki a koutou. [Here is my expression of gratitude to you all.] You did this. You brought me here; the mana of your voice. I runga i tō mana i tō reo kua tae mai au hei kanohi mō koutou i roto i tēnei Whare. [Due to your support and your honour I am here to represent you all in this House.]My earliest memory of delivering a speech is in the primers class at Tapere-nui-a-Whatonga. I was nudged to the front to deliver a thank you speech. It was your stock-standard On behalf of Room 5 I would like to thank you for …" and ever since then whatever I've done in life it's been "On behalf of". Reuben I'm catching your tangiweto. A life of service is what we were born into by our parents affectionately known as Cina and Nunu. Our father was a reverend historian farmer kura kaupapa tumuaki but more importantly the best dad and papa who was always present and extremely tolerant. He demonstrated the balance between taha Māori and Christianity and loved to quote the Desiderata. One of his favourite lines was "Avoid loud and aggressive persons they are a vexation to the spirit." Sorry Dad I walked right into this one. He'd often say to me "You can do whatever you want. You're your own boss." My mother on the other hand frequently reminded that in fact I was not—sometimes by means since outlawed in this House. The education system hadn't been ready for my mum. Encouraged into secretarial work she was far more at home on horseback or in any machinery Dad made the mistake of leaving keys in. When people needed land for a papa kāinga at the height of her own illness Mum jumped on the tractor hooked up a slasher and cleared the land. Houses are still being delivered to that whenua this day—ka pai Labour. Mum normalised women in the workforce for our whānau remaining a loyal employee of the Waiapu Farmers' Co-op in Tikitiki until its doors closed in the early 1990s.Our parents seemed to have enough of everything for everyone—time love kids! We shared them and they shared us. Mum and Dad gave me everything I needed to prepare for this journey including the nurturing of a whole community. The Waiapu Valley is known as Waiapu kōkā huahua—Waiapu of many mothers—and I was fair game. My mother issued a warrant to the whole community to tune me up if I needed it. But to the contrary I was nurtured mentored and loved by my community. Raised on the shoulders of Project Employment Programme (PEP) workers and privileged to sit at the feet of our elders I am number eight of nine of Cina and Nunu's children. Edward stole my thunder as baby of the family when I was five even charming his way into my godparents' lives who I am so happy to have here today—Ollie and Eddie. But clearly I'm over that! My siblings always keep my feet firmly on the ground never letting me get carried away and think I'm too neat. Once when we were planning our mother's 60th I stood hand on hip and declared that we should all learn a song. Patrick and I always do the speeches and we always sing the song. My eldest brother Paul stood up and he said "OK I'll sing a song. You kill the mutton." I sang the song! But the point is he knew my lay—they all did—and they've supported me in everything I've done. So to Materoa Paul Anne Ruvae—who I know is watching and hopefully not crying—Patrick Hiria Dorothy and Edward who were all taken too soon thank you. And also thank you for heckling me all my life so that I'm prepared for it in this House. I loved my primary school education at Tapere-Nui-A-Whatonga in Rangitukia—so much so that I haven't left now serving as the presiding member. My brother is the principal and my sister is the other teacher—very hard! When it came time for high school my parents decided I'd be educated at home and attend Ngata Memorial College. I'm so glad they did. At the time I felt like we were "Dial-a-Pō'hiri" but that's only because we were! But to be entrenched in my Ngāti Poroutanga [in my being Ngāti Porou] right up to adulthood set me in really good stead for the rest of the world. It also set a frame for a pretty good campaign but we'll talk more about that later. To the current students of Ngata Kāreti who are here today nau mai ki tēnei ō Whare—welcome to your House. From there as predetermined by my whānau I moved here to Wellington to attend Victoria University. The whole time my eyes were firmly fixed on getting back to Rangitukia. On arrival my Uncle Cassidy gave me a pep talk: he said "Now make sure you don't leave university with your BA—'Bugger All' ". Well technically I'm still on a gap year but I certainly didn't leave with bugger all. It was a defining time where I made lifelong non - Ngāti Porou friends and some dear friends who are here which gave me a true appreciation of the richness of my upbringing and the value that the skills and knowledge bestowed upon me have in our society. That said it was time to get back to Rangitukia. As a founding student of kōhanga reo I went full circle and became a kaiako at Ngai Tāne Kohanga Reo while doing voluntary youth work. That evolved into mahi with Paraire Huata's Te Ngaru Learning Systems. Teaching Māori models of practice and affirming and sharing mātauranga Māori is something I remain committed to.When Mum passed away in 2003 I decided it was time to revisit my childhood dream of getting paid to talk. My brother said he'd pay me to shut up—still waiting! That led to a very fulfilling career in the media and I'm so happy to have some of my hoamahi here this evening. Unfortunately there was actually much more to it than merely talking but I loved it capturing stories for generations to come. It also afforded me the opportunity to—you guessed it—move back to Rangitukia. Living the East Coast dream Russell and I headed to the 2012 Ngāti Porou East Coast Heartland rugby final versus Whanganui with his parents Ma and John. You know the game—the one where Ngāti Porou East Coast made the best comeback of all time. On the trip there my father-in-law "Big John"—the guy who rode the blue horse—noted that East Coast were looking for a CEO. I thought "Well that's not really a TV story." but I let him finish his kōrero. "Nek minnit" I'm attending the New Zealand Rugby Union AGM as CEO of Ngāti Porou East Coast Rugby the only female CEO or chair in New Zealand Rugby at that time. Coming from Ngāti Porou that was a far bigger deal to everyone else than it was to me. That's where the people decided I could be of service at that time so that's where I was. It was one of my most challenging and rewarding phases. It was never merely about the oval ball; it was about pride—it's still about pride—value identity setting pathways and daring to dream. Again lifelong friendships were established and I thank my provincial union New Zealand Rugby and New Zealand Māori Rugby Board colleagues present tonight. By the way rugby and politics—not so far removed. But there is a saying that life is what happens when you've made other plans and when I answered a call in June 2023 I was not expecting "Caz I want you to be the next Labour candidate for Ikaroa-Rāwhiti." Adequate greasing up ensued but it was not flattery that swayed my decision; it was legacy—the legacy of my parents whānau and community and the legacy of Parekura Horomia who was truly an MP of the people and became synonymous with this seat and the seat of Ikaroa-Rāwhiti. So to the Horomia whānau and all you "Hauitians" you are a force of nature. Of course it was the legacy of Tā Apirana Nohopari Turupa Ngata. I said yes in that very phone call and I couldn't help but imagine Mum and Para—old mates from those PEP days—having a chuckle up there and Para saying "Finally got her Cina."Then came those three words: "Push for Cush". I wasn't initially a fan but boy did it work. I imagined myself getting pushed all over the place. Nobody seemed shocked by my announcement. Like my siblings you were confident that this was my lane. Strangers who have now become trusted friends who are too many to name from Wainuiōmata Wairarapa Heretaunga Ahuriri Te Wairoa Hōpūpū Hōnengenenge Matangi Rau Tūranga-nui-a-Kiwa tae noa atu ki Pōtaka [all the way towards Pōtaka] saw hope in me and you formed a formidable campaign team and pushed for Cush trusting that I would push for you and I will. I thank you for your confidence and your aroha.Another group of campaigners who quite literally rose out of the wīwī were my irāmutu who went from not giving two hoots about politics and elections to now being budding political analysts. My name even became "Push for Cush" to the mokos: "Who's that?" "Push for Cush." Again my irāmutu are too many to name but I want to acknowledge those who are here in person: so Tina-Mei Krisynthia Paks and my mokopuna taku ingoa Kushla Fusion Hone Hayes and Donny Hunaara Russell. You guys are pretty meke. I might keep yous on for the next campaign. If I said "I love you." they would think I was ill. I framed my campaign on the whakatauākī of Tā Apirana Ngata's "E tipu e rea" and I'm so proud to have brought the hou the seat home to te Riu o Waiapu for the first time since he held it 80 years ago. The wisdom and relevance of the message of "E tipu e rea" of walking in both te ao Māori and Pākehā naturally resonated with everyone throughout my campaign and it's been demonstrated in this House that it resonates with that side as well. Recently a few misguided souls have sought to appropriate Tā Apirana's thoughts on the Treaty of Waitangi a hundred years ago—mischief-making. His whānau iwi and Māoridom are concerned by this but I have it on good authority from the Ngata whānau that Tā Apirana would have offered the offenders a wry smile tamped down his pipe and got on with winning everyone over to his ultimate cause—as will I. On the note of development some of the key issues which arose consistently were recovery and slash. I'd like to thank our leader Chris Hipkins for heeding the call of our people and allocating me a spokesperson for cyclone recovery forestry and tourism and hospitality—all areas of opportunity for Ikaroa-Rāwhiti. There's a bit of a theme developing here too. On the date that I asked my first question it was the anniversary of Gabrielle and today is the anniversary of Cyclone Bola so ka hoki ngā mahara [so the memories return].So how do I serve you best from Opposition benches? Mahi tahi relationships. I acknowledge our incumbent Labour MPs Ginny Andersen and Kieran McAnulty and I thank you for your support during the campaign. To the National MPs who hold seats throughout my electorate—Mike Butterick Catherine Wedd Katie Nimon and our resident Coastie Dana Kirkpatrick—tēnā koutou. I trust we will see beyond politics and prioritise our people. I'm pretty awesome to work with too even in Opposition. That's why there's some Opposition heartland unions here today. During the campaign I said I was raised by the village and on that note I want to acknowledge my Uncle Boydie and Auntie Bonnie who are here and my Auntie Taina—siblings of my mother and father—and acknowledge my two aunties watching from Darwin and Melbourne Auntie Goosey and Auntie Dette: tēnā kōrua. I said I was raised by the village and I'm accountable to the village. This remains true. The village has just grown to become the whole of Ikaroa-Rāwhiti and indeed anyone who feels I'm the right voice for you. Times may seem dark right now whānau but I come from the northern end of Ikaroa-Rāwhiti Te Uranga-o-te-Rā where each day we are first to see the light and I will continue to shine the light on the value of our rohe whānui. You will hear your reo. You will hear your stories hopes and vision for future generations. I will bring your light to this House and to the Aotearoa whānui. Heoi anō rā e hika mā tēnā anō koutou katoa i tae mai ki te tautoko i taku kauhau tuatahi nei rā te mihi ki a koutou katoa nō reira e te Māngai o te Whare i raro i ngā manaakitanga o tō tātou nei runga rawa tēnā koutou tēnā koutou kia ora tātou katoa. [However dear friends thank you all for being here to support my maiden speech. I express my utmost respect to you all also to the Speaker under the guidance of our most high thank you thank you thank you all very much.]Waiata—"Paikea"The House adjourned at 6.14 p.m."