While I enter this House as a List Member, I do want to reflect at this time on the local Community that has been my home and my inspiration for nearly 25 years.

Due to repeated boundary changes I have stood for both the Bay of Plenty and East Coast electorates over three successive elections. Therefore the House may need to indulge me if I see myself as an "Eastern Bay of Plenty Coaster".

With this in mind I do want to congratulate both Ms Mackey and Mr Ryall for the on-going confidence expressed by their respective electorates in their commitment to representing the specific needs and interests of their constituents. I would like to offer my support as an 'extra hand to the plough' towards the ongoing needs of both electorates.

The Bay of Plenty and East Coast are made up of communities ranging in character from rural heartland, to rapidly developing urban areas. They include pockets of prosperity… and yet include some struggling townships, with limited employment opportunities. Both electorates contribute significantly to the economic well being of New Zealand, however in the midst of a nationwide fall in unemployment, both Bay of Plenty and East Coast electorates have substantially higher rates, than the national average.

We are also over-represented in other negative social statistics. Of particular concern to me, are the statistics relating to Children and Youth of my community, in particular our truancy figures, teen pregnancy, Youth suicides and large numbers being treated for sexually transmitted infections.

I would like at this time to mention the fine teaching professionals and school support staff that have been my work colleagues for the last 25 years. I have been fortunate to teach alongside some of the most dedicated and caring educationalists this country has on offer. Teaching is one of those jobs for which there are never enough hours in the day to do all that could be done.

Teachers work many more hours than just the daily classroom contact hours and give up large chunks of their weekends in extra-curricula activities. They contend with an ever-expanding curriculum, constantly having to stay abreast of developing technologies and information. They remain focussed on the essential literacy and numeracy requirements while dealing with the constant barrage of interruptions from the ever-increasing demands from children with learning difficulties, and children with self-management problems.

If N.Z. is serious about the conclusions of the Knowledge Wave Summit from last year, then I believe we need to start by taking a hard look at the status, and the working and salary conditions of the professionals, at the chalk face of all our learning institutions. If we are going to retain the excellent staff we now have and attract the brightest and best to this essential profession, then we can no longer have teachers as the poor cousin to other professions.

Children are our nations most important resource. They need to be nurtured, respected and loved, not just educated. We must ensure that all children receive the emotional, spiritual, intellectual and physical support they deserve. By doing so, we will pave the way forward for a fair and prosperous society for all New Zealanders.

The costs of early intervention and support are far less to both the individuals involved and society as a whole, than the costs of supporting those who have fallen through the system. As a nation we need to shift from dealing with problems to preventing them.

These concerns under pin my involvement with United Future. They explain why I believe that a change of emphasis is needed, from just focusing on the well being of the individual.

We need to move towards an investment in the well being of vital family relationships, in particular, the parent-child link.

I would like to remind the House of the responsibilities and outcomes of family life; in the hope that as we reflect on these issues we will collectively commit to supporting existing programmes, and where necessary design new initiatives to better support families in the vital, nation-building task of parenting.

Families are the foundation stone of society. All New Zealand families must have the opportunity to participate fully in our society. United Future will stand up and promote both the rights and responsibilities of families as well as the rights and responsibilities of government towards families.

For it is the family that creates the environment for the PHYSICAL development and health of dependants. From conception through to adulthood, it is the family's practises and attitudes, that predominately teach young people about diet, exercise, sleep, harmful substances, hygiene and general safety. I remember well teaching in a class where 80 - 90% of the children's' parents smoked. I was working with a Public Health nurse to educate children about the health risks associated with smoking. At the end of a weeks programme the children were asked…"so who thinks they will smoke when they get older?" In the typically honest way children often are, 70% raised their hands… the nurse and I realised yet again the power of family practise against the power of the classroom.

It is in the family that children learn how to function EMOTIONALLY and in particular, how to manage life's disappointments and moments of sadness. We have too many young people with recognisable depressive illnesses and anger management problems. Young people need more than just instruction on the mechanics of sex. They need to be exposed to thinking about the dynamics of relationships, and given insights into mental and emotional health so that their mind remains their friend.

It is in the family setting that children learn to function VOLITIONALLY. They learn how to set and meet goals. It is the family that is best suited to helping young people learn how to delay gratification so that goals can be reached. There is much research to support the claim that emotional maturity and security (that is our EQ), is a greater contributor to the individual reaching their personal potential than even their IQ. A young persons Emotional Quotient is established and developed in the context of family.

Issues of right and wrong are both taught and caught in the bustle of family life. Openness to new ideas, the courage and flexibility required to think critically, and the ability to embrace change are best modelled in the family.

When families fail their dependants in even one of these key areas, government pays. The numbers requiring additional health care, social services and law enforcement go up. In response - government has two choices. More law and government intervention OR promoting and strengthening the family unit.

Sir Robert Muldoon was once quoted as saying that "the chief purpose of government is to stay in power". The raw honesty of that comment, gives insight into one of my concerns. Too much of what motivates government, is vote catching outcomes. Truly supporting families will require genuine courage from government, because it involves us thinking beyond the three year term of office towards positive outcomes 10, 15 and even 20 years from now. It means that historians will hail our efforts, not necessarily voters at the next election. What voters will applaud at the next election will be a government that has created a sense of certainty about the future for all New Zealanders.

Hope for the future creates the power to live in the present.

There are immediate needs.

New Zealand right now desperately needs Neurologists, and it is entirely appropriate for government to prioritise these kinds of needs.

However if we allow ourselves to be consumed by the tyranny of the urgent, we will continue to have large chunks of the budget providing the proverbial ambulance at the bottom of the cliff, with little left to be spent on the fence at the top.

I am convinced that this includes promoting the status of the family regardless of its many expressions, and promoting the role of parents. It means raising public awareness of family issues.

The opportunity to set in place a commission to consult with families and determine how best to support them is a huge step in the right direction.

A commission that is focused on supporting vital family relationships because of a clear understanding that it is the very health and skill-base of those relationships that determine the underlying health of the nation.

Becoming a parent is one of the most important, demanding and complex seasons in a person's life. We do not suggest for a moment that government knows better than the Mum & Dad all that is needed for meeting the challenges of family life. HOWEVER we do need to change the culture, so that seeking advice and help when it is needed is not seen as failure but as the action of concerned and responsible parents. We need to help families identify as early as possible when help is needed so that the issues faced are about education and information, not about CRISIS.

We need to help couples better understand the dynamics of committed relationships so that they too can identify at the earliest possible stages symptoms of a relationship in decline. My background in family counselling has taught me one thing, that very few couples ask for help at a time where they are still motivated to stay together. Most leave things until one or both of them no longer have any hope or desire to make the necessary adjustments.

There already exist some excellent community agencies that work effectively with families to strengthen relationships and improve outcomes for everyone. An essential role of a commission for the family will be to identify these groups and check that they are resourced appropriately.

Research into the dynamics and variety of New Zealand families is also going to be foundational. While there are many excellent overseas studies that will be worthy of consideration, it will still require us to isolate concerns of N.Z. families, and areas in which N.Z. families need help.

The lack of public discourse regarding responsibility, community life and civil society, leaves us to work out our own vision of the kind of people we are, and the kind of society we want to become. Our overblown rights and our vision of the "right-bearer" as an autonomous individual, channel our thoughts away from what we have in common and focus them on what separates us. They draw us away from participation in public life and point us toward the maximization of private satisfactions.

The outcome of focusing on the individual has often translated into unhealthy dependency at which point the alarm bells sound and well intentioned conservatives threaten to pull the plug on support in the hope that the dependent individual will be driven in the direction of rugged independence. The independent Kiwi believes that "charity begins at home", but forgets that if it stays there it becomes self-indulgent.

I would like to suggest that neither the dependent Kiwi nor the independent Kiwi individual, contribute much to the success of this nation. Rather it is the relational interdependent New Zealander, who understands his or her need of significant relationships, and their role as a responsible, contributing citizen of our nation.

In finishing today, I would like to thank the Hon Peter Dunne for his fine display of leadership both historically and in his current position of leading a team of first time members. I want to thank my family & friends for their love and encouragement, and their willingness to embrace the change that my commitment to this House necessitates.