Eagle PaulPAUL EAGLE (Labour—Rongotai): Ā Whakarongo atu ki ngā ngaru e whati ana i runga i onepū i runga i te taniwha ko Whātaitai. Whakarongo atu ki te mahi a Tangaroa kua rongo au i te tai ko Rongotai tēnei e kōrero ai tīhei mauri ora!" Ko Tainui te waka ko Taupiri te maunga ko Waikato te awa ko Waikato-Tainui te iwi ko Kīngi Tūheitia te tangata ko Horohoro te marae ko Paul Eagle toku ingoa tēnā koutou katoa![And so "Listen to the waves breaking upon the sand and the deity it is indeed Whātaitai. Listen to the performances of Tangaroa I hear the tide this is Rongotai indeed talking behold the breath of life!" Tainui is the canoe Taupiri is the mountain Waikato is the river Waikato-Tainui is the tribe Kīngi Tūheitia is the man Korokoro is the marae and Paul Eagle is my name salutations to you all!]Mr Speaker honourable members whānau and friends—the whānau are still coming in the friends are here and I'll keep going. Look it's a privilege to stand here before you as the member for Rongotai and the first Māori male to win a general electorate seat for the Labour Party.To be an MP in this House is an honour for which I owe a tremendous debt to a good many people—the wonderful people of Rongotai for starters and many others who are here in the gallery today. Thank you for coming. Unfortunately I can't name everyone in the time I have this afternoon. However there's one person who I must name and that's my wife and closest friend—there she is—Miriam. Thank you for believing in me and thank you for giving up your 40th birthday to doorknock and deliver brochures for me instead.Hon Members: Oh!PAUL EAGLE: I know. I also acknowledge my predecessor and mentor the Hon Annette King and her husband Ray Lind. Annette I humbly follow in your footsteps today. Thank you for your wisdom for your remarkable patience and for your advocacy. Thank you for also being my weight watcher and ensuring I can't open an account at Copperfields.I must also thank the Hon Luamanuvao Winnie Laban and her husband Dr Peter Swain—I saw them walk in—for believing in me from day one. Winnie your tenacity to push me to achieve my dreams and aspirations has been incredible. And thank you for being my Pacific mum. Your advice to attend church every Sunday and eat lots of chop suey has paid off.A maiden speech in Parliament marks the beginning of a member's political life. So when writing my speech I wanted to make sure that my words today would stand the test of time and that's why my maiden speech is dedicated to my son Tamarangi in the form of a letter to him. As I stand in this debating chamber I'm filled with hope for my son's future and that of all children in Aotearoa. Now he is a little young to understand what is happening to his dad right now so when he gets older I want him to know that right from the very beginning of my political journey he was and will always be at the centre of all I do.Here goes: Dear Tamarangi it's your dad's first official speech on the job. I've already got lost a few times in this big place but don't worry son. I've figured out that I can get from my office in Bowen House to Copperfields and back without passing the whips' office and fingers crossed no one tells Annette King either.You are sitting up in the gallery right now with your mum and although you may be more interested in watching Moana on the iPad my heart swells at the sight of you. You see Tama your Auntie Annie used to be the member of Parliament for Rongotai which includes your home the Chatham Islands. Rongotai is the place where you will grow up and belong.After serving the people of Rongotai for 24 years Auntie Annie hopefully decided to spend more time with Uncle Ray and your dad got the nod—whoo!—from the Labour Party and the people of Rongotai—whoo!—to carry the mantle on. And I'm grateful for it. With the help and support from a whole lot of people they put their trust in him and on election night he won the great seat of Rongotai and became its new MP.Your dad wanted the job because he wants to serve and care for others. He wants to make sure everyone has a home a good education access to affordable healthcare and a place to belong. Like your birth mother my birth mother wanted to give me a better life than she herself could. She once told me "If the DPB had've been around when you were a baby I could have kept you."In 1973 the late Norman Kirk and the then Labour Government introduced the domestic purposes benefit. But your dad was born in 1972—a year earlier—which meant that when my birth mother found out she was pregnant with a child she could not afford to care for to a man who couldn't care for her she had to let me go. And sadly there was no State support or sympathy for solo parents back then. My birth mother had already been judged for her actions but she wanted more for me than she could give: a safe home a warm bed good clothes and a full tummy—I think I got that last one.But it wasn't possible at the time so the difficult decision was made to give me up for adoption—a decision that changed our lives forever. It would be more than 20 years before I'd see my birth parents again. My birth mother told me of her sadness and how she missed me and worried about how I was doing. At shopping malls she would look at each little Māori boy and wonder if it were me. But over 45 years later it's still nice to know that she wanted me and would have kept me if she could. But it's even more rewarding to know that because of Kirk and a Labour Government thousands of mums and their babies got the support they needed to stay together. And that's even if your dad wasn't one of them.I don't like to think that my birth mother gave me up. It sounds as if she gave up on me; when what she did was give me a loving family a happy childhood the best shot at life a boy could ask for and a place where your dad truly belonged. I understand this more than ever son because when we adopted you your dad realised how hard the decision for our birth mothers must have been because to decide to let go of a child is the most selfless act any person can do.But your dad was lucky enough to be adopted into a wonderful family: people who opened their hearts and gave me a decent start in life. Fortunately for me son they gave me the things my birth mother could only dream of and that was that safe home a warm bed good clothes and a full tummy. My mum son—your gran—worked for many years in the health sector and tirelessly volunteered her time for good causes; and my dad your poppa was a minister in the Methodist Church for 49 years and both were heavily active in the Labour Party. They instilled in me the importance of caring for and serving people and the significance of getting involved in political action if things that you believed in weren't right.The Springbok Tour came to our shores in 1981 and gave me an insight into what it meant to stand up for your values. Churches became hubs for a campaign activity against the rugby team from a country who treated people of colour differently. Your poppa and his Methodist minister mates all wearing their collars hit the front line with homemade shields batons and Gran used to wonder if he was going to be put in jail or come home all beaten up.But it was then that your dad learnt that sport and politics do mix and it taught him that doing something popular wasn't always the right thing to do; it was standing up for your values and what you believe in that really mattered most. Gran and Poppa also gave your dad a thirst for knowledge a good education and strong values to live by—Labour's values. But most importantly son your gran and poppa gave your dad a place to belong.There are thousands of Kiwis who are adopted including over 40000 Māori who still today don't know where they're from. They deserve better because whakapapa is essential to Māori identity and social inclusion. Son you will know your whakapapa and Chatham Islands heritage. You will never be invisible and you will be firmly anchored in this universe.Your dad will work steadily to ensure that no law is made in this Parliament that will impede or hinder anyone from knowing their true identity and where they belong. Further adoption law reform is needed and your dad will seek to promote a member's bill to do this because it's time the secrecy ended once and for all and we open up adoption to the thousands of Kiwis who are desperate to provide Kiwi kids with the best shot in life. Your dad will do this for you my son and for all the sons and daughters of the many who are yet to find a place where they can belong.But my boy like I said this speech marks the first address in my new role and your dad has lots to do. Your mum and dad want to make sure you get the best opportunities in life; that you inherit a country where you can go down and safely play in the Owhiro stream there in Happy Valley and not get sick; a country where you fall over and you get hurt and you can go to your local hospital Wellington Hospital and get the help you need; and that when you grow up and come to buy your own home you can afford to buy the home in Rongotai—if you choose to rent your home is warm and dry. And son when you are at school you have the option to learn Te Reo no matter where in Rongotai that school might be.Your mum and dad want this for you and for every child growing up in Aotearoa. That's why your dad is here today because kids are going without parents are struggling healthcare providers don't have enough resources and people can't afford to buy their own homes. So son I'm going to need you to give a big cuddle to some of the people that helped get your dad here today especially our Rongotai Labour whānau who are here and the many sitting next to you in the gallery today—and of course your mum Miriam. She loves you as much I do—sorry as your dad does—but she has stuck by Dad through it all. So be kind to your mum son. Clean your room put away the dishes and tell her that you love her because without her your dad wouldn't be here in the New Zealand Parliament today.But it's also time to give you a wee apology. Being an MP is a big job and at times I'll miss out on going down to Kilbirnie Park watching you play for the Pōneke Rugby Club having dinner with you and your mum and reading you that all-important bedtime story. But I promise to be the best dad to you that I can be and to work hard to ensure that I do you proud by being a strong representative of Rongotai. Know that from the very beginning you were at the heart of my political journey. But my boy this does not mean you can have a car when you turn 16.I love you your dad.Tōku tama ngā mema o tēnei Pāremata nō reira tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā tātou katoa.[My son and members of this Parliament therefore greetings acknowledgments and accolades to you collectively and to us all.][Applause]Waiata"