Bates CarlCARL BATES (National—Whanganui): Tēnā koutou katoa. Ko Ruapehu te maunga ko Whanganui te awa nō Whanganui ahau. Ko Carl Bates taku ingoa. Tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā koutou katoa.[Greetings to all of you. Ruapehu is my mountain Whanganui is my river I am from Whanganui. Carl Bates is my name. Greetings and thanks to all of you.]Greetings Mr Speaker and congratulations on your election. Congratulations to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon to our Cabinet and to coalition partners. Greetings to my fellow MPs across the House.I grew up with seven of my eight great-grandparents and all my grandparents including my Nana June and Grandma Shirley who are in the gallery today and my Grandad Barry watching from home. I was blessed to learn a lot from their stories of hardship hard work and success. In particular I recall their adage: Waste not want not."As I enter this House and consider what I want our legacy here to be I want it to be more meaningful than merely burdening our grandchildren and our great-grandchildren with our debt. Unfortunately over the last six years non - COVID-related spending and borrowing increased at unprecedented rates. This has flowed on to higher inflation and higher interest rates both hurting New Zealanders daily. I have created companies to achieve outcomes. I believe successful enterprises exist to deliver on a particular promise to employ people to pay taxes and to solve problems—and we need more of them. Creating a company though doesn't come without risk nor are they always as successful as entrepreneurs would like their own to be. Every dollar these businesses pay to the Government in tax should be treated with the respect and appreciation for the blood the sweat and the tears that went into generating it. As should those taxes paid by farmers teachers nurses shift workers and indeed everybody else. As we look to the future it is imperative that this House is more responsible with New Zealanders' money. This House must make choices between what the role of Government is and what it is not. We cannot and should not try and attempt to solve every problem—and nor should we. The story we tell our grandchildren of this post-COVID period must be one of recovery: setting New Zealand up for success and providing a platform for them to achieve anything. It must be the story of how this Government got New Zealand back on track: reduced the burden of the State and made us more productive. I commend the Cabinet's decision to cancel the Interislander replacement contract. It sent a clear message to all those who consider the Government to be a bottomless ATM that this coalition Government will deliver value for taxpayers' money. Prime Minister I look forward to your leadership through this critical period in resetting New Zealand's economic and social story. I am here to be part of making that happen.New Year's Eve 2020 saw my wife Candice and I sitting in managed isolation and quarantine. We reflected on the year that was and the economic headwinds New Zealand would face. Six months later I told our team that our business was for sale. Then with no idea how this journey would end as I do I went all in on returning National to the Treasury benches. That New Year's Eve Candice and I also celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary. Since we swiped right you have constantly supported me and challenged me. Your mum Sheila-ann would be so proud of the amazing mum you are to Angus and Logan. You will be an awesome guide to them as they navigate this unique journey. I love you and I know how much you have sacrificed for us to be here. Mum you have been my biggest promoter and my harshest critic—to the extent you could probably get a job in the press gallery! Seriously though thank you for always being on the other end of the phone no matter the time zone and for pushing me to be my best.Dad you are an inspiration. Your positive attitude and constant smile despite everything since your stroke in 2010 is a reminder to us all that life is what you make it.Thank you to electorate chair Andy Jarden campaign chair Linde Judd and the entire and phenomenal Whanganui electorate team for all you did to enable us to win in October. You all kept saying "yes" and I will never be able to thank you enough for the countless hours you volunteered.Mr Speaker 1996 is both the year you were first elected to this august place and the year—as a mere 12-year-old—I started the Whanganui Young Nationals branch with Luke Byers. We vigorously campaigned for the Hon Peter Gresham who along with then electorate chair Neil Walker schooled us in politics. That year the Hon Chester Borrows and I began our friendship. Chester provided significant support and guidance during my selection even as his final illness robbed him of a long retirement. I acknowledge Chester as the MP for Whanganui for 12 years and I thank he and Ella for their service to our region.The Whanganui electorate is a microcosm of New Zealand: full of potential and blessed with natural assets and innovative people; businesses that service us locally and make us proud globally; organisations and volunteers that ensure we support each other; and much like New Zealand as a whole a rural sector that is the backbone of our economy.The wonderful Whanganui electorate begins at the Whangaehu River and travels through Whanganui up State Highway 4—which I know we'll fix—and past Kakatahi. To many people's surprise it also runs up State Highway 3 to encompass Hāwera around Mount Taranaki and ceases as you enter Ōpunake on the west and encompasses Stratford to the east.Many ask what binds these places together. Well at primary school we learnt of a Māori legend that tells of our deep connection. Long ago Taranaki maunga and Tongariro maunga fought for the attention of Pihanga. After Tongariro proved successful in capturing her love Taranaki fled the central plateau heading for the sea. He left a scar on the land behind him formed our beautiful South Taranaki coastline and settled to provide a majestic presence over the region. Two tears then came down from the Sky Father one forming the Whanganui awa in the path Taranaki had left behind. The people of the Whanganui electorate are connected by our shared history our economic drivers and our collective desire to achieve more for the Whanganui South Taranaki and Stratford districts.I believe the role of a member of Parliament is to be a facilitator between one's electorate and local and central government. I look forward to working even more with my local and regional councils for the benefit of our region for years to come. Along with many opportunities our districts also have many critical issues. Today I will refer to three. Firstly returning our polytechnic to local control through the disestablishment of Te Pūkenga. I am excited for the potential that this reset holds for our region. Secondly I recall being taught at Scouts to "take only photos and leave only footprints". I am excited therefore by National's commitment to increase renewable energy. For South Taranaki this could mean the development of offshore wind farms and I look forward to having input into the creation of a regulatory framework that will enable this. Thirdly much is said of rural and provincial connectivity. We are not just crying "wolf". In Pātea on Friday I visited a brand new business that struggled for connection to simply take payment. Properly addressing this issue will increase and improve education business and employment where it is most desperately required. It's because of issues like this that I come here determined to be the best advocate for our region.Born raised and educated in Whanganui during secondary school and into uni I worked at McDonald's—a skill set shared by other outstanding members in this House. At 18 while studying at Massey University I was appointed as an independent director of a specialised aged-care facility. A critical moment in life that determined my career for the next 20 years. At 20 I was elected as a Universal College of Learning council member and also appointed to Arena Manawatu's board. At 22 Quality Health New Zealand appointed me acting chief executive to turn it around and that's what I did.Following that and over the next 16 years I built a professional services firm along with my mum Raewyn. Sirdar's focus was guiding boards and growing business both across the African continent—where I was based for much of that time—and around the world. This provided opportunities for me to serve as a director and chairman of a range of small and large companies—including in the primary industries and animal health food safety and manufacturing retail and education. Real-world skills I bring into this House.Candice tells me though that my life and my career is not one that can be easily explained in an elevator pitch—but here goes: I have been an employer and an employee; a landlord and tenant; driver of a diesel vehicle and at the same time simultaneously a diligent recycler; a Queen's Scout and a child of God. I love cooking and red wine am a chartered accountant—the better of the two professions—and have authored two books. I was named young business person of the year at the 2016 Wellington Regional Business Excellence awards—and got a letter from the wonderful list MP who acted as the local MP at the time Minister Chris Bishop—and in 2022 I became one of the youngest Chartered Fellows of the Institute of Directors here in New Zealand.I believe in lifelong learning. I believe that while our failures do not define us how we learn from them does. I also believe in hard work and reward for achievement—core National Party values. Door-knocking and calling over 9000 people during the campaign I met people like the mum on sole parent support in central Whanganui who was feeling the cost of living crisis hit her every time she went to the supermarket; like the superannuitant in Aramoho who cried on her doorstep at the wasteful spending of "our money" at the same time she was struggling to pay her own monthly bills; like the farmer in Stratford who wanted a Government that has farmers' backs; and like the business person in Hāwera who simply wanted confidence to employ his next apprentice. My promise is to work hard for them and to work hard for every constituent in the Whanganui electorate. I am humbled by and full of gratitude for this opportunity to represent them.Finally my late grandfather Ken "the Magic Man" Bates once said to me that his goal in life was to ensure his children did better than he did. With some sleight of hand ultimately my goal in this House is to ensure that I can tell my grandchildren that our great nation has the First World healthcare education and social services that we deserve because we built a productive First World economy that enabled us to pay for it. Thank you.[Applause]Waiata—"Te Aroha""