Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa.
Last month I saw this quirky café sign that appealed to my nerdiness – that 31 years equates to a billion seconds. Bar a
few thousand, it’s been a blast and an enormous privilege to be part of governing this amazing little country we share.
My time here has had as many ups and downs as our Southern mountains that I studied in my PHD thesis.
I acknowledge you, Mr Speaker, past and present National leaders from Jim Bolger to Judith Collins, all my parliamentary
colleagues, my family, and friends in the Gallery. I also want to acknowledge the many good MPs who post-Election 2020
did not have this opportunity.
I came to this Parliament 30 years ago with a passion for enterprise, science and for nature. I wanted New Zealand to be
prosperous, where hard work was valued and where every Kiwi had the opportunity to succeed.
One of my first duties as a 25-year-old MP was attending the Waimea College prize-giving where I was dutifully asked to
present the academic awards. All mic’d up, I made the standard congratulatory comments as each student crossed the
stage: “well done, good effort.” It felt tedious so I started to vary my message: “what uni are you thinking of
attending?” I asked an attractive young woman, “what are you doing after school?”
Quick as a flash, and loud enough for everyone to hear, she responded: “It depends what you had in mind, young man.” The
assembly hall roared with laughter. In the 100 or so prize-givings since, I have kept my congrats to the safe and
boring.
In my maiden speech I talked of a nation that had lost its confidence and its way. Our economy was a basket case with
high unemployment, rampant inflation and high debt. Our best and brightest were leaving in droves. I do not wish to
diminish the current challenges, but we are a much better country today.
I caution those in Government who wish to decry the reforms of that era when they have been the foundations for the more
successful and resilient nation we are today. I worry that this year’s Budget has public debt ballooning out to $200
billion and back up near 50 per cent of GDP as it was when I was first elected. Imposing the workplace policies of the
1970s is not the answer to the challenges of the 2020s.
I came to Parliament when the seniors were David Lange and Rob Muldoon. I will never forget Sir Robert gruffing at me in
the lift: “So you’re a doctor. Are you one of the ones that makes you well or one of the ones that make you sick?”
Sir Robert would be much happier with our deputy, Dr Shane.
The luckiest fortune of my first term was the friendship I forged with what began as the Under-30s Caucus, but got
branded the Brat Pack. Roger and Shirley Sowry, Bill and Mary English, Tony and Kara Ryall have become the closest of
friends.
Many wrongly assume the strong friendships between the four of us meant we agree politically. We have been on opposite
sides of many of National’s policy, conscience and leadership debates. Our annual week-long shared holidays rotating
between the upper and lower and North and South islands over 30 years have enabled us to enjoy watching our 16 children
grow up together.
My first ministerial job was Conservation. I know all in this house would want to wish the current Minister, Kiri Allan,
a full recovery. Conservation is the best job in the Cabinet room. To get it once is lucky; twice is to be truly
blessed.
My appointment to the role was in the aftermath of the Cave Creek disaster. My job was to put the systems in place with
Director-General Hugh Logan to ensure DOC’s thousands of structures and facilities would be safe. We also established in
‘99 the Conservation Rangers Programme that has trained over 600 since, to do the skilled DOC fieldwork professionally
and safely.
My first big Nelson project was advocating for the Kahurangi National Park. We opened it in 1996 with Prime Minister Jim
Bolger, Dennis Marshall, and I tramping the journey from Mt Arthur to the Cobb Valley. It was a joy to mark the 25th
anniversary this Easter with Dennis and key DOC staff by retracing the same route.
The highlight was the noisy dawn chorus in the Cobb that was silent at the opening – a tribute to the pest control work
of both DOC and volunteers. During my second stint as Minister we did the Great Walks Partnership with Air New Zealand
then led by Chris Luxon that has helped enable Takahe to return to this park after an absence of over 100 years.
Another highlight in that portfolio was working with Lou Sanson to protect the Lords River on Stewart Island in ‘98,
then initiating the process for establishing the Rakiura National Park in ’99.
Conserving a good chunk of our land mass for nature was the challenge of last century. The focus needs to shift seaward.
I am a strong supporter of New Zealand’s sustainable fishing industry and do not support the Greens’ call for a blanket
ban on bottom trawling. It is no more practical than prohibiting ploughing.
But just as on land, we need to set aside marine protected areas. The Marine Reserves Act was passed by National in 1971
but only one reserve had been created when I came to Parliament in 1990. This was at Leigh and opened by then-Fisheries
Minister Jim Bolger in 1977. I’ve worked hard all over New Zealand to expand the network.
Making the Poor Knights a no-take marine reserve in ‘98 was very controversial. When visiting the site near Tutukaka I
faced a barrage of protest from recreational fishers. I required a police escort after a death threat was made. I was
confronted only a few years ago at Whangarei Airport by this cheeky local who introduced himself rather unnervingly as
the guy who had made the threat. He jokingly told me not to worry as he now thought it was such a great idea that he
would shoot anyone who dare undo the reserve.
I have subsequently been involved in creating 17 marine reserves around New Zealand in special places like Kaikōura,
Akaroa, Punakaiki and the sub Antarctics. I am disappointed the Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary, covering an area twice the
land mass of New Zealand and 10 per cent of our ocean, has not progressed. The commercial fishing there is negligible.
The history of customary fishing is minimal. This is about New Zealand – Māori and Pakeha, stepping up and doing our bit
globally to better care for the world’s oceans.
My original government bill got through to second reading stage then post-Election 2017 transferred to Minister Parker,
but it has since gone nowhere. I created a further Members’ Bill for the sanctuary that I will pass on to Scott Simpson.
I urge progress on either or both bills.
Prime Minister Jenny Shipley added Corrections to my Conservation portfolio in ’98. I remember the Opposition
interjecting that my only qualification for the job was being descended from convict stock compulsorily deported to
Australia. My 86-year-old father in Cairns would want the record put straight. Our ancestor, Jeremiah Smith, migrated to
Australia in 1791 by choice. It was seven years in Australia or hanging. The Kiwi contingent of the family still think
it would be a difficult choice.
Initiatives I took in Corrections were: separate youth prisons, the introduction of random drug testing and expanding
drug and alcohol treatment. I remain, unapologetically, an arch-conservative on drugs and alcohol. Substance abuse and
addiction is at the heart of so much crime, hurt and tragedy. I do not buy the line that going soft and being more
permissive will see less use and less harm. It is not a choice of enforcement or treatment. We need to do more of both.
I am also counting on my colleagues Simon Bridges and Michael Woodhouse to continue the campaign started with the
Matthew Dow petition in Nelson, to get on with random roadside drug testing. Every month of delay costs another six
lives.
I am so relieved New Zealand rejected the legalisation and commercialisation of cannabis. Anybody who believes that age
limits work has not parented teenagers. There is a scourge of vaping sweeping through our intermediate and secondary
schools that makes a joke of the regulated age limit. I also fear we’ve been sold a pup on vaping, with the claim it is
just a healthier replacement for smoking. We are actually allowing another generation to become addicted to nicotine.
The 90s were ground-breaking for Treaty settlements when I was associate to Sir Douglas Graham for the historic Ngāi
Tahu settlement. What was then considered radical became standard as Chris Finlayson supercharged settlements during the
Key years. My involvement was in the natural resource elements. It was particularly satisfying settling the eight Te Tau
Ihu claims covering Nelson and Marlborough, thus completing the South Island.
I have introduced 50 bills to this Parliament and 45 have passed. Two Members’ Bills I am particularly proud of are the
Royal Society of New Zealand Act and the Chartered Professional Engineers Act.
Science and technology are key to improving productivity and our environment. I commend the Government and the country
in the way we have embraced the science associated with the Covid pandemic. The cuts to science funds in Budget 2021 are
short-sighted. I strongly endorse the ambitious plans Judith Collins and Andrew Bayly have for our tech sector.
I also want to challenge this Parliament, and particularly the Greens, on their aversion to biotechnology. The GE Free
campaign was a con. None of the scary scenarios predicted 20 years ago have occurred. Our outdated laws are holding back
opportunities for innovation on climate change, pest and weed control and health treatment.
The most satisfying chapter of my career was being part of the Key/English Government. We shared a vision of where we
wanted to take New Zealand and we had built the strong relationships and policies in Opposition to work as a team. My
work involved creating the Environment Protection Authority and a fast-track but robust consenting process. This enabled
us to get on and build projects like Waterview in Auckland, Transmission Gully in Wellington and Christchurch’s Southern
Motorway.
I disagree with the Government’s aversion to building roads on the basis of climate change. The answer lies in changing
what we drive on the roads, as well as investing in public transport.
Practical laws I am particularly proud of are those requiring all rental homes to be insulated and to have working smoke
alarms. The ACC portfolio was financially challenging but our reforms got the scheme to being fully funded for the first
time in its history.
The work of the Land and Water Forum enabled significant strides in improving water management, including the first
legally binding national policy. We do need to lift our game on freshwater but doing it with farmers and not to farmers will achieve more. Water storage is part of the solution and I am proud of the role I played in enabling the
central plains scheme in Canterbury and the Waimea Community Dam in Nelson.
The last issue from the Key era I wish to note with a word of caution is on the Pike River Mine. John Key’s commitment
in the days following the tragedy to do everything possible to recover those 29 brave men was genuine and compassionate.
We were as gutted as the families and the nation to be told in 2016 that it could not be done. It was wrong in 2017 for
Labour to promise to recover the men when, by then, 800 pages of technical reports said it was not possible.
I am proud to have delivered on my commitment to Bernie Monk of the Paparoa Track and Pike 29 Memorial Walk. I hope we
can find a way in future to avoid national tragedies becoming political footballs.
There is an issue I got wrong. In 2013 I voted against gay marriage. The error is all the more personal with my
20-year-old son being gay. I wish to put on record today my apology to New Zealand’s LGBT+ community. I pay tribute to
Louisa Wall, Fran Wilde and Amy Adams for their leadership that has improved the lives of my son and thousands of other
New Zealanders. I also acknowledge Jenny Shipley’s courage as the first PM to attend a Gay Pride parade in ‘99.
My greatest thank you this evening is to my wife Linley. She is my rock, soulmate and best friend. I also want to
acknowledge my first wife, Cyndy who supported me through six elections. She jokes that Linley got off lightly at five.
Linley and I are very proud of our blended family of Hazel, Logan, Samantha and Alex, who are all in the Gallery. I
thank them as this job has sometimes had negative impacts on them. I also thank my wider family, including brother
Albert and sister Margo who have travelled from overseas.
I got good training for Parliament as a child. Each dinnertime our Dad would sit up like Mr Speaker and ask each of us
eight children to give a report on our day. I am sure this, and my Mum’s passion for education, influenced my three
sisters, all of whom have made great contributions as teachers and principals.
In later years, when retired, Dad campaigned full time for weeks for each of my ten successful campaigns. Covid proved a
bad omen and kept him away in 2020. The year I was born he founded a small construction company. Learning to drive
trucks, bulldozers and cranes was part of teenage life.
I am proud of the nationwide contribution my siblings have made to our nation’s infrastructure in each of their
businesses, with projects like the wind turbines at Scott Base, the Arthur’s Pass viaduct, the Waikato water pipe to
Auckland and dozens of bridges and wharves around New Zealand.
My brother Tim did not sleep for three days in the aftermath of the Christchurch earthquake to ensure every one of his
cranes were assisting the rescue effort. He had booked to join us today but cancelled due to doing emergency bridge
repairs in Temuka.
It will be good to re-join the family business, doing more and talking less. I am looking forward to projects like the
Turitea wind farm that will help meet our Paris Climate Change commitments.
I must secondly thank the National Party, its board and volunteers. My Nelson electorate chairs from Dan Strong, Dan
Dolejs, John Sandstone, Russell Wilson, and Graeme Sutton to John Wares. My campaign chairs, Max Spence, Bill Dahlberg,
Paul Matheson, Gary Stocker, Trevor Cameron and an army of volunteers too many to name.
A special thank you to those who helped found the Bluegreens in ‘98, Guy Salmon and the late Sir Rob Fenwick. Enterprise
and the environment must work together. I also acknowledge my Bluegreen buddies in the Caucus like Maggie Barry, Nicky
Wagner, Jacqui Dean, Stuart Smith, Erica Stanford and Nicola Willis.
Nelson has been a very special place to represent and I congratulate my successor, Rachel Boyack. It is the only seat in
this Parliament that has retained the same name since 1854. I love Nelson’s entrepreneurial businesses, stunning
environment, creative arts sector, rich heritage and caring community.
My greatest concern for Nelson’s future is the centralisation of core services like education and health with the loss
of local control of our Polytechnic and Heath Board. My experience as Education Minister was that the closer funding
decisions were made to the children, the more likely they were in their best interests. If more central Government was
the answer, KiwiBuild would be a roaring success.
I have enjoyed the constituency role of getting to know thousands of Nelsonians, often over difficult situations. It has
been a pleasure to help many but also a disappointment when I could not. This grassroots work was invaluable in exposing
the parts of Government that were not working and advocating reform.
Throughout these three decades, I have been supported by numerous talented staff, many of whom have become lifelong
friends. Cheryl Hill, who gave 26 years, and Nan Ward. It’s wonderful to see more than 20 former staff in the Gallery. I
sincerely thank every one of them alongside all the backup staff in the Clerk’s Office, Select Committee, Library,
Travel Office, café and security teams who make this place work.
The Speaker and I have had our moments but the worst thing he has ever inflicted on me was when he was actually trying
to be kind. We were in Turkey on the Speaker’s Tour, returning from the Gallipoli Peninsular, back to Istanbul. The
motorcade consisted of a car for the Speaker, as head of the delegation, a van for MPs and partners, and motorbikes back
and front.
Linley and I got a bad tummy bug and the Speaker took pity on us, offering us the flash merc for the 400 kilometre
journey. It got complicated when the interpreter also switched to the van, leaving Linley and I with a driver who did
not understand a word of English. My plight was trying to explain to a driver doing 130kmh in an escorted motorcade that
I was desperate to go to the loo. It was an excruciating three hours. When we finally arrived at Istanbul Airport I tore
out of the car so quickly for the toilet that I caused a security furore.
The thing that struck me most from that Speaker’s trip to Rwanda, Ethiopia and Turkey is how well-intentioned
governments over time, get tired and arrogant. Regular changes of government are essential for a healthy democracy.
Nor should we ever take for granted the importance of free speech and a politically neutral public service. I thank the
press gallery, you can be a pain but our democracy would be limp without you.
I pay a final thank you to the hundreds of dedicated public servants who have helped me in my work. My favourite are
those hardy DOC field staff out in the wet and cold in the most rugged corners of New Zealand, repairing tracks, killing
pests, and protecting nests.
I want to conclude on four observations about how Parliament has changed over three decades. Firstly, it is much more
diverse by age, gender and ethnicity and that is a good thing. My hope for the future is that we also diversify the
skills mix in this House.
The second change for the better is that Parliament is a healthier place where you are more likely to see colleagues in
the gym than the bar.
The most notable change for the worse is the lameness of select committees today. They have become perfunctory rubber
stamps. Worthwhile inquiries are blocked. It has got worse with the distraction of iPhones and laptops. Select
Committees need revamping to be more collegial with Government and Opposition MPs genuinely holding departments to
account for their spending and performance.
There is one last difference I celebrate in signing off from this 53rd Parliament. This morning I woke to the birdsong
of tui from my Hill Street flat, and on my walk here, I saw a beautiful kererū in Parliament’s trees – something you
wouldn’t have seen nor heard 30 years ago. It is this stunning wildlife, whether you are Māori, European, Pasifika,
Asian or whatever, that helps define us as New Zealanders.
May their birdsong forever be heard here at Parliament and across our land to remind us how blessed we are to call these
islands home.