Whangarei MP Emily Henderson spoke of Northland's pervasive social issues during her maiden speech in Parliament. Photo / Tania Whyte
Whangarei MP Emily Henderson spoke of Northland's pervasive social issues during her maiden speech in Parliament. Photo / Tania Whyte
Whangārei MP Emily Henderson promised to shoulder the "hopes and dreams of the 98,300 people of Whangārei" during her maiden speech in Parliament yesterday.
She also spoke of Northland's pervasive social issues including "progressive poverty" she has been witness to as a Family Court and criminal lawyer of over 25 years.
Labour's Henderson made the speech in Wellington on February 9, during the first day of Parliament of 2021.
Henderson, who was born in Wellington and moved to Whangārei with her parents and five siblings when she was aged 7, said the city is not the place in which her own four kids are growing up in.
"Like the rest of Te Tai Tokerau, Whangārei has never been wealthy, but over the past 40 years we have got progressively poorer until we bump along the bottom of the bad end of just about every set of statistics.
"Some of us do okay, but as a Family Court and criminal court lawyer over 25 years, I have seen what happens to the others.
"Violence, drug and alcohol abuse, suicide and neglect, handed down generation to generation. Overcrowded, rundown houses filled with hungry, sick kids and worn-out parents.
"After 40 odd years of neo-liberalism and trickledown economics, that's what trickles down in Whangārei."
But Henderson said there was hope, "and now comes the job of making those dreams come true".
She cited New Zealand's fourth Labour Prime Minister Norman Kirk, who once said New Zealanders don't ask for much; "just someone to love, somewhere to live somewhere to work and something to hope for".
Emily Henderson, centre, on the steps of Parliament with fellow Northland Labour MPs Willow-Jean Prime and Kelvin Davis in November. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Whangārei has "massive potential", with talented young people and incredible resources including "a stunning marine and coastal environment, innovative home-grown industries and a nascent tech community set to explode", she said.
"With help, Whangārei can achieve our dreams, and what's more, we know achieving them will help this country to achieve its goals, including, for example, an improved coastal shipping and rail network, utilising the best and deepest port in New Zealand."
Henderson won the Whangārei electorate during the October 17 general election by a slim margin from National's Dr Shane Reti. It's the first time since 1975 that Labour has held the seat.
Though Reti was initially ahead by a 164-vote lead, once the special votes were counted Henderson had 17,823 votes, compared to Reti's 17,392, for a 431-vote majority.
She is a member of the Labour Party's justice and social services select committees.
In her speech, she also praised Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's declaration of a climate emergency in December, saying "on the environmental plane, science is telling us very clearly that there's absolutely no time to delay".
"In declaring a climate emergency, the Prime Minister said that our children feel this crisis in a truly visceral way.
"She was right. They are anguished. They are angry. They doubt our preparedness to do the job.
