Lorck AnnaANNA LORCK (Labour—Tukituki): E te Māngai o te Whare e mihi mahana ki a koe. Ki te Whare e tū nei tēnā koe. Otirā ngā mema o te Whare tēnā koutou.[Mr Speaker warm greetings to you. To the House that stands before me thank you. Indeed to the Members of this House greetings to you all.]Congratulations to you Mr Speaker on being re-elected to this 53rd Parliament. I stand before you as the final piece of the puzzle joining together with my more experienced and fellow members in Parliament who are now the red wave for the entire Hawke's Bay and East Coast of the North Island. In doing so I'm thrilled to be the one who has the opportunity to acknowledge this milestone achievement for all of us here today and to say thank you to those for their support and confidence in us to represent them and work for our regions in the Labour Government. Congratulations to our team: MP for Napier the Hon Stuart Nash; MP for Ikaroa-Rāwhiti the Hon Meka Whaitiri; MP for East Coast the Hon Kiritapu Allan; and especially for the Central Hawke's Bay District where I grew up and lived for 30 years and MP for the Wairarapa Kieran McAnulty. I am so proud to join you all here as the new MP for Tukituki and in the words of the well-known Ngāti Kahungunu waiata Tūtira mai ngā iwi"—speak to us—"Ki-a ko tapa-tahi Ki-a kotahi rā Tātou tātou e." This is our time to stand together shoulder to shoulder. Thank you Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern for your leadership and your positive impact that has been moving the Tukituki vote to Labour. I will always remember our visit to Kimi Ora Community School in Flaxmere where we joined the students preparing and serving their own nutritious lunch programme and the huge difference this was having on helping them thrive in their learning environment. The lasting impression Kimi Ora made went on to help feed in to our Labour Government initiative Ka Ora Ka Ako which will see over 200000 children across this country enjoy free healthy lunches in schools by the end of 2021. What Kimi Ora and you Prime Minister demonstrated to me was that many of the answers to how we can tackle some of the big challenges in this country are likely to already exist in the communities we serve and it is up to us as elected representatives to keep our eyes and ears open to them by being engaged and staying connected with the people on the ground who are doing the real work. In this job every decision we make will have an impact on the lives and livelihoods of others. I grew up in Waipukurau the home town of my parents—Mum Vivienne and Dad Willie Peacock—along with my two younger brothers Kendall and Guy living on a small farm block. Along with being a rural contractor Dad was also a Territorial soldier having first served in Malaya Borneo and Vietnam. Strict but fair it was the army values that Dad lived by and raised us up on that have helped me through life: courage to take action to fight your fears commitment to give your best comradeship to respect and look out for each other and integrity to do the right thing always. It hasn't always been easy and we have certainly had our differences Dad no more so than in politics. But we've come a long way because you are here today with me even after saying you would never come and you even lent me your big red truck to brand us for the campaign. We were one of those rural families hit hard by the removal of farm subsidies under Labour which saw Dad's thriving contract driving work come to an end. Looking back now I rarely saw my parents together after that as they came in and out of shift work—Mum retraining as a nurse and Dad doing many different jobs—and over time they started drifting apart. As the older sister with both parents now working I took care of my little brothers. I grew up very quickly but with my new responsibility came a sense of independence. At 14 I had my first paid job doing the dishes at the local Leopard Hotel then moving up to waiting tables in weekends. I'd bike the 5 kilometres into town and after work I'd stay with my Granny Pam who I adored. She was also the secretary of the first Waipukurau branch of the Labour Party and I helped her sell the raffle tickets. We'd get up early to bake a sponge cake which had to be filled with red jam and lots of red strawberries on top. I was still enjoying school but my education came to an abrupt end midway through my seventh-form year when I was singled out in front of my peers not for my academic potential but for being mediocre. While the intent may have been to somehow focus harder on my grades it had the very opposite effect. I went home believing I was not good enough to go to university and that my best option now was to leave school and get a job. I heard the local community newspaper was hiring and I somehow managed to convince the editor to take me on as a cadet reporter. I thrived in this new training ground covering everything from protests against closing our hospital to council elections and all the local issues in between. I began to realise very early on that if you wanted to be part of making the big decisions for your community you needed to be prepared to stand up and put yourself forward. After six months of journalism school in Auckland I returned home with a promotion to the regional newspaper where I managed to work my way up to editor of the rural pages—a news round that would help me to establish a strong network of contacts and build relationships that eventually led me to setting up a business. For the past 18 years I have worked alongside my husband Damon Harvey championing the success of local business enterprise and industry while raising a very busy family of five daughters. Then along the way came politics. In our work there have been times when we have challenged both sides of the political fence. In doing so we have always agreed to stand strongly together passionate about putting our home region first and foremost. But what triggered me to stand for the Labour Party came in a speech given by the principal of Frimley Primary School Malcolm Dixon. In all the years I'd been attending the girls' school prize-giving I never once heard Malcolm be political—but this year he never held back. He talked about all that was going wrong in our education system under a regime of standardising our children and the detrimental impact this was having by taking his staff away from doing the most important job of all: having the time to teach. He called on us as parents to challenge the Government. I listened angry upset and disappointed in myself for not being more aware of what was going on in my children's education. For I knew what it was like to be told when you were only as good as average.So I spent my holidays reading and researching in the New Year I met with Malcolm again and I promised him I would do everything I could to help support the Labour Party into Government so we could abolish these national standards. And like a dog with a bone and with an election just months away I joined the Labour Party. Seven years later and three elections on it's certainly been a rollercoaster ride. But I didn't get there on my own behind me I had an incredible united and committed team that's gone from strength to strength. To my campaign manager Nick Costello nothing will ever beat your good old-fashioned way of grassroots campaigning. To the Silver Fern Farms union members who on their Sunday day off came out to support me in that first contested selection process—your presence and endorsement is what helped me build the confidence in local members to get me across the line. Mike and especially to Sally Russell I treasure your loyalty—a never-ending willingness to help and always be there. To the core Labour team of committed members and volunteers—Evan Daniel Beverley Dolly Vee Les Rion Simon Marjorie Paddy Anne Rachel and Liz—election after election week after week you turned up—along with Geoff and Don our dedicated hording team—rain hail or shine. Mardi my dearest friend who joined the party in sister solidarity; Catherine who has been with me through thick and thin; and to Coco Ali Riz and Stephanie thank you for being here with me tonight. To Rick Barker and Kevin Atkinson thank you for your mentorship and for all your time you have given me no matter what hour day or night. To the honourable Labour MPs Andrew Little David Parker and especially Stuart along with Dame Annette King—thank you for your support help and guidance over these years. To Damon your hands always rest gently on my shoulders: calm reasoned and strong. You have seen me at my best and at my most vulnerable. You have also put up with a lot but not once have you ever suggested for me to walk away from this—giving up has never been an option. But who then in the middle of it all decided that along with standing as a second-term Hastings district councillor he would also run for the mayoralty. Out came all the billboards again and away we went. But it wasn't to be. Damon and also to Mark Lorck the fathers and protectors of our five children. Together you made sure our family stayed the course. To Mark's wife Michelle—your words meant so much on election night when you told me how this journey had brought our family closer together. And to our daughters Tabitha Brittney Augusta Greta and Livia the greatest campaign a mum could ever dream of I know at times you've had to put your girl armour on but I'm amazed by your ability to take things in your stride to not sweat the small stuff and how you look after each other. I am very very proud of you all. A big shout out to Granddad Norm who at 101 is watching this from home on his TV; and to our family in Australia who I know would have loved to have been here. Finally to my mum Viv who has been my lifelong supporter when in that moment of doubt when I wasn't sure if I had the strength to go again you gave me the gentle nudge to believe in me telling me that hard work eventually pays off. Now as I roll up my sleeves to get on with the job I've been elected to do I know that the time it has taken to get me here the experience I bring and the issues I have led on will help me with the work ahead.Hawke's Bay is in a strong position to be one of the most prosperous regions to help lead our country forward. I am absolutely committed to building stronger and better working relationships with our farmers growers and rural communities. My time as an elected district health board member has given me a real insight into the needs of our community and will shape me as an MP for ever. We must also keep leading on the housing front. We're in Hastings we've become the first district of New Zealand to deliver a place plan for building hundreds of more affordable homes but there is still so much work to do. I am told I am a hard worker; this is what my parents friends and colleagues say about me. For the next three years I will work as hard as I can to represent the people of Hastings and Tukituki so that when looking back on my first term in Government they know you know and my fellow team mates here know I have done my very best to work as hard as I can for them. And in doing so I hope to demonstrate as the first student from Central Hawke's Bay College to be elected to New Zealand's Parliament that my reputation and record will stand as a hard-working constituent MP who is far from mediocre. Tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā koutou katoa.[Applause]"