Parliament's debating chamber soon after the new Government was formed. Photo / Mark Mitchell
When Fa’anānā Efeso Collins gave his maiden speech last week, it was more special than he could possibly have imagined.
It wasn’t actually his first speech as a new MP – that was in December on a bill opposing moves to extend worker trial periods to all employers.
And it wasn’t his last speech either. He spoke on Tuesday this week, the night before he died, supporting a bill to ease workforce pressures on social workers.
But it was his maiden speech that allowed him to shine. It’s the time for pledges to service to be made, values declared, the occasional secret shared and for the MP to be showered in love and support from families and friends.
And what set Efeso Collins’ apart was the warmth of the reception he received at the end of his speech, from fellow MPs across the House.
He oozed goodwill towards everyone, and it was returned.
All of his colleagues in the Greens were there and most of Labour. But so, too, were most of the National MPs who entered Parliament in the class of 2023. And it was not just a slap on the back or a handshake but a hug.
As was noted on Wednesday in tributes to him in the House, his maiden speech became all the more special because it served as his valedictory as well.
The last of the maiden speeches had been due to be delivered last night by the two new Labour MPs, Reuben Davidson from Christchurch East and Cushla Tangaere-Manuel from Ikaroa-Rāwhiti. But with Parliament adjourning in light of Collins’ death, they will be rescheduled.
Collins showed no nerves. He had a gentle tone but spoke with the ease of someone who had previously been a public figure on the Auckland Council and a former mayoral candidate. He was not the only one.
Others such as former Wellington mayors Andy Foster and Celia Wade-Brown; former Taranaki Regional Council chairman David MacLeod; Andrew Hoggard, who used to lead Federated Farmers; and Hūhana Lyndon, who led iwi organisations in Northland, showed their experience.
MPs’ maiden speeches used to be about the electorate and the party and a little about the MPs and their values.
But under MMP, and probably because of the influence of more Māori MPs, the speeches of non-Māori have also focused more on whakapapa and family stories, often going back centuries.
Collins’ parents arrived from Samoa in the 1960s, his father beginning as a taxi driver for South Auckland Taxis and his mother on the factory floor at NZ Forest Products in Penrose. He had grown up in Preston Street, Otara, and was grateful for the state house and education at local schools. It was a speech that celebrated South Auckland and community.
One MP revealed that her father had gone to prison for growing cannabis; another revealed that two men had claimed to be his father; and another spoke about the destruction of alcohol addiction and having admitted her mother to rehab.
Not everyone goes into great detail about their loved ones, possibly protecting themselves from getting too choked up during their speech.
But it was New Zealand First newcomer Jamie Arbuckle who revealed some surprising personal details about his parentage.
He described his late mother as the “greatest politician you would ever meet” and said he had a family tree that was difficult to explain.
He then went on: “I don’t know exactly who my biological dad is, but I have two that say they are.
“One of those, who has now passed, would be super proud of this moment; the other is a local legend in his own right,” he said. “The traits they both share is working the land and being practical, hard-working people.”
He later explained that both men had helped to raise him at different times – and helpfully, both were called Arbuckle. His mother had died 20 years ago but she had not told him which was his father.
The Marlborough-based MP said he was considering taking a paternity test at the request of the one who was alive and who had been at his maiden speech.
The MP whose father had been sent to prison for growing cannabis was Vanessa Weenink, a GP who won the seat of Banks Peninsula for National.
Weenink was aged 5 and living with her parents in Canvastown, Marlborough, when the police arrived to arrest her father for growing 250 cannabis plants. Her served nine months in prison and she remembers visiting him there.
In her speech, she described him as a pioneer with an “entrepreneurial spirit”.
As a former Army medic, she did two winter tours in Afghanistan and one in East Timor.
She was not the only National MP to have been traumatised as a child. The MP to lead off the address-in-reply debate, James Meager, was brought up in a state house by a solo mother on the benefit.
“I know what it’s like to have your very first memory be of the police trying to coax you to come out from under the bed, telling you that everything would be okay.”
In a delicate way, he told a story of estrangement from and reconciliation with his father who had been a freezing worker.
It was made more poignant because his father, who had never been to the North Island before, was sitting in the gallery.
Catherine Wedd, the former television journalist and new National MP for Tukituki, might appear to have had a charmed life but her speech revealed some challenges.
“So many families in New Zealand struggle with addiction. It’s destructive and dangerous, but admitting my mother to rehab was positively life-changing for her and our family. I want to acknowledge the amazing work of the Salvation Army rehabilitation programmes, which have helped turn the lives of so many New Zealanders around.”
She also described in positive terms the impact her older intellectually disabled brother had had on her family.
Every speech was excellent, unique and revealing in its way, for example, what Carl Bates, Hamish Campbell and Todd Stephenson had been doing overseas before they were drawn back home to seek election.
Some MPs used references to music to illustrate points. AC/DC, Nina Simone and David Bowie were mentioned.
Literary references included Shakespeare, Henley, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Dickens. James Dyson, the inventor of the vacuum cleaner, got a mention too.
Half of the 20 new National MPs began their speeches in Māori, with Greg Fleming demonstrating his fluency and David MacLeod outlining his extensive iwi connections (he also revealed I had been at his christening!).
The Treaty of Waitangi was referenced in many speeches, He Whakaputanga in some, and the late Moana Jackson was cited in several speeches by Te Pāti Māori and Green MPs.
You don’t have to be a high-flyer to deliver a great speech and, by the same token, the ability to deliver a great speech does not necessarily mean the MP is cabinet material.
But the best speeches will weave events and values seamlessly into a story, preferably a well-written and well-delivered story with an element of wit.
Efeso Collins’ speech was among the best but there were plenty of stand-outs.
I was in the Press Gallery for most of the 41 maiden speeches delivered so far and below are my selections as the best:
(Mini-bios of each MP, along with some of the people and places they name-checked in their speeches, are listed below the Top 10 and grouped alphabetically within each party. The two Labour MPs will be added later.)
1. James Meager – Aspirational and inspirational. Left you wanting more.
2. Darleen Tana – An adventurous life of a global Māori told with passion and poise.
3. Tākuta Ferris – An uncompromising declaration of independence and tino rangatiratanga.
4. Cameron Luxton – A captivating tale of how the young man’s experiences shaped his values.
5. Greg Fleming – He took us on a journey that showed how te reo Māori transformed his life.
6. Tamatha Paul – Bursting with confidence and a knowingness beyond her years.
7. Tanya Unkovich – An intimate story of family, grief and a journey to recovery.
8. Steve Abel – A speech that rolled beautifully between the poetic and the vernacular.
9. Grant McCallum – The farmer from the north was full of surprises and substance.
10. Rima Nakhle – It was all about connecting an intriguing past to the present.
National – 20 maidens
Miles Anderson, Carl Bates, Cameron Brewer, Mike Butterick, Hamish Campbell, Carlos Cheung, Tim Costley, Greg Fleming, Ryan Hamilton, Dana Kirkpatrick, Nancy Lu, David MacLeod, Grant McCallum, James Meager, Rima Nakhle, Katie Nimon, Suze Redmayne, Tom Rutherford, Catherine Wedd, and Vanessa Weenink.
Greens – 9
Steve Abel, Kahurangi Carter, Efeso Collins, Hūhana Lyndon, Tamatha Paul, Lan Pham, Darleen Tana, Celia Wade-Brown, and Scott Willis.
Act – 4
Andrew Hoggard, Cameron Luxton, Todd Stephenson, and Laura Trask.
NZ First – 4
Jamie Arbuckle, Casey Costello, Andy Foster, and Tanya Unkovich.
Te Pāti Māori – 4
Tākuta Ferris, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, and Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke
Labour – 2
Reuben Davidson and Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. (They will be added later).
Namechecks include: Wife Kim and kids Rose, Cara, and Joseph, the Hunts, the Coughlans, Lofty Blomfield, St Kevin’s, Massey University, Justice Department, Rogernomics, Shropshire, the Clyde Dam.
Anderson took over the seat from Jacquie Dean who retired. It includes Geraldine, Wānaka, and Ōamaru. He has been involved in Federated Farmers, on the board and as chair of the Meat and Wool Industry Group. He helped to pioneer the business of ultrasounds for farm animals. He lamented what he sees as a growing intolerance to opposing views and a lack of infrastructure through kowtowing to activist pressure groups.
Quote: “It has come to a point where a number of my farming colleagues won’t admit they are farmers when socialising in urban settings because of the amount of vitriol they receive from people whose information has come from unbalanced media and NGOs pushing a narrative that is far from truthful.”
Namechecks include: Wife Candice, kids Angus and Logan, Sirdar, Nana June, Grandma Shirley, Grandad Barry, Neil Walker, Chester Borrows, McDonald’s, Scouts, Massey University, Quality Health NZ.
Bates was born and raised in Whanganui and started the Young Nationals there at age 18. He got into board governance early in his working life and set up a company focused on improving the performance of boards and directors, Sirdar, which operated mainly in Africa. He had been living in South Africa before he sold the company and returned to contest and win the electorate, which stretches well into Taranaki.
Quote: “I have been an employer and an employee; a landlord and tenant; driver of a diesel vehicle and, at the same time, simultaneously, a diligent recycler; a Queen’s Scout and a child of God.”
Namechecks include: Hāwera, Ngāti Ruanui, Inside Otago, Grafton Bridge, PPPs, Spark Arena, Wairau Valley, partner and three kids.
Brewer regained the seat which was first held by Paula Bennett. A public relations consultant, he was once a high-profile Auckland City councillor and former CE of the Newmarket Business Association. He has been a National Party member for 28 years and is a former parliamentary staffer. He used his speech to promote PPPs, and in particular Spark Arena which, under the Build Own, Operate, Transfer (Boot) model, is due to be transferred to Auckland Council in the 2040s.
Quote: “Let’s use the balance sheets of the private sector as we continue to build our country’s infrastructure and public amenities. In many cases, it’s the only way we will do it.”
Namechecks include: Wife Rachel and kids Jack, Annabel, Emma, and Charlotte, Golden Shears, Wings over Wairarapa, Derek and Chris Daniels, QEII National Trust, Benjamin Franklin, Dame Joy Cowley.
Butterick won the seat on his second attempt against Kieran McAnulty, who was returned as a list MP. He has been a sheep and beef farmer in the region for about 30 years. The speech traversed the largely unrecognised efforts farmers make to improve the environment and why the food and fibre sector should be proud to earn the export income that pays the wages of teachers and nurses. He also talked about the importance of lifting the results in the education system.
Quote: “Things are not right when I talk to a local dairy farmer about how they don’t want to say what they do for a living when they go out, about their kids getting bullied at school because their parents are farming – it’s not okay.”
Namechecks include: Wife Carol and two daughters, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Dr Stephen Goldson, Edison, James Dyson, Dame Anne Salmond.
Campbell reclaimed the blue-ribbon Ilam seat back after Gerry Brownlee’s shock defeat in 2020 to Labour. Campbell returned from his scientific work in Australia researching multiple sclerosis to enter politics. He has a PhD in cancer and viruses and a BSc in genetics. He addressed the so-called culture wars, saying it has become very easy to take offence at someone’s else’s different beliefs.
Quote: “We should not place a high value on our outrage. We seem to think it gives us the moral high ground, failing to appreciate that our moral outrage belittles us; it belittles our society; it drives division and only creates further outrage.”
Namechecks include: Wife Fiona, daughter Renee, Teresa Mak, David Cheung, Antonio Cheung, Michael Wood, Ward Kamo, Diana Burslem, the Bible.
Cheung led National to a stunning victory, claiming the former Labour stronghold for the first time in National’s history and tipping Michael Wood out of Parliament. He was born in Hong Kong and arrived in New Zealand as a teenager with his parents and brother. He studied sciences at Auckland University and got a PhD in biological sciences, focusing on diabetes and cardiac disease. Most recently he was working in property management. His speech paid tribute to his parents, their sacrifices and values they had instilled in their sons.
Quote: “Youth of Mt Roskill, you are very talented and gifted, full of energy, and have great potential … Dream big and dare to fail. Believe in yourself. Do not be afraid of failures; overcoming them will make you a stronger person, and this is the path to success.”
Namechecks include: Wife Emma, kids Lucy, Becky, and Alice, Jim Bolger, the Prince and Princess of Wales, Lance Corporal Leon Smith, Fred Dagg.
Costley won Ōtaki from Labour on his second go. He joined the Royal NZ Air Force in 2001 and trained as a helicopter pilot. His operational service included missions in Afghanistan, East Timor and the Solomon Islands. In 2014 he was equerry to Prince William when William and Catherine visited New Zealand in 2014. His speech focused on perseverance and the difference community can make.
Quote: “Too often these days, people look for community online, but all we find are echo chambers that reinforce a narrow view of a diverse world. Community calls us to reach out to cross divides, to grow in empathy and understanding, not division and intolerance.”
Namechecks include: Wife Kirstin and kids Harry, Annabel, Willis, Tobs, and Jed, Dr Alistair Reese, Mr Nolan at Wairarapa College, Sir John Graham, Cliffy and Indranee Reddy, Ricardo Menendez March, Willow-Jean Prime, Te Waka McLeod, Te Kitohi Pikaahu.
As a chartered accountant with an entrepreneurial streak, Fleming initially thought he would set up in business but an early experience in the charitable sector waylaid him. His speech explained the progress of his work in community organisations, his commitment to his Christian faith and to te reo Māori which he has been learning for seven years. He is the founder and former chief executive of the Maxim Institute think-tank and the Christian-driven Venn Foundation.
Quote: “When I dream of February 6, 2040, I dare to imagine, I dare to hope, I dare to believe that on that day, by the shores of Waitangi, we will not weep tears of lament, but tears of joy. That we will celebrate. That we will walk easily in both worlds. That we will be one.”
Namechecks include: Wife Marie and kids Anika-Skye, Beckam and Diesel, AC/DC, Tuheitia Potatau Te Wherowhero VII, Tainui Group Holdings, Susan Hassall, Hamilton Christian Night Shelter, Magical Bridge Trust, David Lange.
Hamilton won back Hamilton East which, since MMP, has been held by Labour only twice, most recently by Jamie Strange. Hamilton was a Hamilton City councillor, ran his own pharmacy business, and ran a business networking group in partnership with the Waikato Chamber of Commerce.
Quote: “I shared [at my mother’s] eulogy how she would be proud of our party’s policy of one hour of reading, writing, and maths in the school curriculum … The celebrant… said he’d never before seen a policy announcement woven into a eulogy. I know she would have approved.”
Namechecks include: Kids Anna and Sam, Tony Ryall, Judy Kirk, Te Aitangaa-Mahaki, Patutahi, David Kirkpatrick, Charlie Gaukrodger, Katerina Ruru, John Taylor, Equestrian Sport NZ, Eastwoodhill Arboretum.
Kirkpatrick won back the East Coast seat, formerly held by National’s Anne Tolley and, for a term, by Labour’s Kiri Allan. It includes Gisborne and Whakatāne. Raised on a farm near Gisborne, she is a former manager and communications professional. She said she got into politics after finding herself increasingly shouting at the television. Someone wrote a song about her during the campaign about being the new East Coast MP but mistakenly called her Danica Patrick, the racing car driver and supermodel.
Quote: “As the leaders of Aotearoa New Zealand, it is time to show up. It’s time to collectively understand the concept of kotahitanga and that we are so much better in unity.”
Namechecks include: Husband Keven and daughters Amber and Harper, Avondale Primary School, McLeans College, Pak’nSave, McDonald’s, Ukraine, PwC, Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
Lu was a list-only candidate for National in 2020 and in 2023. She missed out in 2020 but was elected in 2023 at No 20, the highest list place for a non-sitting MP. Born in China, she came to New Zealand in 1997 as a schoolgirl. She got a commerce degree at Auckland University and after qualifying as an accountant, has worked at PwC, Fonterra and Auckland Council.
Quote: “I need to emphasise the paramount importance of our economy and finances… It is not merely numbers on spreadsheets but it is the lifeline that sustains our communities, ensures access to healthcare, education, infrastructure, and ultimately shapes the future of our country. "
Namechecks include: Wife Leasa and kids Reuben, Phoebe and Isaac, Te Atiawa, Dr Edward Pohau Ellison, Shotover River, Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Porou, Isle of Lewis, Manaia, Hawera High School, Venn Young.
MacLeod has been established in public life as a member of the Taranaki Regional Council for 22 years, 15 of them as the chairman. He has also been a board director for Fonterra, Port Taranaki, PKW, and Predator Free 2050. A qualified electrician, he built a business into a multi-disciplined operation with about 100 tradespeople. Raised on a dairy farm near Manaia, his speech made a plea for any added bureaucracy to have a cost-benefit analysis. He began in Māori, outlining his whakapapa links. He is chair of the environment select committee.
Quote: “We are in these roles for just a moment in time. It is our daily activities and behaviours that will decide how good a guardian each of us are.”
Namechecks include: Kids Eve and Jeremy, Kate, John Carter, Burton and Jenny Shipley, Flagswamp School, Winston Churchill, Ron McCallum, Lockwood Smith, Lloyd Downing, Steve Abel, Hongi Hika.
McCallum has been a big figure in the National Party, serving on the board from 2005 to 2015 and being active in the party’s Bluegreens for more than 20 years. He is a beef and dairy farmer from Maungaturoto and has been active in Federated Farmers. His speech was memorable for drawing comparisons between two towns of the north, Kerikeri and Kaikohe, and for his plea to stop politicising roading in Northland and to back a four-lane highway there.
Quote: “My vision is clear: by 2040, a four-lane highway to Northland; a society where we celebrate and respect all our cultures; and a Treaty settlement for Ngāpuhi. And then we can celebrate together the 200th anniversary of the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi as a united region and a united country.”
Namechecks include: Mum, Dad, Grandma, Granddad, Ngāi Tahu, Timaru Boys’ High School, social investment, Privacy Act.
The lawyer and former National Party staffer won back the formerly safe National seat from Labour’s Jo Luxton. The stars of Meager’s speech were his parents, who had split up when he was young and who were sitting in the gallery. His father had been a freezing worker most of his life and had never previously been to the North Island until the maiden speech. His mother works in Timaru Countdown. Meager said he didn’t blame his father for the strained relationship with him - they were both products of their upbringing. The superstar, however, was his mother whom he said had steel in her bones and grit in her soul. He is chair of the justice select committee.
Quote: “Members opposite do not own Māori. Members opposite do not own the poor. Members opposite do not own the workers. No party and no ideology has a right to claim ownership over anything or anyone.”
Namechecks include: Husband Roger, King Charles, the Phoenicians, Donna Hall, Felix Geiringer, Dan Hughes, Daniel Newman, Tarsh Kemp, Kingi Tuheitia, Mill Rd.
Nakhle won Takanini on her second attempt at the seat. Born in Australia to parents who had emigrated from Lebanon, she got a law degree in Sydney and was admitted to the Bar in New Zealand 10 years ago. More recently she established and ran an emergency and transitional housing trust in the electorate, Te Mahia Community Village.
Quote: “If I felt that the National Party was racist, I would not be part of the National Party. If I felt that the National Party was anti-Māori, I would not be part of the National Party.”
Namechecks include: Husband Jeremy, William John Geddis, John Giles Nimon, Thomas Wilmor McKenzie, Te Rira Porutu, Meeanee Speedway, Adam Smith, The Secret Language of Birthdays.
Nimon won the seat previously held by Labour’s Stuart Nash who stepped down from politics. She is part of the Hawke’s Bay families that started the Daily Telegraph, a newspaper that merged with the Herald-Tribune to become Hawke’s Bay Today, and which started Nimon’s bus company. She is the former general manager of the bus company and the former transport manager for Hawke’s Bay Regional Council. She is chair of the education and workforce select committee.
Quote: “Unfortunately, the more involved a government becomes in people’s business, and businesses, for that matter, the worse things seem to get.”
Namechecks include: Husband Rich, kids Sam, Ruby and Sophie, Robin Cuddon, Michael Dossor, NAC, Turner and Growers, Apia, Kath Grieve, ACC.
Redmayne, a farmer from Turakina in partnership with her husband, is no stranger to the life of an MP. As well as farming, she spent many years working for former MPs Simon Power and Ian McKelvie, who retired at the election. As well as boasting about the electorate – Feilding High has produced nine All Blacks – she began her advocacy as well saying the town of 18,000 no longer had 24-hour police and that the phone network and internet coverage in the region was embarrassing.
Quote: “Sustainable farming is not an oxymoron; it’s what most farmers – and all good farmers – do. We can’t make a living from the land without kaitiakitanga, without caring for the land and the soil, embracing biodiversity.”
Namechecks include: Partner Hannah, Todd Muller, Tony Ryall, Generation Z, Apple ID, Greerton Cricket Club, State Highway 29, Tania Tapsell, Mt Maunganui Fire Station.
Rutherford was the relatively late candidate chosen to replace Todd Muller, who pulled out of the contest seven months before the election. At age 26, Rutherford is National’s youngest MP. He worked for the National Party after graduating from Victoria University, then for the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, and on to a comms job with Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell. He is a NZ hockey umpire, a Bay of Plenty rugby referee, and a volunteer firefighter.
Quote: “I believe successful politicians actively listen, engage in reflective thinking, and delve into extensive reading. They should also – always – be prepared and willing to change their minds.”
Namechecks include: Husband Henry and kids Sophie, Hugo, Hannah, and Charlie, brother Jeremy, IHC, BBC, Salvation Army, NZ Apple and Pears, Ngāti Kahungunu.
Wedd was raised on a farm near Taumarunui and admitted that from the age of 10 she had wanted to be a lawyer, journalist, and politician. She made all three. Her grandfather was Bill Tolhurst who held the Wanganui seat in 1969. She trained as a lawyer and became a journalist. Her speech was divided between stories of hardship and inspiration relating to her family, her work in marketing following her career in journalism with TVNZ and the BBC, and her hopes for Hawke’s Bay.
Quote: “My brother is an absolute inspiration for our family … This is someone who has never been able to talk in his life, but he has never been held back by his disability, because we focus on his ability, self-responsibility, and independence.”
Namechecks include: Elizabeth McCombs, Tama-i-hara-nui, Canvastown, NZDF and Sonmi-451.
Weenink won Banks Peninsula from Labour’s Tracey McLellan. A former GP, Weenink turned her focus to politics in 2022 while recovering from hip surgery. In her speech, she talked about her experience as a regular and territorial with NZDF including stints in Afghanistan and East Timor, her experience in the 2011 Canterbury earthquake and being raised by a solo mother on the DPB at the time of the benefit cuts.
Quote: “[My father] was a pioneer of the cannabis industry in the 1980s. Despite legal challenges and a stint under Her Majesty’s hospitality, he instilled in me a love for books and a rapid reading ability.”
Namechecks include: Quinn, Niamh, Margaret Hooton, Fowlds Park, David Lange, Aukus, David Bowie, Pat McNamara, Nicky Hager, Moana Jackson, Charles Dickens, Raukumara, Rawiri Waititi.
Abel comes to Parliament with a well-established profile as an environmental activist at No 9 on the Greens list. The speech painted a graphic picture of why his chosen path seemed inevitable, including his reading difficulties as a child, his cynicism towards authority and a lovely tribute to his parents who were also activists.
Quote: “If this House has a just purpose, it must be to protect the common good from the ruthlessness of vested interest, rather than, as it so often does, facilitate those vested interests to harm the commons.”
Namechecks include: Tainui, Waikato Maniapoto, Te Kuiti, Rewi Maniapoto, Takapuna Beach, Ohakune, Christchurch, Rapaki Beach
Carter stood in Christchurch Central but got into Parliament at No 14 on the Green Party list. She grew up in King Country and the North Shore and studied psychology and philosophy at university. She has advocated for waste minimisation and was an adviser at the Ministry for the Environment. She went through kōhanga reo as a child. She has two teenagers.
Quote: “As pioneers of many outstanding innovations, New Zealand has the ability to shape a better future for all Aotearoa. Like an athlete wanting to exceed their personal best, let’s work together to exceed our collective best, because Papatūānuku deserves it. Our rangatahi deserve it.”
Namechecks include: Wife Fia, daughters Kaperiela and Asalemo, mother Lotomau Collins, father and brother Tauiliili Sio and Thomas, Otara 274, Tangaroa College, Picot reforms, Paolo Freire, James Baldwin.
Collins died suddenly on Wednesday during a charity event in Auckland. His speech was a celebration of Ōtara and the good start in life he got there, in education, housing community and family. He also said the Greens would be the “pallbearers of neoliberalism” and bury its “insufferable ideas once and for all”. He had been elected at No 11 on the Green Party list. A former Auckland councillor and former mayoral candidate, he arrived with a high profile and a reputation as a community activist. He had been student president at Auckland University where he got an MA studying the Picot education reforms.
Quote: “If I was to inspire anyone by getting to this House and my work over the next three years, I hope that it’s the square pegs, the misfits, the forgotten, the unloved, the invisible – it’s the dreamers who want more, expect more, are impatient for change, and have this uncanny ability to stretch us further.”
Namechecks include: Samuel Marden, Te Haunga, Transmission Gully, Pipiwai, Mangungu, Moana Jackson, Victoria University, Diane Ruwhiu, Kawiti, Aperahama Taonui.
Lyndon was elected at No 10 on the Green Party list. She arrives in Parliament with an established record of leadership in the north as the former chief executive of Ngāti Hine Forestry Trust and Ngāti Wai Trust Board. She is fluent in te reo and was a foundation student of kōhanga reo. In her speech she said the Treaty of Waitangi was not a partnership document; it provided a constitutional relationship between two sovereign nations.
Quote: “It’s outrageous to me that, as the hapū of Whangārei, we must stand before the High Court and plead our case to prove our connection and relationship to Whangārei Harbour since 1840.”
Namechecks include: Wairaka, Mataatua, Ngāti Awa, Marianne MacKay, Andy Foster, Grant Robertson, Aro Valley, Biggie, Nina Simone.
Paul ended Labour’s 24-year grip on the seat after former finance minister Grant Robertson went list-only. She already had a big local profile having twice been elected as a Wellington City councillor. Aged 27, she is the Greens’ youngest MP. She grew up in Tokoroa and moved to Wellington to go to Victoria where she got a BA and became president of the students’ association. She also has a master’s degree in resource and environmental planning from Massey. She lives in Aro Valley with five flatmates and her dog, Biggie. She ended her speech with “chur”.
Quote: “I’m not impressed by the so-called halls of power; I am impressed by the power of the people. I am in awe of the determination of hapū. I am inspired by artists who speak their minds and open up ours.”
Namechecks include: Husband Emerson, Rākaihautū, Akaroa, Quang Ngai, Colombo Plan, St Mary’s College, Working Waters Trust, Kermadecs, Peter Ramsden, Mandy Holme, John Wilkie, Thich Nhat Hanh.
Pham was elected at No 6 on the party list, the highest of the new MPs. She is the first New Zealand MP of Vietnamese heritage. Born and raised in Wellington, she was one of six children of a Catholic mother and Buddhist father. Before getting a master’s degree in freshwater ecology from Otago University, she also served two terms on the Canterbury Regional Council. She also spent a year on the isolated Rangitahua, Raoul Island, as a biodiversity and science manager for the Department of Conservation.
Quote: “The foundation of government decision-making should be informed by mātauranga, evidence, and long-term mokopuna decisions over short-term quick fixes, individual reckons, and Google research.”
Namechecks include: Husband Christian Hoff-Neilsen and kids Nikita, Joakim, Jules and Louie, Marupo, Pumaka, Hohepa Kopiri, Hannah King Hansen, Susan Rena Tana, Brussels, Waitangi. Nikita, Joakim, Jules, and Louie.
Tana was elected at No 13 on the Green Party list and stood in Tāmaki Makaurau. She stood in Northland in 2020. After studying at Massey and working as an environmental scientist, she left on a study scholarship in Brussels. She stayed for 17 years, working for Belgacom telecommunications company, marrying, raising four children and becoming fluent in French and Flemish. In 2014, the family left for Waiheke Island where they set up an electric bike business.
Quote: “I swapped out my pencil skirts and high heels for bike mechanic apron and steel cap boots.”
Namechecks include: Husband Alistair and sons Ramsay and Jono, Georgina Beyer, Jeanette Fitzsimons, Rod Donald, Simon Upton, Berkshire, Bruce Stewart, Te Araroa, Kingi Tuheitia.
Wade-Brown was elected at No 15 on the Greens list to replace Golriz Ghahraman who resigned in 2024 in the face of shoplifting allegations. She was mayor of Wellington for two terms until 2016, and a long-term councillor before that. British-born, she went to school in Berkshire and joined the Greenham Commons nuclear protests there. She has an honours degree in philosophy. She worked as a systems engineer at IBM and worked for Databank when she first came to Wellington.
Quote: “I’m still part of the world-leading Predator Free Wellington, bringing back the dawn chorus to this city. Those of you who watch my activities closely know I will not swallow a dead rat; I will feed it to the eels.”
Namechecks include: Partner Jenna and sons Bruno and Lucan, Aukaha, Waititi Book Club, Adam and Eve, John Walpole Willis, Brussels, taekwondo, Blue Skin Bay.
Willis was elected at No 12 on the Greens’ list, having stood in Taieri in 2023 and 2020. His speeches traversed his upbringing on a farm in the Waitaki Valley, his travels abroad including a stint as a donkey-trekking guide in an alternative rural community in France, and as an intern at the European Parliament in Brussels researching European Union rural policy. But his more immediate passion is in clean energy, especially wind energy and he has been working in the sector. He had some disappointments but believes New Zealand has the potential to be “the Saudi Arabia of wind power”.
Quote: ”I learnt something else very important from Jeanette [Fitzsimons], as well as from others like the Aboriginal community of the Kimberley Country, like my taekwondo colleagues, like my French friends in the Cevennes, like my parents. They all taught me the value of perseverance.”
Namechecks include: Wife Audra and daughters Michaela and Payton, Heretaunga College, Wallaceville, Mongrel Mob, El Alamein.
Hoggard, a Manawatū farmer and former president of Federated Farmers, was elected at No 5 on the party list. He joined the party in 2019. Two of his great-great-great grandfathers were members of Parliament, Alfred Saunders and William Cargill. His speech went into detail about his involvement in farmer politics. He has been appointed a minister outside cabinet, with the portfolios of biosecurity and food safety and associate agriculture and associate environment.
Quote: “The decision of which university to go to was made more on the fact that a visit to Victoria University showed lots of hippy-looking types playing hacky sack compared to a visit to Massey University, where the uniform of choice was red bands, rugby jersey, and trackpants.”
Namechecks include: Wife Susan and two kids, Wellington Mounted Rifles Regiment, Papamoa Beach, Rotorua campground, Mr Simmon, Galatea, Henley.
Luxton was the last Act MP elected at No 11 on the party list. He stood for the party in 2020 and in the Tauranga byelection in 2022 as well. His speech traversed his experience as a builder, his empathy for farmers after running a farm for seven years in Galatea and his experience with an inspirational primary school, Te Akau ki Papamoa.
Quote: “It could be seen as ironic that to come to Parliament means that I’ve put down my apron and am no longer swinging a hammer on-site to contribute some houses to our stock. But as the only licensed building practitioner ever elected to this House, I am here to enable my fellow tradies and everyone who thinks that New Zealand can only reach our potential if driven by our productive sectors.”
Namechecks include: Partner Alex, Lumsden, Te Anau, Mimihau, Roger Douglas, Derek Quigley, Brian Nicolle, Richard Prebble, Catherine Isaac, James Hargest High School, Judith Ablett-Kerr, scarfies.
Stephenson was elected at No 4 on the party list. He is a founder member of Act, signing up to its values when he was a law student at Otago University. After a few years practising law, he worked in the PR firm of former Act president Catherine Isaac and for the party at Parliament before heading to Australia. There he specialised in pharmaceutical industry public relations, including roles with Roche and Janssen and working with patient groups as new therapies arrived. In his speech, he praised the industry as a great example of private investment in the capitalist system and doing something no government could or should do. He is based in Queenstown.
Quote: “While I might have explored my sexuality, trying both sides before picking a team, I’ve never done that with my political parties … I’m proud only to have ever voted Act, supporting the party even in the bleakest of times when the liberal flame was almost extinguished.”
Namechecks include: Husband Riki and kids Mahe and Emelia, Shakespeare, Ashley River, Pac-man, Crusaders, Burnside High, Toni Severin, Ben Harvey.
Trask was elected as Act’s 10th MP out of 11. She trained as a pharmacist and then became a health and safety specialist working with businesses on emergency response plans through the Fire Safety Net business. In her speech, she talked about how new laws can have unintended consequences, especially for small businesses. She is Christchurch-based.
Quote: “I’ve spent too much time talking to small business owners that are financially and psychologically battered by compliance costs, while they try to deliver vital services on the thinnest of profit margins. These people are heroes. They aren’t fat cats. They are you: the butcher, the hairdresser, the tradie, the baker, the beautician.”
Namechecks include: Wife Sally, kids Jaxon, Paige, Dale, and Keira, Marlborough District Council, Doug Kidd, Colin King, Mark Patterson, Rapaura School, RMA, harness racing.
Arbuckle is based in Marlborough and was elected to Parliament at No 6 on the NZ First list in his third attempt at Parliament. He was No 23 in 2017 and No 13 in 2020. He joined the party board in 2022. He was elected three times as a Marlborough District councillor. He grew up in a family devoted to orcharding, mainly apple and cherry exports. His interests are running and harness racing.
Quote: “My wider family tree is difficult to explain at the best of times …Through no fault of my own, I don’t know exactly who my biological dad is, but I have two that say they are. One of those, who has now passed, would be super proud of this moment; the other is a local legend in his own right. The traits they both share is working the land and being practical, hard-working people.”
Namechecks include: Kids Caity and Mitch, Racing Hall of Fame, Police Association, Greg O’Connor, Tapua, Lou Davis, Hōne Pane Tamati Waka Nene Davis.
Costello has ridden the fast train into politics, going from a spokeswoman for Hobson’s Pledge and co-chair of the Taxpayers’ Union to Parliament as No 3 on the NZ First list, and straight into Cabinet as the minister responsible for smoking and vaping policy as well as Customs. She has also been a police officer, a security manager and advocate for victims of migrant exploitation. She stood for Act at No 35 in 2011.
Quote: “I will not tiptoe around the difficult conversations. I will not allow noise and rhetoric to distract from delivering on what we have promised. I will not allow the most vulnerable to be used as a bargaining chip to gain political relevance.”
Namechecks include: Wife Ann and kids Brendon and Ella, Marsden Point Oil Refinery, Lazarus, Kent, Christchurch Teachers’ College, Israeli moshav, Wayne Eagleson, James Shaw, Phil Meyer, Zealandia.
Foster arrives as a new MP but is a seasoned politician having served 10 consecutive terms on the Wellington City Council, the last three as mayor until he was defeated by Tory Whanau in 2022. He was placed No 7 of the eight NZ First candidates elected. He started working life as a teacher then after OE, worked in the National Party research unit under Jim Bolger’s government. Much of his speech canvassed achievements on the council but he also talked about the need to lift productivity and living standards. Foster is chair of the transport and infrastructure select committee.
Quote: “I believe we can be the best multicultural nation in the world. And there is an apposite African proverb about the journey: if you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together.”
Namechecks include: Phillip Morrow, Grant Anderson, Croatia, Dargaville, NZ Institute of Chartered Accountants, Tim Robbins, International Coaching Federation.
At No 8 on the NZ First list, Unkovich was the last elected member of the caucus. Her maiden speech was very personal. It wove her own tale of under-performance and overcoming grief with the story of her Croatian parents’ journey to New Zealand in 1958. It went through the hardships they endured and the values they taught her.
Quote: “It was … my mother who gave me the greatest advice I have ever received, and what I have shared with my clients ever since ... ’During one of the lowest points in my life,’ she said to me in her soft Croatian voice, ‘Tanya, you have got to make yourself happy.’”
Namechecks include: Sian Elias, Piri Sciascia, Whatarangi Winiata, Rangimarie Rose Pere, Mereana Pitman, Ranginui Walker, Moana Jackson.
After two attempts, Ferris ousted Labour’s Rino Tirakatene from the southern Māori seat. Sometimes known as Doc, he has previously been a senior Māori adviser at Massey University. He was raised in Pōrangahau, is a diver, and is a leading member of the kapa haka group Tamatea Arikinui. Among his links, his whakapapa are Kai Tahu and Kāti Māmoe in the south of the South Island. None of this was part of his maiden speech however. It concentrated purely on Māori sovereignty, He Whakaputanga, the Declaration of Independence signed by chiefs in 1835, followed by the Treaty of Waitangi, signed in 1840. He said he was not in Parliament to service the needs of the House but to contest it and how it exercised authority on things it had no authority over.
Quote: “The Māori people are a sovereign people, and we have never ceded our sovereignty, we have never abdicated our sovereign authority, and we have never ever left this land.”
Namechecks include: Kids Heemi, Tipene, Eru and Torere-nui-a-Rua, Korotangi, Mira Szaszy, Whina Cooper, Titewhai Harawira, Erima Henare, Rob Cooper, Gwen Tepania-Palmer, Timi and Georgina te Heuheu.
Kapa-Kingi on her second go won the northern Māori seat which had been held by Labour’s Kelvin Davis for nine years. She worked in social justice and health for 40 years, primarily with a focus on women and children. She talked about her upbringing and how subjects such as colonisation and oppression were not discussed at her family table, how she had changed that with her own children (including triplet sons) and how rangatiratanga was in everything.
Quote: “My parents, like many others, were not only stopped from speaking Māori but they were also stopped from being Māori. On balance, colonisation ruins a people, destroys their place and corrupts their identity, and expects that you be grateful for the opportunity.”
Namechecks include: Kids Temanea Ereru Kauika-Quinlan and Tania-Jade Waimarie Kauika-Fairbrother, Dalvanius Prime, Linton Army Camp, Takirau marae, Tahu Potiki Wiremu Ratana, King George V, Syd Jackson.
Kemp beat former Labour minister Peeni Henare to the Auckland-based Māori seat by just 42 votes. Raised by her grandparents in South Taranaki until the age of 11, she also has strong connections to the Ratana Church. But she has lived in Auckland for 35 years, immersing herself in the world of hip-hop and its administration in New Zealand, and has been head of the Manurewa Marae, which vaccinated 65,000 people across Auckland during Covid.
Quote: “We always said hip-hop saved our lives as a whānau... I went from the ‘dance mom’ to become the Hip Hop International New Zealand director, travelling the world through the World Hip Hop Dance Championship for 20 years.”
Namechecks include: Allen Stone, Comet 46P, te petihana, nana Eileen, nanny Ranini, papa Albie, pop, nana Gail, koro Taitimu.
Maipi-Clarke was aged just 21 when she beat veteran Labour MP Nanaia Mahuta who had been in Parliament for 27 years. She reflected on a speech she had made outside Parliament in 2022 to mark the 50th anniversary of the Māori language petition [petihana] which had been dedicated to her grandparents, but dedicated her maiden speech as an MP to tamariki particularly those who longed to speak te reo. She said she had been perfectly fine in the garden growing kumara but the House kept tampering with things they shouldn’t be touching.
Quote: “In only 14 days, this Government has attacked my whole world from every corner. Health, taiao, wai, whenua, natural resources, Māori wards, reo, tamariki, and the right of me and you to be in this country under Te Tiriti. How can I not take anything personally when it feels like these policies were made about me?”
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