I would like to wish everyone a safe and happy Christmas and a great 2009.

A Maiden Speech is the first (and generally only) opportunity to have 15 minutes in Parliament to explain who you are, where you have come from, what you believe in and what you want to achieve in Parliament.

For those of you interested you can view my Maiden Speech via this youtube link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miGvbli99Xs

A requirement for oil companies to mix petrol and diesel with biofuel has been dumped with the passing of the Energy (Fuels, Levies and References) Biofuel Obligation Repeal Bill.

We dumped the previous law due to significant concerns about the impact of biofuels on the environment and their contribution to the global food crisis. Consumers would have paid a higher price for the fuel, with estimates of increases of between 2 and 8 cents per litre under the old law.

The National-led Government believes in choice, not compulsion. We are currently working on policies for tax incentives and exemptions for sustainable biofuels.

Christmas is traditionally a time of goodwill and relaxation, but it can also be very stressful for some families. Sadly, this can contribute to the rise in family violence that we so often see at this time of year.

During its first 30 days in office, the National-led Government has introduced to Parliament three new pieces of legislation aimed at tackling violence in families and our communities. We have introduced a bill to allow the police to issue on-the-spot protection orders for suspected victims of domestic violence. With over 200 women and children killed in domestic violence incidents over the last twelve years, it is clear that New Zealand is facing an epidemic of domestic violence. Empowering the police to take immediate action will help protect potential victims until courts are able to fully deal with the matter.

We have passed the Sentencing (Offences Against Children) Amendment Bill. This provides tougher sentences for offenders who abuse children, and will supplement a number of existing government initiatives aimed at preventing child abuse. We believe that the law of the land should more effectively reflect society’s abhorrence towards child abuse.

We have also passed the Bail Amendment Bill. In 2007, the previous government changed the law to make it easier for people to get bail. This lowering of the bar needlessly increased the threat to public safety. We have reversed these changes to make it harder for serious offenders to get bail.

In addition to these three bills, which form part of our 100 days action plan, we have also moved to combat crime behind bars by advancing legislation that will make it more difficult for people to bring prohibited items such as drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, or cellphones into prisons. This will make it easier for prison guards to detect prohibited items and will punish prisoners and others for using these items.

When it comes to law and order, you can expect us to adopt an honest and transparent approach. We will make tough decisions to reach our ultimate goal of fewer victims.

The new Government is working hard to bring violence in our society down, but we cannot do it alone. We need all New Zealanders to play their part, take personal responsibility for their actions, and report any crime to the police. Together we can make New Zealand a safer place for us all.

The Parklands Residents Association (PRA) has formed a sub-committee investigating secondary education needs of pupils living in the area. Broadly, the committee is looking at the north-east area of Christchurch and has reflected this by selecting the title, North East Secondary Education (NESE) committee.

While the PRA has set up this group it is expected the first steps will be to engage with all the relevant stakeholders and other interested groups to build a community wide organisation.

Recent years of development in the north east area has seen the continued growth of a large, dynamic community. This has lead to a ground swell of interest in the future needs of families and their children. There is a great opportunity for the community to set out a vision and shape the resources to meet the secondary education needs of its children today and for future generations.

The NESE committee hopes the whole community of the north-east will actively engage in this project so that a well supported effort reaches the desired goal. The successful outcome of this project, it is hoped, will complement and enhance the total secondary education resource of Christchurch.

Tomorrow afternoon I am sworn in as a Member of Parliament and then we move into a two week sitting putting into place our 100 day programme we campaigned upon.

The last week has seen lots of induction with training for new MPs, including mock question time and select committees, and lots and lots of things to read.  I now have an office in place in Wellington as well as an executive assistant in Wellington as well.  It has been also great to attend a number of events recently like the Donnell Park Xmas function, Parklands Playcentre and other Christmas functions.

Yesterday morning I attended the opening of the Hui a Tau the 10 year celebration of the settlement of the Ngai Tahu treaty claim. Over 1,000 attended in Kaikoura and I got to meet a number of great and interesting people. One of the comments given to me was that Iwi generally progresses well under National Govts. but poor Maori do not. For me this is more an indication of the vast differences across iwi. Ngai Tahu have great leadership.

Many good speeches yesterday, including my colleague Hekia, spoke well although my poor maori language skills means I only pick up small bits of most of them.  While she spoke from what I call the Chiefs Chairs I preferred to sit on the lawn with the people listening. Sir Tipene as usual gave a rousing welcome and I found out that a tv network was filming a documentary on his life over the weekend. Sadly I had to leave by lunchtime to come back to chch.  Ngai Tahu today is one of the most successful enterprises in NZ and is a model for others to follow, not just across Maoridom. I am also proud that I am descended from some of the people who have helped make this happen.

I am in the market for an assistant in Christchurch. Drop me an email with a copy of your CV if you are interested. Good pay, great boss and fabulous working conditions (ok so I am a little biased…) with a new MP.

The past week or so has involved a fair degree of induction training, caucus meetings a mountain of mail, emails, and phone calls to work through and lots of people wanting to meet - it has so far been great. Already I have enjoyed the local people who have asked for my help on matters. The contacts that I have enjoyed the best have been the blast from the past contacts. Who ever thought that you had to go to Parliament for people to remember that they hadn’t seen you in years.  I am also in the market for office space in Christchurch too and we move into our new Wellington offices next week.  Once both offices are set up and Parliament commences sitting I am really looking forward to getting stuck in.

Today was swearing in day for the new National Cabinet. It is great to see the talented mix of relative newcomers like my friend Kate Wilkinson as well as Paula Bennett be given important roles along with wise experienced heads like Nick Smith, David Carter, Bill English and Tony Ryall. They will be all great Ministers. From now on we are truly in Government.

It was the first time in 154 years of parliamentary history that a Centre right MP has been elected from our area

I am the first ever MP to attend Shirley Boys High School in 51 years of the schools history and the first ever MP from Parkview Primary School 

It was the first time National ever got more than 11,000 votes

It was I am told the largest % increase in the party vote in Chch