Vanessa Weenink’s maiden speech

National’s Bank Peninsula MP, Dr Vanessa Weenink delivered her maiden speech yesterday:

Dr VANESSA WEENINK (National—Banks Peninsula): Thank you, Mr Speaker.

[Authorised te reo Māori text to be inserted by the Hansard Office.]

[Authorised translation to be inserted by the Hansard Office.]

I’d first like to congratulate you, Mr Speaker. I’ve known you not very long and I’ve valued our conversations very much and I look forward to many in the future, hopefully not with you counselling on my bad behaviour.

To the Prime Minister, the Rt Hon Christopher Luxon, I’m so very proud to be on your team. I can tell you love New Zealand and have the energy, intellect, and character to deliver on what you promise. Since the election I’ve felt the mood in my electorate change, and I really want to thank you on behalf of the people of Banks Peninsula, for the hope that we’ve got.

It’s a little intimidating to follow on so closely behind the excellent speeches of James Meager and Katie Nimon. Congratulations to you both.

I’m here because New Zealand voted for change, because the National Party represents stability, careful Government spending, and management of public services. People needed hope that the cost of living would improve and that the economy would be fixed so we could have decent health and education.

To the people of Banks Peninsula who have bestowed upon me the honour of representation for this 54th Parliament, I express my deepest appreciation. With unwavering fidelity and diligence, I pledge to serve your interests both within this House and in our community. The remarkable 99.5 percent enrolment and roughly 86 percent voter turnout reflects our politically active constituency’s understanding of the MMP system.

I want to acknowledge Tracey McLellan for her time as our MP and for her graciousness during and after the campaign. I’m also looking forward to working with Lan Pham and Laura Trask, the list MPs from Banks Peninsula.

A special tribute is due to our veteran community and to all those who served and did not return. As the first female ex-regular force veteran from the New Zealand Defence Force, whose service is memorialised within these walls, I take great pride in this moment. The significance of this occasion is amplified by the appointment of the first woman Minister of Defence and of another veteran who is serving as our Minister for Veterans.

I’m here through the efforts of a lot of people that I want to thank. My husband and children, who could not be here today, provide the strength and purpose for all my ventures. Their absence doesn’t diminish their impact and I’m grateful for their role in shaping who I am. To my sister and extended family and friends present, thank you for being an integral part of my journey and for coming here to be with me today. To Sylvia Wood and the rest of the National Party board, thank you for believing in me. I’m glad you saw that I have enough redeeming features despite some questionable life choices. My heartfelt thanks to my campaign chair, Lincoln Platt, a loyal party member who has become not only a trusted ally but a true and valued friend. His unwavering support and commitment were evident in every aspect of our campaign, and I’m immensely grateful.

To my volunteers who delivered flyers, put up hoardings, attended events, waved signs, and knocked on doors, your support was invaluable, and I hope we have a lot more fun together over the years. Thank you to the Young Nats, whose energy and enthusiasm made sign waving on cold afternoons a whole lot more enjoyable. Thank you to our regional chair and to all of the support and campaign staff at National Headquarters.

I also want to extend my gratitude to the Hon Dr Shane Reti for his encouragement and support throughout the candidates’ college and the campaign. His guidance has been invaluable and his clear understanding of the health system and vision for the future has been inspiring and it gives me hope that we can wrangle something positive from an otherwise unmitigated disaster that is the health reforms.

I would also like to especially thank the Hon Matt Doocey for his unflappable and relaxed support and the clear analysis of the requirements for the campaign. He kept the Greater Christchurch group of candidates as coordinated as they could be throughout the campaign and it was key to our success.

Now, I believe that it’s acceptable to be unashamedly parochial about one’s electorate. In my opinion, Banks Peninsula is the most interesting electorate in the country, and I have some examples to support this. I have some experience persuading people to change their minds and habits, and I intend to be the kind of politician who backs up statements with evidence.

Firstly, in matters of gender representation, Banks Peninsula stands at the forefront. As the seventh woman elected as an electorate MP in this region, we hold a distinctive position in history, having elected the first woman MP, Elizabeth McCombs from Lyttleton in 1933—and it has elected the most women to this House.

Banks Peninsula, a microcosm of New Zealand, boasts both rural and urban landscapes. It serves as the jewel in Canterbury’s tourism crown, the recreational haven for Christchurch, and a hub for diverse industries. Arguably, Banks Peninsula embodies the soul of Christchurch, as evidenced by the creativity of our artists and musicians.

Our historical roots were integral to the foundation of this nation. I want to highlight the brig Elizabeth affair. In November 1830, a British ship captain was complicit with Te Rauparaha in tricking the local chief Tama-i-hara-nui aboard to trade harakeke. Once aboard, the chief and his family were kidnapped and the Ngāti Toa warriors that night crept into the pā and massacred the locals.

When news of this crime eventually made its way to the British authorities, it was met with shame and horror, and was one of the events that spurred the British to send Busby and then Hobson to oversee the British subjects in New Zealand and to eventually sign te Tiriti o Waitangi. Today, the memorial at Takapūneke stands as a symbol of truth, healing, and partnership. Included in the vision for a national reserve on this site is the somewhat neglected Britomart memorial, honouring the ship whose captain planted the first British flag on that site and kept the French from claiming large sections of the South Island—something I think we should all be very grateful for.

We’re also at the forefront of future industry As an avid science fiction fan, the fact that we are building an aerospace launch site on Kaitorete Spit makes Banks Peninsula more interesting to me than 97 percent of the other electorates.

Our peninsula’s ecological significance cannot be overstated, with native flora and fauna evolving on a volcanic island that later merged with the mainland. We are world-renowned for regenerative conservation, with Hinewai Reserve the best example of this. The peninsula has gone from an estimated 1 percent indigenous forest early last century to 16 percent now. Fundamental to this success was the empowerment of landowners to covenant their land and have control over this process. I was delighted to join with members of the Banks Peninsula Conservation Trust last weekend as they celebrated the 100th covenanted piece of land, which joins over 2,500 hectares of perpetually protected land.

It’s also appropriate that I share with you all who I am and where I come from. The Weenink family, of Dutch heritage, arrived in New Zealand in the 1850s. Despite the Dutch name, I am more Scottish. My grandmother was a McArthur, a clan originally from Argylle and Bute. On my mother’s side, my ancestor Thomas Cane arrived in 1872 and was the architect behind the Lyttelton Timeball. I’m proud of that connection to Lyttelton, and I can also see what a visible monument to colonialism such a building represents. Living in the picturesque Port Hills, I find myself connected to the land where my wider family has continuously resided since the 1870s.

I spent my childhood in Canvastown. I am fairly certain I’m the first MP to have attended that school. Playing in the bush and swimming in Te Hoiere / Pelorus river, we forged a connection to the land, and we had a unique upbringing. My father had an entrepreneurial spirit, trying to earn a living through pig farming, goat farming, mussel farming, and eventually horticulture. He 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. He died suddenly when I was aged 18—he was 52—of a blood clot to his lungs, which had also tragically killed his own father at the age of 36.

My mother, a nurse, raised my sister and me solo and faced many hardships. But she also taught me to focus on a goal, visualise it clearly, then believe deeply that I had already achieved that goal. That way I didn’t need to be anxious about the outcome, but just focus on the process of making it happen: planning carefully and then grittily executing it.

Mum was also a strong feminist, as part of the Women’s Division of Federated Farmers, the Country Women’s Institute, Zonta, and the National Council of Women. I have many fond childhood memories of those meetings, and I suspect that’s why I love meetings so much now. Mum passed away last year, but she knew I was going to be an MP because she knew I had set my mind on it.

I studied medicine in Otago, and while I was there, I joined the Territorials, and all up, I served nearly 22 years in the regular force and Territorials. During that time, I was deployed three times in a very intense period over two years. I did two winter tours of Afghanistan, and a stint in East Timor in 2006 in between. My son was six months old when I first deployed; I missed his first Christmas, and he turned three while I was away on my last tour. My already shaky first marriage didn’t survive. I lost friends and colleagues in Afghanistan, and so the withdrawal from there and the state of that country and the fate of women there break my heart.

Post – military service, I spent a decade in private general practice in Papanui. That career got off to a shaky start because of the Christchurch earthquakes. Leading a resuscitation team at the Pyne Gould building site, alongside medics and civilian doctors, I witnessed the strength and unity that emerged in the face of adversity. The challenges faced by our people in the aftermath, compounded by inequities in insurance and the inadequacies of EQC, fuelled my outrage at injustice and commitment to rebuilding Christchurch.

My political ideology transcends easy categorisation. I’m socially liberal and fiscally conservative and I’m a blue green.

As the daughter of a solo mother on the DPB, I lived through the effects of benefit cuts of the 1990s. And I don’t think that miserly austerity works, but I equally detest wasteful Government spending and the blatant disrespect of taxpayers when money is spent carelessly. I believe that only a National Government with evidence-based, prudent spending and with a social investment approach can turn around the fortunes of our country and deliver the public services that we need.

Last year in March I had a total hip replacement. I took eight weeks off to recover, and in that time, I conducted what my son called a mid-life crisis. And whilst numerically accurate, it does not reflect the careful process I undertook. I analysed all of my options, and I considered going back to the Army, but my hip blocked that path. So, the next was politics. I researched the major parties and considered where my values most aligned.

It turned out there were a couple of values that were important to me that pulled me towards National. First: competitive enterprise and reward for achievement. As a business owner, I know the value of skin in the game and the risks taken for the benefit of a business and the people working for you. Without competition we have stagnation and limited innovation. The other thing is personal responsibility. This is about believing in the autonomy of individuals and their ability to do for themselves. Personal responsibility is not about victim blaming as some might believe; it is about empowerment.

As for all of us, it took a lot of grit and determination to get me here. I am loyal; I am faithful—especially when it’s hard. I don’t expect that many people will understand that, but I hope that my friends and colleagues on all sides of the House will see who I am and what I bring with me to this place so that we can be respectful of each other even though we might disagree.

In summary. I bring all that I am to this House—all the experience and knowledge from a life lived halfway through. I will be evidence-based, respectful, and diligent in all I do. I will represent my constituents faithfully and aim to be civil and gracious in dealing with all my colleagues and friends in this House.

May our shared endeavours propel New Zealand forward, and may the legacy we create be one of resilience, unity, and prosperity. Tātou, tātou.

I’d like to end with a quote from the author David Mitchell. This is the revelation of Sonmi-451: “To be is to be perceived, and so to know thyself is only possible through the eyes of the other. The nature of our immortal lives is in the consequences of our words and deeds, that go on and are pushing themselves throughout all time. Our lives are not our own. From womb to tomb, we are bound to others, past and present, and by every crime and every kindness, we birth our future.”

Nō reira, tēnā koutou katoa.