Rick O’Shay
Contributor
Good example Re Geoff Vazey. He had the same influence when he was with Robt Stone & Co. Negotiations were always handled respectfully and in good faith under his watch. He taught me a lot.
Politics NZ Politics
- Thread starter wizard of Tauranga
- Start date
You can’t pay more cos there is no business. Everyone is trying to get rich off housing.
You can’t have it both ways, if NZ lacks the fundamental economic drivers as you claim, then why allow such stagnation of capital in such an unproductive sector such as housing?
Impressive young man, well said.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmgZarjOcvY
6 Dec, 2023 02:20 PM5 mins to read
James Meager’s experience as part-Māori, growing up poor, and hailing from a family of freezing workers proves left-wing parties aren’t the sole authority of New Zealand’s marginalised communities, the National MP claims.
Meager, elected by the Rangitata electorate, has delivered a boldly personal maiden statement in the House this afternoon as the first MP of the new Government to give his first address in the House.
The speech canvassed Meager’s, at times, challenging upbringing in Timaru with a father of Ngāi Tahu ancestry who worked 40 years in the freezing works after leaving school at 15, and a mother who held down multiple jobs while she raised Meager and his two siblings on her own.
“I know what it’s like to have your very first memory be of the police trying to coax you to come out from under the bed, telling you that everything would be okay.”
Meager insisted he and his siblings never went without and had “a great life”. However, he spoke of a complicated relationship with his father who “wasn’t around much growing up”, but was in the audience today in what was his first visit to the North Island.
“That’s put a strain on our relationship which has never healed and which may never heal. But I don’t blame him for that.
“We are the products of our upbringing, we navigate through the world with the tools that we are given, and sometimes those tools just aren’t fit for purpose.
“I know my Dad is making up for lost time. I’m so glad he’s here today and I love him dearly.”
/cloudfront-ap-southeast-2.images.arcpublishing.com/nzme/C7SADGWGFFAHZDUZVYDD2UPYGI.jpg "James Meager was Timaru Boys' High School head boy and dux. Photo / Mark Mitchell")
James Meager was Timaru Boys' High School head boy and dux. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Meager did briefly mention his own flaws without much detail. It’s likely a reference to his former relationship with alcohol and his personality while at university which he described in a 2022 Stuff article as “loud-mouthed, obnoxious and opinionated”.
Much of his speech paid testament to the efforts of his mother who, as a “single mum in a state house on the benefit” with “steel in her bones and grit in her soul”, ensured her three children were always fed, clothed and understood the importance of education - something that helped Meager become head boy and dux at Timaru Boys’ High School.
Meager railed against the suggestion that he was a “walking contradiction” - a part-Māori boy growing up poor who was now a National MP in a rural farming electorate - before taking aim at Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori.
“Members opposite do not own Māori. Members opposite do not own the poor. Members opposite do not own the workers.
“We on this side of the House are a broad church. Town and country, liberal and conservative, old and young, professionals and workers.”
He shifted to promoting themes of personal responsibility and limited government.
“It’s not the state that saved my family, it was my Mum.
“Our system should be one which helps pick us up when we fall, but which then gets out of the way when we’re back on our feet and lets us lives our lives.”
Meager also advocated for National’s social investment model, relaxing accident compensation thresholds and allowing more overseas workers into the country to bolster the education and health workforces.
/cloudfront-ap-southeast-2.images.arcpublishing.com/nzme/NHQXW7VOLFCULFK4Q23EX55A54.jpg "James Meager receiving a hug from Prime Minister Christopher Luxon after his maiden speech. Photo / Mark Mitchell")
He finished echoing similar words from Act leader and minister David Seymour who yesterday had a thinly veiled message for Te Pāti Māori and the Green Party about their actions in the House.
“Some of us are here to disrupt and challenge the status quo, I get that, I really do,” Meager said.
“But in doing so, we must respect this institution, we must respect its traditions and we must respect those who have come before us.”
Napier MP Katie Nimon also delivered her maiden statement, which had a strong focus on her family history and her ancestors’ involvement in transport, business and journalism ventures.
With a last name well-known to those from Hawke’s Bay, she highlighted her great, great grandfather starting the Nimon and Sons bus service.
She mentioned a story about her mother’s maternal great great grandfather, Thomas Wilmor McKenzie, who came to New Zealand in 1839 and shortly after his arrival, inadvertently strayed onto a tapu site in Wellington along with a friend.
To prevent them from being killed by Ngāti Awa chief Rira Porutu, a cloak was thrown over them by Porutu’s daughter-in-law Ruhia, to make them tapu.
/cloudfront-ap-southeast-2.images.arcpublishing.com/nzme/F4KZTCSALRBLVDF5NIPCWIMRRA.jpg "Napier MP Katie Nimon spoke about her family's history in her maiden speech. Photo / Mark Mitchell")
She lamented the current culture of business promoted by previous left-leaning governments, which strangled small businesses.
“The argument for limited government is a strong one, which is one of the many reasons why I stand here on this side of the House,” she said.
“I don’t claim to have all the answers, but you can’t spend your way out of every problem, nor can you regulate your way out of it.”
Nimon cited the crushing impact of Cyclone Gabrielle on the region and criticised how major urban centres were prioritised over more rural areas that suffered more.
Adam Pearse is a political reporter in the NZ Herald Press Gallery team, based at Parliament. He has worked for NZME since 2018, covering sport and health for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei before moving to the NZ Herald in Auckland, covering Covid-19 and crime.
/cloudfront-ap-southeast-2.images.arcpublishing.com/nzme/MYGH6RHL5VC7XFTY4JHG4H7GV4.JPG)
www.nzherald.co.nz
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmgZarjOcvY
Left doesn’t own poor, Māori: National MP James Meager’s revealing and personal maiden statement
By Adam Pearse6 Dec, 2023 02:20 PM5 mins to read
James Meager’s experience as part-Māori, growing up poor, and hailing from a family of freezing workers proves left-wing parties aren’t the sole authority of New Zealand’s marginalised communities, the National MP claims.
Meager, elected by the Rangitata electorate, has delivered a boldly personal maiden statement in the House this afternoon as the first MP of the new Government to give his first address in the House.
The speech canvassed Meager’s, at times, challenging upbringing in Timaru with a father of Ngāi Tahu ancestry who worked 40 years in the freezing works after leaving school at 15, and a mother who held down multiple jobs while she raised Meager and his two siblings on her own.
“I know what it’s like to have your very first memory be of the police trying to coax you to come out from under the bed, telling you that everything would be okay.”
Meager insisted he and his siblings never went without and had “a great life”. However, he spoke of a complicated relationship with his father who “wasn’t around much growing up”, but was in the audience today in what was his first visit to the North Island.
“That’s put a strain on our relationship which has never healed and which may never heal. But I don’t blame him for that.
“We are the products of our upbringing, we navigate through the world with the tools that we are given, and sometimes those tools just aren’t fit for purpose.
“I know my Dad is making up for lost time. I’m so glad he’s here today and I love him dearly.”
Meager did briefly mention his own flaws without much detail. It’s likely a reference to his former relationship with alcohol and his personality while at university which he described in a 2022 Stuff article as “loud-mouthed, obnoxious and opinionated”.
Much of his speech paid testament to the efforts of his mother who, as a “single mum in a state house on the benefit” with “steel in her bones and grit in her soul”, ensured her three children were always fed, clothed and understood the importance of education - something that helped Meager become head boy and dux at Timaru Boys’ High School.
Meager railed against the suggestion that he was a “walking contradiction” - a part-Māori boy growing up poor who was now a National MP in a rural farming electorate - before taking aim at Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori.
“Members opposite do not own Māori. Members opposite do not own the poor. Members opposite do not own the workers.
“We on this side of the House are a broad church. Town and country, liberal and conservative, old and young, professionals and workers.”
He shifted to promoting themes of personal responsibility and limited government.
“It’s not the state that saved my family, it was my Mum.
“Our system should be one which helps pick us up when we fall, but which then gets out of the way when we’re back on our feet and lets us lives our lives.”
Meager also advocated for National’s social investment model, relaxing accident compensation thresholds and allowing more overseas workers into the country to bolster the education and health workforces.
He finished echoing similar words from Act leader and minister David Seymour who yesterday had a thinly veiled message for Te Pāti Māori and the Green Party about their actions in the House.
“Some of us are here to disrupt and challenge the status quo, I get that, I really do,” Meager said.
“But in doing so, we must respect this institution, we must respect its traditions and we must respect those who have come before us.”
Napier MP Katie Nimon also delivered her maiden statement, which had a strong focus on her family history and her ancestors’ involvement in transport, business and journalism ventures.
With a last name well-known to those from Hawke’s Bay, she highlighted her great, great grandfather starting the Nimon and Sons bus service.
She mentioned a story about her mother’s maternal great great grandfather, Thomas Wilmor McKenzie, who came to New Zealand in 1839 and shortly after his arrival, inadvertently strayed onto a tapu site in Wellington along with a friend.
To prevent them from being killed by Ngāti Awa chief Rira Porutu, a cloak was thrown over them by Porutu’s daughter-in-law Ruhia, to make them tapu.
She lamented the current culture of business promoted by previous left-leaning governments, which strangled small businesses.
“The argument for limited government is a strong one, which is one of the many reasons why I stand here on this side of the House,” she said.
“I don’t claim to have all the answers, but you can’t spend your way out of every problem, nor can you regulate your way out of it.”
Nimon cited the crushing impact of Cyclone Gabrielle on the region and criticised how major urban centres were prioritised over more rural areas that suffered more.
Adam Pearse is a political reporter in the NZ Herald Press Gallery team, based at Parliament. He has worked for NZME since 2018, covering sport and health for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei before moving to the NZ Herald in Auckland, covering Covid-19 and crime.
The left doesn’t own poor, Māori: National MP's revealing, personal maiden speech
The Rangitata MP spoke of an at times challenging upbringing.
www.nzherald.co.nz
Last edited:
Impressive young man, well said.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmgZarjOcvY
Left doesn’t own poor, Māori: National MP James Meager’s revealing and personal maiden statement
By Adam Pearse
6 Dec, 2023 02:20 PM5 mins to read
James Meager’s experience as part-Māori, growing up poor, and hailing from a family of freezing workers proves left-wing parties aren’t the sole authority of New Zealand’s marginalised communities, the National MP claims.
Meager, elected by the Rangitata electorate, has delivered a boldly personal maiden statement in the House this afternoon as the first MP of the new Government to give his first address in the House.
The speech canvassed Meager’s, at times, challenging upbringing in Timaru with a father of Ngāi Tahu ancestry who worked 40 years in the freezing works after leaving school at 15, and a mother who held down multiple jobs while she raised Meager and his two siblings on her own.
“I know what it’s like to have your very first memory be of the police trying to coax you to come out from under the bed, telling you that everything would be okay.”
Meager insisted he and his siblings never went without and had “a great life”. However, he spoke of a complicated relationship with his father who “wasn’t around much growing up”, but was in the audience today in what was his first visit to the North Island.
“That’s put a strain on our relationship which has never healed and which may never heal. But I don’t blame him for that.
“We are the products of our upbringing, we navigate through the world with the tools that we are given, and sometimes those tools just aren’t fit for purpose.
“I know my Dad is making up for lost time. I’m so glad he’s here today and I love him dearly.”
James Meager was Timaru Boys' High School head boy and dux. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Meager did briefly mention his own flaws without much detail. It’s likely a reference to his former relationship with alcohol and his personality while at university which he described in a 2022 Stuff article as “loud-mouthed, obnoxious and opinionated”.
Much of his speech paid testament to the efforts of his mother who, as a “single mum in a state house on the benefit” with “steel in her bones and grit in her soul”, ensured her three children were always fed, clothed and understood the importance of education - something that helped Meager become head boy and dux at Timaru Boys’ High School.
Meager railed against the suggestion that he was a “walking contradiction” - a part-Māori boy growing up poor who was now a National MP in a rural farming electorate - before taking aim at Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori.
“Members opposite do not own Māori. Members opposite do not own the poor. Members opposite do not own the workers.
“We on this side of the House are a broad church. Town and country, liberal and conservative, old and young, professionals and workers.”
He shifted to promoting themes of personal responsibility and limited government.
“It’s not the state that saved my family, it was my Mum.
“Our system should be one which helps pick us up when we fall, but which then gets out of the way when we’re back on our feet and lets us lives our lives.”
Meager also advocated for National’s social investment model, relaxing accident compensation thresholds and allowing more overseas workers into the country to bolster the education and health workforces.
He finished echoing similar words from Act leader and minister David Seymour who yesterday had a thinly veiled message for Te Pāti Māori and the Green Party about their actions in the House.
“Some of us are here to disrupt and challenge the status quo, I get that, I really do,” Meager said.
“But in doing so, we must respect this institution, we must respect its traditions and we must respect those who have come before us.”
Napier MP Katie Nimon also delivered her maiden statement, which had a strong focus on her family history and her ancestors’ involvement in transport, business and journalism ventures.
With a last name well-known to those from Hawke’s Bay, she highlighted her great, great grandfather starting the Nimon and Sons bus service.
She mentioned a story about her mother’s maternal great great grandfather, Thomas Wilmor McKenzie, who came to New Zealand in 1839 and shortly after his arrival, inadvertently strayed onto a tapu site in Wellington along with a friend.
To prevent them from being killed by Ngāti Awa chief Rira Porutu, a cloak was thrown over them by Porutu’s daughter-in-law Ruhia, to make them tapu.
She lamented the current culture of business promoted by previous left-leaning governments, which strangled small businesses.
“The argument for limited government is a strong one, which is one of the many reasons why I stand here on this side of the House,” she said.
“I don’t claim to have all the answers, but you can’t spend your way out of every problem, nor can you regulate your way out of it.”
Nimon cited the crushing impact of Cyclone Gabrielle on the region and criticised how major urban centres were prioritised over more rural areas that suffered more.
Adam Pearse is a political reporter in the NZ Herald Press Gallery team, based at Parliament. He has worked for NZME since 2018, covering sport and health for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei before moving to the NZ Herald in Auckland, covering Covid-19 and crime.
The left doesn’t own poor, Māori: National MP's revealing, personal maiden speech
The Rangitata MP spoke of an at times challenging upbringing.
Lol
"It's not the state that saved my family, it was my mum"
Nek minit mum's on the benny living in state house.
John Nick
Contributor
Yes very impressive young man.
Plenty of us have been there.
Way to miss the key points.
Hahaha ha
Yeah, it's right up there with "I have a dream"
- Thread starter
- #3,068
The harder and more restrictive you make business the less incentive there is to grow. Pushing shit uphill against a govt that puts barriers everywhere.
It’s only natural you give up and put your capital into passive income isn’t it?
You've got a neoliberal answer for everything. Act will do you proud
Impressive young man, well said.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmgZarjOcvY
Left doesn’t own poor, Māori: National MP James Meager’s revealing and personal maiden statement
By Adam Pearse
6 Dec, 2023 02:20 PM5 mins to read
James Meager’s experience as part-Māori, growing up poor, and hailing from a family of freezing workers proves left-wing parties aren’t the sole authority of New Zealand’s marginalised communities, the National MP claims.
Meager, elected by the Rangitata electorate, has delivered a boldly personal maiden statement in the House this afternoon as the first MP of the new Government to give his first address in the House.
The speech canvassed Meager’s, at times, challenging upbringing in Timaru with a father of Ngāi Tahu ancestry who worked 40 years in the freezing works after leaving school at 15, and a mother who held down multiple jobs while she raised Meager and his two siblings on her own.
“I know what it’s like to have your very first memory be of the police trying to coax you to come out from under the bed, telling you that everything would be okay.”
Meager insisted he and his siblings never went without and had “a great life”. However, he spoke of a complicated relationship with his father who “wasn’t around much growing up”, but was in the audience today in what was his first visit to the North Island.
“That’s put a strain on our relationship which has never healed and which may never heal. But I don’t blame him for that.
“We are the products of our upbringing, we navigate through the world with the tools that we are given, and sometimes those tools just aren’t fit for purpose.
“I know my Dad is making up for lost time. I’m so glad he’s here today and I love him dearly.”
James Meager was Timaru Boys' High School head boy and dux. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Meager did briefly mention his own flaws without much detail. It’s likely a reference to his former relationship with alcohol and his personality while at university which he described in a 2022 Stuff article as “loud-mouthed, obnoxious and opinionated”.
Much of his speech paid testament to the efforts of his mother who, as a “single mum in a state house on the benefit” with “steel in her bones and grit in her soul”, ensured her three children were always fed, clothed and understood the importance of education - something that helped Meager become head boy and dux at Timaru Boys’ High School.
Meager railed against the suggestion that he was a “walking contradiction” - a part-Māori boy growing up poor who was now a National MP in a rural farming electorate - before taking aim at Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori.
“Members opposite do not own Māori. Members opposite do not own the poor. Members opposite do not own the workers.
“We on this side of the House are a broad church. Town and country, liberal and conservative, old and young, professionals and workers.”
He shifted to promoting themes of personal responsibility and limited government.
“It’s not the state that saved my family, it was my Mum.
“Our system should be one which helps pick us up when we fall, but which then gets out of the way when we’re back on our feet and lets us lives our lives.”
Meager also advocated for National’s social investment model, relaxing accident compensation thresholds and allowing more overseas workers into the country to bolster the education and health workforces.
He finished echoing similar words from Act leader and minister David Seymour who yesterday had a thinly veiled message for Te Pāti Māori and the Green Party about their actions in the House.
“Some of us are here to disrupt and challenge the status quo, I get that, I really do,” Meager said.
“But in doing so, we must respect this institution, we must respect its traditions and we must respect those who have come before us.”
Napier MP Katie Nimon also delivered her maiden statement, which had a strong focus on her family history and her ancestors’ involvement in transport, business and journalism ventures.
With a last name well-known to those from Hawke’s Bay, she highlighted her great, great grandfather starting the Nimon and Sons bus service.
She mentioned a story about her mother’s maternal great great grandfather, Thomas Wilmor McKenzie, who came to New Zealand in 1839 and shortly after his arrival, inadvertently strayed onto a tapu site in Wellington along with a friend.
To prevent them from being killed by Ngāti Awa chief Rira Porutu, a cloak was thrown over them by Porutu’s daughter-in-law Ruhia, to make them tapu.
She lamented the current culture of business promoted by previous left-leaning governments, which strangled small businesses.
“The argument for limited government is a strong one, which is one of the many reasons why I stand here on this side of the House,” she said.
“I don’t claim to have all the answers, but you can’t spend your way out of every problem, nor can you regulate your way out of it.”
Nimon cited the crushing impact of Cyclone Gabrielle on the region and criticised how major urban centres were prioritised over more rural areas that suffered more.
Adam Pearse is a political reporter in the NZ Herald Press Gallery team, based at Parliament. He has worked for NZME since 2018, covering sport and health for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei before moving to the NZ Herald in Auckland, covering Covid-19 and crime.
The left doesn’t own poor, Māori: National MP's revealing, personal maiden speech
The Rangitata MP spoke of an at times challenging upbringing.
I've seen the wraps & saw people mentioning "future PM" - but you don't think busting out the Te Reo for a coalition government who are seeking to minimise the language, abolish the maori health authority, statistically let more Māori die from smoking, abandon Maori wards etc etc etc - is pretty ironic... at best.
Kieran McAnulty had the best day in the house yesterday from the opposition. good passionate speech.
View: https://twitter.com/nickarockel/status/1732474747638923448
Brilliant speech.
What? Can't have a Maori boy doing good AND is proud to be a National Party MP? But... But... National bad...
What's this? Week 2? And the left keep claiming the sky is falling with every breath. Chris Hipkins with the whiniest, negative, bitter speech of the past few days summed it up perfectly, unable to highlight what they actually have achieved in the last 6 years. All this new Government are going to do is reverse everything that has been done in the last 6 years? One could only hope that is the case, but it's going to take a long time to reverse that much damage.
The level of misinformation and hysteria from Labour and the Maori party in particular, has been amusing. I must say, the Greens at least seem to be handling themselves with some class, dignity and composure.
Unfortunately, everything has unravelled for the previous government with poor outcomes and results in every key area, fiscal holes and underfunding being revealed, and a complete lack of acceptance for any of it.
Even the manic media are starting to come around now and see the light.
The most questionable policies from this coalition that seem to be getting the most attention is the repeal of smoking laws that haven't even been implemented yet anyway, reverting to English first, removing a Maori Health Authority that didn't appear to be working and a discussion on the treaty, and a potential firearms legislation rewrite - which has got the least amount of media attention and deserves much more to oppose it.
Education? Crime? Health? The state of the economy and our books? Not much debate at all, if any, in these major areas.
I think that's very telling.
Looking forward to the next few years apart from having Chris Hipkins whining on in opposition without a leg to stand on after his party with an overwhelming majority squandered an opportunity to be transformational and deliver at least some sort of results for the country. All we got is issues everywhere and a finance minister with an inability to control the spendathon of borrowed money.
It's going to take a long time to fix this mess. Glad we are starting now and not in another 3 years time.
John Nick
Contributor
Where's my tax cuts
Only reason they got in didn't get past the first fuckin hurdle.
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You sound like wizard with the claims of misinformation and manic media. You're better than that.
Newsflash - Luxon got raw dogged (no lube) by Seymour and Winnie and they aint going to be able to fix anything.
So far the governments big policies have been focused on landlords, nut jobs wanting AR weapons, getting rid of fair pay agreements, repealing anti smoking legislation. Literally name anything positive?
They've made headlines for how shit they are GLOBALLY.
I know a National MP doing a speech gives you warm fluffies - but he has totally avoided the tough dialogue.
Bay39er
Contributor
Not bad for an ex TAB bookmaker
Future PM
Gamblings a bit sexier than Tabacco Lobbyist
I did wonder when I saw him on last week with bishop on a morning show and was strong then as well, was also a name that crossed my mind when labour were considering whether to stay with Hipkins. Definitely see him as taking over from Hipkins if he’s not able to make headway. Also someone I can see rural NZ liking.
Good speaker but preaching from the pulpit...in his speech & the one interview I heard he mentioned church (hmmm), not my go so didnt like that. Like that he values education but also don't like nationals answer to it.
Spoke about the opposition doesn't 'own' Maori etc - well neither does national (and preacher boy won't either), but they sure as hell are acting like they do with the 100-day plan they've put out.
And before anyone starts chiming in on all the misunderstood and misrepresnted tropes around things like te tiriti, equality, monies Maori access, and every other talking point around Maori, and yes, some who call themselves Maori, do a bit of real research, learn about the past 200 odd years and get some understanding of their point of view - and social media or biased media and professional politicians isn't research - maybe then you might come up with an enlightened viewpoint.
Just to add, personal responsibility is a key point & totally agree, but not easy when its been withheld from you through various means.
Rant over, let the games begin...
The Maori party have said that the treaty is being abolished. That is complete misinformation. That's just one example.
You have continued to try and bag Luxon
He wiil make abortions illegal
He's not even ahead in the preferred PM poll
National should replace him as leader, they'll never get in to government with him leading
Luxon won't be able to negotiate a coalition agreement
Now, he got raw dogged
Your views appear to be more based on hope that Luxon will fail, yet so far nothing you have said about him has come off.
Like I said, there is no debate around Health, Education, Crime, the state of the economy or the books. That's incredibly telling.
There is no getting around the magistical failures of the previous government and how big the task of cleaning up and reversing that.
Wonder how we'd have come out of the world covid experience with national in government?The Maori party have said that the treaty is being abolished. That is complete misinformation. That's just one example.
You have continued to try and bag Luxon
He wiil make abortions illegal
He's not even ahead in the preferred PM poll
National should replace him as leader, they'll never get in to government with him leading
Luxon won't be able to negotiate a coalition agreement
Now, he got raw dogged
Your views appear to be more based on hope that Luxon will fail, yet so far nothing you have said about him has come off.
Like I said, there is no debate around Health, Education, Crime, the state of the economy or the books. That's incredibly telling.
There is no getting around the magistical failures of the previous government and how big the task of cleaning up and reversing that.
