Upston LouiseHon LOUISE UPSTON (National—Taupō): Thank you Mr Speaker. Today we celebrate 100 years of women winning—or earning I should say—the right to stand for Parliament. It was of course 1919 and unfortunately it was many years after that 1933 before the first female MP was elected. But I do want to just put on record my thanks to the National Council of Women of New Zealand—campaigners of merit back in the day and also incredible campaigners to this very day who continue to push for issues that women are interested in and are fighting for.But I thought I would bring a bit of a flavour from the Waikato into this debate and actually read some of what was the Waikato Times in the passing actually of the earlier bill which was lost in the Legislative Council. This was a speech from the Prime Minister the Rt Hon WF Massey: I am sure that women mentally are the equals of men and very often are the superiors as men have good reason to know" and that's what the Prime Minister said in the passing of the bill immediately before that. Massey went on to say "I believe that the appearance in Parliament of a number of competent women would have a very good influence."That's why I guess it's unfortunate that it wasn't until 1933 that the first female MP was elected. Actually several of the first like Elizabeth McCombs actually replaced their husbands who had been in office and they replaced them. That was the same for as others have mentioned the first Māori woman MP and also as the Hon Paula Bennett mentioned Dame Hilda Ross who was of course the first Waikato-based female MP.I wanted to pay tribute to the other fantastic women parliamentarians who have actually represented the equivalent seat of Taupō. It started actually in 1963 when Rona Stevenson was elected as the MP for Taupō and in 1975 when Marilyn Waring was elected as the MP for Waipā—which of course is the northern part of my electorate. There have been a number of occasions including on Suffrage Day when I had the opportunity as the Minister for Women to invite Marilyn Waring to speak in Parliament and she's had an incredible influence not just on me but I'm sure on many female members of Parliament who are represented today. And that's what it's all about. It's actually passing the baton. It is the women members of Parliament who have been before us that have had a significant influence on those of us that are here.As my colleague mentioned actually it's about the opportunity and the responsibility to make sure that we are nurturing the next group of women MPs who will come in. In 1984 Katherine O'Regan was then the MP for Waipā. So I do feel particularly privileged to follow a strong line-up of women in the seat that is now known as Taupō. And it's hard to imagine actually what it was like for the women MPs in their days. And I do think that women in this place have been a positive influence. If I go back to the quote of Prime Minister Massey I think actually that it's a role and responsibility of every single one of the members of Parliament here to make sure it is a place that we can contribute do contribute and actually enjoy being here.I thought I would comment though on the comment when the 1918 legislation was passed. It was seen to be quite futuristic actually in the passing of the bill—or actually the query that the Upper House might reject the bill by the council which of course it had already denied other rights in the House. And the comment that it would be another nail in the coffin of the two-Chamber system. So it's somewhat ironic that actually the end of that system—they didn't support women MPs in the start. The new electoral system that we have today and have had now since the 90s—mixed-member proportional—has been a significant contributor to the number of women we have in this Parliament and our opportunity to contribute to improving the quality of lives of all New Zealanders. Long may it last and may every woman in this place support another 10 to get here."