Ball Darroch: Address in ReplyText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeBall Darroch: Address in Reply[Sitting date: 23 October 2014. Volume:701;Page:225. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]DARROCH BALL (NZ First):Time is the school in which we learn; time is the fire in which we burn. It is with those words that I begin my very first speech in this House as those few words have the power to hold to account all those who dare to represent whether they have an inevitably finite stay lasting 3 months or a formidable three decades. My hope of course is to emulate the latter. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate a few people today and may I firstly join my colleagues in congratulating the Rt Hon David Carter on his re-election as Speaker; yourself Mr Assistant Speaker Tisch; and the Hon Chester Borrows as well as Trevor Mallard on all of your elections into your positions.I would also like to congratulate the New Zealand First Party as a whole from our grassroots supporters and loyal hard-working electorate committees through to all 11 MPs. The party should be congratulated on the flawless campaign that saw us obtain the highest increase in party vote percentage and along with it four more MPs. It is safe to say now that we are genuinely the fastest-growing political movement in New Zealand today. Congratulations also to the Rt Hon Winston Peters who showed incomparable energy faith and commitment to lead us into one of the strongest positions our party has been in for a long time. His energy and example were infectious and inspirational and gave our party the strength it has in Parliament.Last but by no means least congratulations to the two returning New Zealand First MPs Pita Paraone and Ron Mark. We are immeasurably stronger as a team with your presence. And of course congratulations to my fellow first-time MPs from all parties in Parliament and in particular to our new New Zealand First MPs. Over the past 4 weeks or so it has become evident that we have a strong team that is balanced with experience talent and fresh faces. It has put us in a very strong position this term. I look forward to working together and celebrating our successes.There are a few people I must acknowledge and thank here today and of course the first are my family. Both my brother and my mother Brenda and my Aunt Fiona are here today and without them both I would not be here. There are a few certain people in one’s life to whom you can genuinely attribute the help to achieve your highs and it is only their unquestionable love and support that allows me to survive. I am lucky enough to have them both. Thank you to my son and daughter Alex and Madeleine. Emma I thank you for your support through the last few years of politics which consumed my spare time and even time I did not have to spare. It looks set to continue but I know I can rely on your support as always. One knows who their mates are even when one has not seen them in years. They still come and support me as they have today. There are very few professions in the world that can boast of having such an effect on the bond between mates and for me it is proven here today that the New Zealand Army is at the top of that list. Thanks for your support. I cannot put into words my total appreciation. I would also at this time like to thank John Thorn for his support and guidance as my local chair and campaign manager and I look forward to developing the electorate through this term.Thanks to the voters of Palmerston North who saw the benefit of voting for New Zealand First and gaining more than one MP for our community and in fact for increasing New Zealand First’s party vote by 60 percent. We now have not two MPs but three MPs for Palmerston North and it means that in the end Palmerston North will be the ultimate beneficiary. I look forward to working with both the other MPs in the future to ensure our community has the best representation from all parties. I would also like to mention Rob Young who passed away before he could realise his goal of sending me into Parliament. Rob was the person who originally saw the beginnings of my involvement with the party. He put his faith in me and helped me on my way. Without him I would not be here and I am eternally grateful.My journey through the rollercoaster ride that is the dipping of my toes into the seemingly parallel universe that hides beneath the thin veil called politics began some years ago in the officers’ mess at Burnham Military Camp where my incessant opinions on some recent Cabinet reshuffle or my uncontrollable excitement about the latest Budget release not only fell on deaf ears but attracted the ire of many of my fellow officers not to mention many a taxi driver. It was somewhere close to that point in my life when I knew that my interests in life and consequences around me extended far beyond what any sane 20-year-old should ever be interested in.I was drawn into getting involved with New Zealand First 4 years ago and somehow found my way up through local electorate representation on the board of directors and into the vice-president position in what seemed to me like a whirlwind of goal-setting and hard work which ultimately dropped me constantly at the peaks of representation for the party. My passion for our country and for the policies that New Zealand First has keeps me driven to work hard for my party and to continue to drive our policies that will ultimately create a better New Zealand. My passion is politics my passion is this country and that is why I stand here as a member of New Zealand First.New Zealand has a wide and varied society. We have people who have and people who have not. We have people who are country folk through and through and we also have big city dwellers—old and young rich and poor city and rural Māori Pākehā Kiwi Indian Asian-European to name but a few of the wide-ranging demographics. It is not the role of a true political party to represent any one of those certain sections of our society but we have parties in this Parliament here today that do just that. In fact it is the role of the true political party to represent all people in New Zealand irrespective of who they are. New Zealand First does not represent just the bottom 10 percent or the top 10 percent or even only the people in between. We do not isolate race or income or any minority or majority. We are the party that represents all New Zealanders. That is why I stand with this team.In anyone’s life there are specific moments in time when we can identify a momentum shift a sea change a proudly defining moment and my life story is no different. The first of those and the most monumental in my life was when my father died on my 17th birthday. To compare him to a foundation of granite rock would not do him justice. Perhaps to compare him to a titan of security of discipline and of love might come halfway near close. With that influence ripped from my life my direction my pride and my mana took a deft blow. I lost my way and I made mistakes. It was only through the support around me through the means of luck and through the influence of fear that the path I took the path I struggled through on my hands and bleeding knees allowed me to survive. It allowed me to have a perspective of the importance of youth; the important of guidance of support and of decision-making at that time in one’s life; and the irreversible costs if we get it wrong.That period in my life ignited a passion and a drive in me to ensure that the youth of our country are looked after that they have a safe secure future and that they have a progressive future ahead of them. This comes not only through the obvious sound legislation but most important through genuine care and ownership of the very real issues that they face today. Therein lies my motivation for being here in our House of Representatives. The height of my excitement of being part of our democracy in New Zealand is finely balanced with the reality of the heavy weight of expectation that every representative must bear. The people of New Zealand have placed their faith in our democratic system and in every member with a seat in this House no matter who they voted for or why.This is my first step into the world of politics. I did not leave school with politics in mind. I did not go to university to study politics. I have not had experience in a political internship or a campaign manager’s role or any such thing. I did not work for an MP or any other Government organisation. There is no deep history of politics in my family nor did I join a young political party or run for president of a university club studying double majors and thick books nor do I have any experience in local government or local politics. This was my very first campaign and the very first time I stood for office. I am brand new.That is not an admission of somehow being a step behind any of the other new MPs in this House who have done even some of those things—in fact quite the contrary. I know about what true loss means. I know the inescapable truth about wrong choices wrong paths to take and wrong motivations. I know what it means to not know how I going to pay the next bill. I know what it is like to live as a solo father the crushing lows one can experience with the weight of expectation on one’s shoulders the courage it takes to stand in line at the Work and Income office and ask for help and the labels that are planted on one’s back in doing so. I know the absolute sacrifice and total acceptance of one’s responsibility that is needed just to understand what the next step will be towards some sort of normality. I know what it means to wear a uniform and serve our country and the sacrifices that our soldiers make every day and the ultimate sacrifice our soldiers are expected to accept when there is no one else to stand in their shoes through the heat and chaos of conflict. I truly understand what camaraderie means.I know what it is to see the troubled youth of our community desperately need help and their not even knowing it and the harrowing stories of their lives and their truly believing that their experiences are somehow normal. I understand the utmost importance of our quality education system and the one chance we have to get it right for our kids. A teacher does not just stand at the front of a classroom and teach. They lead they counsel they guide they discipline they nurture and they empower. Teachers empower our children. There is no substitute for that.I know these things not because I have read a book about them or because I have worked for an MP who dealt with these issues nor do I know these things because I have heard it through some research that was conducted. I know these things because I have lived them. I have experienced them firsthand. I have walked a mile or more in real people’s shoes who struggle every day—people who serve our country every day people who teach and care for our children every day. Where would we be without these real people? And where would we be without real representation? As I said there are some who may say this political experience being new to me is a disadvantage. Well I say I am in the box seat.I was educated at the University of Auckland following my deep interest in biology and science. I then spent 7 years as a commissioned officer in the army. When I left the army I worked with youth in our community and decided to go back to school and become a qualified teacher. I was teaching biology before I made the step into this House. I stand here in the House of Representatives with the passion to serve and with that real life experience of the real people of this country. I have faced many challenges in the past and now there are many more demanding and unrelenting challenges ahead but one thing my life has taught me is that there is no substitute for hard work passion or sacrifice and there is no greater judge of those three attributes in an individual than within oneself. “To thine own self be true.”The army corps that I was in has a motto that is both profound and simple. It has resonated with me through my life and has made me keep my head at important times. It has made me keep the right perspective and most important it has allowed me to focus on the right motivations and the right pathway to take: “Mana hua te tangata”—by our actions we are known. On this grand stage of politics there is no doubt that the people of New Zealand rightly judge us all by our actions not by our intentions or best wishes and not by our smile or personality. As a wise man once said they do not judge us by the noise we make when we open our mouths and let the wind blow our tongues around. The people of New Zealand judge us by what we do—by our actions and by what we achieve for the cause. There is no greater cause than our country our people and our future. In my time in this House no matter how short or long that may be may I rightly be judged on that.May I close with this: my life has been in the service of others from serving my country in the army and serving youth in my community to serving our children in our classrooms. Becoming an MP in the service of our country seems a natural step. My path to this House and to this seat has been a roller coaster a tumble-dryer and a verifiable litany of opportunity and sacrifice. It has made me realise a few things the most important of which is that sometimes our dreams are not as far away from reality as one might think. Thank you.