Robertson GrantHon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance): All the speakers who have gone before me have given a rich tribute to Mike and so I just want to take a few minutes to offer some personal reflections on Mike Moore but also to pick up a couple of the themes. The first of those was his love of this institution of Parliament and all parts of it. He came to prominence relatively quickly in that first term that he was here—between 1972 and 1975—but I think like all MPs who go through the experience of losing their seat after being in here for a period of time when he did make it back in here he was determined that he would make his mark even more so. He once told me a story when he came back in after 1978 about the fact that he really worked hard to keep in contact with his constituents. In those days the phone bills for MPs went via the Prime Minister's office before they were released. One year the then Prime Minister Robert Muldoon recognised that Mr Moore had a very very large phone bill and he decided that he would make use of this in the media and so leaked out the details of Mike's extremely large phone bill. Mike came under a lot of pressure from the media to respond to this enormous phone bill and so his response was to say You can call me anything you like but don't call me collect."—that's a joke for the over-45s in the room. My own first experience of meeting with Mike was actually as a student president. I'm not sure Paula Bennett if you were with us that day or not but he was the leader of the Labour Party at the time and a group of student presidents had come in to lobby him very hard about reversing the introduction of fees and the hardship that students were going through. He listened patiently to us for some time and I'd noticed earlier in the meeting that there was a very energised young man sitting in the corner of the room with a clipboard on which he was writing down absolutely everything. As we got towards the end of our presentation Mike actually physically stood up from the table pointed at this young man and said "Clayton hovercrafts—think about it." and Clayton Cosgrove wrote down "hovercrafts". I later learnt it was a reference to some industry training needs and things that Mike had seen but I began to see what Mr Bridges meant about sometimes finding it difficult to interpret everything that Mike had to say. A lot of people have talked about Mike's connection to trade and again I won't dwell on that either. I had the privilege of being a New Zealand diplomat just after Mike took on the role of being World Trade Organization director-general. He came to New York where I was posted and he was involved in a number of interesting meetings with people but he ended up on a panel discussion in front of the whole General Assembly to discuss the importance of trade. He was eloquent and he was incredible and he made the case in a way that few people could. He of course did that with his own unique style and at one point in the middle of it he paused and said "Back up the truck." There was silence so I thought "I wonder how this has been translated." I went across to my Chinese colleague and said "How did the translator deal with that?" and the translator said "The speaker is referring to heavy vehicles." Mike would've liked that I suspect as part of what he did. But his advocacy for trade was enormous and his contribution to that cannot be overstated. He had a great relationship with Ministers of trade who followed on from him and one of his favourites as our colleagues across the House will know was Tim Groser. I think I'm right in saying that Tim actually worked in Mike's office when he was the Minister of overseas trade so they had a long-lasting relationship. I recall one story from Washington when Tim came up as the Minister. Mike as Mr Brownlee has already mentioned had the most extraordinary set of contacts in Washington and he brought together this amazing array of people for Tim to speak to. The moment came in the evening for Mike to begin the formalities. He got up and he said "Ladies and gentlemen we have one of the foremost leaders in world trade in the room tonight a man to whose legacy we will all look back on in future years as being a person who fundamentally changed the direction of trade talks"—you can imagine the introduction went on for some time—and Mike then said "But enough about me." I'm led to believe Tim Groser's face was quite a picture at that particular moment. He also—I won't carry on too much longer Mr Speaker—came up with a line that I've used in this House a few times which is that the problem with Tim Groser was that he just didn't get enough credit for splitting the atom and there are so many more stories. I just want to finish on two points. The first of those is that Mike Moore had every reason not to trust me or support me. I represented a couple of things about the Labour Party that Mike wasn't always that fond of but he showed me throughout my political career the most extraordinary kindness and support. I made a couple of trips to Washington while he was there and benefited from those contacts and networks. I watched the 2012 election night result with him which is a memory I'll share for ever and my lungs will never forget. It was an extraordinary experience to spend time with Mike in those moments because you felt his passion for politics but far more than that you felt his passion for ideas and for discussion and for debate and I am thankful to him for showing me that kindness. I have a feeling he was trying to deal with a few regrets and the odd little demon about what happened to the Labour Party particularly in the 1980s and early 1990s and he built those bridges with a number of colleagues on this side of the House who are here today. I think he really wanted to hold together the party that meant so much to him for his whole life and for that kindness and that support I thank him wholeheartedly. My final words are for Yvonne. Yvonne Moore and Mike Moore were a team. They were a partnership beyond a loving relationship and marriage. They were part of the same journey in politics and in life. What they did for people their friends and their colleagues was huge but Yvonne went at every step in every way with Mike and today I really feel for Yvonne. I send all my love to her because this will be such a difficult time but I want this House to record and to know that Yvonne Moore's contribution to New Zealand has to be recognised alongside her husband Mike. She is a remarkable woman and Yvonne we feel for you today. E te rangatira haere haere haere atu rā."