betterment of everyone in our country. To each and every one of you, thank you, thank you, thank you.]
Waiata
Mr Speaker, if I could just break into English for a second. You might have noticed that I stepped to the side here to sing that waiata. When I had the privilege of giving the first mihi in the last Parliament, my mother rang me afterwards and said she had heard me. I said, “How did it go, Mum?”, and she said, “Oh, that was good, son. But next time step away from the microphone, because the whole country heard how flat you sound.”
Nā reira, huri rauna, tēnā tātou katoa.
SPEAKER: On that basis, I will now—no, I’m unmuting my own mike, in order to keep the quality of the sound of the Parliament.
Members, the House will now wait for the summons to attend on Her Excellency the Governor-General.
STATE OPENING
A message from Her Excellency the Governor-General desiring the immediate attendance of honourable members in the Legislative Council Chamber was delivered by the Acting Usher of the Black Rod.
Accordingly, the Speaker and honourable members, preceded by the Serjeant-at-Arms, proceeded to the Legislative Council Chamber, and, after a short absence, returned.
GOVERNOR-GENERAL’S SPEECH
SPEAKER: After Her Excellency the Governor-General made a speech to the House in the Legislative Council Chamber today, she handed me a copy of the text of the speech and I now lay this on the Table of the House.
E aku hoa i te ara o te whai,
Kia kotahi tā tātou takahi i te kō, ko tōku whiwhi kei tō koutou tautoko mai.
Ko tāku ki a koutou, hei whakapiki manawa mōku.
He horomata rangatira te mahi, e rite ai te whiwhinga a te ringatuku, me te ringakape ake, i ōna painga.
Hei ruruhau, hei kaitoko i te ora, hei kaiurungi, hei kaiwhakaawe taumata hou.
He mea pai, i oti tahi
Nāu, nāku, nā tātou.
Honourable Members of the House of Representatives.
It is my privilege to exercise the prerogative of Her Majesty the Queen and open the 53rd Parliament.
In the October election, New Zealanders elected a majority Government for the first time under our Mixed Member Proportional electoral system.
The Government not only enjoys the confidence of a clear majority of members in the House of Representatives, it is also privileged to have the confidence of a majority of New Zealanders who voted in the general election.
The Labour Government took Office when I swore in the Prime Minister the Right Honourable Jacinda Ardern.
New Zealanders voted for stability and certainty at the election. They have placed huge trust and responsibility in the Labour Government by providing it with a majority mandate to implement the policies it set out during the campaign, while responding to the issues that will inevitably arise, and bringing to bear the same values and strong leadership established in its first term.
