Goff Phil: Address in ReplyText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeGoff Phil: Address in Reply[Sitting date: 29 October 2014. Volume:701;Page:382. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon PHIL GOFF (Labour—Mt Roskill):Could I begin by congratulating the four National speakers who gave their maiden speeches in the House this afternoon. I thought they were very good speeches. I think the really important thing about a maiden speech is that a member of Parliament shows their human side far more when they deliver their maiden speech than they do in any subsequent speech. That is maybe a pity because I think it would be a good thing if members in this House showed their human side more often. While I am congratulating people can I congratulate my colleagues Peeni Henare Adrian Rurawhe and Jenny Salesa for very fine maiden speeches. I think that the nature of their contribution shows that they are going to be members of Parliament who will contribute a lot to this country and I congratulate them.Looking to my right I have got to congratulate the retreads: Carmel Sepuloni Stuart Nash and Kelvin Davis. I say that as a retread myself. Trevor Mallard Annette King and I all lost our seats and then regained them. I lost my seat to a man called Gilbert Myles who subsequently progressed through three other political parties and I thrashed him the second time. But I have to say that losing your seat and regaining a seat gives you a true appreciation of the privilege it is to represent your community in this House and it is character-building. But you know after you have lost it once that is enough character. Losing it twice is careless so I have tried not to do that and I really want to thank the people of Mt Roskill for electing me to represent them for an 11th term. Though it seems like a very long time ago it was not that long ago I feel that I was here giving my maiden speech and I hope that I have lost none of the values that I came into the House with.The third set of congratulations Mr Assistant Speaker goes to you; to the Speaker David Carter; to the Deputy Speaker Chester Borrows; and to Trevor Mallard. You Mr Assistant Speaker and Chester are very fine gentlemen I have to say. I am not greasing up to you. I am genuinely reflecting my admiration for your integrity notwithstanding the fact that you are on the other side of the House. We have done a lot of work together and it has been very good. Trevor Mallard is really interesting. Trevor reminded me of my teenage kids well into his 50s—always testing the limits. Now we have the man who tested the limits of the Speaker going from being the poacher to the gamekeeper. I always thought Trevor Mallard craved respectability and I think this is proof of it but I think that Trevor will also be an excellent Speaker. He knows the Standing Orders of this House he has a lot to contribute and I look forward to that.It is a privilege to represent in this House the most multicultural electorate in New Zealand. I want to thank the communities right across my electorate for their loyalty and support. Before the election the Electoral Commission was unkind enough to move my seat from the western Labour areas to the eastern blue areas and notwithstanding that they continued to support me with a greater majority. I want to say that it is a real privilege to be a member in this House. If I have any advice for new members it is the advice that I heard our former Prime Minister Helen Clark give to Cabinet on many occasions: every day in this place is a privilege and every day it has to be earned. Always remember being a member of Parliament that it is not you who are important; the position is important. Never ever ask anybody: “Don’t you know who I am?”.At the last election Labour MPs did somewhat better than their party; I myself by more than 6000 votes. On this side of the House we have to ask some questions about why that was the case. People supported endorsed and voted back their local Labour candidates but they did not support the party in the same numbers. I think that whether you win or whether you lose humility is a real virtue in this place. I think Labour has to show humility. I want to pick up on what Shane Reti told the House about listening. As a general practitioner one of the most important things he learned was not simply to talk to people but to listen to them. That is good advice coming from a new member to us on this side of the House—to listen to the electorate and to learn what its people have to tell us.Labour has a proud history. In 2 years’ time we are 100 years old. I am really proud that the biggest changes—the most progressive social changes that have been made in the history of this country—have come under successive Labour Governments. But I also think that Labour has not only a proud history but a proud future provided that we rise to the challenge of showing unity cohesiveness and focus and being relevant to our electorates. So even after the time that I have spent in this House it is time for me to learn and it is time for our side of the House to learn. I believe that when the electorate looks at a Government that has been in place for 9 years and is perhaps showing too great a sense of entitlement and arrogance which even the Prime Minister warned happens in the third term Labour will be there and show itself ready to take up that challenge and be relevant to the needs of our electorate.I want in the time I have left to talk about some of the issues that are really important and these are issues that people raised with me on the doorsteps during the campaign. The first one is that of housing. When you think about it a stable roof over the heads of your family is one of the most basic and important foundations for a good society. I have got to say that in my electorate which I grew up in I was astounded at the number of places I doorknocked that I knew used to be owner-occupied and are now rented. The people who are buying up the homes that were once owned by those who lived in them are the investors. The dream for many of our people including our own kids of owning your own home is becoming more remote.You know I listened with interest to what maiden speakers said about the importance of family. Most of us in this House were really wise—we chose our families well and we chose our parents well. Our parents gave us assistance and we give our kids assistance. I think of the huge number of people in my electorate who would love to own their home but they do not come from families who are able to provide a deposit of $50000 or $100000 to give their kids a start in life. I think it is really a sad indictment on what has been happening in New Zealand that more and more people do not think that they will achieve that goal. We have the lowest level of homeownership I think in 60 years. I have always believed in that dream of owning your own home and the stability that it gives to you.If you cannot own your own home—and again I refer to Shane Reti; because he said he was brought up in a State house. That is great. That is why the Labour Government brought in State housing—for people like Shane and for people like the Prime Minister whose family needed a hand up. My electorate is built on State housing and the great thing about that housing is that it is warm it is dry it is stable and it is affordable. I cannot see that the solution to a housing crisis is to sell off your State houses particularly when so many of them as we heard from Trevor Mallard are going to property developers and the private rental market. I cannot see that that helps. What our kids need are stable homes and stable schooling so they can realise their potential. Ask the principals at my decile 1 schools and they will tell you that they have got kids who are going through their school who have been to five or six different schools.Paula Bennett and Bill English were criticising Housing New Zealand. I read a report this morning from—Hon Paula Bennett: I did not.Hon PHIL GOFF: Yes you did. Yes you did. Listen to what I have got to say Ms Bennett because I think you will learn from it. There was a study carried out over 10 years on the provision of State housing to families with children who were on one-third of the national average incomes. What did that show? It showed that the rate of admittance to hospital of tenants who move from private rental into State housing dropped dramatically. It dropped dramatically because of that big difference in the quality of a home life that you can build when you have got decent housing and good conditions. The kids are stable in their schools they have better health they do better they realise their potential and they can achieve opportunity. I have heard a lot of speeches about opportunity but let us create the conditions at the basic level where that opportunity is for all of us and where we are an inclusive society. Yes we want people to achieve excellence; yes we want them to do as well as they can but let us give them that opportunity. Let us give all of our kids that opportunity not just some of them. That is what Labour is about.