McKee NicoleNICOLE McKEE (ACT): Mr Speaker I stand before you before my whānau my friends and my party colleagues in New Zealand as a newly elected ACT MP in this the 53rd Parliament. Before I begin my maiden speech I would like to congratulate you on your reappointment as Speaker of the House and congratulate my fellow members of Parliament for earning your seats across and around this the New Zealand House of Representatives.I have not had any political aspirations nor any intention of becoming a politician—maybe this is my mid-life crisis. I am but a humble wife and a mother of four; a New Zealand sporting representative; and a small-business owner; a hard worker; and a community volunteer; and now I have the privilege of standing within this House as a representative of the people—a role which I respect and I'm proud to have achieved. So thank you to all the voters that have put me here.My gratitude goes out to the board of the ACT Party to the hard-working candidates and the volunteers that made our 2020 election campaign so successful—without you all we would not be in the position that we are in today. We have 10 voices in the House. I am thrilled to be a part of a team that values individualism; less Government interference; and advocates for freedom of speech personal responsibility and property rights. A special thankyou to you David Seymour for your trust your confidence and your persuasiveness to get me into Parliament.As for me well I proudly stand before you all as a product of my upbringing which I owe to my very strong mother Christine Fernie who sits in the gallery today. You see my Pākehā mother married my Māori father but she raised my sister and I on her own. She worked two jobs night and day to afford to buy her first home for us. She worked those two jobs so that her two daughters could play sport have food be clothed wear school uniforms and have a home to return to each day. She told us as we were growing up that we needed to work twice as hard as everybody else because we were Māori and we were female. In the 1970s a single Pākehā mother with two Māori kids did not fit into society well but nevertheless my mother's example taught us to stay true to what we believed in and to stand up for those less fortunate. I remember as a teenager bringing street kids home so they could have a safe place to stay at night and mum tripping over strangers in the living room when she returned from her night job. Mum's aroha was extended to all of those that needed help and all she asked in return was for enough milk to be left in the morning for her coffee. She is proud of me and I am proud of her. I take this opportunity to thank you Mum for the life that you have given me for the empathy that you have taught me for the aroha that you have always shown me and for your patience with me—I have been known to be a bit of a handful at times.I would also like to pay my respects specifically to four of my tipuna—those that have passed but who have shaped me into the person that I have become. I pay tribute to my grandfather Richard Summervale and acknowledge his service in the Second World War. He always gave measured amounts of wisdom and thought encouragement and love and he often reminded me You can have everything taken from you in the blink of an eye but no one can take away what you have in here [Gestures toward head]; only you can own that." Well Grandad I see a real potential now that with hate speech legislation around the corner what we have in here [Gestures toward head] looks set to be restricted when coming out of here [Gestures toward mouth] and our ability to speak our minds may as a result be taken away.My de facto grandparents Din and Viv Collings were stalwarts of the firearms community and I pay my respects to them in the House today. Exceptional people both New Zealand shooting sports representatives with Viv breaking the mould and paving the way for women's participation. It was a sad day for the firearms community when Din passed away; even sadder when Viv left us three weeks later having quite literally died of a broken heart. The pioneering spirit of these two helped develop within me the confidence to step outside of my comfort zone.My stepfather Ian Fernie he was a chef and he gave me the love and support of the father that I was sorely missing. He completed our whānau and introduced three step-siblings into my life. He was a wise man with lots of aroha and who taught me how to cuddle; although Ian didn't have the same patience with me that Mum had—I only lasted one driving lesson and one cooking lesson with him. But Ian did truly complement our whānau and was the best father figure a young girl could have.I'm grateful to be a part of and to have learnt from the lives of my tipuna and I recognise and know that life is just one big classroom with many lessons awaiting all of us.I would not be standing here if I did not receive the blessing of my husband and my children to join the campaign to enter Parliament—my biggest supporters. My endeavours have impacted on all of them but to their credit they stood beside me on this journey often at personal expense. To my husband Duncan McKee I thank you for supporting our whānau and allowing me the privilege of being able to be an at-home mum for eight years bringing up our tribe. You kept a roof over our heads and you helped me learn the skills I needed to navigate through this university of life. Thank you for teaching me to debate issues—and here I was thinking you just liked arguing because you're bored! My motorcycle-racing husband the builder with a law degree who insists on the race bike being housed in our living room you can be the most incongruous man but you have the biggest heart of any that I know. Thank you for insisting that I followed my instincts to back myself and for being the rock that held me in place during some stressful times over the last few years. Thank you for picking me up and tripping me up when I needed it the most. I love you dearly and more every day. Our four children they have also taught me much and I still learn from all of you. Thank you for showing me the love and the respect that you have for our whānau as a unit. I'm so proud of you of the choices you have made the learning that you still undertake the support that you give to your siblings and to your communities your sense of humour and of the beautiful young people that you are. You've always shown respect to your elders; are well-rounded opinionated and confident individuals. Jakarna Kiriahi Rex and Brereton—I am truly blessed to have you. You are the four walls of my whare and your father is the roof that holds us all together. I am a very lucky mother and wife.I also take this opportunity to thank the firearms community especially the entities that make up the Council of Licenced Firearms Owners: 12 of New Zealand's biggest sporting and representative organisations that make up the council known as COLFO—the bodies that provide Olympic Commonwealth Games and world championship competitors—the largest NGO representing licensed firearm owners in New Zealand. You have persevered for a rational approach to firearms legislation wanting to be part of the solution. You have never been the problem despite such accusations by the police the Government and the media. You held strong in your approach through the adversity of not having any meaningful involvement in the legislative process. You represented on behalf of so many affected by the rushed legislative changes and kept calm despite the bias—rational thoughtful thinkers who I have been lucky to work with over the years.The korowai that I wear today was presented to me by COLFO. I wear around my shoulders their hopes and expectations that they will be respected as a part of the New Zealand community and be able to take part fully and properly in the democratic process. They have elected me the task of advocating on their behalf in the manner that I have conducted myself over recent times. The weight of their expectations rests upon me but their respect and support also embraces me tied around my shoulders in a shroud. Two feathers from this korowai fell on to this chair when I first wore it on the day of swearing my oath of allegiance in this House. I keep these feathers in my cabinet here as a constant reminder of the oath I have taken and the community I have sworn to represent.What happened in Christchurch on the ides of March 2019 has caused this country to mourn the loss of innocence of lives and of peace as we knew it. The first tranche of legislation that immediately followed did not bring us together; it drove a wedge through parts of New Zealand society not for the banning of guns but for the blame that was directed at the law-abiding and the way in which it was conducted. The second tranche was also rushed through and this confirmed the Government's attack was aimed at those that comply with the law—whitewashing the failure of police's own processes and procedures in giving a foreign-national terrorist a firearms licence in the first place. The rushed legislation was followed by rushed policy implementation regulations and mountains of errors.Legal firearm owners became the new outlaws fruitlessly justifying their legitimacy while the real outlaws continued with their crimes. Throughout this process the firearms community had not been properly consulted spoken to or asked to sit around any table. I personally attended around 90 percent of the select committee hearings which were quite frankly a joke and a stain on the select committee process. The failures of the rushed arms legislation needs addressing.The reality is the Government has not taken guns off the streets as they claimed they had. We are no safer and the escalating gun violence by criminals remains unchecked. What Government did do was take legitimately owned firearms not from the streets but from police-inspected secure facilities and used taxpayer money to pay for them. What they did do is not wait for the details to explain where the failings occurred but laid blame on members of the team of 5 million for the actions of a foreign national.I would like to believe that in this House we all actually have the same end goal of keeping New Zealanders safe. We may have differences on how to achieve this but with good strategy and fair laws we can reach our mutual goal. My advice to the Government is to take the time to listen to all sides before making decisions. Hear the real stories and don't be wooed by the fairy tales. Represent all not just the majority that got you here to govern alone. Show respect to the full team of 5 million and stop hammering the minorities. Working for the end goal as a collective recognising there is a little give and take if you are to truly have a democracy.I will be a part of the ACT Party that will hold this Government to account over this coming term. Be prepared to hear the voices of 10 not one over the next three years not only opposing but proposing new initiatives and ideas in the expectation that we can achieve the same end goal on many issues. I am humbled to stand here amongst my peers in front of my whānau and friends in a room that commemorates our battles so we never forget what was endured to keep us free. I promise to do my best and give my all for my country: Aotearoa New Zealand. Thank you.[Applause]Waiata"