This text file contains detailed information about an audio recording on PrideNZ.com. It includes the following sections: DESCRIPTION, SPEAKERS, SUMMARY, KEY CONTENT TIMESTAMPS [HH:MM:SS], TRANSCRIPT WITH TIMESTAMPS [HH:MM:SS], HUMAN VERIFIED TRANSCRIPT, KEYWORDS, REFERENCES, RELATED CONTENT AND FOOTNOTE. 

## START DESCRIPTION
The title of this recording is "Benjamin Doyle valedictory statement in Parliament". It is described as: The valedictory statement of MP Benjamin Doyle in Parliament, 18 September 2025. It was recorded in Parliament buildings, 1 Molesworth Street, Wellington on the 18th September 2025. The duration of the recording is 11 minutes, but this may not reflect the actual length of the proceedings. The content in the recording covers the 2020s decade.
## END DESCRIPTION

## START SPEAKERS
Benjamin Doyle is speaking in this recording.  Their name is spelt correctly but may appear incorrectly spelt later in the document.
## END SPEAKERS

## START SUMMARY
Benjamin Doyle delivered their valedictory statement to Parliament on 18 September 2025, closing a chapter in which they had entered politics under unexpected circumstances. They began by acknowledging that while their entry into the House had not been by choice, their departure was. This decision, they explained, was rooted in their commitment to place their child above all else. Doyle framed their reasoning around the idea that if children are the reason for entering public service, they must also be the reason for stepping away. They spoke candidly about the challenges they faced within Parliament, describing it as an institution not built for people like them. Doyle reflected on the colonial foundations of the political system, emphasising that it was constructed on exclusion, control, and the hoarding of power. They explained that although they did not dismiss the potential for change from within, they had learned that the personal price was too high, bringing violence and hate upon themselves and their community. Doyle shared personal experiences of threats and intimidation, including having to remove their child from school for safety reasons and avoiding ordinary activities such as going to the supermarket or collecting the mail. These situations underscored the dangers of public life for someone in their position. Yet, despite these challenges, they stressed their determination to remain true to their values and their community, even when advised not to return to Parliament for safety reasons. They highlighted the sacrifices required in political life, often putting kaupapa, community, and the planet before their own wellbeing. However, Doyle declared that no cause outweighed the love and responsibility they held for their child. This conviction ultimately led to their decision to resign, knowing that the fight for justice and equality would continue both inside and outside the House. In their assessment of Parliament, Doyle did not shy away from strong critique. They described it as a hostile and toxic environment, especially for anyone who did not fit the archetype of a cisgender, straight, white man in a suit. They argued that New Zealand must confront the reality that its political system, inherited from a colonial empire, is unfit for purpose. Doyle called for rebuilding a system that reflects Aotearoa’s communities and values. They stressed that true revolution begins in hearts and minds but must extend beyond thought into collective action rooted in love, vision, and hope. Doyle connected their personal departure to broader global struggles. They highlighted ongoing violence and injustices, referencing Gaza, Yemen, Syria, and other regions where human dignity is under assault. They condemned environmental destruction, exploitation of resources, and the erosion of Indigenous rights. They also spoke out against violence towards trans communities, degradation of disabled people, control over women’s bodies, neglect of children’s voices, and the stripping of rights from people in prison. Their overarching message was that there can be no peace or justice until everyone is free. They warned that if Parliament failed to recognise this truth, it would be left behind as communities forged their own future. Doyle expressed solidarity with those continuing the struggle both within and outside Parliament and urged collective action to build a society worthy of passing on to future generations. In closing, Doyle returned to the words of poets. They recalled that their maiden speech had ended with a poem by Palestinian poet Refat Alarir, killed during what Doyle termed Israel’s ongoing genocide. For their final address, they chose Tina Ngata’s poem “Rekindled.” The verses spoke of truth as a flame that may smoulder but never dies, rekindling through generations. Doyle recited passages evoking resilience, whakapapa, identity, and love for future generations, affirming that the flame of justice and survival continues to burn.
## END SUMMARY

## START KEY CONTENT TIMESTAMPS [HH:MM:SS]
# none
## END KEY CONTENT TIMESTAMPS [HH:MM:SS]

## START TRANSCRIPT WITH TIMESTAMPS [HH:MM:SS]
Members, in accordance with the determination of the Business Committee, I will now have a valedictory statement from Benjamin Doyle. Following the valedictory statement, the House will adjourn until 2pm on Tuesday 7th of October 2025. Benjamin Doyle. E te mangai. I did not come here on my terms. I was summoned under difficult and unexpected circumstances, but I accepted that call. [00:00:30] Today, however, I leave by choice, not because I want to, but because I have chosen to put my child first. If our tamariki are not, are the reason for being here, how could they not be our reason for leaving? Nothing is more important and precious than those we love most. For them we must live and fight. And at times choose to leave.[00:01:00] This place was not built for people like me, which is precisely the point. It was built on the basis of exclusion and control. On taking, hoarding and guarding power. The coloniser's tools will never dismantle the coloniser's house. It's taken me 10 months to truly comprehend what that means. And while I do not accept that [00:01:30] change is impossible from inside, I have come to learn that it comes with a price of violence and hate towards my people. This is a price I am no longer willing to pay. I have felt firsthand the unbelievable impact. That being here can have on a person and those they love. I have seen that play out in [00:02:00] violent, toxic and real world ways. No person should have to remove their child from school due to threats to their life. No person should have to avoid going to the supermarket or the letterbox because they have been advised that doing so... It was the most remarkable thing I've ever heard, that a little bit of love could expose them to violence. No person should have to tell their parents that they can't attend the next family event [00:02:30] to ensure their safety and privacy is not compromised. And despite that, I have stayed so true to myself and my community. I returned to Parliament when I was informed it would be unsafe to do so, because sometimes love is hard Rapaera Tawhai, Te Karere. and means making sacrifices. Sometimes it means putting the kaupapa first, putting the needs of our communities, [00:03:00] the planet, the generations that are yet to arrive first. I am willing to put my love for these things before my own needs and even my own safety. But no love is more compelling than that which we hold for our tamariki. And I cannot continue to put this work before the needs of my own child. [00:03:30] And so I leave this place knowing that the fight will continue, as it always has and always will. But that fight is also happening right now outside these walls, on the streets, on the land and on the sea, in our communities, in our hearts and in our minds. Power does not reside here. It is not inherent in this [00:04:00] place. We have only allowed that to be so. Power resides in the human spirit and in our relationships with one another and with this precious earth to which we owe everything. I rejoin that fight now and wish my comrades here my love and solidarity. And the fight they continue in this place. This [00:04:30] is a hostile and toxic place. Especially if you're not a cis straight white man with a blue suit and a briefcase. But most of all, it is not fit for purpose. As a nation, we must reckon with this reality. A political system imposed upon this land and its people from a colonial empire which sought to name, Te Atatū, Te [00:05:00] Tiriti, Te Tiriti, Te Tiriti, tātou, tātou, tātou, tātou, Atatū, tātou, tātou. community. This system was built and so it can be rebuilt. The revolution begins in our hearts and minds, [00:05:30] but there it must not remain. It must rise up from the land, from the people, from love and vision and hope for something infinitely better than what we are subjected to now. If not for us, then for our children and those in every generation to come. As long as bombs are dropping in Gaza, there will be no peace. In Yemen, in Syria, in Qatar, as long as the lungs of the earth are being burnt [00:06:00] and felled, as long as our rivers and oceans are being pillaged, polluted, and desecrated, as long as the land is being ripped open and exploited for finite resources, as long as the dignity of life is being denigrated and discarded in servitude and civil war. As long as indigenous rights are being eroded, trans lives are being taken, disabled folks are being [00:06:30] degraded, children's voices are being ignored, women's bodies are being controlled, and the rights of people in prison are being stripped, this is a place of no peace and no justice. Nobody is free until everybody is free. And this House must recognise that fundamental truth. If it does not, it risks being left [00:07:00] behind as community forges ahead in building its own future. One we can be proud to pass on to our mokopuna. I concluded my maiden speech with a poem by a Palestinian poet named Refat Alarir, who was murdered by Israel during the genocide it continues to commit, a poem by Refat Alarir. Today I will conclude with a different poem, one by Tina [00:07:30] Ngata, titled Rekindled. The truth, while spoken, never dies. It is a flame that may rest as smouldering embers, perhaps for generations. Yet, through these lines, it will rekindle. We [00:08:00] are the flame that never died. At Hungahungatoroa. At Wairinga -a -Hika. At Ngatapa. And for as long as I breathe my story, I am not vanquished. I am at once the victor and the fallen. Still here today. Walking. Breathing. Laughing, [00:08:30] dancing, lovemaking, testifying proof against any notion of conquest, speaking our truth, honouring those who slipped between the privileged pages of this story, loving new generations into being. New bearers of the flame [00:09:00] that never dies. Mana whakapapa, mana tuakiri, mana takatapu i e. Ahu ahu mai, ahu ahu atu, kia tauai te mauri i roto i a koe. Ko hine tītama koe, ko hine nui te pō koe, ko ia rā ko te whakaahuatanga. Mana [00:09:30] māreikura, mana whatukura, mana takatāpuhi e. Rere mai nuku, rere mai rangi, ki hatau, whakatau hā e. Uhi, uero, tau mai te māhanga, haungi e, hui e, tai ki e. Ko te [00:10:00] Tiriti, Ko te Tiriti o Waitangi Ti Tiriti o Aotearoa, Hikitia ki runga, Hikitia ki runga Motuhake rangatira tanga tuku iho Ko te Tiriti Ko te Tiriti, ko te Tiriti o Waitangi, kia kaha, kia mau, tihei, [00:10:30] mauri ora.
## END TRANSCRIPT WITH TIMESTAMPS [HH:MM:SS]

## START HUMAN VERIFIED TRANSCRIPT
# none
## END HUMAN VERIFIED TRANSCRIPT

## START KEYWORDS
2020s, Benjamin Doyle, Gaza, Israel, Member of Parliament, Parliament TV, Parliament buildings, People, Waitangi, building, change, children, choice, cis, civil war, community, dancing, dignity, exclusion, family, future, genocide, hate, hope, hui, ia, indigenous rights, justice, kaupapa, kia kaha, love, maiden speech, mana, mokopuna, non-binary, parents, peace, power, prison, privacy, rangatira, relationships, revolution, safety, school, sea, solidarity, speech, straight, suit, threats, trans, truth, valedictory statement, violence, walking, whakapapa, wish, work.
## END KEYWORDS

## START REFERENCES
The original recording can be heard at this website https://www.pridenz.com/benjamin_doyle_valedictory_statement_in_parliament.html.
## END REFERENCES

## START RELATED CONTENT
40 Years Since Homosexual Law Reform: https://www.pridenz.com/plaintext/40_years_since_homosexual_law_reform.txt
Wellington Pride Hīkoi 2025 - speeches: https://www.pridenz.com/plaintext/wellington_pride_hikoi_2025_speeches.txt
Benjamin Doyle maiden statement in Parliament: https://www.pridenz.com/plaintext/benjamin_doyle_maiden_statement_in_parliament.txt
## END RELATED CONTENT

## START FOOTNOTE
Generated 2025-10-07T10:14:54+13:00.
## END FOOTNOTE