Address in ReplyText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeAddress in Reply[Sitting date: 21 October 2014. Volume:701;Page:46. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.][Thank you Mr Speaker. My acknowledgments to you the Speaker of this House and the Assistant Speakers Lindsay Tisch the Hon Trevor Mallard the Hon Chester Borrows and of course yourself our principal Speaker the Rt Hon David Carter. To you who have acquired these position of yours congratulations. Also to you members throughout our House whether new or returning my salutations to you collectively. I greet you in the hope that your aim in this House is to lift up aspects pertaining to the welfare of our families subtribes tribes and communities throughout New Zealand. Thank you.]Mr Assistant Speaker first let me just congratulate you again on your return to the Assistant Speaker’s position as well as the Hon Chester Borrows and the Hon Trevor Mallard as well as the Rt Hon David Carter in the Speaker’s position.This is not my maiden speech but it is my first speech as the elected member for Te Tai Tokerau. I am extremely honoured at the faith that the people of Te Tai Tokerau have placed in me to work on their behalf. When I became the principal of Kaitāia Intermediate School I said to my chairperson and my board of trustees that they would never have to worry about a personal grievance from me to them because if the day ever came when I was not doing the work the core business that I was employed to do—that is raise achievement—then they just needed to tell me and I would resign and allow somebody else to come into the position to do the job that I could not do. My pledge to the people of Te Tai Tokerau here and now is exactly the same. If ever I am not doing the job that I was elected to do—give me a few years I must admit—talk to my electorate people who will tell me and then I will resign. I am not a member of Parliament just to sit here and fill up space; I intend to make a difference for the people in the north.I campaigned on four priorities: education the economy of Te Tai Tokerau to raise outcomes in Te Reo Māori and also the elimination of sexual and domestic violence throughout New Zealand. I make no apologies for the elimination of sexual and domestic violence from New Zealand being my priority of priorities. When I listened to the Speech from the Throne today I heard the Governor-General talk about eliminating poverty reducing health disparity and improving educational outcomes and housing. I say now that if we can eliminate sexual and domestic violence from New Zealand we will go a very very long way to improving outcomes in all of those social areas.The No. 1 cause of youth suicide is sexual abuse. We do not need to sit here navel gazing and wonder why it is that our youth are killing themselves at an alarming rate. Sexual abuse is the No. 1 cause of youth suicide. The second most prevalent cause is domestic violence. Watching your mother get beaten up a couple of times a week is likely to lead you down that path. Mental health issues are often the result of unresolved sexual violence issues from a person’s past. As I am told by someone from the Mason Clinic 75 percent of inmates are not the nasty evil horrible people that we are led to believe. Most of them have done things that have got them into prison but those crimes are the manifestation of unresolved issues from sexual violence or domestic violence.Domestic violence and sexual violence are both major drivers of poverty. We talk about poverty and eliminating poverty and reducing poverty. Domestic violence and sexual violence reduce a survivor’s—in most cases a woman’s—sense of agency which is a term used to describe her ability to lift herself above her circumstances. Survivors of sexual and domestic violence have difficulty concentrating at school and learning. They have difficulty getting a decent job. They therefore have difficulty providing financially to their whānau’s situation so often kids go to school without shoes without food. I say here and now that if we want to feed our kids the first thing we should do is love their mothers.The funding of services to help people who have suffered from sexual and domestic violence is woefully inadequate. This is something that I ask the Government to improve. Two weeks ago I was talking to an agency in Kaitāia that works with the survivors of domestic violence. It said that it is funded to work with 2½ whānau a week—2½ whānau a week is what the agency is funded in its contract to work with. It actually has 52 whānau on its books that it is working with. That is the extent of the issue that we are talking about in terms of sexual violence and domestic violence being rampant throughout all strata of society. We say now that it is not an ethnic issue. It goes across all ethnicities it goes through all communities and through all socio-economic areas; it is just that wealthy people tend to have lawyers who can hide the problem a lot more.Between 23000 and 28000 young people under the age of 24 in west Auckland central Auckland and on the North Shore alone—we are not talking about Te Tai Tokerau we are not talking about the south of Auckland; we are talking about just those three areas within Auckland—have experienced sexual abuse. I ask how those young people can sit there and learn and concentrate on what the teacher is saying or what their lecturer in university is saying when their heads are filled up with the nonsense that went on and occurred to them probably the night before probably in the safety of their home usually done by somebody they know they love and they should be able to trust.I said in my maiden speech that it is one thing to be born a male; it is another thing to become a man. This is predominantly a male issue—90 percent of offenders are male. Obviously 10 percent of offenders are female but we as men need to step up and address this issue. The greatest enabler of sexual violence and domestic violence is silence. An example was last night on Television One news where a political party on election night had a man who is facing charges of the rape of a young girl standing there at the election night function and mihi-ing.Just to wind up I implore the Government to address these issues of sexual and domestic violence so that we have improved outcomes for reducing poverty and improving health education and housing. I just would like to finish with this poem. I have been working with a group of women in the Hokianga to address domestic violence. This poem I believe sums up the whole situation. I am sorry I do not know the author but it starts:We turn away and she goes backWe judge her life and she goes backWe deny her rights and she goes backWe fail to protect and she goes backWe offer scraps from our table and she goes backWe doubt her truth and she goes backWe look at her and thank God that we are strongWe stand powerful in the love of a good relationshipWe are blessed because we did it rightWe would not go back.She goes back to what she knows because she does not know anything elseShe goes back to what is safe because he will hurt them if she leavesShe goes back to what is home because she worked so hard to make it a homeShe goes back to fix it because she believes she broke itShe goes back for the kids because children need a fatherShe goes back for the dream because she wants to be in loveShe goes back to heal him because she has seen the woundsShe goes back to hide because he will keep it hiddenBut I wonder what would happen if we did not turn awayIf we did not judge her lifeIf we did not deny her rightsIf we did not fail to protectIf we offered her the best instead of scrapsIf we listened to the truth instead of doubting it could we make a difference?Could we make a difference for the wounded children the broken hearts and the shattered lives?Could we make a difference if we did not turn away?