Warren-Clark AngieANGIE WARREN-CLARK (Labour): E ngā mana e ngā reo e ngā mātāwaka o te motu: tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā tātou katoa.[To the authorities languages and kinship clans of the country: salutations acknowledgments and accolades to you collectively and to us all.]Mr Speaker may I congratulate you on your position as Speaker of the House and sir may I say I have over these last three weeks come to appreciate your behaviour modification techniques within our party of the House. I am pleased to see that non-violent discipline techniques are being applied. Like any child needing discipline members being told to apologise for bad behaviour and losing question privileges will eventually work. However before respectful dialogue can occur I anticipate the use of the naughty chair and time out.I am humbled to be in this position and yet determined to be the change I wish to see in this world. I am a feminist woman in all I do and all that I am anchored to is in the desire to see this world and our nation treat women and girls equally. The personal is political and I stand quietly determined to ensure that we become equal in all things to our male counterparts. We women hold up the sky. It is time we were valued more. It is time for equality here in this House and across the motu.Maiden speeches are about why we have come to Parliament and what we hope to achieve during our time here. In sharing my moemoeā for my time here I begin with my upbringing. I am proud of my roots steeped in rural Aotearoa. I was born in Murupara in the shadows of Maungapōhatu. I was raised in Tai Tokerau in the Mangamuka Utakura Valley in the Hokianga and Ōkaihau a small town that was once famous as the most northern stop on the main trunk line.Growing up in a small rural community I learnt great life skills and I experienced the freedom of being a child—no helicopter mums for us. I have fond memories of jumping on my bike with my best friend for ever (BFF) Mellie-Fay and spending the days swimming and exploring the countryside. We'd pack our lunch—no need to pack water; you could still drink from a stream then—tie our mono FM tape decks to the front of our bikes and head off only returning home to watch Ready to Roll. I spent every second weekend at the house of Mel's parents Harry and Bronwyn. It was Harry who taught me how to fish and seacraft and Bronnie how to fold a towel with precision. And Mellie-Fay: nearly 40 years later I am blessed you are still my BFF and here today.I grew up in Northland where my family still lives. All are involved in the silviculture industry Dad having left college at 15 and headed straight to woodsman school. Dad has been in the forestry industry for over 50 years and today is your birthday Dad—happy birthday! Forestry contracting Pinus radiata and logging are the craft of my family. I am of course delighted that the target of one million trees will be planted and that value will be added to the raw log and that Northland and the regions including my own Bay of Plenty community will gain a much-needed boost for our people and our economy.Having lived in the beautiful regions of Northland and Bay of Plenty it is fair to say that I care about our environment. As a recreational fisher I am passionate about the health of our coast and our fisheries. We must ensure that the childhood I experienced with teeming seas of fish abundant birdlife and plastic-free seas becomes a reality again. I think we should be able to swim in our rivers again. I think food waste in our country is harmful to our environment expensive to dump in landfill and a senseless waste when people are hungry. Let us explore how models of sustainability kindness and charity can be extended to feed our families in poverty. Fifty percent of landfill is construction waste. Let us ensure when we build homes that we use sustainable products that recycling is a norm and that we explore alternative building techniques. In all things let us try to leave our earth better than how we found it.To my parents Linda Hahn and Noel Clark: thank you both for being here today for teaching me the value of hard work of kindness and of community service. Thank you for ensuring that I knew that education was a pathway to transformation. I owe my completion of two degrees and my qualification as a barrister and solicitor to this value. Thank you also for teaching me that all people are equal regardless of who they are or what they earn and that we all put our pants on one leg at a time.My guests here today know that I have worked in the field of domestic violence intervention for the last 15 years formerly in the Ministry of Justice as a domestic violence adviser and latterly as the manager of Tauranga Women's Refuge. Indeed my own childhood has taught me the hard lesson that domestic violence affects all walks of life. It is my hope that everyone who is affected by violence knows that there are alternatives to choosing that violence that you do not need to stay if you are unsafe and finally that lasting change is possible. My family is proof of that.One in three women is affected by violence in their lifetime. One in four women and one in seven men are affected by sexual violence in their lifetime. Violence in our country is common. It costs us billions of dollars a year. This cycle is perpetuated generation upon generation. We must do better. We must eliminate violence as a way of life in our country.To my guests here from the National Collective of Independent Women's Refuges the National Network of Stopping Violence Services Te Ohaakii a Hine—National Network Ending Sexual Violence Together White Ribbon It's Not OK Louise and my own Tauranga Women's Refuge: I call on you to keep it real for me to remind me of that flax-roots intervention work which is so very complex and expert. I want to continue to be part of the solution to address our shameful statistics to address the failure to adequately resource crisis intervention and prevention services to support second-tier services to resource health police corrections justice and the social sector to get this work right. I cannot promise that reducing our burden of violence in this country will be easy but I can promise it will be worth it and I will commit to this work.Working in a refuge a front-line crisis intervention service has changed me. The faces of the women we walked alongside—the bruises the broken bones the tears the loss of self their unrelenting fear; this will never leave me. The children with vacant eyes—fear and grief for their mothers their injuries and the neglect their fathers and stepfathers showed them breaks my heart. This is one of the reasons that I have come to Parliament. I represent those women and children and my heart turns over at the work needed for these families to thrive again. How wonderful it will be when this work is no longer needed.To my children Danah and Jasmine neither of whom could be here today: blended families can work and I am proud that in raising you we never raised a hand to you or taught you that it's OK to be hurt by your parents in the name of discipline. It is possible to break the intergenerational cycle of violence. My Danah-Sian my little Squeaky who I love beyond words I am proud that you are kind and funny and clever and sassy and Mama loves you. And to you Jasmine not born of my body but my child nevertheless I am privileged that your mum shared you with me. I am proud that you are feisty and talented and your brave choices and determination to be true to yourself are inspirational. I love you child of my heart.To my husband Blair who may or may not be here yet: thank you for the 20 years on and off that we have been together—the laughter the adventures and the fishing. My husband—the builder the fisher the diver the hunter the gatherer the kaitiaki of our family wicked clever and my partner in life. You are a good and safe man. You are not known for being on time; you were once late for Christmas by three days and I don't see you here now—oh hello Husband!To the Blair clan far away in Scotland and scattered about the country and to those of you here today: thank you for embracing me as part of your family. To my Clark family my Zontian sisters my friends here from the Ministry of Justice: ngā mihi nui ki a koutou. To my Bay of Plenty and Tauranga Labour electorate committee: thank you for supporting me especially the time Russell Nancy and Sherri mimed the answers to me from the floor of our meet-the-candidates meeting when I was so sick that I could hardly stand and had a brain fade. Bless you.Thank you to my campaign manager Sophie Rapson who somehow managed to genuinely laugh at my corny jokes throughout the campaign despite I might add the fact that I only had one joke and used it every day. Thank you team for all the doorknocking phone-calling hoardings fund-raising pizza sausage rolls and coffee and for being kind and supportive and finally for backing me 100 percent.To all my guests and family here today: thank you for coming. To my nana who is listening from Hamilton: I wish you were here Nana. I have always been particularly close to my nana. She showered me with unconditional love and helped raise me. Nana and Grandad lived on the West Coast of the South Island; indeed both sides of my whānau hail from there. I spent just about every holiday during my school years in the rugged splendour of the Coast. Nana and Grandad Jack gave us lovely memories: stocking up on our favourite Snowflake ice cream making us swings the tinkering in Grandad's shed taking us on large family picnics at Matai gold-panning swimming in the river—events all over Ahaura and the Grey Valley and coast.When I told my nana that I was going to mention her in my maiden speech she forbade me saying that I could say only that she wasn't here today. I'm sorry to disobey you this one time Nana. You are worthy of being recorded in Hansard. You are kind gentle and loving and should I reach 91 I hope my granddaughter can say the same of me.Growing up as I did as a child in Northland but also a kid on the West Coast of Te Wai Pounamu it is only fitting that I mihi to the families who have lost loved ones to the Pike River mine. I call to my cousin who lies cold in the depths of that mine: wait just a little longer; you will be home soon if we on this side of the House have anything to do about it. I am proud that my party and the Hon Andrew Little and our coalition partners have committed to doing all that is possible to bring our men home.The elimination of violence the preservation and strengthening of our environment and the return of our men to their families—large goals and I am but one small voice a backbencher here only by the count of the special votes. I am privileged to be here humbled by my community and my Labour Party's faith in me. I will do my best.In concluding the words of Anaïs Nin best describe my hīkoi to Parliament: And the day came that the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom." Nō reira tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā tātou katoa. [Applause]"