Address in Reply 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Address in Reply 
[Sitting date: 16 February 2012. Volume:677;Page:499. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Address in Reply 
Debate resumed from 15 February. 
Dr PAUL HUTCHISON (National—Hunua) 
: 
 It gives me great pleasure to speak in this Address in Reply debate because of the excellent record of the National Government over the last 3 years and because of the extremely well-crafted 120-point economic development plan which heralds such a bright future for all New Zealanders. But I must say I was somewhat concerned last Tuesday when I heard some somewhat vacuous huffing and puffing from the deputy leader of the Labour Party Grant Robertson the member for Wellington Central when he said after a 10-minute tirade that in his view all the National Government could do was sell cut and hope. That is why Mr Robertson has only 33 colleagues sitting on those benches over there and if he continues with the lack of insight he displayed last week there will be some fewer members left next time around.  
What was extraordinary about Mr Robertson’s lack of insight was that he failed to recognise that election 2011 was all about a National Government that was committed and determined to balance the books by 2014 committed and determined to achieve economic growth through a sustainable 120-point plan and committed and determined to follow prudential financial management versus a Labour Opposition which seemed hell-bent committed and determined to spend more borrow more get money from wherever it could and tax more at a time when this was clearly against the short- medium- and long-term interests of New Zealand.  
The other thing that was notable about the Opposition was that it accused both the Prime Minister and members from this side of failing to address the social issues. It is as though the Labour Opposition has this myopic feeling that it possesses the high ground on social justice and other such things. How wrong could it be! We have just seen a landmark initiative from the Hon Paula Bennett in initiating the extremely important Green Paper for Vulnerable Children. It is of extreme importance to all New Zealanders.  
Everyone in this House knows that child outcomes have deteriorated in New Zealand relative to OECD statistics over the last 30 years since the 1960s and everybody in this House knows that probably in the order of 15 to 20 percent of our children will not achieve their full potential or will not realise their dreams unless a huge amount of effort is put into solving what has gone on for decades. It is a particularly difficult situation and it will not be solved easily. However the Hon Paula Bennett is holding meetings throughout the country that are extremely well attended and she is giving ordinary Kiwis the opportunity to turn up and show what they believe is important in solving these fundamentally serious situations for New Zealand.  
I would say to all members of this House that they should take note of that. They should read the green paper and hopefully they too can contribute by a submission to the green paper. It is extremely politically neutral in the way it has been written and it does indeed give a great opportunity— 
Su’a William Sio 
: I want you to be the Minister. 
Dr PAUL HUTCHISON 
: —for a contribution and I am sure Su’’a William Sio over there will be doing exactly that. He attended the meeting in Mangere and I very much hope he will be a major contributor.  
There is indeed a groundswell throughout New Zealand that improving outcomes for children is a major major issue in New Zealand and does require a far greater priority than successive Governments have put to it over the last few decades. That is why the National Government has demonstrated its willingness to improve child outcomes by forming a high-level ministerial group on poverty by agreeing to hold a Maori Affairs Committee inquiry into the determinants of well-being for Maori children by initiating the green paper and—only yesterday—by initiating a Health Committee inquiry into what practical health and social interventions can be made to prevent child abuse and promote child well-being from conception until 3 years of age which is the most vital time to prevent problems developing. 
 As a young house surgeon at Middlemore Hospital several decades ago I am afraid to say—I admit that—it was deeply impressed on me the predictability of cycles of disadvantages that were going to occur. In the antenatal clinics I would see these young women and their babies. They were clearly highly at risk. Sadly often they would be single they would have tattoos they would be smokers they would be addicted to drugs and they would often be in the lower socio-economic group. Again sadly a higher proportion of them would be Maori or Pacific Islanders.  
Those children having been born would often go to suboptimal housing. They would often go to homes where their ear infections were not treated where their sores were not treated where they did not get their immunisations or their Well Child checks. They went to school they did not learn well and they would finally leave school without appropriate qualifications. They could not get a job they turned to crime and they got caught because they could not even hear the policeman coming.  
It is worthwhile pointing out that a study by a fellow called Bowers in the 1980s of the muster at Mt Eden Prison showed that 90 percent of the muster had some sort of hearing defect and there were 15 to 20 of those prisoners wandering around with chronically suppurating ears. These are the very things that we have got to solve. All the literature—the scientific the psychological the educative the judicial—points to early intervention. That is why it is so important that the Government’s initiatives on vulnerable children must be carried through and hopefully the whole Parliament will get behind it. That is why the Maori Affairs Committee inquiry into improving Maori children’s outcomes is so important and that is why the Health Committee inquiry into practical evidence-based outcomes that can be taken from the earliest stage is of extreme importance and gives all members of this House an opportunity to contribute.  
Finally I just wanted to say that clearly the economic influences to resource excellent health education and social services are not everything; practical focus on the economy and on economic growth is absolutely vital. It is vital and fundamental that this National Government is determined to sustained economic growth through this very well-crafted economic development plan through prudential financial management and through balancing the books by 2014-15. This is particularly important in these very uncertain economic times and it is particularly important for us to ensure that there are practical resources behind making the outcomes for children in New Zealand better than they are at present. 
CHARLES CHAUVEL (Labour) 
: 
 Mr Deputy Speaker I want to congratulate you and your fellow presiding officers on your re-elections to office and also to all returning members to the House congratulations on your re-elections and to all new members congratulations on your elections. To the new members who have already made their maiden speeches congratulations—particularly to my four Labour colleagues David Clark Andrew Little Dr Megan Woods and Rino Tirikatene on the superb speeches that they made the other night in the House—and also to all the other members who have made their maiden speeches. To those who have not yet made maiden speeches best of luck. It is a great experience and one to really treasure.  
I feel it is a great privilege to be able to speak in the Address in Reply debate to the Speech from the Throne and particularly to support the amendment that has been moved by my friend and colleague our new leader David Shearer. I want to read the amendment in full because it merits repeating: “and the National-led Government will sell New Zealand’s assets against the will of the public; the Government has no ideas to create jobs or a clean and innovative New Zealand; that the Government is widening the gap between the very rich and the rest and therefore this House has no confidence in the National-led government.” That amendment has my wholehearted support and that of my colleagues and it has been reinforced by the handling of the Crafar farms affair.  
It is useful I think to just mention a bit of the background to that matter. The Shanghai Pengxin company made an offer for the Crafar farms. That was accepted by receivers KordaMentha early last year but it was conditional on Shanghai Pengxin getting Overseas Investment Office approval. It should be remembered that those farms total nearly 8000 hectares and they comprise 16 central and southern North Island properties. They have been in receivership for more than 2 years.  
The receivers gave Shanghai Pengxin until 31 January 2011 to make its offer understood to be worth between $210 million and $220 million unconditional. On Friday 20 January the Overseas Investment Office did provide its recommendation on the sale to the Minister for Land Information the Hon Maurice Williamson and Associate Minister of Finance the Hon Jonathan Coleman. After this Shanghai Pengxin waited until 27 January 2012 for the Ministers involved to reach a decision to allow the purchase to proceed.  
The success of the bid relied heavily on the involvement of Landcorp a State-owned enterprise in operating the farms as Shanghai Pengxin could not prove that it had any relevant experience and skill in farming practices. It is understood that Landcorp on behalf of the taxpayer had agreed to pay $18 million a year effectively to rent the farms back from Shanghai Pengxin. Landcorp of course had earlier bid for the farms but was unsuccessful.  
A Kiwi consortium last year offered $171.5 million for the farms to be divided amongst members of the consortium. Receivers said the offer was too cheap and KordaMentha reminded everybody concerned that it was legally obliged to try for the highest price for the estate. That was the decision that was taken to the Overseas Investment Office; that was the matter that was taken on to the High Court judicial review on 3 February. The decision yesterday by Justice Miller to overturn the Shanghai Pengxin sale means that the office must reconsider its recommendation in light of the interpretation that was set out by the High Court in its decision.  
There are three points that I think it is worth having on the record of the House about the decision. In setting aside the decision the court said first that the Ministers involved misdirected themselves on the law and that the essence of the misdirection was that comparing Shanghai Pengxin’s bid only against the status quo of the farms rather than against what another New Zealand investor would do with them—which was deemed likely to be similar to Shanghai Pengxin’s development plans—was a fundamental error.  
Hon Maurice Williamson 
: The same process Labour had used during its time in office. 
CHARLES CHAUVEL 
: Then Ministers ignored—and we hear from one of the Ministers in error that this was a process that has been used down the ages. Well actually he knows that is not right because it is not the process that the Hon David Parker employed in respect of the Auckland International Airport. He did something that that Minister refused to do—apply his own judgment in the national interest to the decision. Instead of just saying “We will flog it to the highest bidder because that suits us.” he asked what was actually in New Zealand’s national interest and that is the difference between the previous administration under Labour and the current administration. We actually did think about what mattered for New Zealand and we made decisions accordingly.  
The second key part of the decision of Justice Miller was that Ministers were held to have ignored clear evidence of the benefits that would accrue should the land remain in New Zealand ownership. Given that economic benefits would also be realised if the farms were sold to a New Zealand buyer the Shanghai Pengxin bid could not claim to be adding substantial benefit to the country and that is a basic and fundamental problem with the reasoning process used by the Ministers.  
Finally—and I think most damningly—the Ministers’ error was not a mere technicality and the economic benefits caused by the overseas investment were materially overstated. It is going to be very hard despite what we have heard in answers to questions to Ministers when this decision has to be taken again for that bid to be upheld—very very hard indeed. The High Court’s decision to overturn the sale shows that National simply got it wrong and in doing so as I said earlier just ignored the best interests of New Zealanders.  
It is worse than that because if one looks at the entire process there are some suspicions that are naturally arising as a result of the way in which the process was handled. It seems pretty clear actually stepping back that the Government always intended to sell this valuable land to Shanghai Pengxin despite clear evidence that it was not the right decision for New Zealand. John Key has repeatedly claimed that the law did not allow him or his Ministers to overrule a recommendation made by the Overseas Investment Office to approve the Chinese consortium’s application. That is plainly wrong and that is certainly very different to the sort of reasoning process employed for example by David Parker. Justice Miller’s decision shows that John Key’s claim was wrong and that this was simply a way of justifying erroneous decision-making on the part of the two Ministers whom I have referred to. Ministers do have the ability—clear ability—to turn down recommendations by the Overseas Investment Office.  
The test is very clear in the Act. They are not entitled to depart from the tests in the Act but they are entitled and required to apply their own judgment to that test. In fact the Act goes so far as to say that once they have received the advice from the office they can consult with whomever they like in reaching their final decision. There is simply no evidence that either of these Ministers applied the independent judgment in the interests of the country that we would expect them to.  
We on this side of the House said that the decision to sell to Shanghai Pengxin was wrong. It was not in New Zealand’s national interest. We all want foreign direct investment but we do not want to sell valuable land to foreign investors only to see profits that could have been reaped by New Zealand farmers and injected into our own economy heading offshore.  
John Key has repeatedly warned that there is a risk that New Zealanders could become tenants in our own land. Well this is now his chance to make sure that that does not happen in this case. We need to be setting a high standard for any further investment. We need an absolute assurance that any investment will add more value and provide more opportunities for New Zealanders and above all we need competent Ministers with a plan to build a prosperous fair and vibrant society. 
Hon Maurice Williamson 
: So you ran that ruler over the Shania Twain bid? 
CHARLES CHAUVEL 
: Sadly despite the shouts and shrieks from the Ministers concerned who now seem very wise after the event the sad thing about this case is that it shows that we do not have a cadre of Ministers with those skills or that commitment as members of the second Key National Government. That is why I wholeheartedly support the amendment that David Shearer has moved to the motion. 
Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN (Minister of Defence) 
: 
 Mr Deputy Speaker I must say it is great to be back in Parliament. I want to congratulate you on your elevation in your case and your fellow officers on their positions and on the re-election of the Speaker. I would like to say to the new members across the House from whatever party welcome to Parliament. We have had a great range of maiden speeches from a range of members and I am very much looking forward to some great speeches this afternoon from the new National members. We are bringing in some real quality people and I think those people have great careers ahead of them. I also want to acknowledge the many National Party members and supporters in the gallery today who have come from all around the country to hear those maiden speeches.  
I cannot let that last speech go without pointing out one or two things. The thing that really struck me is that those guys over there did one thing in Government and are now saying another thing in Opposition. Of course there is a word for that but we do not need to go into that. But the facts bear this out. Under the first term of this National Government 100000 hectares of land were sold. Under the 9 years of the Labour Government 666000 hectares— 
Hon Maurice Williamson 
: How much? 
Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN 
: —of land were sold—666000 hectares. In 1 year alone 2006 those people in Government sold 383000 hectares of land. So for Charles Chauvel to get up now and say that he is opposed to land sales to foreigners is nothing more than cheap politics—below-the-belt politics. The reality is and I can tell you Mr Shearer does not actually believe this stuff because he is a person with a wider international perspective on things. He knows that New Zealand has to grow that we need foreign direct investment. But the problem is he cannot have his voice heard in that caucus because it is the hard-nosed political people like Trevor Mallard who are pulling the strings.  
What was really interesting when you heard Charles Chauvel’s speech there was that he was talking about the tests that were applied in this case. Well the thing is the tests that were applied were exactly the same ones that were used by David Parker and all the other Labour Ministers who were involved in land consent applications during the 9 years of the Labour Government. Suddenly they are saying that the way it has been done all along is so wrong and this Government has got it so wrong but somehow they had it right. I do not think that can possibly add up.  
So I think the public are going to see this for what it is but what these people over there need to know is that when David Shearer goes to Auckland and goes to Chinese New Year and says gong xi fa cai those people will know that the Labour Party is anti-Chinese. That is the sad fact. That is how it is going to be portrayed in Beijing that if we ever get a Labour Government here— 
Todd McClay 
: Except when they want their money. 
Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN 
: Of course—except when these people want donations. These people want to live in a small insular New Zealand that does not look outward. They are being increasingly influenced by the Greens and I can tell you their concept of economic sovereignty is the road to economic ruin. So they are a party— 
Hon Maryan Street 
: Grow up and be a Minister! 
Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN 
: —and you can tell by how agitated Maryan Street is that we are really hitting the nail here—that when it is in Government it does something totally different.  
There is another example that has been brought to our attention. The Major Events Management Act 2007 is a very important Act which quite rightfully was designed to stop scalping at major events. When it was brought in the sponsor of that bill the Hon Trevor Mallard was very clear about why that legislation was needed. He said: “Scalping is a rip-off—” 
Hon Maryan Street 
: Find somebody to punch on the nose Jonathan! 
Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN 
: Maryan Street said she wants to come and punch me on the nose so we are really hitting the point here—“Scalping is a rip-off that could deny many people the opportunity to see an event.” That is what Trevor Mallard said—“Scalping is a rip-off …”. So it came as a great surprise today for people to pick up the front page of the  
Dominion Post  
and see the “King of Uber-cool” New Zealand’s hippest 57-year-old Trevor Mallard being accused here of selling tickets for a profit online. Is that not sad? Just like with asset sales Labour ex-Ministers do one thing in Government but when it suits them—in this case for personal financial gain—they are very happy to do something else. And I can imagine the shock that these young Wellingtonians got when they were called to Trevor Mallard’s contraband ticket office the Naenae electorate office for Hutt South and found the “King of Uber-cool” coming out—no doubt in his tight black T-shirt getting down with the kids— 
Todd McClay 
: In his leather trousers. 
Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN 
: Well I do not know but he was flogging off these tickets at an exorbitant price. If that is about creating a more equal society well I think the more equal society is frankly empty rhetoric on that side.  
Quite frankly it is a complete disgrace and I feel sorry for Mr Shearer because he is a good man. He was one of my constituents and I am pretty sure he voted for me. He has now moved to the Mt Albert electorate but he is a good man and the Labour Party does not deserve David Shearer. He is too good for these people. But he made a choice a long time ago he set out his stall and now he is stuck with this bunch of losers over there. I can tell you that those people are a long long way from Government.  
But there is good news too because today we have had the Budget Policy Statement. Look the Budget Policy Statement shows that we are on track economically. John Key the best Prime Minister that this country has ever had said he would get the economics of this country on the right track. [ 
Interruption 
] The new New Zealand First member Tracey Martin can go and have a read of this; it is a very good piece of paper—in fact a number of pieces of paper. We are on track to post a surplus of $370 million by 2014-15—responsible management of the finances that Labour was never able to deliver. It wasted 9 years squandering every single opportunity. We could be so far ahead if it had not raided the cookie jar year after year to buy off votes from every community imaginable.  
There is an essential choice that the voters of New Zealand made at the general election. They voted for the mixed-ownership model because unlike these guys the New Zealand public understands we have to get debt down. But we have also got to build infrastructure. We have got $250 billion worth of assets and what we are going to do in order to buy infrastructure that the country needs is partially float four of those companies. What I want to know Maryan Street if this is such a bad idea while you guys were in office why did you not buy back the 25 percent of Air New Zealand that—[ 
Interruption 
] Yep see she is playing the violin. Why did they not do it? The fact is they had the opportunity. Their opposition to this is purely political but if they had their way they would be borrowing more. We would be getting into more debt. We would be going down the route of Greece Ireland Spain and Portugal.  
We are on track and we are on track because we are making the decisions that are right for New Zealand. So I am very proud to be a member of this National-led Government. The future is excellent for New Zealand if we stick to the economic track that we are on. If these people ever get back in charge I can tell you the outlook is not going to be good at all. But fortunately what I can assure members and the public is that these people are so far away from making an impact it is negligible—years away. I do not think that the next Labour Prime Minister frankly is even in the Parliament. In fact who is the Leader of the Opposition? 
Hon Member 
: Who is he? 
Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN 
: I do not know. Is it Winston? 
Dr Cam Calder 
: It could be. 
Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN 
: Well it could be. It could be the leader of the Green Party because that is a leaderless rabble.  
Paul Hutchison talked about the 120-point economic plan. It is about economic growth it is about looking outwards and it is about getting investment into New Zealand and growing the economy. That myopic look that says: “Don’t come here if you are a Chinese investor please.” that is not going to work. We have got to get the capital into this country we have got to raise exports we have got to get the country going. It needs clear-sighted vision and that is what the mixed-ownership model is bringing—a very clear view on what New Zealand needs.  
So those are my remarks. We have laid out our stall: a clear plan a clear delivery. The public are behind us. It is the way to go. 
TODD McCLAY (National—Rotorua) 
: 
 It is a great pleasure to rise and speak in this Address in Reply debate. Can I start by saying that it is going to be a very hard act to follow that wonderful delightful entertaining visionary speech from the Minister Jonathan Coleman— 
Hon Maryan Street 
: You’ll be all right Todd. Don’t worry. You’ll be all right. 
TODD McCLAY 
: —but I will do my very best Maryan Street; you are absolutely right. But that was an excellent speech. The Minister touched on all of the points that were important to New Zealanders last year before the election—all of the reasons why New Zealanders turned out in their droves to support this party and the Prime Minister and to say “We want more of that for another 3 years.”  
Can I say that it is great to be back and it is enjoyable to be back in this House to join with my colleagues and particularly to join with other members of Parliament here from all parties as we look towards the next 3 years to work hard collectively and separately to make New Zealand a better place. I particularly want to recognise the role of the Speaker and the deputies and assistants to congratulate the Speaker on his election and reappointment and to say that we look forward to more time with him in the Chair.  
Can I recognise the new members of Parliament who have come here and particularly members from the Green Party. I thoroughly enjoyed their maiden speeches yesterday although not as much perhaps as my colleague on my right Cam Calder. But can I say it is good to see new members coming here and talking a bit about why they have come to this House and what brought them here and so on.  
I want to recognise members of New Zealand First the new members to the House and their contributions in their maiden speeches. They too were enjoyable. I want to welcome back the Rt Hon Winston Peters who has come back to the House and also of course to welcome back the Hon John Banks. They are brothers at times—perhaps in the past. It is good to see those members back. We may not agree on everything but it is good to have members of the House who will come here and debate issues honestly. May I wish them well in that.  
Can I recognise four members of Labour who are new to this Parliament and who gave their maiden speeches yesterday; today we have seven new members of National who will make their speeches—7-4. That would have been a good score some years ago in a Rugby World Cup when the All Blacks were playing Australia or somebody else. I want to reflect on that for a moment. Here we are a National Government in a second term which in the last 3 years went through with New Zealand some very difficult times: the global financial crisis the steepest recession New Zealand has faced in 60 years great heartache to New Zealand and New Zealanders with the devastation of the earthquakes and the very sad loss of life in Christchurch. But here we are with seven new members of the National caucus making their speeches today and well done to them.  
That is a bit about rejuvenation. Three years ago we saw rejuvenation for New Zealand when New Zealanders in droves—the largest vote ever cast for any party under MMP—decided they wanted a change of direction and they wanted a brighter future. And here we are with seven new National MPs to make their speeches today—rejuvenation after only one term.  
On the Opposition side in Labour there are four new members. Actually there were some very good speeches there but only four of them. What happened to Labour over that last 3 years when it decided that it was about listening to New Zealanders rejuvenating and bringing in new blood? Well I feel very sorry for some of their hard-working MPs who 3 years ago made their maiden speeches with some of my colleagues—some very intelligent MPs who are no longer in this place. So there is some work to do.  
Can I say that in mentioning Mr Peters we should actually have a vote in this House about who the real Leader of the Opposition is because I think based upon what has happened so far over the last 2 weeks it is not clear that the party in Opposition with the largest number of votes would necessarily win there. If we think about— 
Hon Maurice Williamson 
: I’ll go with the Australian. I’m going to vote for the Australian. 
TODD McCLAY 
: Mr Williamson would vote for the Australian—very good. Can I say here that over the last 2 weeks when we think about question time and about the Opposition holding the Government to account we see that the largest party in this House Labour has been woefully neglectful and absent. And can I say that although we will not always agree with everything that happens from all parties in this House if nothing more it has been interesting and entertaining to listen to the Rt Hon Winston Peters. I say to his colleagues that they too have a very important role to play. You see the thing about Opposition is that it is not always about opposing everything; it is about finding ways that we can work together putting the politics aside from time to time and finding ways that we can work together.  
New Zealand First members have a list MP based in the Bay of Plenty—Brendan Horan—and I had a chance to talk to him for the first time last week and welcome him to Parliament on behalf of parts of the Bay of Plenty and with my National colleagues in all the other seats in the Bay of Plenty which not only did we hold before but we were able to continue to hold in this election. I talked to him about putting aside some of our individual political issues and finding ways to work together more closely so that we can do better for New Zealanders. And I look forward to being able to do that with New Zealand First members.  
Finally I want to get on to a bit of the detail of some of the things the Government has set out to do but before I do I want to focus on one thing and that is the leader of the Labour Party David Shearer. He came into Parliament at the same time as some of us a short 3 years ago—3 years and a few months. I really got to know him only when we played in the Parliamentary cricket game in Cambridge a couple of years ago. It strikes me that that is about the same amount of knowledge that most New Zealanders have on him. But do I wish him well? Absolutely. It seems that he was demoted or dropped from the Big Gay Out last week. I did not see a lot of coverage there. Breakfast TV—in the headlines today  
Breakfast 
 has decided that as leader of Labour and Leader of the Opposition he is not that interesting so they might not be able to give him a slot every week on  
Breakfast 
. A prediction for you— 
Hon Maurice Williamson 
: Oh. 
TODD McCLAY 
: It is a bit of a shame because I saw him on TV this morning and when he was speaking to New Zealanders I felt my majority in the Rotorua electorate going up. So I would like to keep him there. A plea to  
Breakfast 
 and TVNZ: give him some more time for the good of our majorities.  
Here is a prediction for the next 3 years. In the next 3 years when we have shown New Zealanders that we have continued to work hard for them and deliver on the commitments and promises we made to them during this last election campaign when they re-elected us to govern this country I guarantee that when we get there and it is time to consider John Key as Prime Minister his commitments to New Zealand and New Zealanders and the very hard work that he and this Government has done on their behalves it will not be David Shearer on the other side that he is up against. There is my prediction: David Shearer is gone from the Big Gay Out and dumped from  
Breakfast 
 and I do not think it will be very long before he is finding another seat on that side a row or two back. I wish him the very best because he was quite a good cricket player a year or so ago in Cambridge but that is about all I remember of him. It is about all that the people of Cambridge probably know about him as well. Where is Winston Peters when we need a real Leader of the Opposition?  
What I want to say is that these 3 years are about economic development for New Zealand something that was woefully lacking over the 9 years of the last Labour Government. We started under very difficult circumstances in the last 3 years delivered on every promise and every commitment we made as a party to New Zealanders and now we must focus. In roading we must do more work. A great start—$12 billion invested over 10 years. In the Bay of Plenty a brand new road that will go from the Te Puke area—the Te Puke bypass I call it—between Rotorua and Tauranga to the port will cut out about 24 or 25 minutes from a return journey. That is great if you want to go and visit the beautiful part of the Bay of Plenty and the coastline or Tauranga and so on but it is important for our economy in that area of New Zealand where we produce a lot of trees and a lot of goods that go to the port. That road will cut down the time it takes for us to get our goods to the port. We therefore will be more productive. When we are more productive we can be more competitive and that will be more money back into the Bay of Plenty. Roads of national significance are also an important part of that.  
Broadband and communications—wonderful. Last year before the election they started digging trenches in Rotorua and in 33 other towns and cities around New Zealand for ultra-fast broadband. New Zealanders cannot wait for this to happen and be delivered because for far too long we were left with inadequate ways to communicate with the world and with each other. Rural broadband as well—$300 million the Government will be investing into this. I was told by some of my constituents in a rural area where their cellphones have never worked under the 9 years of the previous Labour Government that a new tower is going up their cellphones will work and they will get internet coverage faster than actually posting a letter. That was what it was like before under the Labour Government in rural areas: it was quicker to post a letter and get a response sometimes. Rural broadband is very important for us to reform our economy and give us some of the advantages that we need so that we can grow.  
Taking away red tape and bureaucracy—the Resource Management Act. We completed some significant reform there previously but there is a lot more to do to free up New Zealanders to get on with their lives and business at the same time continuing to protect our wonderful environment. Time is almost up. Can I say to those who have come— 
Darien Fenton 
: Thank goodness. 
TODD McCLAY 
: I will take a little bit more if you want me to. Can I say to those who have come to listen to maiden speeches that you are very welcome here; this is your House. It is great to see some friends come and support our new MPs. As with all colleagues on this side of the House I look forward to the next 3 years of a John Key - led National Government delivering for New Zealanders and working hard for New Zealanders. It is going to be an exciting 3 years as we work towards a brighter future. Kia ora. Thank you. 
Hon Dr NICK SMITH (Minister for the Environment) 
: 
 Can I begin this Address in Reply speech today in congratulating Todd McClay not just on that speech but actually on the stunning result that was achieved in Rotorua a seat that was previously held by Labour. A big increase in his majority over 7400 and actually typical of results right through provincial New Zealand where that middle group of New Zealanders strongly back the programme that this Government has set down under the leadership of John Key. Can I join other members and congratulate the new members of this House. I am particularly proud to be here as a National member and to see that new generation coming through with National and a whole range of very very talented people coming into this Parliament to make a contribution. The part that makes me particularly proud as part of this National Government is the extent to which on this side of the House there is an understanding of the challenges that face our country. I have to say that I do worry that those on the opposite side of the House have no idea of the challenges economically that our country faces the problems that we have incurred over the last decade and the importance for the future of our country that we get our economy growing more strongly.  
The Government in the Address in Reply debate has set out four really important priorities in this term of Parliament about responsibly managing a Government’s finances—about as we saw today with the Budget Policy Statement getting New Zealand books back into the black sooner and faster. When I look around the world and I see how many countries in the world are going to have their books in the black by 2014-15 there are very few and I am proud to be part of this Government that is achieving that. What surprises me is that in every question from Opposition members in every speech I hear lots of promises about how they will spend more money but very little about how they will actually grow the economy particularly the productive sector. That is the only way in which we can secure the incomes the jobs and the prosperity for the future.  
There has also been a huge focus across the ministerial team around building a more competitive and productive economy and about building better public services and I want to talk about that in some detail with respect to my own portfolios. And of course there is the huge challenge for this country and for this Parliament and Government of rebuilding Christchurch for which there is such a strong commitment and for which I pay tribute to the work of the Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Gerry Brownlee who I think every person in this House acknowledges has got one of the toughest jobs over the next 3 years. 
 A key part of the Government’s programme is about improving public services and improving New Zealand’s productivity. I want to talk for a moment about the challenges in the local government sector. You see one of the big concerns we have is that the productive part of our economy has actually been in recession going all the way back to 2002. If we look at our core exporting industries we see that the extra costs and impositions that were placed on them during the term of the previous Labour Government have seen those sectors stagnate and the big areas of growth have been both central and local government. I note for instance that over the last decade the single biggest increase in costs for households and businesses has been the increase in rates. For the last 10 years that increase has been at 6.85 percent per annum. That is more than double the rate of inflation and I want to reflect on the changes that were made in all the local government legislation in 2002. 
Sue Moroney 
: What are you going to do about it? 
Hon Dr NICK SMITH 
: I invite the member who is interjecting to go back and read the  
Hansard 
 of what the Labour Government said at the time. What the Labour Government said at the time was that those measures were actually going to generate cost savings. They have done the opposite. Let me put it this way. If rate increases over the last decade had been at the same level they had been for the previous decade prior to those changes Labour made the New Zealand annual rates bill would be a billion dollars—a billion dollars—a year less. What is more if we talk in terms of households that are under pressure in terms of their costs and their standard of living those changes have brought about $500 a year in increased rates for the average household over and above what they would be if those rate increases had been what they were through the previous decade.  
I want to challenge the member on a further concern and that is in terms of the level of debt within the local government sector. I have to say that debt is the issue of our time whether it be household debt whether it be country debt or whether it be debt within local government. This Government has been successful—we have seen over the last 2 years household debt come down after it burgeoned in the term of the previous Labour Government and what we have seen in terms of the farm sector is debt plateau over the last 3 years. But although the Government has been successful my worry is that over the same period we have seen local government debt not just go up but go up by ever-increasing amounts. Since the Local Government Act changes that were made by members opposite we have seen local government debt quadruple from $2 billion to $8 billion and continuing to rise. So I say—and members on this side of the House say—that ongoing growth in that debt is not right and that it will compromise the capacity for New Zealand to move forward and to be able to grow competitively.  
The first thing we need to do in response to the member’s question is go back and have a fresh look at those changes that Labour made to broaden the role of local government. I say to the member opposite that those changes that were made in 2002 which imposed very large compliance costs on our councils and expanded the role of local government far more widely have come with a very expensive cost for New Zealand households and New Zealand businesses and that is something this Government is looking to reform.  
I also want to draw attention to what has occurred around wage costs. If we look at the latest labour cost index this is what it shows. [ 
Interruption 
] If members would listen they might learn something. Over the course of the last Labour Government labour costs in the State sector and in the local government sector grew significantly faster than they did in the private sector. What this Government has been successful in doing is bringing back those increasing labour costs within those core Government agencies.  
But what worries me is this. Over the last 3 years the labour costs in the local government sector have been increasing at more than double the rate of those in the central government sector. It is our view that the same fiscal discipline that this Government has brought to central government’s books needs to be translated into the local government sector so that we can get those efficiency gains. We actually need both central and local government containing their costs. We need central and local government supporting those core productive industries that actually create the wealth for this country the jobs and the future prospects we wish for in this country of ours.  
The John Key - led Government over the last 3 years has shown that it is up to the challenges that this country faces in very difficult times. What the Government has set out in the Address in Reply debate is the changes we intend to make in a number of sectors to improve the competitiveness of this country. We as a close-knit team are united in our wish to raise New Zealand’s living standards and to provide the sort of policies that will mean that this country is able to prosper and go forward. I am looking forward this year to some of those local government changes that can assist in that bigger picture of making sure this country can be the best little country on earth. 
SUE MORONEY (Labour) 
: 
 On the first occasion that I have spoken in Parliament during this parliamentary term can I take the opportunity to congratulate you Mr Assistant Speaker Tisch on your role and all the team from the Speaker’s office. I look forward to a rewarding year of debate under your direction. Can I also take the opportunity to congratulate all returning members who have been elected to the House again for this parliamentary term; I look forward to engaging with all returning members in a high level of debate because we have many important issues in front of us. I want to particularly congratulate the new members of Parliament. We have had many fine maiden speeches already and I look forward to the balance resuming this afternoon. 
I do want to say that the last three speakers in this debate have been pretty interesting. I think they have actually personified that arrogance of the second term of the National-led Government. We have had Jonathan Coleman Todd McClay and Nick Smith—the arrogance of this new National Government personified. In fact Dr Smith spent much of his speech pouring scorn on the local bodies up and down this country and not telling us what he was prepared to do about the problem he was identifying. Is that not typical of the arrogance of National members? They identify the problems say it is all Labour’s fault and do not have one plan or one specific idea about what to do with the problem. Dr Smith spent almost all of his 10 minutes enlarging on that problem. It does make me wonder what is waiting in the wings there and I get the very clear impression that wage cuts for people working for local bodies is very much on the agenda of the National Government. Looking at the body language of the members opposite I would say that I can now definitely confirm that wage cuts for that sector are very much on the agenda. So New Zealand families will not be relishing the prospect of even less money going into the pockets of families in their communities and therefore the winding down of services even further in their communities. That is what we have got ahead of us. 
But having said that I start this parliamentary term being remarkably optimistic actually. Call me Pollyanna if you like but I am optimistic about this year. Things have to get better.  
Hon Kate Wilkinson 
: They can’t get worse for Labour. 
SUE MORONEY 
: They cannot get worse; things must get better for New Zealand this year in 2012. This is the year that the Government gets to come good on its promise to build and deliver that brighter future it has promised New Zealand. The year 2012 is New Zealand’s year because this is the year that the Government must get it right. This has been dragging on for too long. It is dragging on for so long that unemployment has continued to go through the roof in this country. It has dragged on for so long that costs continue to escalate. It has been dragging on for so long that there is no plan coming from the Government to actually rectify those issues that families and ordinary working people face every day of their lives. Because yes they have lost their jobs and yes where they have been lucky enough not to lose their jobs they have lost hours and therefore income. But have their costs decreased? No way. In fact costs have increased thanks to that Government and its decision without consulting the New Zealand public to increase GST on everything that those families have to purchase; their costs have continued to increase much more dramatically than their incomes have. In fact for those families—those thousands of families—who now find themselves in the dole queue and for those other thousands of families who find that their hours at work have been cut over the last 3 years and therefore their incomes have reduced they have faced a double whammy. They have faced the double whammy of losing income and having costs increase. The members opposite might sit there and think that is not their fault. They may well think that it is some external thing like the global recession but they all voted— 
Mike Sabin 
: Nine years of Labour. 
SUE MORONEY 
: Oh well there you go. According to the new member it is Labour’s fault. Well you know they can blame whatever they like—Labour the global recession—but they are running out of excuses. This is the year that the Government must get it right because for too long New Zealanders have been suffering from a lack of a plan from our Government. So this is the year that I am optimistic it must come out with a plan and it must tell us what the plan is. The plan cannot be asset sales because it is really clear—and the vast majority of New Zealanders already know this—that asset sales are not the way out. It is not the way out but it is always the answer from National because it is exactly the same solution it came up with in the 1990s and before that. It never fails to surprise me and I guess I should get over this how often it is—and it does not matter what the circumstances are—that National always comes up with the same solution. The solution is this: cut taxes cut public services and then sell your assets. It did that in the 1990s and it is doing it again now. It is the only formula National members know. They roll it out in every single circumstance and Maurice Williamson knows it. He was involved in it as a Minister last time and he is going: “Wow is this ever déjà vu!”. This was happening the last time Maurice Williamson was in Cabinet and here we go again. So Maurice Williamson knows all about this. 
It has not been a good start though. As optimistic as I would like to be the Government has not made a good start. Just look at the shambles of what has been happening this year. Already just this week the Government’s asset sales agenda is looking a bit shaky. I think $10 billion was the highest estimate it gave that it was going to reap from those sales. Not only do New Zealanders not want their assets to be sold—and they do not want to buy them because they already own them—but now they are realising that the whole financial case on which it has been based is actually quite shaky and we have seen that again this week.  
We have also have seen this week that John Key has come a bit of a cropper on his election advert hour with Radio Live—a whole hour of election adverts that he claimed was not an election advert but which turned out to be exactly that. But that is not all: let us talk about broadcasting scandals this week because the other scandal is that his electorate chairman appears to have been involved with politically interfering in the use of taxpayer money— 
Hon Maryan Street 
: In donkey deep. 
SUE MORONEY 
: They are in donkey deep. Broadcasting has been a pretty big issue already this week so the Government has not got off to a good start.  
And then there is the shambles over the Crafar farms decision. There is a shambles over that. The High Court—the judiciary for goodness’ sake—has come to save the New Zealand public from its own Government. The judiciary has had to step in and do what that Government should be doing on behalf of New Zealanders. It is the judiciary that has had to say that the Government has not made the right decision and the best decision in the economic interests of New Zealanders. The judiciary has had to instruct that Government to go back and think about New Zealanders first. That is what has happened this week. That is exactly what has happened this week and I know that what National is trying to say is that Labour did it too. Actually first that is not good enough and second it is wrong wrong wrong. Labour on many occasions overturned the advice that we got from the Overseas Investment Office. We did not just go: “Oh well if you guys say that’s it then that’s good enough for us. With hands behind our back let’s sit on our hands and do nothing about it.” We were prepared to put New Zealanders’ interests first. The Auckland International Airport— 
Hon Maurice Williamson 
: Oh Auckland International Airport. 
SUE MORONEY 
: I tell Mr Williamson that that would probably be the most high-profile of those decisions but there were several others. So the pretence from that side from the Government saying that it is just doing what Labour did is wrong wrong wrong. It is absolutely wrong and it is not going to get away with it because New Zealanders know that this smells. They know the smell of their interests being put last when they see it. Can you smell it when you see it? It may not be the right analogy but New Zealanders get this. They know—they absolutely know—that this Government has not put their interests first. The judiciary knows that this Government has not put New Zealanders’ interests first. How embarrassing it is for that Government to be instructed to go back and do what it was elected to do: to put New Zealanders’ interests first. So I look forward to the overturning of that decision because Labour got this right right from the start.  
KANWALJIT SINGH BAKSHI (National) 
: 
 I thank you for the opportunity to speak in the Address in Reply debate this afternoon. I begin by congratulating you Mr Assistant Speaker Tisch on your role as a Speaker of the House and also take this opportunity to congratulate other presiding officers on their roles. I also congratulate my colleagues in Parliament on being re-elected and welcome all new members in this House. As a not-so-old member of Parliament I understand how honoured we are as members of Parliament and I extend my best wishes to all of you. I would also like to acknowledge and thank all the guests present in the gallery who have come to support the National Party MPs in their maiden speeches.  
I begin by commending the National-led Government’s commitment of $1 billion for the Future Investment Fund towards building new schools and modernising our existing schools to the 21st century education delivery level. I also commend my Government for choosing the prudent path of not borrowing to fund the building of the new schools and renovation of existing ones. Furthermore this Government is committed towards further increasing and improving the transport in this country and that is commendable as well. We are also investing $12.2 million in State highways over the next 10 years and we must also not forget that very important project of rebuilding our second-largest city of Christchurch. It is not only New Zealand’s second-largest city it also accounts for 20 percent of our economy. In order to rebuild Christchurch the Government has committed $5.5 billion. In doing so the Government wants to ensure the economic activities of New Zealand particularly in Christchurch stay active.  
The Prime Minister has outlined our macro strategy of Government management which involves strong economic growth along with strong support for our competitive export economy. This we believe will lead to our achieving a surplus by 2014-15. To attain our goal the Government wants to move people and capital into the tradable sector. The current economic climate makes it critical that the Government focuses its resources on the areas where they are most needed and will make most impact. The Government promises to do so without investing any new money into public services. This does not mean that the quality of these services will suffer. Rather by using existing capital and resources the Government wants to ensure that the investment is made in new technologies so that these services are brought up to the mark so that customers can experience the level of services that other OECD countries provide to their citizens. The Government believes this leads to far better public sector provisions.  
The Government places importance on protecting and supporting vulnerable people in our communities. This Government will support them by providing them with the opportunity to get a good education so that they can empower themselves to lead a better quality of life. To achieve this this Government is working on long-term and sustainable policies.  
All the above points are part of the four major priorities that this Government has laid over its second term. We need to consider all these priorities in the light of the largest economic challenge faced at home and globally since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Fortunately the New Zealand position in comparison with other OECD counterparts has been resilient. The credit for this resilience can be attributed to the common-sense prudent and solid economic policies of this John Key - led Government. It is on the basis of our common-sense prudent and solid economic policies that our Government is on its way to achieve a Budget surplus by 2014. In my opinion this is a target that is not easy to achieve. However I sincerely believe this Government has got the will to achieve it. The Government led by John Key promises to manage the finances of this country wisely to ensure that public services operate at optimum levels within their budgets that we remain a productive and competitive economy and that we remove the burden placed on individuals and entrepreneurs by excessive regulation and taxation.  
Excessive taxation results in more money being sent to Wellington rather than being invested locally where it would lead to the growth of the local economy and job creation for both young and old. Manukau East is where my out-of-Parliament office is located and it is home to many ethnicities who love the opportunity to make progress and provide better lives for themselves and their loved ones. They want to establish small enterprises and to contribute to the local economy. Many of these constituents have told me that they are worried about the introduction of capital gains tax and higher taxes for businesses as proposed by Labour. They are going to lose their savings and the fruits of their hard work via taxation. However by providing the National Party with the mandate to govern this country they can be assured that their savings and hard work will remain theirs to keep. This I believe will encourage minorities to start their small and medium sized entrepreneurial ventures that one day may grow to become large-scale and employ a lot of New Zealanders from all walks of life.  
Lastly I once again mention the rebuilding of Christchurch a city that in the past 13 months also has experienced unfortunate and uncalled-for events. Rebuilding Christchurch is our No. 1 priority.  
This Government has displayed the attitude of being proactive and hard-working and is resilient in its ability to take tough and unpopular decisions. This Government has a long-term vision and based on that long-term vision it has made wise choices such as investing in infrastructure schools medical care and broadband services. We are also ensuring that we do not do this by borrowing money but by using our current resources. The best thing about using our current resources to fund our future dreams is not only do we not borrow money for our long-term vision but also we get to see resources flourish and remain ours in the long term.  
Some may accuse the Government of being too focused on economic growth and not displaying enough care for the environment. Let me assure you that this Government is committed to the environment as much as it is committed to economic growth.  
Before I finish there is one important fact I want to share from the perspective of migrants and ethnic groups in New Zealand. I know for a fact that most of us value education. This is the reason that many of us have migrated to countries like New Zealand in search of high-quality education for all of us and for the generations to come. The steps initiated by the National Government under the very able leadership of the Rt Hon John Key and the Minister of Education the Hon Hekia Parata will go a long way to encourage more and more parents and children to seek quality New Zealand education. I also know for a fact that most ethnic minorities—children and parents—have a deep interest in their education. This is reflected in the grades they achieve at school and university level. They also understand that to ensure that they settle nicely in their adopted homeland they must act proactively and make an effort towards achieving higher education which will empower them economically and open doors socially for their success. Reforms in the area of education will also attract quality international students to our schools and universities. This is likely to provide other schools and universities with revenue that can be deployed towards better research that fuels innovation and economic growth. 
I am confident that my National Party colleagues will add much more to the above list of this Government’s achievements in the past 3 years while also listing our plans and strategies for the 3 years to come. 
Dr CAM CALDER (National) 
: 
 Thank you Mr Assistant Speaker very much for the opportunity to rise and speak in the Address in Reply debate. It is an enormous privilege to stand in this House and it is one that I never take for granted. I am honoured to be back for a second term. As I look into the gallery above me here I see the many many men and women—part of that vast army of National Party supporters—who made it possible for this John Key - led National Government to have a second term in power. I thank you.  
It is a huge pleasure to greet the new members of Parliament in the National team. They have added breadth experience character and staunchness to an already staunch broad and characterful line-up. I look forward to working with them in the term ahead. There have been some excellent speeches from across the House. 
Chris Hipkins 
: This isn’t one of them. 
Dr CAM CALDER 
: Wait there is more. Thank you “Chippy”. It is always a pleasure—always a pleasure. There have been some excellent speeches across the House from members of all parties. I am looking forward to working across the House collegially with members of all parties in select committees to make this country a better place. What people may not know is that for 75 percent of legislation there is broad bipartisan support. What you see in question time is not always what you get. There is a lot of cooperation and it has to be like that.  
There is an ancient Chinese curse: “May you live in interesting times.” Let us face it these are interesting times. I am thinking particularly of the global financial crisis that we are still in. Despite what the then Leader of the Opposition said in the House almost 12 months ago—that it was over—it is not. We know there are huge problems facing us.  
Sure the news from the United States of America is improving slightly and the housing home loan and unemployment indices are all reasonably positive. But that is still a work in progress. When we look at Europe what do we see but the European Central Bank in December underwriting €20 billion per week to sovereign bond purchases on the secondary markets to support the struggling eurozone Governments. The eurozone Governments are lurching towards default because of the huge debt. They have got an almost unlimited amount of the low-interest long-term liquidity loans to European banks and as I say almost unlimited volumes because these are the major purchasers of the Government debt. So they have got about €430 billion for them and let that out on the first day and there is more to come.  
Then we think about Greece. It is now €230 billion to bail out Greece but the council of Ministers or the gathering of Ministers in Brussels have yet to sign that off because despite the gritted teeth acceptance of the bailout plan by the MPs they have not been able to get the coalition leaders to agree. So there has never been a more pressing need for the fiscal responsibility and prudence in New Zealand of a John Key - led Government than we have now because as I have said we live in uncertain times.  
We live in uncertain times and as a result it is pleasing to see and appropriate to see and it is absolutely meet and right to see that fiscal prudence will be an ongoing plank in the 3-year term that lies ahead of us. Prudent financial management getting more from our public services and rebuilding Christchurch are three of the main planks and of course improving our trade underpinning much of what we wish to achieve. The fourth pillar is developing an economy that is more competitive that is more productive and that can sell our goods into a wider market and this is what we have achieved.  
It has to be said that there was some very good work by the previous Minister the Hon Phil Goff in negotiating an agreement with China which has been carried on globally by the Hon Tim Groser who is doing an outstanding job in developing broadening and deepening our links in global trade.  
Our goal and we have made no secret of it is to lift our export sector from 30 percent to 40 percent of gross domestic product. We are aware that under the previous Government the tradable sector languished from 2004 right through until 2008. Indeed we entered recession well before the rest of the world and part of that was that we were not competitive. The decline in competitiveness has started to turn round over the last 3 years and we are determined to continue this improvement. I am getting a word from the whip that we have some maiden speeches and you did not come here to listen to me. Thank you. 
MAGGIE BARRY (National—North Shore) 
: 
 E te Whare tena koe. E nga mana e nga reo e nga iwi o nga hau e wha tena koutou tena koutou tena koutou katoa. To the leaders to the many voices to all the diverse people and communities of the four winds I honour and respect and greet you all. I acknowledge you Mr Speaker my parliamentary colleagues and Sir Don McKinnon. I am indeed honoured to be one of the 26 new members of this 50th Parliament which more than any other before it best represents us: the rich cultural and ethnic diversity that is modern New Zealand. Greetings to all my friends up there in the public gallery who made the effort to come along here today. Thank you very much for all your ongoing support. Thank you too to the National Party to the president to the board members to Peter Kiely and to those assembled—the loyal stalwarts. Many from the North Shore have made the journey here today; many others are watching it on the television or the podcast—there are so many ways to get involved in this auspicious occasion. I acknowledge you all with gratitude. Special thanks go to my North Shore team. I stand here today because of your accumulated wise advice your enthusiasm and your tenacity. A year ago many of you did not even know me and I am humbled by the loyalty the trust and the faith that you all had in me to deliver for the electorate your treasure your taonga.  
Heartfelt thanks to my partner Grant. We met during an Outward Bound course which turned out to be an excellent training ground for the campaign trail. Grant has been my mainstay and my No. 1 supporter and I most certainly would not be here without him. All my love as a mother goes out to my son Joe. He has taught me more about life in the past 14 years than anyone else ever has. I am incredibly proud of him and very thankful that he is here with us today. My boy Joseph Vincent was named after his two grandfathers. On my side we hailed from Counties Cork and Kerry and my son’s father Paddy Marron was born in County Monaghan. Paddy who is up there in the gallery next to our son Joe arrived here in New Zealand from the Emerald Isle on the good ship  
Southern Cross 
. It was the very day of his third birthday and he was clamouring for his presents as they do. His father told him that he was giving him a very special gift: a new start and a new life in a new country. My people were farmers and this was their land of opportunity too. They were practical people who worked the land and much like myself were fond of reinvention and recycling. 
 Actually as the crow flies I have not come very far at all—about half a kilometre really from where I was born in Tinakori Road. These parliamentary buildings—the precinct as they are known—were always part of the backdrop of my life. It was my favourite shortcut into town through the leafy grounds past the statues of the great and the good. I went to Sacred Heart School the convent primary school across the road from here in Guilford Terrace. My family went to mass at the Basilica in Hill Street which is the church where my parents were married where I was baptised and where we held both of their funerals.  
My mother Agnes was the first single woman the Bank of New South Wales had ever given a business loan to. She opened her florist shop round the corner from here in Molesworth Street in 1939 the age of the corsage the funeral wreath and the American soldiers—all very good for building what became a highly successful business. Raised on a farm in the Depression years Mum was a hard worker and to save enough money for her first home she also ran a boarding house and as part of her wartime duty she worked nights at the glove and munitions factory. On weekends she was the mainstay of the dig for victory vegetable garden team here in Thorndon. To borrow the Sam Hunt line I am the fruit of old loins. Mum had me her only child when she was 43. Never one to peak too early she later learnt to play golf—hitting a hole in one at the age of 72. Agnes was a remarkable and a determined woman who taught me many things including the value of a strong work ethic the importance of trying your best if you want to achieve the things that matter and never ever giving in on what you really believe in. In her later years she taught me how to live in the moment which was perhaps one of her greatest gifts to me.  
David the old man had a sharp mind and a quick temper. He was very fond of a drink and an argument and I learnt early on to justify my point of view or keep quiet. These are skills I feel will come in very handy in this Chamber. Dad had falsified his age to enlist to fight in World War II. He was keen to serve his country as his father Edward had before him at Gallipoli. I was raised to believe that in peacetime the highest form of public service is to be a member of Parliament. I know that they would all be very proud of me standing here today in this Chamber as the first politician in my family.  
My forebears picked this extraordinary country as the place they wanted to call home and now my family and I have chosen to cross the harbour and be part of the North Shore community. It is a great privilege for me to be here today representing them following in the footsteps of such honourable men as George Gair and Wayne Mapp. And I am breaking in some new ground of my own becoming National’s first-ever woman MP north of the harbour bridge. I was born in the year it opened in 1959 and I can assure you that we will not be waiting around patiently for another 52 years for a second harbour crossing. The North Shore is defined by water—the glorious Waitemata Harbour the Hauraki Gulf and the freshwater playground of Lake Pupuke. Shore people work and play on the margins between the ocean and the land. We enthusiastically sail windsurf paddleboard swim and fish. There is a sense of satisfaction really in being different from either our big city or our rural neighbours. There is a tangible sense that we are indeed fortunate to be still enjoying that “end of the golden weather” lifestyle that was made famous by local playwright Bruce Mason. Laid back—yes indeed—but never lacking when it comes to energy and vision. 
The North Shore is an unashamedly aspirational community. We have a rich cultural history and the mountains in Devonport were amongst the earliest areas of Auckland to be settled. It was occupied by Maori from the 1300s European settlers with their colonial architecture began arriving from the mid-1800s and there was a permanent naval presence by 1841—still strong to this day. Gradually farming was overtaken by shipbuilding and now tourism and appreciative visitors are a substantial and increasing source of income as they catch the ferry across from the city to sample the pleasures and diverse heritage of Devonport. Takapuna translates as “the rock with a spring”. Against the background of some of the finest beaches in the country springs a strong commercial drive and along with a handful of multimillion-dollar businesses the North Shore is home to more than 10000 small-sized businesses. I pledge to help them overcome any hurdles and to grow their opportunities. Reflecting modern New Zealand we are a culturally diverse community with nearly 10000 Asians making up more than 15 percent of our numbers. As their elected representative I pledge to do all I can to continue to build on their successes and to work with other MPs from neighbouring electorates. The Hon Dr Jonathan Coleman has been of enormous help to me and I look forward to working with him more closely in the future and with Nikki Kaye as well.  
The North Shore people reward excellence and we look after our own with the AIMES Awards. We love to crow about our local heroes our literary greats: Sargeson Fairburn Tuwhare and Mason. There is no certainly no shortage of sporting greats either to celebrate: Sir Peter Blake Ian Ferguson Ralph Roberts Buck Shelford Allison Roe Kirk Penney and the New Zealand Breakers Jacko Gill—I could go on; the roll-call does not stop there. As the MP for North Shore I am committed to building on that outstanding record and focusing on achieving our aim of becoming the New Zealand centre for high performance sport. North Harbour is already home to the Millennium Institute of Sport and Health and I would like to acknowledge and commend the hard work and determination of my colleague in the adjoining electorate of East Coast Bays the Hon Murray McCully. I enthusiastically endorse the proposed National Ocean Water Sports Centre on Takapuna beach. The NOWSC centre will be a world-class training facility to develop up-and-coming athletes across the four codes of yachting windsurfing kayaking and ocean swimming. I commit to helping overcome any hurdles in the formation of that centre.  
The most commonly asked question of me in the past year has been: “Why on earth would you leave the wholesome pursuit of plants and go into the dirty business of politics?”. My erstwhile colleagues in the media had a field day when I said I was standing for Parliament: “Gardener of the nation takes on the parliamentary jungle.” There were references to “weeding out the opposition”. Malodorous and odious comparisons were made between MPs and mushrooms both thriving in perpetual darkness and nourished on manure and although I do expect that some manure will come my way I certainly did not come here to be kept in the dark and fed a load of rubbish. Of course I am not exactly gaining ground by this shift into politics. In last year’s  
Reader’s Digest 
 most trustworthy professions poll firefighters came in first as usual—and fair enough too—journalists came in 38th out of 39 just above real estate agents and politicians did not even feature in the 40 so I am staying in familiar unpopular territory.  
I have known this Chamber for the past 30 years as a broadcaster and as a journalist reporting and questioning the not always so honourable members. For all of those whose antics and machinations provided me with that bumper harvest to feed upon you know who you are and I thank you kindly. I know firsthand from my days in radio and television news about the daily grind of finding news stories within tight deadlines and I think on the whole the New Zealand media work hard do a good job and I congratulate them. But after 30 years of being part of the tribe that reports from sidelines asking what and why and how I decided the time was now right for me to step inside the legislative tent and to make a different contribution to the country that has given me so much. 
As well as being a strong voice for the North Shore there are also wider goals I am aiming to achieve in my time in this place. It is fair to say that I have some experience in broadcasting and thanks to my family I have more than a passing interest in the health sector having led a review into maternity services and palliative care and being involved with Hospice New Zealand. During my mother’s 10-year decline with dementia I saw with sadness too many older people in residential care who did not have family around and were without advocates to keep an eye on them. Our elderly deserve dignity and protection. I believe they have earned our respect and we certainly would not be the society that we are today without them. I agree with John Key that the measure of a civilised society is how we treat our vulnerable: our very young and our very old and the one in five New Zealanders with disability.  
Given my green-fingered background and lifelong love of plants I hope that my knowledge and skills may be helpful to shape our environmental and conservation goals. Producing and presenting the garden show for 12 years on television gave me privileged access to people’s lives. Some of them were overwhelmed and daunted by the sheer scale of the planet’s problems but personally I never doubted that saving the world starts in your own backyard. I share the views of many that we are only the custodians of this land and the guardians the kaitiaki of our grandchildren’s heritage. We have to be vigilant and face up to our responsibilities and our woeful environmental track record. Over many days over many decades we have let too many introduced pests decimate our native plants we have not treated our oceans and our waterways with the respect they deserve and I want to be part of the Government that puts that right. As the convenor of this year’s up-and-coming Bluegreens Forum we will be making progress on these issues and I am excited to be involved in shaping the agenda for discussion around the country’s environmental and conservation concerns. I remain convinced we can both grow our economy and manage our environment better and that improving the economy must not and need not be at the expense of the environment.  
But in these troubled times we need to explore all our potential advantages—to tap into that famous traditional Kiwi ingenuity increase our dairy production and returns while looking to limit the adverse effect on water quality. In the 20 years I had my garden show business I travelled all over the world visiting over a thousand gardens. It was a dream job and I loved the places I went but this is my home. New Zealand is my turangawaewae. I know where I stand. This is where I belong and for me I am at my most patriotic about my homeland and believe me I am not about to let anybody harm it. When I walk with the kauri the pohutukawa and the tree ferns these are my precious inhabitants of my “Cathedrals of Green”. I intend to work very hard on my select committees: the Finance and Expenditure Committee and the Local Government and Environment Committee. I will personally welcome the opportunities to work constructively with politicians from other parties to secure the best outcome.  
But ultimately I did not want to join Labour’s ranks or become a Green Party MP. My values are different. I stood for National because I believe we have the right financial policies to see us through these troubled times. I agree with our goals. My mother and father raised me to believe that hand in hand with individual freedom comes personal responsibility and that people sometimes do need a hand up but a lifetime of handouts is not the answer. As a mother I am raising my teenage son with the same values because I believe that they are as relevant today as they were when our party was founded 75 years ago. My constituents will always have my first loyalty and I will do my very best to represent their interests with courage and with energy. I will be a strong voice for the North Shore and I am very ambitious for my electorate. It is a privilege to begin my service to them today as their member of Parliament. Thank you. 
IAN McKELVIE (National—Rangitikei) 
: 
 I rise with a sense of great history to present my maiden speech to Parliament. My Rangitikei electorate has had a representative in this House for 150 years. My family have lived in the lower Rangitikei for 160 years and I am the 27th person to come here as a representative of the Rangitikei electorate.  
I am following some great people into this House and I want to particularly take this opportunity to acknowledge the wonderful role my predecessor Simon Power played in the affairs of both the Rangitikei electorate and New Zealand. He made his mark here and left an impression that will last a long time. Simon is a man who in his time in politics was able to bridge the divide that the Westminster system of democracy creates. I sincerely hope that in my time here I may be able to encourage consensus that sees this House able to make the best possible decisions for our collective futures.  
 I wish to thank all those who have helped make my first few weeks in this place as easy as possible. From all those security people who look after us on a daily basis to the Prime Minister they have been of great assistance. I wish to thank those who have helped me get here particularly those who supported me during the election campaign both with the campaign and with my induction into the National Party. A special thanks goes to my wife of 38 years Sue—she is my No. 1 campaigner—and to our family Diana Cam and Rachel; to Angus and Harri; to my mother Rosemary; and to two brothers and a sister who are sitting in the audience today and who have put up with many hours of following filling in for making excuses for and supporting me in my somewhat unexpected career path to date. This career path was probably instilled in my blood by my father John a shy man who enjoyed politics and played a part in local government in all too short a life.  
It is appropriate to acknowledge my near neighbours Iain Lees-Galloway and the Hon Chester Borrows who represent the cities that will help forge the future for the people of the Rangitikei electorate for without strong leadership from our cities rural New Zealand suffers. I must also acknowledge Tariana Turia whose electorate covers the Rangitikei and beyond and who is hugely respected for the work she does for our people.  
The Rangitikei electorate—for those who need to know—contains 4.5 million sheep 400000 beef cattle 175000 dairy cows and 63000 people of whom 28 percent are Maori. We are also the home to the North Island ski fields Tongariro National Park the home bases of the New Zealand Army at Linton and Waiouru the Air Force at Ohakea and New Zealand’s largest university in Massey. Our electorate contains the brainy part of Palmerston North stretches over 300 kilometres north to Taumarunui and contains some of New Zealand’s most beautiful scenery. It also contains the bulk of New Zealand’s fragile hill country ensuring that the activities of our regional council are critical to the future of that sector.  
My driver throughout my public life to date has been to create a better place for future generations of my family and yours to live and work in. I am a sixth-generation New Zealander and have eighth-generation grandchildren and I hope that my family will still be here enjoying our wonderful but different country in eight generations’ time.  
I will give you a brief synopsis of my life to date before getting into the things that really matter to me and those who encouraged me to aspire to a stint in our Parliament. My family have lived within 2 kilometres of the place I live in since 1850. They have lived in the house I live in since 1900. We are Rangitikei people. I was educated a pony ride—2 kilometres away on a metal road—from home before going on to boarding school for the rest of my school life. This was followed by a short stint at Massey University where I learnt a lot but passed little. I then farmed for quite a time before venturing into the commercial world via the motor industry with two very good friends of mine—and they have survived too and are both here today as well. This in turn led to involvement as a director of various insurance property finance and farming entities. One of those was the Farmers’ Mutual Group or FMG—the pre-eminent rural insurer in New Zealand—which despite the events of the past year and a half is still a very strong and much-needed entity in our industry.  
Some 9 years ago I was elected as Mayor of the Manawatu District following 4 years as president of the Royal Agricultural Society of New Zealand. My election as mayor taught me so much about the people and things that matter to them about how to get communities working well and about disaster as we were hit by the massive 2004 floods and storms and needed a very large—at the time—recovery package put in place by the Government of the day. It also opened doors for me and I am currently chairman of Special Olympics New Zealand a position that has taught me so much about the disability sector in New Zealand. In my life to date I have also been president or chairman of various racing clubs A and P shows rugby clubs our local schools and a number of other community-based organisations.  
Enough on me and on to why I am here. I was offered an opportunity to stand for the Rangitikei electorate seat when Simon Power unexpectedly resigned. It was something I had never aspired to but it seemed logical that I would take what I have learnt to date and use it in an effort to better our lives as New Zealanders. Those learnings are as follows. My time in agriculture has left me in no doubt that we will always be one of the world’s most efficient food producers and we will continue to have a very important role to play in feeding pieces of the world as its population grows rapidly. To continue to achieve this there are a number of issues that we must give attention to. The environment our people and our agriculture must travel hand in hand as we grapple with the effects we humans have had on our landforms our rivers and our natural heritage. Ecological sustainability is the key to the future of agriculture and our economic fortunes and whether dealing with genetic engineering or the emissions trading scheme—particularly related to the food production sector or to the environment—we must use the very best science available to us to resolve these matters. They must be resolved expeditiously and it is vital for our country’s future well-being that we invest heavily in this area.  
Agriculture in New Zealand has had a financial battering over the past decade and must be treated carefully or it could still fail us. It needs nurturing not with cash but with sensible well-trained policy. Agriculture in recent years in New Zealand has not had a sufficient level of profitability to reinvest in its future through science and innovation. I am delighted to see the Government taking action in this area and look forward to the sector being able to play its part as well. Whilst on agriculture I want to make a plea for us not to encourage through suspect policy the planting of pine trees on land that can be used for food production. Pine trees are difficult to eat and they are certainly difficult to get income out of as well.  
I also urge you as a Parliament to give time and thought to our equine industry. We are good at horses. It is international in almost every sphere of equine activity and it has great potential if nurtured in the correct manner. The horse particularly through the racing and breeding industry is a very large employer in this country and I have yet to see a robot riding one—Mark Todd aside—or a computer mucking out a stable. Encouraging the equine sector to work with each other in a unified manner could boost this sector significantly as an export earner.  
Rural New Zealand its towns and its people is very important to our futures and we must endeavour to keep people living throughout our country. It is not in the national interest to push our population north. We must encourage people to live in our small rural towns and on our farms. To do this we must carefully consider the ramifications of much of our policy making as often small changes can improve the lot of those people dramatically. And I refer particularly to the manner in which telecommunications electricity education health law and order and transport services are delivered to rural New Zealand. An example of that is the poor supply of electricity to parts of New Zealand. It is a major inhibitor to economic growth with a number of areas in my electorate not having sufficient supply to enable new cowsheds or irrigation schemes to operate efficiently. Part of the reason for this has been a lack of sufficient land use planning throughout our history really—a factor that must be corrected. Another factor that is easy to overlook but which is a very important factor in an electorate like Rangitikei is the time our children spend on the school bus and 2 to 3 hours a day is not uncommon in my electorate—hence the ferociousness with which rural communities defend their small schools.  
Briefly on the matter of our broader economy a topic that I think we need to have some serious discussion on is our poor understanding of risk—how to evaluate it and how to manage it. This is one of the factors behind the increase in the cost of local government to our community and to businesses and is driven to some extent by our interpretation of the Building Act the Resource Management Act and occupational health and safety among other things. Without capacity to understand manage and utilise risk businesses struggle to expand. Most of the great businesses in the world took significant calculated risk to grow.  
I do not believe we should take anything for granted in life. I do not think we have any rights in life property or otherwise. We must earn them. I have a strong belief in what I call social order or justice and that often means that those who have should give a hand up to those who have not. Where I come from unhappy people do not make a happy workforce and our country cannot operate effectively with an unhappy workforce. To achieve this we must have a strong progressive economy enabling us to pay what a person is worth. We can no longer allow the well-off to claim on the welfare systems by hiding income or assets. There is no place in New Zealand society for greed and we have seen and suffered from plenty of that in the last few years.  
Through family experience and more recently through my role as chairperson of Special Olympics New Zealand I have a particular interest in the lives and circumstances of our disabled community. There are an estimated 55000 people born with an intellectual disability in this country a large majority of whom are males. There are nearly a quarter of a million physically disabled New Zealanders. We know that investment in this sector produces significant gains for the people and families involved and for our country as a whole. I will continue my strong advocacy for these New Zealanders and support them in their efforts to achieve better life expectancy and make a greater contribution to our society.  
Sport and recreation is one of the gems in life—without it we do not survive—and we must continue to encourage young and old alike to participate in all levels of physical activity. To do this some key changes are needed to our traditional thinking around sporting infrastructure. We need diverse climate-immune facilities and we need to be able to provide easy access for people who wish to exercise from home—for example walking biking and boarding. I call it door-to-door exercise and to achieve this our communities must be safe and our infrastructure must be safe well planned and well maintained.  
One could not have spent 9 years in local government without acknowledging there must be a better way and there is and it does not involve dramatic change. In past years local government has struggled with the costs of implementing legislation passed on to it by central government. A good deal of it came care of the stringent but expansive conditions placed on councils by the Local Government Act 2002. There are at the same time many talented and able people doing a wonderful job in what is a complex and very demanding sector. I can only commend the Prime Minister for elevating the local government portfolio to an important place in Cabinet and I think it is the first time I recall it being in Cabinet for some years. I wish Minister Smith all the best as he confronts the many challenges that lie before local authorities throughout New Zealand.  
In this country we are seriously testing our talented-people resources by the number of governance bodies we have created and as a consequence we have the requirement for large numbers of chief executives chief financial officers and elected members or directors. Many of these are becoming specialised positions often prescribed by law and we need to ensure we use our talented people to the best possible advantage. We should also bear in mind that letters after one’s name are not necessarily a prerequisite for success in life. There is no question that the further we spread the talent pool in New Zealand the lesser the talent we have available.  
I am in awe of this place and its history but was surprised on opening day when Parliament emptied out as our leaders spoke. Whatever our political persuasion we owe each other the common courtesy of at least listening once in relative calmness. You cannot fool the people. Respect and common old good manners are still valued by most in this country and they watch us closely through our friends—the media.  
People are everything in life. Without each other we are nothing. No matter what race creed sex age or ability—mental or physical—everyone in this wonderful country must be cared for and encouraged to achieve their best. There is no left and right in good health educational opportunity having work or preventing violence to one another. To achieve this we must have an inclusive Government and take the people with us.  
I am a great believer in protocol and tradition. It puts some order and discipline in our lives and on that basis I wish to congratulate you Mr Speaker and your team of deputies on your appointments. Although I am absolutely sincere in this it does remind me a little of dropping off a leg of lamb for the banker. Mr Speaker and fellow members of this great establishment despite being written off as being too old and not expected to shine by some Australian tip sheet I hope in my time here to make a contribution to New Zealand and I hope that when I get to leave and I hope to choose that time that our country is a better place to live in. Thank you. 
MARK MITCHELL (National—Rodney) 
: 
 I stand before you today filled with pride at being given the opportunity by the people of Rodney to represent them in this our 50th Parliament and I am honoured to be addressing the House for the first time. Mr Speaker I congratulate you on your reappointment to the high office of Speaker. You have already been recognised across this House for your sound judgment and fairness and I look forward to being under your guidance in this Chamber.  
Mr Speaker you have been Minister of Education Minister of Agriculture Minister of Tourism and Minister for International Trade during your career and oversaw the producer board reform that ultimately led to the creation of Fonterra and Zespri Group Ltd. You launched our successful “100% Pure” marketing campaign which was a global success. But perhaps most important you were the original instigator of the Trans-Pacific Partnership. You are also renowned for your singing voice and your annual concert in Rodney is an event constituents look forward to every year. I have made a commitment to continue with this concert and although I feel my own voice is pretty good I have been assured by those closest to me that I need to find another way of keeping that tradition alive.  
I live in Orewa in the heart of the Rodney electorate. Rodney is a wonderful part of New Zealand stretching from Albany Heights Wainui and Dairy Flat in the south to Warkworth Matakana and Leigh in the north. We have been blessed with the beautiful Hibiscus and Kowhai coasts stunning regional parks like Shakespear Regional Park Wenderholm and Mahurangi and we are home to two marine reserves one of which Goat Island was the first in New Zealand. The new Northern Motorway has brought Auckland closer to Rodney and our towns in the south of the electorate are experiencing strong growth while still retaining their unique character. Further north our communities are more rural. Some have become famous like Puhoi for its pub and cheese factory or Waiwera for its geothermal hot pools. We have the charm and history of Warkworth world-class wine trails great schools strong communities and a real pride in our beautiful part of New Zealand.  
However there are challenges ahead and I am focused on finding solutions that will allow us to develop our infrastructure and services in step with our population growth. This includes the Puhoi to Wellsford motorway extension and the Penlink development and I will work hard on common-sense policies and legislation that will encourage investment and growth in our local businesses and economy.  
I would like to acknowledge my superb campaign team who worked incredibly hard who did the basics superbly combined with innovative ideas and really took the campaign to our opponents. I know many of you are gathered around the TV today in Warkworth and Orewa and although I cannot mention everyone you know that our result was a testament to your drive passion and belief in the National Party values and vision for a brighter future. I would like to make special mention of our electorate chair Jennie Georgetti and campaign chair John Evans. Your determination and will were contagious. Thanks also to our regional executive Alan Towers and Stephen McElrea. Stephen your solid dependable advice and guidance was of great assistance to a new candidate. Thanks to our National campaign team who provided a steady rudder and reliable compass to us all and to president Peter Goodfellow and our board of directors for your support guidance and counsel.  
I was born on the North Shore of Auckland and spent my first years living on the Whenuapai Airbase. My dad was a flight lieutenant flying Orions in No. 3 squadron. My mum was the daughter of the base commander Air Commodore Frank Gill—my grandfather—who was also the National Party MP for East Coast Bays Minister of Health and Minister of Defence and our New Zealand Ambassador to Washington. Dad managed to catch the eye of my mum at a base dance and the rest as they say is history.  
One of the great lessons I learnt early from my dad was about not giving up. When the inaugural  
Auckland Star  
Takapuna to Rangitoto race was cancelled due to bad weather Dad decided to make the swim anyway. He battled strong winds and swells to complete a difficult swim. He won the race and set the best time. Being the only competitor did not matter. Because my mum was the daughter of a career air force officer and spent her childhood on different postings around the world when she was finally able to settle in one place she nested. There were four of us kids but our house was always filled with orphans whom Mum would take under her wing. I learnt early that not everyone is born into a loving caring home and that when we can help we should.  
I am from Irish Catholic English and Canadian stock with my ancestors arriving in New Zealand from 1860 through to 1919. I was educated at Rosmini College in Auckland a Catholic school whose motto is “Legis plenitudo charitas”—charity fulfils the law. A Google search of social justice will result in the name of Father Antonio Rosmini the original founder of the school. I am a strong advocate of social justice. However I reject claims that social justice and conservatism are exclusive of one another. On leaving school I went farming in the central North Island. I was lucky enough to be given my first job by Gary Ramsay who is here today in the gallery. Farming taught me what long hours of hard physical work and graft were all about. Our farmers and our rural sector is where our No. 8 wire attitude and common-sense approach to problem solving was born.  
From my own time overseas in a competitive environment I discovered that those problem-solving skills and “failure is not an option” attitude helped me stand out amongst the crowd. As a country we need to recognise the importance of these qualities and fight hard to retain them as part of our culture and psyche.  
In 1989 I joined the New Zealand Police. I was a member of the dog section and armed offenders squad. I would like to acknowledge the officer in charge of the police dog training centre Sergeant John Edmonds who is here today. I was lucky enough to have been able to serve with you and it is a great honour to have you present here today. My partner on the dog section was a small black German shepherd named Czar. When we graduated our final report stated Czar was a natural-born police dog and that if the team did not perform operationally the handler should be replaced not the dog. He loved children but did not have much time for adults. One of the first jobs we attended together put us head to head with an offender armed with a samurai sword whose intent was to attack medical staff at Rotorua Hospital. During the arrest both Czar and I were stabbed—me through my right arm and Czar in the chest. We both recovered although I never regained the full use of my arm.  
I thank the Hon Judith Collins for the leadership she provided in making sure our police officers were given every tactical advantage and option available. Had Tasers been around in my day I would have had a much better tennis swing. One thing I could see early in my career was the amount of damage gangs and organised crime did to our communities. Whether they be the Mongrel Mob Hell’s Angels or Asian triads they are parasites living off the back of our communities and a bunch of low-life cowards. Hunting in packs they rob steal rape murder intimidate assault and generally terrorise anyone unlucky enough to get in their way. Many of the social issues we face today are connected either directly or indirectly to the gang culture.  
Our police service is now being led by leaders rather than managers. With morale the highest it has been for years and with the best police officers in the world we are on the right side of the ledger in continuing to tackle gangs and organised crime. Our brave men and women of all our emergency services have my full support admiration and gratitude for the services you provide our country. I make a commitment to my electorate that I will be strong on law and order and will support changes to bail laws that strengthen the rights and protection for victims of crime.  
Our Rodney health services are very important with a growing population and a high number of older people choosing to retire in Rodney. I support our locally driven initiatives like the Rodney Health Trust and the Rodney Surgical Centre which are providing local services for our communities. I am proud of how far we have come as a country in our understanding caring and tolerance of those suffering from a mental illness or depression. I was often asked if I was angry at the person who stabbed me who at the time was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia. No I was not angry with him. He did not wake up one morning saying: “I want to be a paranoid schizophrenic.” He was ill with a sickness he did not want.  
In 2000 I lost my younger brother Sean. He was intelligent the life of the party an active member of the Auckland coastguard rescue team and was diagnosed with manic depression. He wrote a letter to us his family and then swam into the Rangitoto Channel. We found him the next day washed up on Rangitoto Island. We love and miss you Sean. I applaud John Kirwan and the courage it took to tell his own story about depression and the debilitating effects it can have. I am committed to supporting the mental health services in our communities.  
In 2002 I resigned from the police to live a quiet life raising and training horses in Taupo. But fate had other plans and in 2003 I found myself in Iraq as part of a small team establishing a safety and security programme for the newly formed interim Government. It was a tough year for me because it was the first time in my life I was exposed to the ugliness of corruption and extreme ideologies in a country where there was very little regard for human life. The first election in Iraq had over 7000 candidates for 235 parliamentary positions. Opposing candidates would dispose of each other with roadside bombs and hit squads. It helped me to put a little context around the teapot tapes last year. In 2005 I was asked to establish the Provincial Joint Operations Centre in southern Iraq. This was the command centre for all the newly formed Iraqi security forces. Iraq faces some very big challenges in its rebuild but I was lucky enough to work with some very good men and women and where there are good men and women there is hope.  
In 2005 I was approached and asked to establish a security programme for a company that was providing food and life support to the coalition in Iraq. Seen as a legitimate target by al-Qaeda as they were supporting the Government employees of the company were being attacked and killed. The security programme I put in place was successful and soon I was being approached by Governments including the United States Japan and Australia to assist with logistics and protective support in high-threat and difficult environments.  
Although I have the deepest respect for organisations such as the United Nations I also saw how difficult it was for big bureaucratic organisations to move quickly when sometimes people needed protection and aid today as it would be too late tomorrow. I am proud of the fact I was part of a dedicated team that formed an initiative backed by the World Economic Forum to create emergency logistics teams set up to deploy aid into areas struck by humanitarian disasters. I am proud that we led refugees out of Lebanon to safety when they were trapped in a war between Israel and Hezbollah that we protected and supported scientists from the Hague to open and take evidence from mass graves in their case against Saddam Hussein that we delivered food and medical supplies to flood-ravaged areas of Pakistan and ensured it got to the people who needed it and that we were able to open up a supply chain to get food and medical supplies into Darfur and Mogadishu.  
I have been a farmer a policeman a small business owner and the founder of a successful global company. I understand the pressures they face the responsibility they carry and the importance that each one plays in the future of our country. But they cannot carry the weight by themselves. I believe that for the privilege of living in this beautiful country regardless of when we arrived we all have the same obligation and that is to look for ways to contribute to New Zealand’s future.  
Finally I would like to acknowledge my family. To my wife Peggy—I would not be standing here today delivering this maiden speech if it was not for your unconditional love and support. You have helped me achieve my dream and I hope that I can help you achieve yours. To my children Taylor Spencer and Jazlin—your father was taken away from you and New Zealand too early. Possum was the only sportsman in New Zealand to beat the Aussies in their own national championship seven times in a row—what a legend. But first and foremost he was a loving and caring father. I will continue to do my best to provide you with the love and security that your father would have provided. To my daughter Sylvie—yes honey it did feel like life had really begun for me when you came into this world and I am proud of the caring young lady you are growing into. To my son Nathan—you’re the man. Your energy and enthusiasm for life is contagious. To my sisters Lissa and Tracey—I love you both. Thank you to my Auntie Francis and Uncle Rodney and to Geoffrey and Lynda Bourne for also being here.  
I am back in the service of my country. There is no greater honour. Thank you. 
SIMON O’CONNOR (National—Tamaki) 
: 
 In 1854 this House met for the first time on the outskirts of Auckland. It consisted of just 37 people. Those 37 could scarcely imagine how New Zealand would change over the coming century and a half. Since that time 1362 people have held seats in Parliament and each one has given a maiden speech. It is difficult to imagine how I might say something original but I will give it a shot.  
Maiden speeches seem to me a curious exercise. They are an introduction a moment of history and a statement for posterity all at once. They are also time for reflection at the beginning of a new chapter in which each of us can consider the events in our lives that have led us to this place at this point of time. I like all who have stood in this House have been asked many times why I decided to enter Parliament and politics. I have always noted that there was no one particular moment. It has been an organic process that has developed slowly over many years while working alongside people from all walks of life.  
I have worked in many challenging environments from prisons and homeless shelters to rest homes and hospitals; from the streets of Brooklyn New York to the island of Taveuni in Fiji. In doing so I have seen some of the best and worst aspects of humanity. I have sat with those mourning the dead and celebrated the hope of a newborn child. I have encouraged those who suffer under the curse of drug addiction counselled those who work on the streets and listened to those off the streets who simply need to be heard. It has for me been the stories shared the struggles endured and the experiences lived that have drawn me more and more to this new opportunity to serve New Zealand here in this House.  
The varied experiences that have filled my life thus far cause me to look forward to working for the great constituency of Tamaki and engaging with its communities from St Heliers to Glen Innes Orakei to Glendowie and all the suburbs in between. I love working with people and for people. It has defined my life to date and I hope and expect it will do so far into the future.  
I have come to Parliament with not only a desire to serve the people of this country but also a conviction that ideas are powerful things. I believe that ideas well articulated can change the world. The importance of robust rational debate is a passion of mine—one that requires the constant and consistent application of considered principles. I reject political fundamentalism where part of the truth is overemphasised at the expense of everything else. No great idea needs such a dishonest offence. Some might consider me optimistic to hope that in this auspicious Chamber there is still room for genuine debate and constructive discussion. About this I may be optimistic but there are few things I think far more deserving of optimism than this place of thoughts and ideas of discussions and debates. I hope that in the coming years I may contribute something to them all.  
I seek to contribute because I am a proud New Zealander. I am a Kiwi through and through having spent most—almost all—of my life in Whangarei and Auckland. There are those who question what it means to be a New Zealander. They suppose we lack an identity or lament that it is not what they would wish it to be. I have no time for such a myopic perspective. New Zealand has a clear and strong identity which has grown and evolved over the centuries that have preceded us. Most Kiwis know who they are and what they stand for and spend very little time worrying about labelling it. Some of our principles have changed over time but the most important ones our fundamental values have not. The importance of family hard work personal responsibility and a fair go for all remains central to who we are.  
Of course one cannot stand in this room and speak of great Kiwi traditions without acknowledging our extraordinary democracy. I believe that New Zealand has the best democratic and constitutional structure in the world. I realise that this is not a thought that occurs to many people on a frequent basis but this is probably more of a testament to its veracity than anything else. My belief in our constitution has arisen not from ideology or blind patriotism but from an appreciation developed over many years of observation and study. Democracy is not something that should ever be taken for granted.  
At the heart of our constitution sits the Crown. It is an ingenious ever-evolving entity that plays a role in so many aspects of our country. It is a valuable guardian of our democracy a symbol of our independence and a sign of our political resourcefulness. I am pleased to acknowledge today the 60 years of service that the Queen of New Zealand has given to all Kiwis. It is my hope that in the years ahead New Zealand may make its own monarchy ever more distinct and an even more uniquely Kiwi institution.  
I suspect that most here today would agree that New Zealand is the greatest country on earth. But that is not to say it is a perfect nation. Again I suspect that most here are cognisant of the many problems our society faces. Foremost among them is the scourge of violence in our society. If there is one general area to which I wish to apply my time and experience it is to ending or at least greatly reducing violence in our communities. Of course there is no single solution no quick fix. It is a perennial issue that has been grappled with by successive parliaments. I believe that this National-led Government is taking great steps in the right direction but there is much work still to be done. Some is legislative but the most difficult work is changing attitudes.  
I fear that New Zealand accepts violence too easily. Aggression is celebrated verbal and emotional abuse is tolerated in public discourse and people are willing to turn a blind eye towards those suffering at the hands of bullies. The prevalence of domestic violence violence against children and the random acts of violence on our streets is a sad indictment of us all. I do not believe that it is a simple matter to resolve this tragedy but neither do I feel that it is hopeless. Like all problems we face in New Zealand we begin with a commitment to fix what is wrong to persevere in what is required and to accept only success. This is how we have tackled problems in our past and this is what is required now to build a safe and secure society for all.  
This room is full of leaders representatives of their constituencies and communities. Their commitment to ending violence in our country is essential but the work of many others outside this building is also required. Fortunately New Zealand has no shortage of dedicated principled and energetic citizens. I feel it is important to recognise that none of us stands in this Parliament alone. We are born into a community live in that community and as individuals are at our strongest when we are in the midst of that community and those who matter the most.  
There are many people to whom I owe a huge debt of gratitude for their support and encouragement over the years and who have been very influential in my being here today. My parents Rory and Colleen are in the gallery this afternoon. A son could have not had better parents and my gratitude can only ever be a small measure of what I owe to them. If there is one lesson amongst the many they taught me and that I can bring to Parliament it is that love is not an economic commodity or one that is scarce when times are tough. Sitting with them are my siblings Bernadette and Vincent. I am lucky to have such a great brother and sister. When required they know how to put me in my place—a skill several people in this room will be interested in hearing about I am sure.  
To my friends across this country and around the world I would like to thank you for the insights and humour lessons and memories. William Yeats said: “Think where man’s glory most begins and ends and say my glory was I had such friends.” Truer words have not been spoken. To those friends here today I say thanks to you and through you to all who could not be here. To Ben Lee Charles and Leigh Hay Lynne Francis and Sean Palmer Gordon Pilot to Paul Foster-Bell Chloe Oldfield Brian Anderton Aaron Hape and Paul Byers—thank you all for your help and encouragement over the years. I thank the Auckland University fencers for all the fun the laughter the debates and the bruises. I am optimistic that my years of fencing may have well prepared me for the cut and thrust of this political place.  
I acknowledge my caucus colleagues for the help and support that they have given me over the last few months. I would particularly like to thank Dr Jackie Blue and Dr Cam Calder both of whom I have worked closely with over the past 6 years. The opportunity to be part of your electorates and to lead your campaign teams was great preparation for my own path to Parliament. I must also acknowledge my predecessor Allan Peachey. His sad passing last year cut short the work he sought to undertake in this House. I want to recognise his family and the kindnesses they have shown me as I have prepared to represent Tamaki in this House.  
Tamaki is an electorate with a formidable story a narrative known all over the country. I am conscious of the role I play in writing its next chapter but fortunately I am not the sole author. I am pleased to work alongside the finest electorate team in New Zealand—Andrew Hunt Christine MacFarlane Jim McElwain and Aaron Bhatnagar are here today. I am immensely proud to be your MP and conscious of your expectations. I will not let you down. Ros Rundle Adriana Gunder Eric Hansen Phil Martell Simon King Cher Reynolds Mariana Nordmark Sharon Ludher-Chandra Todd Mulller Dan Gardiner Graham and Matt Malaghan Kit Parkinson and Cyrus Richardson form the electorate leadership team but could not be here today. Without their help and support I would not be either.  
I am grateful to the National Party for the opportunities it has provided me. My commitment to our shared principles is absolute. I am conscious that my selection as an MP is both a privilege and a responsibility. The list of those who have helped guide me to this role is long and I cannot thank each one by name but I hope all of them know how much I appreciate their efforts and their friendships. I will thank in particular Alastair Bell and Alan Towers Nicholas Albrecht Josh Beddell Alan Conlon James Palmer Murray Broadbelt Chris King and Scott Simpson who was the first party figure with whom I spoke of my parliamentary aspirations. Scott I am thrilled that we enter this 50th Parliament together.  
It is an honour to be here as the member of Parliament for Tamaki. It is a welcome opportunity to serve my constituency to listen to their needs and to articulate them here in this House. I look forward to the future in my new role but in the finest conservative traditions I will venture into that future with a clear understanding of and respect for the past. I will work hard to live up to the expectations of our first 37 parliamentarians who 150 years ago launched New Zealand’s democracy. I believe this 50th Parliament is the heir to all the hopes and dreams of the thousand MPs who have come before us. We are here today to build a better country and I hope that those who occupy this House 150 years from now might look back upon us and say that we were successful. I can think of no greater honour than to know that I may have been a part of that. 
SCOTT SIMPSON (National—Coromandel) 
: 
 Mr Speaker congratulations on your re-election and also to your fellow presiding officers on their appointment to roles overseeing the smooth and efficient conduct of our proceedings during this 50th Parliament of New Zealand. It is with a mixture of great pride awe and humility that I rise to speak as the new MP for Coromandel. I am very conscious of the huge honour I have been given by my party in being selected as a candidate and of the even greater honour granted to me by the people of Coromandel in electing me to be their voice their representative their face in this place. I acknowledge a fellow contestant for the seat Catherine Delahunty who sits in this House by virtue of the Green Party list.  
Coromandel evokes in the minds of almost every New Zealander the very best images of the classic Kiwi summer—beautiful beaches iconic bush and natural scenery second to none in our country. Indeed the peninsula proper is not only home to people who get to enjoy those gems on a daily basis it is also the favoured holiday destination for tens of thousands of visitors each year who now access and exit the area over our wonderful new Kopu Bridge. No longer are they subject to long delays and frustrating traffic jams and in fact a story published locally in Thames just last week commenting on how well the new bridge had coped with heavier than expected Waitangi weekend traffic summed it up beautifully with the simple headline “Thank you Mr Key”.  
But the Coromandel electorate is more than just the Coromandel Peninsula. It includes the Hauraki Plains our dairy heartland through the scenic Karangahake Gorge to Waihi and Waihi Beach and south to the jewel of the western Bay of Plenty Katikati. It is a diverse electorate an electorate with a rich heritage and a bright future.  
It is an electorate mature in its demographic. We have the highest number of people aged between 50 and 64 and the second-highest number of people aged 64-plus of any electorate in New Zealand. When added together those two age segments highlight a series of issues confronting us not the least of which is how to encourage more young people to make Coromandel their home and to raise their families in our part of paradise.  
The answer lies in economic development jobs and prosperity and I am very pleased to be a member of a John Key - led Government committed to encouraging economic growth for provincial and rural New Zealand. I am looking forward to supporting existing well-established agricultural fishing tourism and manufacturing businesses and to encouraging the establishment of new innovative and exciting enterprises. In particular I am looking forward to the new opportunities to be created by an expansion of our already excellent aquacultural sector which will bring further jobs and enterprise to our area.  
My predecessor Sandra Goudie devoted herself unstintingly to the people of Coromandel. Today I pledge the same devotion in the hope that the aspiration she and I both have for Coromandel can and will be continuously advanced here in Parliament and within our wider community.  
Although most of my working life has been in commerce and business for the last few years I have had the very great privilege of being chief executive officer of the greatest little charity in New Zealand Make-a-Wish. It is a charity devoted to a simple mission of granting the one cherished wish of children and young people coping with life-threatening sometimes terminal medical conditions. Members let me assure you there can be no greater joy than to work in a job where literally on a daily basis you are a professional wish granter. It remains to be seen whether I will be able to transfer that skill set to this workplace.  
Granting wishes to very ill youngsters taught me many things most of which I guess I already knew but some experiences certainly reinforced for me some simple life truths. Life is not fair. Bad stuff does happen. Bad stuff happens irrespective of family circumstance age gender wealth or location. But on the other hand small things count. Small gestures of kindness and goodwill have enormous power and magic not just for children and young people coping with dire medical conditions but for all people all humans all mankind. These are things I hope never to forget during my time in this place.  
Seventy-six years ago the National Party was formed by far-sighted people with a far-sighted national vision for a better New Zealand. Seventy-six years ago New Zealand was a new pioneering nation still struggling to come to terms with the worst local and world economic depression ever known—a country still reeling from the human and emotional impacts of the Great War where the sacrifice of young New Zealand blood was greater than a new developing nation found tolerable to bear. 
 Both my grandfathers served at Gallipoli. Both eventually returned home although one was wounded at Gallipoli patched up and then sent to fight on in France. The plaques adorning this Chamber stand as honourable tribute to that sacrifice and to subsequent further Kiwi sacrifice silent but powerful reminders to each of us of the past high price paid by others for our freedom to be here today.  
Many of those early National Party founders were the sons and daughters of immigrant pioneering families. Like the tangata whenua who had arrived centuries earlier they came with little in the way of personal possessions. But they came with the greatest asset of all: a gritty stubborn and unshakable belief that through hard work determination and passion their dreams of a better life than the one they had left behind could be forged for their children and grandchildren in a new little country rich in natural resources and blessed with a moderate climate and fertile soils.  
Today we are all the beneficiaries of that determination hard work and foresight. Each member of this House has progressed a journey to be here. Some have been catapulted almost unexpectedly here. Others like me have watched the affairs of our Parliament from the sidelines for years and many like me have been volunteer activists within our party organisational wings for far longer than we care to remember. I have done so since schooldays.  
Active participation in our democracy is important and although I have had my fair share of ups and downs it will always be my advice to political friend or foe alike to get involved be active have your say and always fight for what you believe in. Doing so may not always result in the outcomes sought but doing so will mean that you have had the satisfaction of being a participant rather than a mere observer who simply has to live with the result destined by those who did choose to step up and get involved.  
For me the game started early while I was still at school. The year was 1975—hard to believe I know. Rob Muldoon was barnstorming his way to a huge victory over Labour. My hard-working parents were running the small 7-day-a-week business they had established early in their married life. We lived in Mount Eden—the suburb not the prison. It was my School Certificate year.  
It was the Eden electorate. Aussie Malcolm was the National candidate running against a first-term Labour MP Mike Moore. Eden was the most marginal bell-wether seat in New Zealand. Aussie Malcolm ran under the provocative campaign slogan “Malcolm will do Moore for Eden”. The politics was intense exciting and as it turned out for me highly addictive. I guess for a teenager in the 1970s given the range of possible addictions on offer politics was at the lower end of the parental concern spectrum. Aussie Malcolm went on to beat Mike Moore and the rest is as they say history.  
Over the years I have developed an enormous regard for the army of ordinary Kiwis from all walks of life who make up the volunteer wing of the National Party. No National MP sits in this House without the support endorsement and backing of those people. I would like to acknowledge and thank all those people who have helped me along the way. An embarrassingly large number are here with me in the gallery today along with friends and members of both my close and extended family. Thank you for your ongoing support friendship and love. My Coromandel team was during the campaign and remain so today a truly outstanding team of people—too many to name individually but so ably led by electorate chairman Ian McClean and campaign manager Heather Tanner. Thank you one and all. 
For those interested in such things the maiden speech of Sir Jack Marshall delivered in this House 65 years ago is regarded as setting the benchmark in terms of defining what we these days label as liberal conservatism. And it is to that subject I now turn. Let me make it clear at the outset that the concept of liberalism does not mean at all anything to do with the touchy-feely namby-pamby soft-soap approach so often the political homeland of parties on the left. Rather liberalism is an acknowledgment that as a citizen I have the right to live my life in my own way provided only that this does not interfere with the rights of others; that I should be free to do as I wish subject only to the rule of law.  
The Hon Chris Finlayson teased out these concepts in his own maiden speech. He said and I agree entirely that the left may have admitted that the right won the great economic debate of the 20th century and that socialism in its many and varied forms has failed but the left still wants to regulate and control. Its natural instinct remains one of “only we know best”.  
For me the contrast between that view and the view of the National Party could not be more stark. National Party principles are liberal principles: a belief that personal effort and initiative should be rewarded; a belief that individual responsibility and accountability for our own actions and indeed inactions provide the foundation stones of our society; a belief that it is individuals who are best placed to make decisions about their future not the State; and that free open and property-owning democracy provides the best model of Government. These are the values and principles the National Party was founded on 76 years ago and they are principles that are as relevant today as ever they were.  
The principles on which our society is built in spite of vocal minorities who would work to make it not so are principles of liberal democracy. But liberalism and democracy are actually two different things. Democracy is a method for choosing and removing Governments. Liberalism on the other hand is a doctrine about what society ought to be what Governments should or should not do and above all liberalism is a doctrine that defines limits to Government power.  
I am convinced there is a common thread of liberalism through our nation whether we choose to recognise it or not. That common thread encompasses freedom of action and of individual rights tempered by a willingness not to interfere with the rights of others whilst pursuing our own. It encompasses a society of racial and religious tolerance one of equality of opportunity and equality before the law. The suggestion that a liberal is someone who wants to liberalise everything is of course entirely wrong. Merely recognising and respecting the ideas and opinions of others does not mean the same thing at all as accepting embracing or adopting those ideas.  
It is not a question of what we are prepared to tolerate as a society but rather what we are prepared to defend. For me it is the defence of a relentlessly optimistic outlook for my electorate and for our nation; the defence of that gritty stubborn and unshakable belief that a brighter more prosperous future lies ahead for our children and our grandchildren if only we here today in this place and of this generation have the personal and collective strength to step up and make it so. For a little country with so much going for us we spend far too much time and energy focusing on the things that hold us back on the roadblocks and the reasons why things cannot be so.  
As I conclude this my first address in our House of Representatives mark me down as one who stands firmly on the side of those who can do and will do. Mark me down as a supporter of growth and opportunity. Mark me down as a champion of individual rights over State rights of freedom and tolerance tempered at all times by the often forgotten important obligation of responsibility for actions and inactions. Mark me down as a defender of our very best liberal democratic values and as a staunch advocate for volunteer political activism. Mark me down as a new member who has come here now to be an active and energetic participant from within rather than a casual spectator from the sidelines.  
I am a fourth-generation New Zealander of European descent. My great-grandparents arrived in Kuatounu on the Coromandel Peninsula in the mid-1800s. I am the very proud father of Andrew and Ashleigh. My name is Scott Simpson. I am the National Party member of Parliament for Coromandel reporting for duty. 
Dr JIAN YANG (National) 
: 
 Kia ora Mr Speaker. As a Chinese who immigrated to New Zealand only 13 years ago I feel extremely honoured standing here before you all to give my maiden speech today. Firstly I would like to thank the Chinese community for their encouragement and support. Guangda de huaren huaqiao pengyoumen wo ganxie nimen de yiguan zhichi he houai. Zhe yike ye shuyu nimen. 
I am grateful to my colleagues at the University of Auckland particularly the staff of the department of political studies. Special thanks go to Professor Barry Gustafson and Professor Raymond Miller from whom I learnt a great deal about New Zealand politics and who both encouraged me to step out of theoretical politics and into real politics.  
I thank the board directors of the National Party for their trust. In particular I thank our president Peter Goodfellow. I cannot overstate Peter’s help in the past few months. I also thank my party colleagues for their warm welcome and support. And I thank the Prime Minister for his trust and guidance. Most of all I thank my family: my parents in China who cannot be here today my wife Jane and my daughters Suzie and Evelyn. I fully understand the sacrifices my family have to make and it was not an easy decision to leave the ivory tower and jump into the turbulent sea of real politics. Thank you Jane Suzie and Evelyn for your love and trust.  
As the Prime Minister noted in his first speech to the new Parliament the National Party was the first party in New Zealand to have a Chinese MP. I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the achievement of the honourable Pansy Wong. My election into Parliament lays down yet another milestone in the history of Chinese immigrants in New Zealand. I am the first National MP who is an immigrant from mainland China.  
The Chinese community in New Zealand has experienced rapid growth in the past two to three decades. We are attracted by among other things New Zealand’s second-to-none environment democratic political system equal economic opportunities and stable society. As an immigrant who witnessed and experienced the many political upheavals in China I do not take any of the benefits I am enjoying now for granted. My grandfather was a general of the Chinese Nationalist Party or Kuomintang which is today the ruling party in Taiwan.  
When the Communist Party came to power in China in 1949 my grandfather lost all his property was imprisoned and lived in poverty for the rest of his life. In the first 30 years of the People’s Republic of China the Chinese Government launched one political movement after another climaxing with the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution beginning in 1966. The revolution left behind millions of political victims including my parents who were sent to the countryside to be re-educated by peasants.  
In 1978 under the rule of Deng Xiaoping China made the historic decision to reform and open up. Capitalism began to flourish. Deng’s virtue of pragmatism is highlighted by his most famous quotation: “I don’t care if it’s a white cat or a black cat. It’s a good cat as long as it catches mice.” In that same year of 1978 I passed the newly restored higher-education examination and became part of a small group of high school graduates who went on to university. The change in China since 1978 has been awe-inspiring. China today is a different world. But the journey has certainly not all been smooth.  
In April 1989 a great opportunity was opened up for me when I received a scholarship from the Johns Hopkins University in America. However in the weeks following student demonstrations swept China. The Chinese Government’s policy change afterwards prevented me from leaving to study in the United States. Fortunately for China after a period of hesitation the Government decided to continue its reformation. In 1994 I started my postgraduate study in Australia and in 1999 I completed my PhD and began my work at the University of Auckland.  
My experiences reiterate the inescapable influence of politics on our lives and greatly contrast the deep value placed on political rights and freedom that we enjoy in New Zealand. For this reason I appreciate the National Party’s commitment to democratic principles and individual freedom and choice.  
Politics and economics are two areas difficult to differentiate. Between 1949 and 1978 China was a socialist country with a planned economy. The Chinese people were called upon to march towards a communist utopia where everyone should contribute to society to the best of his or her ability and consume from society in proportion to his or her need—that is “From each according to his ability to each according to his need.”  
Socialist economic policies did not aid China. By the year of my birth in 1962 China had wiped out private ownership in an effort to build a socialist economy. A horrific famine had just passed with the death of millions of people. In those years everyone was equal but everyone was poor. The most spectacular present that I received for my 10th birthday was two eggs for breakfast.  
By 1978 the Chinese economy was on the verge of collapse. It was at that critical moment that the Chinese Government started economic reforms salvaging the economy just in time. A market economy was introduced. Entrepreneurship was encouraged. The irrational pursuit of income equality was abolished. A popular official slogan at the time was “Shui xian fu shui guang rong” meaning “It is glorious to become rich before others”.  
We are all aware of China’s enormous economic growth since that pivotal year of 1978. China has risen to become the second-largest economy in the world. The Chinese Government has successfully lifted millions of people out of poverty. Reflecting on the way in which China has achieved its positive change and development gives me a firm belief that the policies of the National Party are in the best interests of New Zealand. We give priority to economic growth. And to achieve this growth we emphasise the importance of personal responsibility competitive enterprise and reward for achievement. These are all values shared by the Chinese community and many other New Zealanders.  
The Chinese were the third racial group to settle in New Zealand after the Maori and European. Most of them came as goldminers in the second half of the 19th century. Historian Michael King said: “Once in New Zealand the Chinese who persisted despite the poll tax and considerable prejudice proved themselves to be law-abiding and hard-working citizens.” We should not undervalue the contributions of the Chinese community to New Zealand. Not only has the Chinese community contributed economically it has also enriched the lives of all New Zealanders through the celebration of Chinese arts cuisine and traditions. Every year about 200000 people from different ethnic communities come to the Chinese Lantern Festival in Auckland as part of the Chinese New Year celebrations.  
To the Chinese strong work ethics coupled with good education are the two key elements to success. Surveys show that Chinese immigrants are often well educated and it is no secret that Chinese children generally do well at school. The  
New Zealand Herald  
noted in April last year that “If education is our future Chinese minds will be prominent in shaping New Zealand’s destiny.” This again reinforces the Chinese community’s vital role in the future development of our country.  
The Chinese community’s value in education echoes that of the National Party. We are committed to offering the best education to all New Zealanders and we believe education provides the ability for all to move forward.  
Despite the successes of the Chinese in New Zealand all new immigrants need time to adapt to a new country. Considering their Eastern cultural background it may be more challenging for Chinese immigrants to adapt to our mainly Western society. It is in the best interests of all of us to give them more support in this respect. On the other hand all immigrants should themselves try to integrate. Chinese immigrants are no exception. Members of the Chinese community should not only learn the languages and cultures of mainstream society but also be willing to sacrifice for the country.  
It is pleasing to note that the global trend among overseas Chinese is to move away from luoye guigen “fallen leaves return to the roots” but towards luodi shenggen “to grow roots where they land”. The mentality of sojournism is no longer dominant. Many Chinese including my family gave up their Chinese citizenship and proudly became New Zealand citizens. We are Kiwis although made in China.  
The Chinese immigrants do have a strong desire for recognition and integration which is why they have been actively involved in philanthropy and politics. They have been generous in their donations to the victims of the Christchurch earthquake. There was also a record number of Chinese candidates in the most recent general election.  
I feel truly honoured to be a National Party representative of the Chinese community. I hope to see more Chinese in Parliament as the community is still under-represented. The rise of China has given New Zealand an ideal opportunity. China is now our second-largest trading partner. Our trade with East Asia especially China played a crucial role in our effort to deal with the global financial crisis in recent years. In this respect Chinese residents’ connection with China is a great asset to New Zealand. The connection has generated many economic opportunities and there is still a great potential.  
As a Chinese immigrant I will act as a bridge between the Chinese community and our mainstream society. I will also endeavour to contribute to the strengthening of New Zealand’s relations with China. What is more my background and experiences render me capable of making contributions in many other areas be it education foreign affairs ethnic affairs or health. 
To conclude the values held by me and many Chinese New Zealanders are parallel to those of the National Party and other New Zealanders. These include equal citizenship and equal opportunity individual freedom and choice personal responsibility and reward for achievement. As a father of two I see it as my responsibility to provide a safe and prosperous environment for my children to grow up in. With the National Party I look forward to a brighter future. Thank you. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: My colleagues can I congratulate all the members who have made maiden speeches to the House in this 50th Parliament. I think we have heard some outstanding maiden speeches not just today but from all parties and I congratulate all the new members of this 50th Parliament for the quality of those maiden speeches.  
Debate interrupted. 
Sitting suspended from 6.04 p.m. to 7.30 p.m.