Truly the greatness of the democracy they have sacrificed for is that we can do battle through the debates we shall have in this chamber and not with guns on the battlefield.

These debates are still however, no less a genuine battle between competing ideologies and worldviews that wish to direct our nation. I am grateful for the opportunity to take my place in this chamber and to be able to contribute to the democratic process that shapes our nation.

I acknowledge our Party Leader, the Honorable Peter Dunne, for his leadership throughout the campaign and the example he has always given as an MP in this House. He provides us with an excellent role model and I shall endeavour to conduct myself in this House with the same integrity that he has displayed over the last 18 years.

I would like to thank the many workers within United Future especially our great team in Tauranga, who worked hard and believed that we could achieve a successful result in this election.

I would also thank the many voters across New Zealand who have given us as a party, the opportunity to represent their concerns for the family and the stability of our nation in this 47th Parliament.

I congratulate the Right Honorable Winston Peters on his re-election as the Member for Tauranga, and the 6 other MP's who reside in the Tauranga WBOP area.

To the Maori Members of this house, Tena Kotou e nga Rangatira o te tangata whenua o Aotearoa kua tau nei i roto i tenei Whare Paremata. Tena Kotou tena kotou tena kotou katoa.

I thank my mother, Daphne Mabel Booth, to whom I owe so much, passed away in 1989 after spending most of her life as a solo parent doing the best she could to raise 6 children on her own. Only God knows how much she sacrificed. I hope I make her proud tonight.

I wish to honour my father, Harold Hansen, who passed away in 1962. He was a naturalist, vegetarian, inventor and pacifist deeply apposed to war. While I do not share all his convictions I admire his courage, and believe New Zealand should always be a country that allows every individual the right & freedom to follow the dictates of their own conscience within the confines of the law.

My experience growing up without knowing my father, and the delight I have had in being a father the past 24yrs, leaves me very concerned about the disintegration of marriage in our nation. Two parent families and fathers in particular are vital to the future health of the nation. It is clear we must continue to support the many women left with the daunting task of raising children on their own, and I pay tribute to them tonight, however in doing so we must not in anyway be communicating a message that fathers are irrelevant. We must address issues of shared parenting, and the need of children to have a meaningful relationship with both their mothers and their fathers even when they are living separately.

I thank all my brothers and sisters and my wife's family for the support they have given me throughout my life and my friends who have travelled to be present in the gallery tonight.

Finally to my four best friends in the whole world, my wife and three children, you are the best evidence that marriage is great. We simply cannot have a strong nation and economy without strong marriages & families. They are the foundational social and economic unit. And the sooner we realise that as a nation the better off we all will be.

I spent most of my years growing up in Tauranga.

In 1981, I moved with my wife and children to the Philippines, where we had the privilege of working to help those in need. We gave what we could to serve that nation and its people, and in return our lives were enriched and changed by the things we learnt in the process.

Upon returning to Tauranga, my Turangawaewae, in 1996 I was soon to discover that not only had the city grown enormously while I had been away, but there had been many changes within it and throughout the nation as well. Tauranga was now Toeranga. Wakatane was Fakatane, Taupo ..Toaopo.

I offer my apology to Tanagta Whenua that no matter what I do I seem to revert back to the pronunciation of Tauranga I learned in my youth.

Through books like Claudia Oranges Treaty Of waitangi, …& James Belich's the Maori wars I quickly learnt that the New Zealand history I had been taught as a child at school may not have been quite the full story.

I remember as a 10 year old pupil and head prefect of Tauranga South Primary School, now called Gate Pa primary, leading my fellow students up the road to the site of the Battle of Gate Pa to commemorate the 100th anniversary of that historic and awful battle.

I am moved by the challenging story of Heni Tekiri Karamu and her brave and loving action in that battle when she gave water to a wounded British Lieut Colonel who had been separated from his comrades.

She was dutifully following the instructions of her Rangatira, Henare Taratoa who had written the rules for battle for his Maori warriors.

He based these upon the Christian principles he had read in the New Testament when the Apostle Paul had instructed all Christians to love their enemies and do good for them.

It is ironic that the European colonizers, who had brought Christianity to the so-called "heathen", were now being given a lesson in the gospel. What a different world we would have today if more people followed Henare's battle rules.

I shall endeavour to keep the spirit of his principles while doing battle here in this chamber. I must remember to confront ideas without attacking the person.

I said earlier that my mother's maiden name was Booth and as it happens, the wounded soldier in the battle of Gate Pa was Lieut Colonel Henry Booth. I do not know if I am directly related to him, but I do know that I can relate to his experience that night, having been the recipient of kindness from Maori men & women on many occasions in my life.

I look forward to the full, final and just settlement of the treaty claims for the Hapu and Iwi of Tauranga Moana, and I am confident that when they receive their compensation for the wrongful confiscation of their lands that they will use those resources to benefit all their people.

At 162 years we are still young as a nation, If it takes a little longer to address our past it will be time & money well spent. I believe we can build a modern multicultural society where there is one law for all, without abandoning our commitments from our bicultural past. There can only ever be one host culture. That place of honour must always belong to those who arrived a long time before the rest of us. That is Tangata Whenua.

I first went to live in Tauranga in 1956 when it was a town. I have to remind myself that one third of the current population has arrived since 1990 and that the population has doubled since 1976. That is a staggering statistic. As New Zealand's fastest growing District we face many challenges.

Anyone who has recently visited Tauranga will have observed that the one major problem we face is the stress that rapid growth has placed upon our roading network.

The city of Tauranga plays a vital role in New Zealand's economy by providing the infrastructure that supports the nation's largest export and second largest import port. It is therefore vital that access to that Port is not hindered by a lack of resources to complete much needed roading infrastructure.

Along with my colleagues from United Future I will work in partnership with this government as part of our agreement, to enact legislation that will facilitate the provision of new roads, not only in the Western Bay of Plenty, but also throughout New Zealand where they are also desperately needed.

I despair about the many lives that are lost needlessly on our roads, and the resulting grief suffered by their families. We must continue the campaign against excessive speed and drink driving, but sometimes we must acknowledge, as the ministry of transport has recently, that it is the conditions of the roads themselves, which are a contributing factor in 15% of the fatalities. It is unacceptable that with the amount of revenue we collect from fuel & road taxes that we do not spend more of that revenue on building better roads.

I look forward to working hard in cooperation with Regional Land Transport Committees, to plan now, not only for future roads but also rail and other public transport options so that in 50 years time Tauranga and other rapidly growing cities are not facing the problems Auckland now has to cope with.

Environment BOP has taken the initiative to investigate the feasibility of a regional International airport and this is important. Tourism is vital for the nation as a whole and is a major growth industry of the Western Bay, now ranked 9th in terms of visitor numbers. The initiatives now engaged by the newly appointed BOP Tourism board will succeed I believe, in seeing that ranking improve.

I commend the work being done by Priority One, our regional Economic development organization, with the assistance of funding from Industry NZ in helping to initiate strategies to see the region achieve above average incomes and make a greater contribution to the nations economy.

Tauranga is a most desirable place to live, "simply superb" in fact, with outstanding land and seacapes, though in my opinion they would be even better if we didn't have freight trains spoiling the best waterfront in the world. Popularity leads to growth and that growth must be planned and managed.

In recent years the three councils in the Western Bay have made real progress to developing a working relationship in a new spirit of cooperation in the region.

In partnership with the Tangata Whenua collective, representing all iwi and hapu interests, and 24 other community interest groups from within the area they have begun a fifty-year planning initiative called Smart Growth. This is necessary in order to provide a template for efficient land use that balances conservation and recognition of heritage sites along with urban growth demands.

On a national front I am very concerned about the increasing abuse of alcohol by our young people, tragically often as young as 13 & 14 yrs of age. I remember personally appealing strongly to the select committee hearing submissions at the time of lowering the age to 18, that the Government must have in place national identification cards for proof of age before it could take the risk of giving younger people access to a more deregulated retail market. Our already over worked police could never be expected to cope with the increased monitoring required on their own.

I hope there will be support across all parties in this house to address this serious problem.

Over the past 35 years New Zealand has faced many challenges as a result of huge changes internally and externally that have created serious weaknesses in our society. More and more legislation is not always the solution.

Instead we must look to restore the foundations of civil society.

The key building blocks of this civil society are the family unit, local community organizations and sports clubs, churches, charities, educational institutions, both public and private, small businesses and local government. These are the most valuable building blocks of a just, compassionate and humane society. In three years time we will see a healthier New Zealand if this Parliament turns its attention to the well being of these institutions and organizations and gives back to them their decision making power and resources.

After travelling much of my life in approximately 40 nations I am proud to be a kiwi. I have often heard it said that New Zealander's feature disproportionately on the world stage for the size of our population. Our Sports men and women do extremely well, and I applaud them, even despite our frequent struggles against the Aussies in some sports. Congratulations to the Tall blacks & the All blacks. The black socks and black caps, silver ferns, black ferns and all whites and many individual sportsmen & women as well . You give us a great deal of pleasure. We are proud of you!

Our statesmen, some of them formerly from this house have positions of responsibility all over the globe, as do our businessmen, our teachers, scientists, entertainers, artists and many others.

We are often ashamed as a nation of our statistics when we hear we have the highest rate of this or the lowest rate of that, but here is a good one.

NZ has one of the highest rates of missionaries per capita in the world. I wish to pay tribute to them today. They do incredible work in many nations, often unpaid with little resources, using the old no. 8 fencing wire ingenuity that kiwis are well known for.

Without doubt, NZ punches above its weight in the world, it is a shame that we sometimes punch below the belt at home. We should not tolerate the vulnerable in our society being verbally attacked in the public arena.

Our immigration policies of course need constant review but these cannot be treated in isolation from our needs caused by our loss of talent through Emigration, our negative fertility replacement & high abortion rates and the challenges of maintaining an adequate labour force to sustain our economy.

Refugees and new immigrants are easy targets but when we begin to blame them for our problems we have stooped to new lows. It is contrary Mr Speaker to the spirit of our great national anthem.

Our anthem declares.. Men of every creed and race, gathered here before thy face, Asking thee to bless this place, God defend our free land. From dissension, envy hate, and corruption guard our State. Make our country good and great. God Defend New Zealand.