Hawkins George: Valedictory Statements 
Hawkins George: Valedictory Statements 
[Volume:676;Page:21619] 
Hon GEORGE HAWKINS (Labour—Manurewa) 
: 
 I pay my respects to the family friends and comrades in the SAS of Lance Corporal Leon Smith on their sad loss. 
Today is a remarkable day for me. Today I have listened to the valedictory speech of one of my constituents Ashraf Choudhary. I have also listened to the person who held the seat of Manurewa immediately before me some 21 years ago the Hon Sir Roger Douglas. That we both give our valedictories on the same day is quite remarkable. But that is not all; there is more. My wife Jan is having her 65th birthday today. Happy birthday Jan! But that is not all. My dear old mum had her 65th birthday on the day I was selected for the seat of Manurewa on 12 February 1990. That makes her one of my oldest supporters. 
I am also pleased that my two brothers Donald and David and their wives are present. David was involved in politics having been on the Auckland Regional Council and he followed me as the Mayor of Papakura. Maybe Donald had the most sense—he kept out of it. As a youngster I was politically active. When I was 7 or 8 I put fresh dog droppings in the letterbox of our local National MP—perhaps great training for this place. 
Leaving Parliament I look forward to my retirement. However before I get into that I should go back and say that I came from a very political family. My father another George was an expert in politics. He told us that every politician is a mug. That is perhaps the reason that my two brothers David and Donald and I all vote for three different parties. I have had 12 electoral victories the first as a councillor on the Papakura City Council. Then I had three terms as mayor. I have been elected to this Parliament seven times and—I am fairly stupid—I put my name forward and got elected to the Manurewa Local Board. There is no stopping some of us. 
I am a baby boomer. I was born exactly 9 months after the end of World War II—my parents knew how to celebrate victory. When I went to Mt Albert Grammar School there was military training. We had an armoury full of World War I .303 rifles and a shooting range. Little wonder that I protested against the Viet Nam War and was involved in the antinuclear protests. 
After leaving school I worked for the  
Auckland Star 
 as a photographer and I acknowledge Fred Freeman and Harold Paton for the help and guidance they gave me. I also went to teachers college. They were great days and that is where I met Jan. There were no electronic meeting places and no Facebook or twittering although there was plenty of that good old-fashioned romance. Jan and I taught at various schools in Auckland and Hawke’s Bay. 
The first time I stood for Papakura City Council was way back in 1974. I stood with Geoff Braybrooke. Geoff is not very well at the moment; many people here will know Geoff. He wanted to be here. I hope you get to feel a bit better mate. We both failed. In fact we got a real thrashing. I tried again in 1977 with another equally dismal result. I also tried a third time in a by-election. Once again I lost. By the time of the 1980 council election I managed to scrape in as the lowest-polling successful candidate. It was a great learning experience. 
In the 1983 election I became Mayor of Papakura with all of my team elected to council. My wife Jan was a marvellous mayoress and very popular. My deputy mayor Nancy Hawks was very loyal and served on the council for many years. She was award the QSM and I think she thoroughly deserved it. Graham Tagg the town clerk was a clever and wise adviser. 
Tragedy hit my family in 1989 when our youngest son Cameron died. Our lives were ripped to pieces. It was difficult to carry on our public roles. However with the strong support of friends and the people of South Auckland we managed. Our oldest son George was also a great help to us. Young George is married to Olga and has a wonderful and caring family. Jan and I are very proud of him. 
I had a stroke in 1991 followed by deep-vein thrombosis. More recently I survived bowel cancer and I must say how glad I am that doctors and surgeons did not take too much interest in politics. 
When I first came to Parliament in 1990 I was elected under the first-past-the-post scheme. It appeared to me to be an admirable scheme. Then in 1996 along came MMP. It took ages for a Government to be formed. There was a bit of the tail wagging the dog. But there is a feature about MMP I strongly dislike. It is simply this: a candidate can stand for election in a constituency lose the vote—could even finish third or fourth—and still be elected to Parliament on the party list. The each way bet in an election should go. 
It is at the moment unfair to voters. They have rejected some candidates only to see their vote diluted and that the party has more say. The individual party bosses have more say than the individual voter. They place someone high on the list because he or she has the ability to get large donations or can help the numbers of a particular faction. In some cases these defeated candidates enter Parliament on the list and then open an office at the taxpayers’ expense in the electorate in which they were defeated. It is no wonder some politicians are not held in high regard. 
People should think very carefully about this at this year’s referendum. Candidates should be allowed to stand for a constituency or as a list candidate but not both. I acknowledge that there are people in this House who are beneficiaries of the present MMP system and they will strongly disagree but I believe that the views of the public should be paramount. 
Another area I feel Parliament—perhaps I should say successive Governments—has failed to properly address is the way new babies and their mothers are treated. I know of cases where mother and baby are booted out of the hospital within 2 hours of the birth and sent to make their own way to a birthing centre for 1 or 2 days. Most are sent home before the mother’s milk has come in. I think we are all really failing the mothers and the next generation. Hopefully future Governments will address the way hospital services treat mothers and their babies. 
I want to say that the Parliament that I entered in 1990 was very different from the Parliament I leave. There were only 29 Labour MPs and we had to work together even talk to each other although not everyone listened to each other. Mike Moore was our leader. He was very tough; he was a slave-driver. He gave people an outstanding role model. He is a very caring and compassionate New Zealander. I was very pleased when he became head of the World Trade Organization and I was also delighted that the National Government appointed Mike as the New Zealand Ambassador to the United States. He is a real and genuine friend. 
Back in the time I was first in Parliament there were people like David Lange Rob Muldoon and Richard Prebble. I must say how delighted I was to hear stories about them and members will be delighted that I will not give them more publicity. Debates in Parliament then were often very heated. The reading of speeches was not allowed and speeches were a great deal longer than they are now. The Grand Hall was quite different then. It held six snooker tables and comfortable leather armchairs. There was plenty of blue smoke and a number of equally blue jokes. It was in fact a gentlemen’s club. How things have changed. We have had women Prime Ministers women Governors-General and a woman Chief Justice. Gone are the days of the typewriter; Parliament is filled with computers laptops cellphones iPhones and iPads. Some MPs read their speeches off them directly. 
Jonathan Hunt—and I am glad he is here today—was the chief Opposition whip when I entered Parliament and there was no problem for an MP that he had not seen before and none that a chat and a quick G and T or a little wine would not cure. He fully deserved the title of father of the House. 
I was lucky to serve in two of Helen Clark’s Cabinets. I place on record my sincere thanks to her. She was a great Labour leader. I also take the time to mention my gratitude to Michael Cullen for his guidance. I enjoyed my time in Cabinet—well most of it. I had a number of interesting portfolios: internal affairs ethnic affairs veterans affairs police and civil defence. I really enjoyed being New Zealand’s first Minister for Ethnic Affairs and the work that I did in that area especially the Government’s apology to the Chinese for the way it had treated them many years ago. I got a huge amount pleasure out of that work. 
Having taken the 2002 Civil Defence Emergency Management Act through the House it gives me a degree of personal satisfaction to see it in action in Christchurch. Those dark days in Canterbury will never be forgotten and I hope it never becomes a political slanging match. The introduction of the police highway patrol and the drop in road deaths have been important. Working with the voluntary sector especially the volunteer firefighters was a privilege and most enjoyable. I also loved working in my electorate especially the schools. 
I now come to the stage when I want to thank people who have helped me on my political journey. To my wife and my wider family thank you. Thanks to Vicki Bill Murray Daniel and Ian for running New Zealand’s busiest electorate office. To Terry who has just come back from having a hip replacement it is good to see you here today and to the late Beryl Booth I extend my gratitude for the work they did for me and the people of Manurewa and for running my parliamentary office. Teresa McMahon and Melissa Turner were towers of strength as senior private secretaries in my ministerial office. Selwyn Manning had the unenviable task of looking after my media. The office had real smart people like Daniel Newman who has gone on to represent some of New Zealand’s largest commercial property owners and is speaking a great deal of common sense in Auckland government. I hope he arrives at this place some time soon. Mark Oldershaw went on from my office to become general manager of the National Party. 
A person I really admire is Gerry Cunneen; many people will know him. He worked as my police adviser. He is a wonderful wonderful person. Thanks Gerry. I was also very lucky to work with Jacki Couchman. She always gave me good advice and is a person of the highest integrity. Jacki is one of the country’s outstanding career civil servants. I thank Bruce Kohn who helped me and many people in this building—Ministers and members—for over 40 years. 
I also thank the people of Manurewa for giving me such an honour of being their elected member of Parliament for the last 21 years. In particular I thank those people who worked for me locally—especially Faye Trevor Tom June Raj and the Thandi family—and all the other people who gave up their time so freely. I should also make mention of the late Fred Anderson who was a very loyal friend. 
My thanks to everyone who has helped me over the years: the staff of Parliament especially the messengers security the staff of the library various Speakers and their staff and the staff of the Clerk’s Office and Bellamy’s. I also made a promise to my opponent from the North Shore who stood against me Cam Calder. I promised I would give him a plug in my valedictory speech and here it is! You can come and get it after. 
I wish all those making valedictories all the best for their lives outside Parliament. To those who wake up on 27 November and wish they had made a valedictory speech I say good luck anyway. 
I want to say farewell to a person who is leaving this place without a valedictory: Rodney Hide. Rodney you were very courageous in reorganising Auckland and it actually worked from day one—a legacy that Don Brash cannot take away from you. I was going to say something about grass Don but I see you sitting over there. This is a smoke-free area so I will not go into that. 
I also wish Phil Goff Annette King and the Labour team they lead all the best for the general election and the years ahead. I wish Clayton Cosgrove Shane Jones and my South Auckland colleagues Ross Robertson Ashraf Choudhary and William Sio well. Louisa Wall: look after the people of Manurewa Louisa and they will look after you. Good luck and thank you. Goodbye.