Fleming GregMAIDEN STATEMENTSGREG FLEMING (National—Maungakiekie): Ka hari te tangata kāhore neie haere i te whakaaro o te tangata kino ākāhore e tū i te ara o te hunga harakāhore anō e noho i te nohoanga o te hunga whakahī.Engari ko te Ture a Ihowā tāna e whakaahuareka ai;Kei tōna ture ōna whakaaro i te ao i te pō.He rite hoki ia ki te rākau i whakatōkia ki te awa waie whai hua nei i te pō e hua ai;e kore tōna rau e memenge; āka pono āna mea katoa e me ai ia.Koinā tōku tino wawata. [Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockersbut whose delight is in the law of the Lord and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers. That is my greatest dream.]Ten years ago this January a seed took root in my heart which has carried me here today. When on that summer's morning Dr Alistair Reese began his talk titled The Story of New Zealand" he—a Pākehā—in beautiful te reo Māori acknowledged every waka in the room. I'll never forget the wairua. Waves of peace of grace and of unity rolled gently from one side of the hall to the other and then he told a story of hope. I wept for most of the next three hours. The seed planted that day grew into a tree that now deeply shapes why I am here. I want to speak to that more but first let me tell you a little of my own story. I had the most wonderful childhood—thank you for being here today Mum and Dad. Raised on a small farm in the Wairarapa my experience is one of unconditional love and endless opportunity. At the age of nine my dad gave me six laying hens and my first sack of wheat. I opened a bank account back in those days when it was easier to open a bank account than to complete a PhD. By the time I was 13 I had 50 hens and a custom-designed shed and I was selling several hundred eggs a week around the town. I sold all the cracked ones to my mum at full price; I may have even charged her delivery to the kitchen. As the Good Book says "Raise a child in the way that they should go"—and they might become an ACT MP. Toitū te capitalism! At age 15 I changed to a different kind of egg and began importing used golf balls from the United States. Mr Nolan my accounting teacher at Wairarapa College told me I'd learn more from running my business than I would from his classes so I used that time to negotiate an import licence with the Department of Internal Affairs. The week before I was to send them a cheque for $25000 Roger Douglas deregulated the import industry the golf ball price halved overnight and I escaped with a free but invaluable education. I switched most of my capital then into Brierley shares October 1987 soon arrived and I received a further education—that one wasn't free. I knew by then that I would pursue business—not share trading—and I loved creating things and saw opportunities at every corner. So at Victoria University I pursued accountancy. I also pursued Kirstin Harrison and after four years she finally agreed to marry me. We celebrate 30 years this January; in fact I worked out that while we were getting married our new Prime Minister was on honeymoon. We headed to London where I worked in finance and marketing and by the time we returned home pregnant I had a whole range of business ideas ready to pursue. However just a few weeks in I took a call from a new charity supporting parents. They needed a business manager and I told them I'd look out for one. You see my role was to make the money and give it to charities or so I thought. However after three sleepless nights I drove to Auckland; met the board chaired by Sir John Graham; and a few weeks later we set up home in Onehunga. I was to give one year to the charity before returning to my business path but those 12 months derailed my plans. I experienced the joy of connecting people in need with resources and solutions and I was hooked. As the work grew I found us interacting with local government and central government and my interest in politics was piqued. In 2001 I thought about running for Parliament but Sir John and others encouraged me to instead take time to work out what I believed and why I believed it. A group of us started a think tank and so began the next stage of my formation. As I wrote this part of this speech I reflected on who I was back then and my supreme confidence in my ideas despite them being untested by the realities of life. I'm so grateful to those friends who steered me. Had I come to this House then I would have just added to the noise. My mind may have been clear but my heart was nowhere near ready. In those early years I knew what I believed; I just wanted to convince everyone else of my position. But then I encountered people who had different views and I began to do something very dangerous: I began to listen to them. They invited me into their worlds and my own began to change. Many of those generous patient people are here tonight or watching online—I acknowledge and thank you all—and very often from those changes I found myself creating. As I mentioned earlier I had thought my life would be one of creating businesses; instead it's been community organisations and I've been involved with many. One of particular impact was in 2010 when I had the privilege of helping start a trust to scale the organic work of a remarkable immigrant couple Cliffy and Indranee Reddy. The fruit of their efforts with struggling whānau in Manurewa was beyond remarkable and my 12-year journey with them has deeply shaped my faith in the healing and restoration that is possible in even the most broken contexts. It's carved in me my responsibility as someone who was given such a healthy relational context to invest my life in helping heal the less fortunate contexts of others. It's why I've come to this place. I think we all have. In the brief time I've been here I've not heard or met anyone who wants anything different. We all yearn for our people our communities and our land to thrive; the differences are in how we think those ends are best achieved. I am a National MP primarily because I've observed that Government contributes best to that flourishing when it distributes power to the front line—to iwi hapū whānau community organisations businesses local schools and local providers—for it is on the pae in the vestry in the school board meeting and at kitchen tables that we build a flourishing Aotearoa. Seldom does central government know best and that belief has—like all my beliefs—been formed and shaped in me through experience. I know firsthand in education housing welfare rehabilitation and business that it is local solutions in local contexts with local relationships where we foster true human flourishing. Mana motuhake—it's not a silver bullet. It has its own complexities and challenges but it is I believe a measurably better approach than that of centralisation. It's why I asked Maungakiekie to send me to Parliament—to champion that sector those platoons of civil society those thousand points of light that bring life and hope to people's lives: organisations like Tō Wāhi and the Oranga Community Centre like the Mount Wellington community network and Connect the Dots like Elevate Disabilities Trust and the Hearing House in One Tree Hill like the Ellerslie Mount Wellington and Onehunga community patrols like the Salvation Army Medical Centre in Royal Oak like the Onehunga and Ellerslie business associations and like every school and club and family in Maungakiekie. It's why I've come to this place. But I appreciate that my view of Government is contested. It's why this House exists as it does—to debate those ideas and beliefs—and I am so grateful to be here and I'm determined to listen well. The first evening here I returned after the dinner break ready to write my Christmas cards but then the speeches began and I never picked up my pen. For 2½ hours I listened. I listened carefully to Ricardo Menéndez March's vision of Government—I heard his heart—and I took notes of the points I want to unpack with him over a meal or several perhaps. When Willow-Jean Prime spoke her full 10 minutes in te reo Māori with no notes at all I hung off every word including the many I look forward to debating. I remind myself daily that in every interaction I am—through my actions my words and my listening—either humanising someone or dehumanising them. I can enter their world or dismiss their world and discard the person along with it. In choosing to enter their world I choose the space where tolerance lives. And tolerance is neither weakness nor agreement. It is strength; it is grace. It is recognising the humanity of the other and the importance of them being able to express their view—even though I might deeply disagree with it. And I can always learn. Because sometimes in the fullness of life it turns out that it was I who was wrong. A few months after I heard that "Story of New Zealand" I began a new leadership role and invited an old friend Te Waka McLeod to join me. She was relishing being back home in Taranaki as there in both her family and work context she could at last be fully Māori. "What if we changed this new work environment to be like that?" I asked. In a moment of reckless vision she agreed to move back north and together we and others began a journey that has shaped me more than I can describe. It began simply with karakia and mihi and waiata. Then we had a staff retreat at Umupuia Marae. Next we stayed at Te Tī in Waitangi. We formed a partnership with Te Wānanga o Aotearoa so all our staff could learn te reo during work time.We were generously invited into a haerenga a journey into te ao Māori and its language and for me that journey has never ended—and it never will. Every day I am shaped by the life and resonance of this taonga tuku iho nō ngā tīpuna [treasure that has been left to us by our predecessors] and when I hear it my spirit quickens. Kōrerotia te reo i ngā wā katoa [speak it all times]. When I hear it in this House I'm on the edge of my seat. Te mutunga kē mai o te reka! [Incredibly beautiful!] I am only at the beginning of my journey and I thank fluent speakers for their patience with me—whakatikaia mai. Tēnā ko tōku tino oati ki a koutou ko te whai i te reo rangatira me te tautoko i te pūāwaitanga o te reo me ōna tikanga.[Correct me. My greatest pledge to you is the pursuit of this noble language to support the flourishing of the language and its conventions.]For the past two years I've worked with friends to establish a tertiary language immersion school. Te Wānanga Ihorangi welcomes its first 40 students this February and my son Toby will be one of them. My grandchildren will be bilingual. This haerenga has shaped my faith. It wasn't long before I found myself yearning to worship in te reo Māori and so Te Ana Tapu—Holy Sepulchre—soon became my home. I am Mihinare and it is an honour to have here tonight many of my friends from Te Ana Tapu including my bishop Te Kitohi Pikaahu. Now each morning I read Te Paipera Tapu [The Holy Bible]. I pray in te reo o te whenua nei. And when I think of and hear Ihu Karaiti: he kōrero Māori ia. He mataora tōna. [Jesus Christ: he speaks Māori. He has a facial moko]. A friend said to me several years ago "Greg we will be one when you can walk as easily in my world as I can in yours." That invitation beckons me every day. That's why I will never stop learning and never stop listening.When I dream of 6 February 2040 I dare to imagine I dare to hope I dare to believe that on that day by the shores of Waitangi we will not weep tears of lament but tears of joy. That we will celebrate. That we will walk easily in both worlds. That we will be one.So I come to this House in trepidation. With my heart thus shaped how will I operate within a place of battle where opinions are weapons—six seconds or 100 characters in length and the stumbles of others are the trophies of each day's fight. I know this world will change me for every world does. It's why I've hesitated for so long. Can I remain faithful to the vision and dreams so deeply seeded and shaped within?That's why I conclude by acknowledging those who have shaped me most. Kirstin our five remarkable children—Harry Annabel Willis Tobs and Jed my big wonderful family—in-laws and out-laws my friends at Oati Hepara Maxim Aspiring Leaders Te Ana Tapu Venn Te Whakaora Tangata Parenting Place and Affirming Works—please stay close. Hold me accountable.To my campaign team volunteers supporters and party colleagues. To all those who have through your generosity and grace made it possible for me to pursue this position of service I am blessed beyond measure; I am grateful beyond words—e kore e ea i te kupu āku mihi ki a koutou [my gratitude to you all cannot be satisfactorily expressed by words].Finally I return to my maker. To the one from whom all blessings flow and from whom no secrets are hidden. You know the desires of my heart you know my weaknesses and you know my strengths for you formed them within me. My greatest desire is to serve you faithfully. Ko te wāhi ki ahau he whai i te pūāwaitanga o ngā tangata katoa ngā hapori katoa me ngā whānau katoa.[My role is to pursue the flourishing of all people all communities and all families.]I will with every breath mā te whanuitanga o tō aroha noa [by the breadth of your unconditional love] pursue the flourishing of this land and of its peoples.E te Atua arahina mai tiakina mai arohaina mai. Kia ora.[O God lead us protect us love us. Kia ora.]Waiata"