Kuriger Barbara: Address in ReplyText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeKuriger Barbara: Address in Reply[Sitting date: 21 October 2014. Volume:701;Page:9. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]BARBARA KURIGER (National—Taranaki - King Country):I second the motion that a respectful address be presented to His Excellency the Governor-General in reply to His Excellency’s speech. Tēnā tātou katoa Te Pāremata hou. E Te Kaikōrero tēnā koe. E Te Pirimia tēnā koe. Ko ngā mea nui ko ngā wai ko te whenua me ngā tāngata katoa o Aotearoa. Nā reira tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā tātou katoa.[Salutations to us all in the new Parliament; to you Mr Speaker; and to you Prime Minister. The things of immense importance are water land and all the people of New Zealand. Therefore acknowledgments to you and you and to us all collectively.]Mr Speaker Prime Minister Ministers members of Parliament and party president Mr Peter Goodfellow welcome and welcome to my guests in the gallery. My husband Louis you have been a fantastic support and friend to me. We will be celebrating our 35th wedding anniversary 12 days from now at an electorate event in Ōtorohanga which in itself indicates the level of support you have given me during the campaign. My family—Craig Rachel and Tony—Dad and I are both very proud of you and we appreciate that you are all in support for this special occasion. Tony I know you are watching. To your partners Kenneth and Zoe at home to our four special grandchildren Zak Max Aislinn and Theo and to mum and dad—Leo and Leonie—thank you for coming. I would also like to acknowledge my grandmother Joan Jeffries in Ōpunake who recently turned 98. To Peter Goodfellow Peter Osborne Leveson Gower National headquarters staffers Young Nats and party members from selection to election you have all welcomed me and supported me in my quest to become a member of Parliament. Together we asked lots of questions and took good advice and here we are.I was brought up on a Taranaki dairy farm and I had one goal: never to marry a dairy farmer. Louis I am very pleased I did because I learnt the ropes developed a passion and enjoyed my time on the farm raising our family and developing an award-winning business that continues today. This led to my many industry roles the longest of which I completed last week at DairyNZ. I would like to especially acknowledge DairyNZ chair friend and colleague John Luxton who is in the House. John you and I were elected to the board on the same day in 2003. Over the past 11 years I have learnt a lot from you and I respect the wisdom and knowledge that you impart.I have served on a range of boards over the past few years. The Primary Industry Training Organisation the Taratahi Agricultural Training Centre and Dairy Training have provided me with the skills needed for the training industry. I was a New Zealand Young Farmers board member where I suspect I own the honour of being the only granny who has ever been a board member. As an industry partner to this group I was able to enjoy working with young people having their first board experience who I know will feature in many areas of leadership in New Zealand over the next 30 years. In 2006 I was fortunate to travel as an Agricultural and Marketing Research and Development Trust scholar on a food and agribusiness market experience to China Japan the US and Europe looking at supply chains and customers. This experience really highlighted the fact that New Zealand is favoured for its exports indicating New Zealand’s stand-out place in the international trading arena.In 2012 the Dairy Women’s Network awarded me the inaugural Dairy Woman of the Year which was one of my proudest moments to date. It was not a one-person accolade as it was the result of all of the experiences I have had to this point in my life and of all the people I have met. The information learnt on the course and the friendships formed emphasise the rural and regional woman that I am always looking for future ways for the primary industry sector to grow. I was also a board member of the Venture Taranaki trust and in recognition of my governance roles I was recently awarded a fellowship of the Institute of Directors.Taranaki - King Country is a large electorate that extends from Waingaro right down to Tuakau on the border of Stratford thus including Waipā and parts of the Waikato. Upon selection one of my new constituents offered to buy this “Naki” girl a Waikato rugby jersey. I told him I would wear it with pride. The respective mascots for the local teams—Mooloo the Cow and Ferdinand the Bull—always managed to create a great herd and best of all when Taranaki play Waikato I can only win as the Taranaki - King Country MP. Minister Smith we are looking forward to the Taranaki versus Tasman final this weekend.Although I have an interest in rugby it is not necessarily my favourite sport. The excitement of V8 supercar racing is another passion that I have to thank Louis for sharing with me. I have been a passenger at 260 kilometres per hour on a racetrack with a professional driver and I can categorically say that my own driving skills are not quite up to that standard. I will be honest and say that I am happy to be a spectator supporting Louis as he drives his star car much like he supports me in my campaigning.In the large electorate that is Taranaki - King Country we have eight district councils about 17 towns and many villages. Our largest town is Te Awamutu and Whangamomona is one of the smallest. I am the MP who will not forget about the Forgotten World Highway. I encourage all of you to take the tour. It is an excellent tourism business set up on an old railway. I am the MP who will not forget the natural beauty of our electorate which can be seen in the Waitomo Caves and the huge number of visitors who visit annually to experience the beauty of the glow worms and the history hidden in these caves. I am the MP who probably does not have the willpower to drive past our famous whitebait fritters in our towns including Mōkau and Raglan without stopping for that quintessential Kiwi lunch. Ultimately I am the MP who is here to serve every one of our towns to ensure that the future of Taranaki - King Country is bright.Economic development in the regions is a key interest of mine. Getting the right incentives in place for businesses to thrive in rural locations is a must. Housing is not expensive and the community atmosphere is supportive and embracing. The call for more skilled young people is coming from every community. Coming from Taranaki I have been witness to the growth that comes from a region that has worked together over many years to create a vibrant region. That comes from having an open mind a willingness to trust new ideas and a will to work together. From this we can see that when communities actively work together success can be achieved. Trade and exports lead our region’s income. The dairy and beef and lamb industries are predominant throughout our electorate. Energy in itself is one of the integral parts of the Taranaki export economy. In Taranaki - King Country we also have dairy goats mānuka honey and a popcorn factory—something for everyone. But the young are not forgotten either with the long-established Fun Ho! Toys factory in Inglewood. Each of my grandchildren the boys and the girl all received a Fun Ho! Toys tractor and trailer for their first birthday.Ultra-fast broadband will provide a huge boost to our region. The productivity that comes with connectivity will help us attract people who want the benefits of working regionally. I look forward to working with Minister Amy Adams to ensure this rolls out across Taranaki - King Country.Roading and infrastructure will continue to be a focus in Taranaki - King Country. I particularly look forward to the new roundabout at the intersection of State Highway 3 and State Highway 37 and the business case for the Mount Messenger - Awakino Gorge corridor. I also look forward to the development of various bridges across the electorate which will further strengthen relationships between communities with improved accessibility and safety.Mr Speaker you recently came to visit Waitomo and Piopio. Louis in particular was extremely honoured by your visit namely because it was his birthday. This day we saw some great examples of fledgling regional businesses. The new King Country brewery and a small business in Piopio fitting out dinghies are indicative of the success that ensures when our regions work together we thrive. We must be sure that red tape does not get in the way of new and emerging businesses that will provide employment for our people. I have already seen some exciting technology businesses in Raglan and the encouragement of more will be welcome.Access to health education and community services is vitally important to remote and rural areas of New Zealand. Under a National-led Government over 17000 more elective surgeries have been administered across our electorates to district health boards and this shows that somewhat remote areas of New Zealand are still gaining access to those vital services and that location is not a barrier.Across our region more children will attend early childhood education before starting primary school which is impressive for rural communities considering the distance which is often regarded as a barrier. In time we hope to improve these rates even more with a target of 98 percent by 2016.Volunteers connect our communities from the Fire Service to the Coastguard to those working in the prevention of family violence. I would like to thank all the volunteers who do a wonderful job. Those who give up their time to take a neighbour to a doctor’s appointment or those busy mums and dads who arrange playdates for the entire street—your support and continual commitment to the groups and individuals in our regions is to be commended. These actions take away the vulnerability of people knowing there is a volunteer support base to care for them.Water will be a prominent topic not just through the time that I spend in Parliament but for years into the future. This is reflective of the fact that we have an abundance of water in our beautiful country and it is amongst my aspirations to ensure that we utilise our water wisely for our people for our tourism and for our industries. As a dairy industry leader I appreciate how much work has been done on fencing nutrient budgeting and finding ways to improve water quality. It will be a pleasure to join my first Bluegreens caucus meeting. National’s blue-green approach has shown that successful economic and environmental policy can and must go hand in hand. The abundant forests rivers and marine reserves are of real value and importance to the National Government which is committed to the long-term sustainability of these areas that New Zealand holds dear.On completion of my time as Dairy Woman of the Year I set myself a target that by the year 2020 in New Zealand we will no longer be talking about the disconnect between rural and urban. We have the collective knowledge talent and ability to work together to find answers. It is a big call but one that I am up for. I ask each and every one of you to join me in this project. We have only 4.5 million people. We have to work collaboratively to take on the world.Thank you to my colleagues for the support that you have shown over the past few months and particularly over the past 4 weeks. Maureen Pugh the class of 2014 enjoyed the 2 weeks we spent with you and we were sorry to see you go. Samantha Claire Sharon and Tracey—welcome to my team. With your help I know that Taranaki - King Country will be well served. Penn and Doug thanks for your help and preparation. I am excited about joining the Primary Production Committee and Health Committee where I can bring some of my existing knowledge with me and embark on a new learning curve where new knowledge is required. I commit to be a hard-working and loyal member of Parliament. Tēnā tātou katoa.