Mallard TrevorSPEAKER: Members I'm going to take a little indulgence and make a few comments myself. I first met Mike in these buildings when Norman Kirk was the Prime Minister and he was an Auckland member. In 1983 when I was first a candidate for the Labour Party in Hamilton West Mike as part of his lamburger tour came to Hamilton West and opened my campaign. The comments that Grant Robertson made about Call me collect" were nearly accurate. Actually Sir Robert Muldoon who was at the time the Minister in charge of the Legislative Department—which was the Office of the Clerk and the Parliamentary Service—actually waved Mike's $3000 monthly phone bill around in the House and I think that's a bit of a sign of how times have changed. But I can remember Mike was both happy and unhappy at that stage during the lamburger tour because the Minister in charge of the Legislative Department had ruled that notwithstanding a campervan which he was using for his tour being cheaper than a rental car and the hotel bills Sir Robert would not approve the payment for the campervan. Mike like a number of his successors had some contacts in the end who while they weren't normally Labour Party supporters understood the importance of the message and supported that trip. During that meeting kicking off the campaign and kicking off the canvassing Mike used the name of my then opponent Mike Minogue somewhat in vain. He described not a lamburger but a "Minogue burger". He described it as "half tongue and half chicken". That was reported in the first edition of that day's Waikato Times but in the home edition of the Waikato Times it looked something like a wartime censorship exercise. I'm reliably informed that the printers were sent out by the management to chip off the block and take that phrase out of the Waikato Times. So there was a blank space on the front left-hand side of the paper on that day. Others have referred to Mike's role in international trade. He saw it as not that complicated as far as economics was concerned. It was about people doing what they were good at and sharing it with other countries. Mike was very firmly of the view that poorer people could eat more if it was cheaper and the way to make it cheaper was to trade it and not to have the tariff and other barriers stopping that happening. Frankly with a few exceptions here and one more notable exception internationally that is now the received wisdom around the world and it certainly wasn't the case 25 or 30 years ago. There are going to be lots of stories told I'm sure over time and we've heard the story of the shared job. I know a little bit about how that actually ended up occurring because Mike had picked up that idea. He tried with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to make contact with the Thais and you know the phone was not being picked up. There was no reception there. Mike was at dinner with a prominent Wellington business person at his home. The business person's wife at the time was Thai and she overheard this conversation. She got on the phone and worked her way through the staff in Thailand and got to Supachai on to the phone and that's how that discussion about the job-sharing actually occurred. I think it just shows what a small world we actually have and the way that some of these things work. I worked for Mike for three years between 1990 and 1993. I think it's fair to say that it wasn't always easy. Mike used to himself say that he wanted to have more yes-men in his office and he didn't always appreciate contrary advice. But in that time I got to know him. I got to really appreciate Yvonne and Mike as people. My son who was then a teenager and is now 46 idolised Mike and his friend and successor Clayton Cosgrove. I want to thank Clayton for his role in supporting Mike so much in recent years. Mike was Clayton's friend and his mentor and I think most of us regard Mike as Clayton's father figure. Mike was incredibly generous even to those with whom relationships at the time weren't always positive. He helped me when I had a relatively significant legal battle—still unresolved I might say to some people on my right—both with obtaining good legal advice and financial support for that advice. That gave us a chance to talk during his last term here in a way which I found very positive. I had another very good opportunity to do that in 2013 during the America's Cup when he was ambassador and he was there and I spent quite a lot of time talking. I was actually AWOL at the time. There'd been a leadership change here and I didn't feel any need to hurry home so we had quite a discussion about leadership changes both then and 20 years earlier within the Labour Party. I do want to underline the fact that Mike was the first Minister responsible for the America's Cup. You know most people at the time thought that the idea was mad it was ridiculous and we could never win it but Mike was the person who saw how technology and innovation and renewal could make a difference to New Zealand. It was a small area for Mike but it was I think an indicator of the way—as Damien O'Connor said—Mike was often right too soon. One of the things that I really regret is that after Grant Dalton has arranged a special leg of the next America's Cup to be run right outside Mike's home he won't be there to watch it. Jane and I visited Mike last year. It was when he wasn't great physically but as others have said he was still absolutely sharp mentally notwithstanding the obvious pain that he was in. It was only meant to be for a few minutes but Jane and I were there for about three hours. Yvonne—as she always was—was exceptionally supportive as Mike was of Yvonne. I mean one of my memories was of Mike in I think 1993 when he had missed an important meeting with a foreign visitor to his office. We sort of said "Well why didn't you catch the plane Mike?" It was the fact that their cat had died and Yvonne was upset and Mike knew that his family and Yvonne were more important at that time than any international visitor. She was always the most important thing in Mike's life and I'm sure that all of our thoughts will be with her. Motion agreed to. Honourable members stood as a mark of respect.WaiataSPEAKER: Thanks Mike. The House adjourned at 3.28 p.m."