Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Licence needed for work use Learn More
Parliament

Gordon Campbell | Parliament TV | Parliament Today | Video | Questions Of the Day | Search

 

Leader’s Opening Remarks To Labour Party Conference

4 November 2022

Jacinda Ardern

Labour Party Leader

Leader’s opening remarks to Labour Party Conference

Tū mai te haeata

kei mata-hau-ariki tatou

Tēnā tatou katoa

[Translation - May we reflect on the past, with the future beaming bright for the horizons we will pursue.]

Good evening and welcome to you all. What an absolute pleasure it is to be here in Tamaki Makaurau, but especially in South Auckland – gateway to the Pacific and as Aupito William Sio would say – home of world champions.

I want to start with a few acknowledgements. Firstly, to our outgoing Labour President. Thank you Claire. Your time in the role feels like it has flown by but in amongst it you have had to deal with some incredibly difficult but also important periods. You are a person of great integrity. You leave the party in a stronger position, and we are most grateful to you for what you have sacrificed to do that.

To our incoming President, Jill Day, you bring a wealth of knowledge, experience and enthusiasm and we are lucky to have you.

To our tireless Labour Council, each time we gather together I am constantly reminded of the good people who serve our party, I thank you too.

To our Labour Caucus. What an incredible team you are. To those who aren’t based here, welcome and enjoy your time here in Auckland with your colleagues, family and party members.

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

But to our most important group of all – our Labour Members.

I have been the Prime Minister for five years now. But I have been a Labour member for 25. More than half my life. And because I started as a volunteer, delivering flyers, door knocking, helping co-ordinate volunteers – that is how I know and appreciate that you are the ones that bring us here, into government.

And that has long been the case.

Many of you will know that Norman Kirk is a great hero of mine. It feels fitting to reflect on him this evening. After all, it’s 50 years ago that he was in government. That feels astounding to me, because even though I was too young to know him as a Prime Minister, we have all been impacted by his legacy.

Just as he built his own house of concrete blocks years before, he began the work of rebuilding a nation, block by block in 1972.

Sweat, vision, drive. Necessity.

Housing, for the people, healthcare for the people, full employment and equal opportunity for all.

Having left school early to bring an income home he would later introduce the Domestic Purposes Benefit for sole parents to care for their children.

Ever mindful that the early years produce the adult of latter years.

People were put back at the heart of government.

New Zealand Day, later to become Waitangi day, was introduced as a public holiday to represent the importance of a collective national identity.

But the imperative first and foremost was to accelerate economic recovery.

Inflation was running high and so wages had to be lifted.

Infrastructure was ramped up, homes were built.

Beneficiaries were given a Christmas bonus to assist with cost of living pressures.

The beginnings of superannuation as we know it today were fought for.

A diplomatic hand was stretched out to China, the beginning of our significant export growth.

But what future does a country have if you do not stand firm in the face of adversity, of challenge, of common threat. The answer for a small trading country like ours was no future at all.

And so Kirk declared our foreign policy would mirror our national interests.

He stood up against Nuclear testing in the Pacific and South African apartheid. He brought us closer to our neighbour Australia by allowing passport free travel.

He was, as the song about him would suggest, a man of great labour, he worked incredibly hard.

And he did all of this, and so much more, in his prime ministership of 1 year and 8 months, before he died in office.

In that small amount of time, he laid many of the foundations for New Zealand as we know it today.

Despite the challenges of the day, the impending oil shock, inflation, he invested in our kids, our families, their homes, their jobs, their good health, their education, their right to retirement.

He did what Labour Governments do, and he made progress for New Zealand despite the challenges of the day.

And 50 years later, that remains the way Labour governments govern.

And it’s why we are all here.

Tonight we have the chance to honour Norman Kirk with a special event at this conference, an exhibition by John Millar.

But tonight I also want to dedicate tonight to the people who helped get Kirk, Lange, Clark, Savage, Fraser – every Labour prime minister into the privilege of office and the honour of government.

All of you, and those who came before you.

Over the past five years, I have met many of you. I have seen you purchase countless tea towels. We have talked, laughed, hugged pre-Covid and elbow bumped post-Covid. And now we enter the next phase. An election year.

For those outside of a political party, I have no doubt that there will be an assumption that election is all about the battle itself. But we know, it’s not. The vast majority of us did not get into politics for the sport. We’re not here for the back and forth of the House. We don’t endlessly debate remits for fun. At least, not most of us.

We are here because we genuinely believe that politics is a place where you can make positive change. And that Labour represents that.

And so, this weekend, is our time to plan again for the unexpected, but also the things that motivate us into politics in the first place too.

To reflect on what we’ve done, but also on what needs to be done.

To refresh and rejuvenate for the year ahead.

To remember, why we are Labour.

So, after five years of progress, let’s keep going.

No reira, tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa.

© Scoop Media

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
 
 
 
Parliament Headlines | Politics Headlines | Regional Headlines

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

LATEST HEADLINES

  • PARLIAMENT
  • POLITICS
  • REGIONAL
 
 

Featured News Channels


 
 
 
 

Join Our Free Newsletter

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.