Scott Alastair: Address in ReplyText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeScott Alastair: Address in Reply[Sitting date: 29 October 2014. Volume:701;Page:371. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]ALASTAIR SCOTT (National—Wairarapa):Mr Deputy Speaker I would first like to congratulate you on your election as Deputy Speaker of the House. I also acknowledge and congratulate the Prime Minister the Rt Hon John Key and his team of talented and dedicated Ministers and caucus members. I acknowledge members of the other political parties in this House and congratulate them too on their success.I am honoured to be here giving my maiden speech humbled by the support given to me and demonstrated by the people of the Wairarapa electorate and I am thankful for their vote of confidence. Seventeen years ago after living overseas I chose the Wairarapa as the region to set up my business in and to get involved in the business community. I was already familiar with the region as a child and a teenager visiting my late grandmother more than 40 years ago and enjoying the hot summers and the ripe plums at the bottom of her garden. Her stewed fruit and very overcooked grey cabbage I will always remember. And of course the carrots and peas always had a teaspoon or two of sugar.I am extremely grateful to the Wairarapa electorate and campaign committee members who have worked tirelessly to ensure my selection as their member of Parliament. To the many volunteers dropping leaflets making phone calls and maintaining hoardings throughout the campaign period—thank you all. The Wairarapa electorate is large stretching from Cape Palliser at the southern tip of the North Island to Waipawa in Central Hawke’s Bay to the north. Our boundary to the west is the Ruahine and Tararua ranges and to the east is the Pacific Ocean. Our livelihoods rely on primary production the backbone of the New Zealand economy. We produce honey wood apples wine meat wool and milk. We host world-class events and have a fabulous climate. We have superb fishing miles—miles—of sparsely populated coastline big open spaces blue skies and affordable housing. We welcome all those who are willing to contribute to our communities.I was fortunate to be born into a family of love and support a family of doers a family who encourages independence and self-determination and a family who believes that anything is possible. In fact believe it or not I could read before I was 5 but it was not because I liked books or was especially bright; it was my mother’s love and attention. It was her positive expectation that made the difference. Janice Watson has dedicated herself to supporting dad and the family always with an infectious smile. Thanks mum and dad. You both continue to support our family with your kindness wisdom and love.My father Bruce and his father Fergus were both assistant commissioners of police as you know Mr Deputy Speaker. My uncle and one of my three sisters also belonged to the police family. I come from a family of service. Rotary church and the Scouts were always part of our childhood. My extended family of aunts uncles grandparents and cousins have also strongly influenced who I am and I thank them all living and passed for their input and influence.I especially thank the lovely and beautiful Robyn Noble-Campbell who has given me the love and support that is so vital. To my kids Ben Joe and Holly and Robyn’s kids Sam Liam and Ruby who are a fantastic bunch of individuals whom we are all very proud of—thank you for your love and support. It has been a privilege and continues to be a privilege and great pleasure watching you grow up watching your sport cooking with you fishing and just generally hanging out with you all.My first dabble into politics was at college where I was voted in by the students as the president of the Wellington College school council. The position was up for grabs the opportunity was there and I took it. It was a simple decision I gave it a go and I won. I repetitively repeat and then say again and again to my kids: “Make your opportunities and take them. Say yes before no and then pedal hard.” I believe everyone has an obligation to have a go to take opportunity and to use their skills and experience to the best of their ability.For me this sense of obligation is reflected in a parable from the New Testament the parable of the talents where three sons are given varied amounts of their father’s assets to look after while he is away. On the father’s return two of the sons deliver the assets plus some solid gains while the third son simply returns the asset as he had received it thinking that that is good enough. The father comes down hard on that third son admonishing him for being lazy and conservative complacent and indifferent. The son has done nothing with the assets and nothing with his talents or resources available to him. For me the parable compels us all to use the gifts and abilities we have for the betterment of our families and our communities to take risks and to give it a go for the sake of progress and improvement.I am here today because I wish to contribute my bit to the well-being of New Zealanders. I want to assist this Parliament in raising the standard of living for all. To do this my goal is to encourage our young people to be winners to take on the world to believe that anything is possible and to take opportunities. When they fall off the bike that they are pedalling they will know that they must get back on that bike keep pedalling and get the job done. When they take a risk to give things a go they realise that they too can win and winning is what we must do. We must grow and develop a nation of winners.The tall poppy syndrome still sits amongst us in our communities. Mediocrity is too often accepted even demanded. There is a sense that success is not cool. There are some who say we need to all be the same and that academic excellence or financial success is for the geeks and the greedy. That attitude is a handbrake to the success of this country. We celebrate our sporting successes. We love to watch and admire Richie McCaw Valerie Adams and Irene van Dyk. We do not ask Richie to slow down or miss a few tackles so the bench player can get on the field. We do not ask Valerie to throw a shorter distance because we feel sorry for her competitors. No we do not because we want them to use all their resource all their talents and all their skills. We want them to win.The celebration and expectation of sporting success must be transferred to business and academia. We need to bring that sense of pride into the classroom into the community and into our culture. We need to promote a culture of accepting and celebrating success in whatever form and encourage a culture of winning by taking risks pedalling hard and crossing the finish line. We are not all equal but we can all do our best and we can all win our race to achieve our dream. My view is that the Government’s role is to provide a framework that allows people to get on with their own lives—to be creative and entrepreneurial to innovate and invent to build businesses and employ others and to be prosperous. The Government must let business get on with business. Only then will we have choices in the way we invest in our future whether it is in our children’s education or our parents’ medical care.I believe in the collective wisdom of our communities and that given the opportunities our communities and individuals are able to build industry and add value where a Government agency cannot. Individuals know how to spend invest and save. They know how to look after their family and how to create wealth. I believe that private enterprise innovation resourcefulness and adaptability within the community far outweigh anything a bureaucracy can achieve. The result of all this will be a larger economic pie and we must grow the pie so that we can all have a decent feed. Free-trade agreements promoting the New Zealand brand and pitching our primary products to the increasing number of consumers who demand high-quality safe food will contribute to growing that economic pie. The larger pie enables the Government to help those who cannot help themselves to support those who need a hand up. For me the welfare system the safety net must be a bouncy one like a trampoline designed to bounce people back into the workforce and into the community—not a hammock that becomes comfortable so that once you are on it it is difficult to get off.I am an advocate for the taxpayer. The Government is here to fund health and education programmes welfare and security needs and we must be accountable and always remember where that money comes from. Taxes are collected from those who get up each day and go to work. They are collected from people who every day put on their gumboots or their safety boots their kitchen apron or their nurses’ uniform. These funds are earned by people who work 8 10 or 15 hours a day to put food on their family’s table. We must account to the taxpayer for the funds we spend on their behalf. We must be prudent and responsible and demand value for every dollar as if it were our own.Another prerequisite to success is teamwork. I believe that by working together we are more likely to succeed as a nation. Teaming up with like-minded businesses collaborating across the social services and working with like-minded people creates a power that is not able to be achieved individually. Richie McCaw would not be the great player he is without his team and coaches working together. MMP compels us to collaborate across the political spectrum. Working together is the key to successful business a successful Government and a successful nation. I commend the aspirational collaborative supporters and partners in this Government: the Māori Party the ACT Party and United Future.This country has huge opportunity. The world is becoming a smaller place as we become more connected. The growing markets in Asia and the wealth of the Americas and Europe are all available to us. The opportunities are right on our doorstep. It is up to us to take those opportunities and use them for the betterment of all Kiwis. I look forward to working with all the members in this House; to collaborating for the betterment of our fellow New Zealanders to allow them to achieve great success in whatever field they choose; to encouraging an attitude of taking risks so New Zealanders can achieve their dreams; and to creating a nation of fearless winners. Thank you.