23/09/2026
This week wraps up the Parliamentary sitting term for the year, the next 6 weeks we will be campaigning in our electorates before the election.
It has been a massive year in Parliament, and an honour to represent the people of Hamilton.
The highlights have included sitting on the Māori Affairs Select Committee and overseeing treaty settlements progress through the House. I had the immense privilege of visiting the whenua of many iwi, including Ngāti Ruapani mai Waikaremoanai and ngā Hapū o Te Iwi o Whanganui and then welcoming the iwi to Parliament to have their Bills read and settlements passed into law.
The MASC is one of cross party collaboration, in which there is genuine intent from all political parties on the committee to acknowledge the historic wrong doing of the Crown and seek a settlement that the iwi accepts to address the harm done. Noting that neither NZ First or Act are on the committee. All other parties are represented.
The second highlight has been being Labour's spokesperson for rainbow issues. At a time where rainbow people just being who we are is being politicised, the stress and fear of our people grows by the day.
I've had the immense privilege of being present for the 40th anniversary of homosexual law reform and meeting many incredible rainbow activists of all ages. Activists who have been advocating for rainbow people for 50 years, and 15 year olds becoming the voice of the Future. I have had countless conversations and messages with rainbow whānau about the issues facing them. Many have been open enough to share their story with me, often stories of great resilience in the face of adversity.
One thing that has always been prominent is the deeply respectful nature of our correspondence, people have been honest and clear about their views, and although sometimes those views have been different from mine, they have always been respectful, and always been kind.
This week I announced Labour's commitment to rainbow healthcare and the steps we will take to further the protections on rainbow people in the healthcare sector, which have not been prioritised by the current Government.
However, there have been some real lows. Sitting in the House listening to the terrible behaviour of NZFirst MPs has got to be some of the worst of my experiences in Parliament. They have called other Members of the House “the arse end of a vacuum cleaner” and not been pulled up on it by the Speaker, they have called female members 'honey' in the House without consequence. They have said the most awful racist stuff without having to apologise.
One of my learnings is that the dominant culture continues to ignore the ongoing discrimination against marginalised communities. That the Government’s Speaker is inherently biased and does not consider the impact of the words that members use in the House. The impact is far reaching, it doesn't just affect the member the comment is directed at, but every marginalised New Zealander who sees that that behaviour is acceptable amongst the highest decision makers in the country.
Despite that, the biggest low has been watching this Government unwind years of progress. The punch down on workers has been appalling. Having worked for 15 years to support workers before entering Parliament, it has been the most heart breaking stuff to see the unwinding of all our hard work over many years.
The cancellation of fair pay agreements, the winding back of health and safety laws. The lack of wage rises in a cost of living crisis especially for our lowest paid workers and the cancellation of pay equity. I feel deeply for the thousands of workers who have advocated for higher wages and better conditions and had some real legislative wins after many years of hard work, to then have the progress slashed by an anti worker government.
It infuriates me the way the Government speaks about unions. They clearly fundamentally don't understand what a union is. They don't understand that the union is the worker. The union staff exist to support the worker, and when the government says that the unions are bad actors, they are talking about hundreds of thousands of workers from industries across the country.
They are talking about the workers teaching their kids, the workers working in our hospitals, the workers cleaning their offices and the workers keeping our streets safe. It's another opportunity for them to put down hard working New Zealanders so they can continue to look after their corporate interests.
Some of the Bills passed this term have been truly horrific, move on orders, bootcamps for young people, and the watering down or removal of Te Tiriti o Waitangi in 18 pieces of legislation (to name some recent ones) have shown the true colours of this harmful Government. Who continue to punch down on marginalised communities.
My resolve to change the Government has only strengthened and over the next 6 weeks I will be going hard to connect with as many Hamiltonians as possible.
I'm standing in Hamilton East because I want to be your electorate MP. Because you deserve an MP who represents every Hamiltonian, not just the ones at the top.
You deserve an electorate MP who doesn't think that moving homeless people into the suburbs is the solution, and instead we make our streets safer by addressing the root cause of the issue and work to get every New Zealander the support they need.
I have been a business owner, and a union leader. I know what it feels like spending hundreds of dollars getting an alarm installed at your business, and I know the feeling of looking at the balance sheet for the month and after staff wages, overheads and bills not having enough to pay yourself for the hours and hours you have put into your business that month.
I've supported hundreds of workers at work. Cleaners on minimum wage whose work day starts at 4am, and teachers who at the end of a long day of teaching have to spend their evening getting their head around the next curriculum change.
Enough is enough.
We can have an affordable NZ, where everyone has what they need to get ahead. Where our young people don't move to Australia and instead they see a future right here at home. Where supermarket prices aren't skyrocketing and household bills are manageable.
We can have an NZ with access to public healthcare, good well paid jobs and affordable household bills.
But we have to change the Government to do that, and as the largest progressive political party in parliament, Labour is the party who will deliver real change for everyday New Zealanders.
Better Starts Now
See you on the campaign trail.
GG
