van de Molen Tim; Mallard TrevorTIM VAN DE MOLEN (National—Waikato): Thank you Mr Speaker. Picture the mighty Waikato: beautiful scenery well-managed and successful farms thriving and vibrant provincial towns diverse but united communities and continual opportunity. As the new member of Parliament for the Waikato I want to start by saying it's an absolute privilege to have been elected to this role and in such a magnificent part of country—a role that holds great opportunity and responsibility.As a new MP listening is a key part of the role. My grandfather once said You have two ears and one mouth. Use them in that proportion."Congratulations also to my fellow new MPs on both sides of the House. I'm excited about the path ahead and I'm sure you are too. I'm looking forward to working with you all. The journey to be here was an exciting and rewarding one a journey shared by so many people in the Waikato and beyond—by family and friends by party members by the public who believe in our vision. Thank you all sincerely for your support.Today I want to share a bit about my background—my family my upbringing and my experiences and why I am who I am—to touch on what brings me to this position. I want to highlight some of the wonderful aspects of the Waikato and I want to outline some of my aspirations for the Waikato and for New Zealand.Firstly I'd like to share that I felt on entering this building the mana the prestige the history of our nation. The decisions made by those who have come before—decisions that have shaped our great country. One of those people was my great-great-grandfather John Stevens a former member of this House who spent a number of years through the 1880s 1890s and early 1900s representing Rangitikei and then Manawatu. For me though Waikato has always been home. I was raised there I have worked and played there and now I have the privilege of raising my family there too.As one of five children I grew up in a competitive family-focused home where strong values were instilled in us—values such as hard work and enterprise and fair reward for it; taking responsibility for your actions; the strength and importance of family; equal opportunity; and standing up for what we believe in. We were encouraged to use our initiative to try new things and to ask questions. We had a very rural upbringing although my parents are teachers and we were constantly interacting with the outdoors generally racing around the countryside with skinned knees and bare feet. Hunting camping and fishing were all regular activities.I remember that when we'd go fishing on the wharf Dad needed to concentrate on the fish of course so he'd tie a rope around my chest and tie the other end to a pole on the wharf. Easy retrieval in case I should fall in—yes health and safety in action even back then. That's what I chose to believe anyway and not that I was simply the berley pot in case the fish weren't biting. We would spend long summer days exploring on family farms or in later years helping with the chores once we became useful or on crisp winter mornings breaking the ice on the water troughs to use as a frisbee or watching the horses' breath steaming as they were galloped around the track. Those early years on the farm were some of my best memories and developed into a true passion for the primary industries—a passion that continues today. I believe we were very lucky to grow up in such an environment but then really it's a typical Kiwi upbringing that so many of us are lucky to have had.I'm proud to be Kiwi and I'm proud of the diversity that often reflects in each of us. For me on my mother's side our ancestors arrived in New Zealand in the 1860s from the United Kingdom and my father's parents arrived in the 1950s from the Netherlands. I'm proud of my heritage and I believe that the success of New Zealand is due to embracing such diversity.My home town of Matamata is now—as it was—a jewel in the Waikato crown one of those great provincial New Zealand towns that we all know. I enjoyed my schooling at Matamata College before heading to the University of Waikato where I obtained a social science degree majoring in psychology. During this time I also trained as a scuba diving instructor as you do when you live in the most inland city in the country. This degree and diving combination as I'm sure you'd expect naturally led to me becoming a dairy farmer. Yes my journey has been somewhat varied.The New Zealand Young Farmers organisation was a key part of my life for 13 years. It was through this organisation that I got my first experience of governance. Young Farmers was indeed a key contributor to my desire to want to become a member of Parliament. It developed that knowledge that the decisions we made could positively or negatively influence the experience had by the grassroots members—making those calls with the best interests of others in mind guided by our values. I get great satisfaction from helping people. I love supporting them to learn to grow and to succeed—acknowledging of course that success can look different for each and every one of us.Over the years my primary industries involvement has also led to opportunities to visit Australia Japan the United Kingdom and Singapore. I can confidently say that we are indeed global leaders in this space but with the increasingly disruptive technologies that we're now seeing emerging and the changing expectations of consumers we must be more nimble more innovative and more united as an industry and as a country if we are to continue experiencing that success.Winning the FMG Young Farmer of the Year contest was a highlight of my time in the industry. It had long been a dream for me but achieving it was a reflection of the team of people helping me: their skills their knowledge their enthusiasm and of course their willingness to impart that to me. As in so many pursuits a great team will accomplish great things.Working as a rural bank manager was a role I loved: building an understanding of someone's business and helping them to achieve their dreams and aspirations. It was hugely rewarding. I learnt so much from them too—there is always another perspective. Alongside this I was able to achieve my own dream of getting into farm ownership. Having a background across dairy sheep and beef horticulture and agribusiness is very important in a strong rural area like the Waikato. Having said that there's also more to the Waikato than cows and crops and that's where my experience as a small-business owner my time working in the tourism sector service in the New Zealand Army Territorials and voluntary roles like with the St John Ambulance enable me to better relate to and understand the diverse range of people in our electorate—and the Waikato is incredibly diverse.For anyone who has served in the military I'm sure you can appreciate the physical and mental adversity you are frequently presented with. For example being tasked with sentry duty: sitting out in the beautiful Waiōuru tussock in a hole in the ground at 2 o'clock in the morning with the sleet driving horizontally not having slept in three days. And in the distance you can make out the Desert Road with the occasional twinkling of headlights moving along through the sleet and you wonder if the driver of that vehicle faces the same challenges that you do. Or perhaps rather than the biting cold they're biting into a hot pie; and rather than sitting in a hole they're sitting in a leather seat with a seat warmer. Character building moments.I share these experiences and memories because they have shaped me. It's the "why" of who I am. It's also the basis from which my own motto comes: "If it is to be it is up to me". Simple two-letter words. It's about taking responsibility for your own journey driving yourself onward challenging yourself and thirsting for more. Education is a lifelong experience. You can always learn something from the people around you. Each day we can wake up and be a better version of ourselves than we were the day before but it requires courage determination a focused plan and hard work. It doesn't mean being on your own though. Just make sure that the people around you are those that you need. I get a real buzz from working in a great team environment and succeeding in that and I see that opportunity presented to me in this role.Speaking of teams the most important team of all is my family. Thanks to my wife Hilary; to my parents Ron and Sue who are all present today. Thanks to my siblings present and watching from afar. It's a blessing to have the opportunity with my amazing wife Hilary to now raise our own family. We have two wonderful children: our beautiful daughter Isobella who's nearly two; and sturdy wee Arthur who arrived only a month ago shortly after the election. An election with a young family is not easy. Clearly I have an amazing wife. I would like to acknowledge Hilary: it's an honour to be your husband. I love your strength compassion intelligence and beauty. You inspire me to be better every day. Actually it's our third wedding anniversary today. Ha ha! What more romantic setting could one aspire to?I love innovation and I thrive on a challenge and in politics the job is never done. There is always something more that can be achieved: some competing need. I'd like to acknowledge Lindsay Tisch for his dedication as the member of Parliament for the Waikato over the last 18 years. His contribution to the National Party extends well before the time he spent as an MP and I would like to extend my thanks for all that he and his wife Leonie have done. I wish you both the best for the future and I look forward to picking up the mantle.In the Waikato we have some exciting opportunities in front of us. We need to continue to capture the growth potential with ongoing significant investment in infrastructure. The Waikato is of great strategic importance given our location in the "golden triangle" as well as the diversity of economic potential within the region. I will help the newly minted Minister for Regional Economic Development to keep this front of mind when looking for projects to support.We have an opportunity to further empower our communities. I believe that education is the foundation of opportunity. Our communities are diverse but we are all different which makes us all unique. But we are all equal and we can all succeed—although of course that success can look different for each of us. Those that aren't currently succeeding need help and encouragement to do so and I am committing to helping achieve that.We also have an opportunity to strengthen the relationships between rural and urban New Zealanders. The strength of the Waikato and New Zealand has historically been underpinned by the success of the primary industries. And although we now have more diversity than that the sector remains a significant contributor to our success. Farming continues to evolve. How we farm now is not how we farmed 10 20 or 50 years ago and it won't be how we farm 10 20 or 50 years in the future. Primary producers are typically great at adapting to their changing landscape but they need a supportive structure to facilitate this. The ongoing negative agenda being pushed by some groups is counter-productive and divisive. Let's work together. We must be sustainable but not just environmentally; it has to be socially and economically sustainable too.We have an opportunity to improve our tourism offering. There's so many amazing places in our region: places like Wairere Falls Port Waikato the Hākarimata track Hobbiton and Nikau Caves. I ran the Athens Marathon in Greece some years ago—a wonderful experience but very commercialised. Likewise climbing Mount Fuji Japan's highest mountain—a powerful spiritual experience when you summit and go through that shrine right at the top only to see a Coke vending machine straight in front of you. Look that's fine for them but it's not the Kiwi way. So many tourists come to New Zealand for our relatively unspoilt and raw beauty. Let's showcase it more.As I draw to a close I am confident that my vision and values my skills and experience my enthusiasm and determination will ensure that I am able to contribute to the success of the Waikato and to all of New Zealand. To my Waikato constituents I look forward to justifying the confidence you placed in me when you voted. It is my hope that I will add to the mana of this House and that after I am gone some new fresh-faced MP will experience that same sense of awe and be further inspired to make our great country greater still.That picture of the Waikato I shared at the start of this address: the scenery the successful farms the vibrant towns the united communities and the continual opportunity—this can and should relate to all of New Zealand. I am committing to making this picture our reality. I look forward to serving New Zealand and remember that every day we can be better than we were the day before. Thank you. [Applause]Mr SPEAKER: You do "Mr Speaker." and I do "Erica Stanford." all right?"