Hear James Meager’s maiden speech and be inspired. He is part Maori and proud of his background and heritage.
Standing ovation from everyone (including the Opposition & the gallery) when he finished speaking.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/polit...e-workers.html
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/polit...eager-1120.jpg
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Standing ovation after James Meager, National MP for Rangitata, makes his maiden speech
The public gallery in the Housewas packed as National MP James Meager made his maiden speech - an important address all new MPs make which sets the tone for their time in Parliament, and sets out their vision and goals.
He gave a moving outline of his childhood, raised by a solo parent, where money was scarce.
"I know what it’s like to be poor. I know what it’s like to grow up sharing a bedroom with my brother until I was 18. I know what it’s like to walk everywhere because we didn’t have a car until I was 9. I know what it’s like to see a father struggle to pay his bills and borrow money from his kid’s school savings account.
I know what it’s like to see a solo mother juggle three kids, part time work, correspondence school and all the other worries that a single parent living in south Timaru has.
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
ok.
But make no mistake. We had a great life. We never went without. My Mum has steel in her bones and grit in her soul.
My recollection is that yes we were poor, but we were never in poverty. Mum always made sure there was food on the table, clothes on our backs, and books in our schoolbags."
He also gave rebuke to the Opposition:
"Perhaps to some I am a walking contradiction; a part-Māori boy raised in a state house by a single parent on the benefit, now a proud National Party MP in a deeply rural farming electorate in the middle of the South Island. But there is no contradiction there. Members opposite do not own Māori. Members opposite do not own the poor. Members opposite do not own the workers. No party and no ideology has a right to claim ownership over anything or anyone."
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Compare and contrast with the moaning, whinging and hate-filled nothingness coming from the Opposition, especially Hipkins, the bleeding hearts (busy breeding beneficiaries & losers) and the part Māoris.