This page features computer generated text of the source audio. It may contain errors or omissions, so always listen back to the original media to confirm content. You can search the text using Ctrl-F, and you can also play the audio by clicking on a desired timestamp.
I call on Jan Logie to make her valedictory statement, Mr. Speaker, as I rise by perhaps the last time in this house. In the wake of our petals inspiring valedictory, I've decided to come as my proudest lesbian self and boiler through goodness. [00:00:30] But first up, I want to acknowledge all the support and the resilience of my family. My mom, Judith, my dad, Ray, my brother Ian, and my friend. Despite the fact that I've been a bloody terrible friend and family member for the last decade, I specifically want to acknowledge my mate Liz, who I share a mortgage in side byside homes within in the fabulous Cannons Creek, who has kept things running when I've been ab. In my time in Parliament, I've been lucky to fall in [00:01:00] love with Cath and become a member of the Council of Mothers with Cath, Justine and Danielle caring for the two fabulous young Wahine, ppi, and Vita. Yes, I see you. Um, it's been so beautiful to be welcomed into such a generous, extended family as a well intended, though often absent member. Love you lot. Kath, I need to particularly thank for putting up with some of the [00:01:30] worst dates ever, including protests, election panels, vigils for murdered women and children, forcing her introvert self door knocking, staying up with me until three in the morning, swatting up on progressive political messaging ahead of caucus meetings. And being there when I was struggling to breathe in the wake of material's resignation, feeling as if the bastards had [00:02:00] won and needing to be on TV in less than an hour. So many acts of kindness. Thank you. But I still won't be proposing. I've spent much of my life disengaged from parliamentary politics because the politicians I saw on the news seemed more interested in one-upping each other than genuinely working for our communities. I used to say I decided to stand for Parliament to stop yelling [00:02:30] at the politicians on the radio, and now I'm leaving. Because I want to stop yelling at myself on the radio. It has been a real privilege getting to fight for people in this place, but my theory of change is about the movement, not the individual. And part of the job that no one really gets to see is the absolute joy of connecting with those on the ground, doing amazing mahi people reflecting on how we could do better [00:03:00] and organizing to make it happen. In my experience, none of the good things in this place happened without those people in groups. They are the heart of our democracy, and that's not a criticism of this place. That is something that I think reflects well on us this speech. Is my love letter to my colleagues and everyone in the public [00:03:30] sector and communities who have had the incredible privilege to be challenged by learn from and work with. Every single day, there are people all over this country and in this place bringing the beauty of environmental and social justice and democracy to life through their work and their advocacy. And tonight I want to celebrate them. Including all the incredible [00:04:00] green members and staff here and at the party specifically, I wanna call out to the teams in my office, Marie Nu, see you, Jesse Dennis, Raywin Tate, Sarah Saunders, and my ministerial office from last term, clear Lions, Heather McDonald, Stephanie Rogers, Sarah McRay, and Mel King. I really am indebted to their singular and collective brilliance. And I want to acknowledge the unions particularly and [00:04:30] CVP graduate women, YWCA, mind the Gap, national Council of Women and my shees, Christine Barlett and friends for all of their work to ensure every worker is paid according to the value of their work. Our economy has too long relied on exploiting traditional women's work. It's been a long battle. And we are not there yet. Come on. Pay transparency and the care and support worker settlement, [00:05:00] but over 175,000 women have got massive pay rises in the last six years, and I also want to acknowledge aa p. C. Pag, New Zealand Council of Christian Social Services, Wesley Action. The City Mission, salvation Army. Beneficiary Rights Groups from Southland to Northland. We are [00:05:30] beneficiaries re and many others. Government has. The power to eliminate poverty. There is frustration at the painfully lows implementation of what was recommended by the Welfare Expert Advisory Group. We a create a pathway that represented the interest of business working people, the sick and disabled in our whanau and communities. The potential for [00:06:00] wellbeing from this consensus has been squandered by a government that limited itself by refusing to take on the inequities of our taxes. Tax system just tags the ritual ready. That said, I will be very excited though. To see fair pay agreements roll out, and I [00:06:30] feel lucky to have worked with unions and the government over the last six years to help get us to this point. I really hope people who care about reducing inequality vote. To ensure these agreements come to fruition, our communities need this foundation fired up Stilettos and our Uber drivers are more examples of ordinary people supported by union colleagues putting themselves on [00:07:00] the line for work rights for themselves and others. This has worked towards human dignity. We should celebrate them and we should make their lives a little easier by increasing the labor, inspect it, and creating stronger protections for all workers, not just employees. And we need far more fundamental reform of a CC to ensure it can deliver on Owen Wood House's intent. This has been said in this house. Shout out to a [00:07:30] CC Futures Coalition and others. There is so much potential here to strengthen our social safety net. Maternal death injuries was a start, but we need to eliminate discrimination on the grounds of accident, illness, or birth as intended that workers to come. I may have said before in this house, and I am serious about it, that family violence and sexual violence are endemic and a shame on this country, and sadly, there's no one [00:08:00] solution to changing it. I need to acknowledge the honorable Andrew Little. And Jacinda Arder for letting me ro roam well beyond a tight interpretation of my delegations last term to unleash some of the wisdom from our communities, and I am so grateful. Thanks to the efforts of Moori all our women's refuges to ing ua Monaco and Kim [00:08:30] McGregor. Louise, Nicholas, Heather, David White. Kim Clearwater, help Auckland and Wellington all the rape crisis. Start Shati Sharma. Pacifica Proud Maori Women's Welfare League. P Solomon Avi Trust. Trust, voice, mojo Mathers. Debbie Hager, Laurie Mcna, Sue Hobbes, Thursdays in black community. Laura Elizabeth [00:09:00] McDonald, Yvette Tinley. Julia told me, Jan Jordan, the family violence clearing house, and so many more people who hold the wisdom for all their efforts. We managed to get a dedicated minister. Go the Honorable MUR Davidson Family violence, legislative reform, [00:09:30] sexual violence legislation, and a plan to address the issues identified in the 2009 task force for action on sexual violence. We got around half a billion dollars towards community-based services, including tailored services. We set up infrastructure to break down government silos and create processes of genuine accountability, and we started the long journey of the Crown taking responsibility for the harm. It [00:10:00] has caused and ensuring people get the right help when they need it. Interim bu, sorry, you never got a decent name, did the foundational work that led to ura a national strategy to end violence over generations. And I do believe having a plan that was driven by Maori leadership. Not our public service and no shade meant has given us something far more inclusive, far more [00:10:30] real, and less risk averse. I get so frustrated and that's polite when I hear suggestions that enabling Maori leadership is divisive. The experience of communities I speak to and listen to is the polar. Opposite. I was attending a community election panel organized by URA a few weeks ago, and I was so encouraged that so many of the questions from the floor to all the parties [00:11:00] were seeking to get a commitment to ura. We need community to. Everyone in here to account to ensure the work is sustained and driven regardless of shifts in political or news cycles. I trust them to do this. The staff of the joint venture now, una Nuy had and have a really tricky job leading change right across the [00:11:30] public sector, and I am incredibly grateful to them. It has not been easy. There is so much more to do, but the community with Davidson have this. One of those things though that we need to do. Is we need to do much better by our children who've experienced violence or neglect, and I want to pay tribute to all the survivors who have shared their story with the Royal Commission and to voice vaai and children's rights advocates hands [00:12:00] off our and our children's commissioners, children who've experienced trauma, need, love, and care, and to know what loving relationships look like. The Royal Commission has already highlighted the intergenerational impact of abuse and state care and how that drove gang culture when we punish. These young people for the survival skills that they've learned. Because of our failures and past violence, we [00:12:30] condemn ourselves to repeat history and we make a continuation to continue violence. I want to thank Women's Refuge Shine, Maori Women's Welfare League, national Council of Women, the Human Rights Commission. Unions, especially the PSA for everything they did to help pass legislation, putting workplace protections in place for victims of domestic violence. This was a world first. The other jurisdictions around the world are [00:13:00] now following. Being a world first has been almost as amazing as hearing the difference from survivors that this has made to them. I also want to give a shout out to our Rans Dane, Margaret Sparrow, FPA, and quite a few good women journalists who push for abortion law reform and mut alongside. Many others are so proud that the Greens were the first party to put our commitment to reform into policy. It was a highlight took for [00:13:30] me to work with women across this house to progress the reform of our abortion legislation, my maiden speech. I also spoke about the beauty of diversity, and I want to thank Alison Hamlet, Jack. By Lo Wall, uh, Dr. Elizabeth Man Mitchell, Kevin Hoi, as well as gender minorities ROA inside out Rainbow Youth Itan for all their often unpaid work to ensure a voice rights and protection for Takatapui into sex [00:14:00] non-binary, lgbtqia A plus peoples. I was honored as a cis feminist lesbian. To accept petitions to this parliament to enable self-identification of gender on birth certificates and gender affirming birth healthcare. We quickly got co a political consensus. On the right to Self ID when it was first considered by this parliament. And our longstanding women's organizations have been strong allies on this 'cause. They recognize that trans women are women [00:14:30] and we will never be free until we are all free. The last decade has been a renaissance for the women's movement. Just look at the public joy of celebrating the football ferns and blackburns. Oh. And the power of the Me Too movement. Strong movements bring people together. They don't drive people apart, and that's why it's been so disappointing to also see the rise in transphobia in our communities and politics [00:15:00] activated from offshore. When Cardin elected Georgina by as Mia, they didn't see her as it. Threat to women. They saw as the eloquent, bulky woman who would fight for them, and she did. And I want to acknowledge the Inclusive Greens Disabled People's Assembly people First. CCS, disability Action. Paula Tero, the Disabled People's Organizations. Defection [00:15:30] Arts, exercise, access matters, Hickey and all the brilliant disabled activists and allies who have had the privilege of learning from, we have a very long way to go as a country to remove all the barriers to disabled people being able to fully access their human rights. I'm so pleased that the staunch advocacy of disabled people has led to the delay and hopefully review of the poorly named and even more poorly drafted accessibility for New Zealand. But change [00:16:00] is possible. Still, I've found it hard to hang on to the progress we've made because I'm so aware of the remaining gap between what we've achieved and what we still need to do to truly uphold the mana and potential of people and planet. We are watching countries burn. Right now, we are seeing beaches covered with dead fish because the oceans have become too warm for them to survive. [00:16:30] Too many of our communities are experiencing climate change viscerally, and the stress and fear is real. We are also facing a biodiversity crisis that might spell ruin even before complete climate breakdown. I know I'm mad downer. Those who know are questioning why our political leaders aren't responding to the same information that they're seeing with urgency. And I know that the Honorable James Shaw struggles with this frustration [00:17:00] as he continues to turn up. Every day to fight for what is required. But when we see the most marginalized people being used as scapegoats to feed political ambitions, people still struggling to pay the bills and care for their kids when children are still being raped and sexually abused, and we don't trust yet the system enough to protect them, let alone help the person who hurt them to change. It's easy to feel [00:17:30] hopeless. Somehow we need to find a way to hold the possibility of transformation at the scale. Our circumstances demand now more than ever. We need hope. We need hope in the possibility of collective action. I'm a hundred percent confident the greens hold, the things I really care about, and I can walk away with just gratitude and huge respect to [00:18:00] them, and a sense of knowing that they will continue, but they cannot do it alone. In my 12 years, I've seen significant change that has happened because people have come together to create that change. The challenges in front of us now are bigger than they have ever been, and only if we come together can we meet those challenges and create a future where our children can thrive. The time is now. We do not have time to [00:18:30] wait. We need to stop thinking that politicians are going to fix this without stepping up to help them. No one in this place succeeds alone. Our power is only derived from our communities, and the most meaningful thing we can do is to honor that gift. And give the power back every decision to join a group, create a petition. Join a march to vote. [00:19:00] Join the greens. Turn up for a better future. To stand for Hope to stand together for urgent climate and environmental action in a society where everyone can live in dignity, under the shelter, and the power of TI will help create that future. I began my maiden speech saying I look forward to our ongoing journey, and that is how I will conclude .
This page features computer generated text of the source audio. It may contain errors or omissions, so always listen back to the original media to confirm content.
Tags