Maiden voyage for some as Parliament sets sail again
Jacinda Ardern talked about her babysitter’s hepatitis. David Lange compared animal rights and children’s rights. Sir John Key quoted the poet Tennyson and attacked political correctness.
Every MP brings something of themselves to their maiden speech to Parliament, the first opportunity they have to talk to the House – and often the last time they can truly speak their minds before leaving Parliament years later.
The 53rd Parliament was sworn in yesterday and Speaker Trevor Mallard re-elected. Today, it’s the turn of new MPs to give their maiden speeches.
The two Labour MPs selected to give the first speeches of the term this afternoon definitely feel the pressure to perform.
Both come to Parliament with high expectations and precarious journeys to get here. That’s probably why Labour selected them to speak first.
Arena Williams, the new MP for Manurewa, arrives at Parliament the same way Key did – she pushed a sitting MP from her own party out of a safe seat.
Ibrahim Omer, a new list MP, is a refugee from Eritrea who arrived in New Zealand the same year Ardern was elected, 2008. He worked as a cleaner at Victoria
University, eventually gaining a degree there and becoming a trade unionist.
Both profess some level of nervousness ahead of the speech, and say they have been studying maiden speeches from years gone by for tips.
Omer said he had gone back through the first speeches from Ardern, Grant Robertson, Lange, Chloe Swarbrick, and Golriz Ghahraman, who was New Zealand’s first refugee MP.
‘‘It’s one of the most important things – you have to get it right. You’re showing the House and also the country who you are, why you’re doing what you’re doing, and if you’re doing it for the right reason,’’ Omer told Stuff ahead of the speech.
Williams said she wanted to set out goals for her time in Parliament that she would be able to look back on as ‘‘wins’’ after she left.
She did not want to rely too much on personal stories, often a feature of maiden speeches.
‘‘Some of those stories that are deeply emotive and personally motivate me, I’m going to hold those a little bit closer,’’ Williams said, saying she didn’t want them to become ‘‘political capital’’.
Williams read over Robertson’s speech and has been sending her speech to some senior MPs, as has Omer.
Robertson himself sent his maiden speech to then-outgoing Finance Minister Sir Michael Cullen in 2008, who removed a ‘‘mildly risque’’ joke.
Robertson offered simple advice for new MPs: ‘‘Tell people why it is you’ve ended up here.’’
Robertson was excited about Omer, who first got into politics door-knocking for him, entering Parliament.
‘‘If you don’t know his story – when you hear it, it is moving.’’
The prime minister had similar advice on maiden speeches.
‘‘I’ve always thought of maiden speeches like a compass – say the things you wish to be guided by, and that you hope will anchor you,’’ Ardern said.