Severin Toni; Mallard TrevorTONI SEVERIN (ACT): Thank you Mr Speaker. I am humbled to be standing here as one of ACT's new list members for the 53rd Parliament. First of all I would like to thank the public of New Zealand who voted party vote ACT. If it was not for them I would not be standing here today. Next I would like to thank our ACT leader David Seymour for what he has achieved in the last six years as the lone voice of ACT in this Parliament. Finally thank you to all the ACT candidates and helpers for all their hard work this last year.As the youngest of six I grew up in Invercargill in a family that had its problems. Some days I didn't want to be there. But I have to thank my parents who instilled in me the values of hard work and self-responsibility. I have carried them throughout my life to achieve the things that I have.It was not easy for me growing up. I had struggles in school with my reading and spelling but I did make it to the seventh form—year 13 for you young people. It was not until I joined the serology unit at Canterbury Health Labs that a lovely lady Sheryl Young suggested that I get tested for learning disabilities as she noticed I was struggling. At the age of 21 I went to Seabrook McKenzie Centre in Christchurch to be tested and found that I had a learning disability a form of dyslexia. They were shocked that I made it to the seventh form. With this knowledge and understanding I still achieved to become a qualified technical assistant in immunology. Later I studied part time for three years and worked full time to finish a diploma in marketing at Christchurch Polytechnic now known as Ara. During my years at Canterbury Health Labs I was a Public Service Association delegate team manager and team member for the Canterbury health dragon boat team.For the last 25 years I have been a part owner of a successful small business with my husband Richard. Now I'm a member of Parliament. Going through all this I have a message for you all: do not be afraid to ask for help. Most of all do not give up. Ask for help and keep asking for help until you get it. Richard has been a great partner in life and in business. It's because of Richard that I'm standing here today. Richard volunteered me to Sir Roger Douglas as a candidate in the 2008 election and as they say the rest is history.One wish I would make is that my parents were still with us to see what I have achieved and have my dad tease me that he voted for Winston Peters which may not have been true as he liked to bait people into disagreements. I thank my dad for his service in the Royal New Zealand Air Force No. 14 Squadron J-force. Mum thank you for making the best home that you could.With the values of self-responsibility freedom of choice freedom of speech less Government intervention ACT is the only party I have supported since the beginning of MMP. I am humbled to be here in Parliament to further these values.As a small-business owner the red tape and the taxes consistently piled upon us add costs that many of us cannot afford. Two years ago I read a statistic in the Air New Zealand magazine which has stuck with me: 97 percent of businesses in New Zealand are small businesses of up to 20 employees. That's a total of just over 515000 businesses generating 28 percent of GDP and employing around 631200 people. I am happy to be the voice with my ACT caucus here in Parliament to ask questions on behalf of these business people. One thing I would ask this Government to do is please listen to what New Zealand business people have to say. They know best what needs to be done to help them to make New Zealand prosperous in this COVID time.Over the years as a small-business owner my main role was making enough money to be able to pay our staff bills and taxes. It has not been easy. There were times where Richard and I would have no money as there was not enough in our bank accounts for us our staff to be paid. We always made sure they were paid first. We had to negotiate flexibility paying suppliers sometimes over a few months because we had a tax payment due. Most small businesses don't always have spare money sitting in their bank accounts and if they do there's always something that will happen to take that spare money away.When small-business people need a bank loan for their business they are most likely to borrow this against their home—if they have a home. So not only do they risk their business but they also risk their family home. Then once you have a successful business people say things like How lucky you are! You must be successful because you own all this." But what they forget is all the hard work we had to put into our business. Long hours personal money one partner working another job or two no holidays—just some of the sacrifices we have made because we believe in our business.I quote for you from the Roman philosopher Seneca: "Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity." That pretty much describes the grind that goes into creating a successful business. But just when you think it's all working out more red tape taxes compliance costs arrive. We work hard to keep our business running our employees employed but year after year it gets harder. So why do we do it? We do it because we have invested so much time and money into a business that employs staff and services clients. I am proud to be a small-business owner. Our hard work is starting to pay off but there are so many small businesses out there that are having a hard time. I know this because it could have been us. All it takes is customers not paying due to an event like COVID. Finally on business: we don't want hand-outs that's not sustainable. We want an environment that supports small businesses to be able to grow through hard work to succeed.My second request of this Government is: please listen to our children. Our children understand more than what us adults think they do. We need to ensure our children have access to the best education we can give them. I am sad to say we are failing too many of our children in education. Too many are not receiving the help they need in our schools. One-size-fits-all schools do not work. We all have different needs and abilities. Please put the choice of education into the hands of our children and their parents. They understand their needs better than someone in Wellington. I compare one-size-fits-all schools to a pair of socks that says "one size fits all"—in my experience they don't. If you have an average sized foot you're fine but if you don't you're out of luck. Just don't let our children down.We are the House of Representatives. We need to listen to all groups who come to us. We may not agree with all that they say but we will behave conciliatorily. We can always find middle ground and find solutions that can help as many people as possible. We have to keep an open mind. What I think I know today might be proven wrong tomorrow and just the view that I'm right and you're wrong does not help deliver practical solutions. If we as people can look at differences as opportunities rather than threats we can do so much more for one-another. So often it's environmentalists versus farmers teachers versus student learning victims versus prisoners. We have to find a balance and make sure all these groups are helped. We are letting too many people down on both sides of the fence. Let's remove the fence and have solid practical solutions and great guidelines to make the best public policies we here as MPs can.I would like to leave you with some quotes that say a lot about what shapes my political thinking: "Free marketing and deregulation are not right wing policy stances. They are the policies of those who believe in individual liberty and the availability of choice in a competitive environment." That was Aubrey Begg Labour MP for Awarua from 1972 to 1975. "The problem is not that people are taxed too little the problem is … Government spends too much." The great Ronald Reagan reminding us all that we must question every dollar governments spend on our behalf. Thank you. [Applause]SPEAKER: I call on Dr Emily Henderson to make her maiden statement. [Interruption] Order! Order! This is Emily's time."