Dyson RuthHon RUTH DYSON (Labour—Port Hills): I had thought about beginning with remarking on the fact that I'm standing between a lot of my friends and a party and I was going to seek leave to table my speech. But I heard from very reliable sources that it would be denied.Rau rangatira mā tēnei te mihi ki a koutou i runga i te kaupapa o te rā. Tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā tātou katoa.[Distinguished guests. Greetings to you gathered here for this purpose today. Greetings once twice three times to you all.][Uses New Zealand Sign Language] This is my last time speaking in Parliament and I thank everyone who is sharing this moment with me. I want to especially acknowledge the deaf community for the support they have given me. I am proud to have been involved in achieving New Zealand Sign Language as an official language in New Zealand. [Uses New Zealand Sign Language]—and that's a bit of an in-joke with people who think the South Island's above the North Island.E le tuua fa'apo evaga le tatou mafutaga. Oute le sola foi fa'atama o le po. E ao ona momoli atu se matou fa'afetai i tagata Pasefika o Kalaisetete. Fa'afetai mo le tou tapuaiga. Fa'afetai mo lo outou alolofa. Fa'afetai mo la outou lagolago mai ia te a'u i tausaga e tele. Fa'afetai fa'afetai fa'afetai tele lava. Malo 'aupito. Metaki maata. Fakaue lahi. I shall not depart like a thief in the night nor shall I simply disappear into the shadows. I am moved to express my heartfelt gratitude to the Pacific people of Christchurch. Thank you for your spirit of solidarity. Thank you for your love and compassion for me. Thank you for your support for me over many years. Thank you.I was elected to this House in the last first-past-the-post election in November 1993 as only the 37th woman to ever enter our Parliament. I gave my maiden speech in March 1994 three months before Chlöe Swarbrick was born. In that speech I talked about the dignity of employment and a secure home my personal experience of domestic violence and my concern about the growing inequality in New Zealand. I came into this House as a community political activist and I hope I leave as one.I thanked our party team in Lyttelton and those who supported me to come to this place and I want to do that again this evening. I would not be here if it was not for the extraordinary level of organisation in the Lyttelton / Banks Peninsula / Port Hills Labour team plus the confidence that my constituents have placed in me and the fantastic work of my parliamentary and electorate office staff over the last nearly 27 years—I wish you'd had the election in November so I could have done that 27 years. Marie Davis started in Parliament with me on day one and only left my office last year but—thank goodness—is still working in the building. Marie thanks for heaps of stuff you've done. You are the best. And to all the staff who have worked with and for me over many years thank you.I want to acknowledge my buddy MP and long-time friend Lianne Dalziel who supported me as a candidate and continues to do so. My love goes to you Lianne and to Robbie. To two other long-term friends Fran Wilde and Annette King both Dames who have been amazing cajolers and supporters thank you. And to all the council and community board members with whom I have worked there has never been a time when I couldn't pick up the phone or email or text with information or requests for help or support. It has been a great partnership.To my Astoria buddies Mark Mark Steve Pete and Trevor: we set ourselves some big challenges and we achieved them. Thanks for your enduring friendship through some really hard times. To Michael Cullen one of my colleagues who's always had the deepest understanding and commitment to change which made a long-term difference to the benefit of people the legacy of his many policies and laws will remain including such fundamental shifts in people's financial security and wellbeing such as KiwiSaver the more often talked about creation of the portfolio investment entity tax regime—I liked it—and the establishment of the New Zealand Superannuation Fund. To Helen Clark one of the two amazing Prime Ministers I've had the privilege to serve with thank you for your vision your leadership and your support.Thanks to my family who have always been such consistent supporters including my sister and brother-in-law who are here this evening.My biggest thanks goes to my husband and campaign organiser Martin who has supported me throughout this time. Since I entered Parliament we've got married when I inherited two adult stepchildren who have gone on to give us amazing partners and five wonderful grandchildren the oldest of whom started university this year—that's very ageing. Some people have described Martin as my rock but I'm a water person and I always think of rocks as sinking. He has just the opposite effect—he's more like my massive helium balloon. Thanks for everything.I came in here at the start of the Labour revival following the devastation of the 1990 election when Labour had just 29 MPs out of a Parliament of 97. There were a lot of new MPs in our 1993 caucus. During the 1993-96 term the number of parties in Parliament went from four to eight in preparation for MMP. My maiden speech opened in Te Reo and Samoan acknowledging our first-nation language and the election at the same time as me of the first ever Pasifika member of Parliament in New Zealand. The diversity of our representation has improved significantly.We're surrounded by crests representing wars in which New Zealanders fought and died so that we could enjoy the peace and democracy we value so greatly. I want to acknowledge the work of Gareth Hughes in his determined campaign to have a crest for New Zealand Wars added and also alongside our Government's decision to again teach New Zealand history in our schools. Both these initiatives will make our country better educated and stronger.When I first arrived I was interested in the advocacy portfolios and how they worked alongside the primary portfolios. I noticed we had a Minister for women for senior citizens for youth for Māori for Pasifika and of course for racing but there was no voice for disabled people. So with the encouragement of Helen Clark and Michael Cullen I became the first disability issues spokesperson in our Parliament and went on to become the first Minister for Disability Issues. I've been pleased to see that all parties now regard this as a vital part of their line-up. New Zealand is seen as having played a leading role in the development of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. It was the fastest-ever UN convention to be developed—I'm sure because of our leadership. We ensured that disabled people were always included as part of our delegation that I led and that became the benchmark for other countries to follow and they did. So the UN changed to be a more inclusive place and I was very proud to play my part in that change. Passing legislation to make New Zealand Sign Language an official language was also a significant achievement—literally world leading in fact—but I regret that it wasn't more prescriptive in its implementation because its roll-out has been slower than it could have been. That should be fixed.New Zealand was awarded the prestigious Franklin D Roosevelt award in 2007 for our leadership on disability issues and the award remains on display on the reception desk on the tiles.I enjoyed working on the Working for Families package the most significant change to our social welfare system for decades and also the It's Not OK campaign an important part of ridding our country of family violence. I spent eight years improving our ACC legislation including moving private insurers out of the scheme after Murray McCully's disastrous attempt to privatise it and—the best—changing the absurd Bill Birch medical misadventure medical mishap regime to a fair treatment injury regime which also contributes to healthcare improvement. Fortunately Nick Smith as Minister didn't get to unravel all my improvements during his time as Minister but he certainly did his best.As Minister for Senior Citizens I recall making an offer to the executive of Grey Power that I would attend any branch meeting to which I was invited. To be honest I didn't know at the time that there were 77 Grey Power branches but I did get to 74 of them.I was the Minister responsible for introducing paid parental leave for self-employed new parents for the first time in New Zealand—not available in many other countries. I won funding to completely eliminate the adult cochlear implant waiting list introduced caregiver qualifications which were matched with wage increases developed a new model of aged care which was driven by quality of life rather than cleanliness of floors moved disabled people from institutions into homes in their community and from sheltered workshops into fairly paid work and—thank you Michael—I won funding to increase the contract level for all essential social services to 100 percent rather than the 60 or 80 percent they were getting. Unfortunately that money had only just started being put into contacts when the Government changed and Bill English and Paula Bennett reversed the policy and left the services at less than full funding.In my time here I have been privileged to hold a wide range of positions both in Government and in Opposition including being a Minister of quite a few portfolios—about 13—and being the chief whip and now Assistant Speaker. I haven't been the Speaker of our Parliament—yet. I've chaired several select committees and have enjoyed all my roles. I'm proud of the work I've done on behalf of my constituents and New Zealanders. Chairing the marriage equality committee and the abortion reform committee have been a huge privilege. Seeing significant law change such as these two pieces of law and the End of Life Choice Bill pass have been very satisfying as will the two successful votes on the drug law reform and end of life choice referendums in September.Thank you to the many chief executives and public servants who have worked with me on my portfolios. We properly challenged each other and ourselves. Your work has been extraordinary and I thank you for your service. I also thank all the many others who make our jobs possible: our cleaners our messengers our clerks our parliamentary staff team our travel office library VIP drivers and especially the team at Copperfields—everyone who works so that our Parliament can function.I've been in Parliament for 9768 days more or less and I haven't yet had a day's sick leave. I thought that sick days were able to be accumulated until quite recently. Elizabeth McCombs the first woman MP—elected to represent the same electorate that I was elected to represent—was the first out" vegetarian woman in our Parliament. I was the second. When she died after only 15 months in this place her vegetarianism was speculated as contributing to her early death. I hope I have restored the balance in consideration now!I've been kicked out of the Chamber only once during my time here which I think is extraordinary given my inability to be quiet. It was for interjecting on a point of order from the Hon Dr Nick Smith and the Rt Hon Jonathan Hunt was the Speaker. Do I hold a grudge? Yes! I have been sent to the Privileges Committee only once for criticising then Speaker Rt Hon David Carter. Mr Carter kicked Marama Davidson out of the House when it felt like she had only been elected five minutes before. I thought it was unfair. A media commentator—Russell Brown I think—asked on Twitter "What is it about David Carter?" I replied: "Incompetent. Biased. Doesn't like the job. Lazy. Sexist. Doesn't give a toss." I remember Gerry Brownlee thundering about how outrageous it was that I'd called him biased.Our lives in Canterbury have been very different since September 2010 when our series of earthquakes started. In our electorate the worst started on 22 February 2011 when we lost so many lives homes and jobs. Our worlds were turned upside down. Our communities reached out to each other and offered so much support and hope to people who were left in deeply distressing situations. My two volunteer fire brigades Lyttelton and Sumner alongside the Woolston crew did extraordinary things and won respect for ever as a result. They left their own wrecked homes not knowing where their families were to help others. Nothing could make me prouder than our response and their response.When we debated the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Bill in the House giving wartime powers to Gerry Brownlee I asked for three things. I asked that the voice of our communities be heard and that people in our community be the drivers of our recovery. I asked for the process to be open and transparent and I asked for the recovery to be at a good pace. Sadly my requests were not agreed and we ended up with a disempowerment and frustration that remains with many even today. In August 2020 we still have inadequately or unrepaired homes. But for me the worst inaction by the then Minister was to deny people support to build rockfall protections for their homes. Because of a political decision people had their perfectly good homes demolished. They didn't need a wrecking ball; they needed rockfall protection and then they could have continued living in their home safely. I admire those who stayed and wouldn't leave their home and they were rewarded by the Christchurch City Council who finally gave them the support they needed. The council's decision to support rockfall protection saved money and saved homes but more than that it respected the local residents. Then because this massive series of earthquakes wasn't enough we had significant flooding on more than one occasion on the banks of the Heathcote. Again the council stepped in to offer retreat to some residents who gratefully but sadly took the money and moved.A near tragedy was a human-induced one: the proposed closure of Redcliffs School. After all we'd been through the then Minister of Education decided to make this announcement to the stunned community. As one senior school student said "We thought the earthquakes were bad enough but then along came something much worse." It was Hekia Parata. But her proposal generated a call to action a sense of unity and pride and a flurry of prolonged and relentless activity from a community which knew that our school was at the heart of our community and it was going to stay there. Just six weeks ago Prime Minister Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern opened the brand new school in Redcliffs. It was a magnificent celebration of the strength of the broader school community and the best day ever.Then there were the Port Hills fires in February 2017. I have never witnessed before and hope to never again the raging power of wildfires such as we saw then. Despite heroic efforts of firefighters on the ground and in helicopters 11 homes were lost and tragically we lost the life of Steve Askin fighting the fire from a helicopter. Then of course there was the unbelievable terrorist attack that stunned our city and our country. Once again our response was so telling and so powerful.It's a bit of a tradition in valedictory speeches to do a list for future MPs to implement and I wouldn't want to walk away from that tradition. I know that Chris Hipkins would be devastated if I didn't give further "advice"! Here's a few Jacinda for you and the next Government to get your teeth stuck into after 19 September. I hope that you're joined by the Labour candidate for Banks Peninsula Tracey McLellan as part of an even stronger Labour team in this House. But before I give the House my list can I say that it's been a massive honour to work alongside Jacinda Ardern who leads our country with integrity determination and empathy. She lives and breathes unshakeable values and we are very fortunate to have her as our Prime Minister. Long may that continue.OK so let's do this: extend the ACC scheme to how it was originally intended—Iain's mentioned that—to cover impairments regardless of cause; ensure our social security system is fit for the current century by moving to individual entitlement rather than people being financially disadvantaged because they planned badly and got married; end the farce of the independence of select committees or ensure they are genuinely independent; seriously and continuously promote the value of disabled people as part of the paid workforce and as contributing members of our community. Ensure that all members—all members—can get home to their families on a Thursday of an ordinary sitting week by granting additional travel leave for this purpose to those who can't get a plane home after close of play. The agreed early closure on a Thursday is a step in the right direction but it's not enough. Mr Faafoi have every movie in our theatres captioned and put a true value on the worth of unpaid work.No that's not my complete list but it's just a start.Can I end with a final tip. I'm a big fan of Samuel Parnell who pioneered the eight-hour day in New Zealand. Can I recommend that members take a hint from the name of the "dinner break" and not always fill it with meetings. When I first came to this place I developed a habit of walking for an hour during the dinner break. I've kept it up on Tuesday and Wednesday nights with colleagues. We later formalised our walking group and have steadily developed helpful rules like no jogging—it's so undignified—and no talking work. It's fun and it's something we all need as we navigate this institution we inhabit away from homes and our families and for long hours. I recommend it. Jan Tinetti Willow-Jean Prime and Kris Faafoi are coordinating the walks from now on. If you don't like walking follow Kris. I hope you join them. It leaves at 10 past 6 from the Bowen House foyer.When I first came to this place I felt the responsibilities of representation and I have continued to feel those responsibilities. I promised then to work hard to lead to listen to and to learn from the people I represent and to get stuff done. I believe I've done justice to that ambition. It has been an absolute privilege and I really love the role; I will miss it. But I leave you now to carry on the work of our Parliament. Be bold. Be brave. Leave a legacy. And go well. Thank you.[Applause]WaiataSitting suspended from 6 p.m. to 7.30 p.m."