My father was about the same age as I am now when he passed away in 1996. He worked too many jobs for too many hours. My grandfather passed away in the year 2000 and my grandmother passed just last year. They leave me with enduring lessons that I will carry into this House. Over the many years, I have been inspired politically by many people. But way before I had ever heard of Angela Davis, Emma Goldman, Eva Rickard, Fanon, Chomsky, or Marx, my first political role model was my mum. People often say that I am my mother's son, which is very accurate because she was there when I was born. One of my earliest memories is my mum explaining to me about the Māori land march, in our lounge. My mum also took me on my first protest, in 1981 against the Springbok tour, when I was in primary school. I remember marching down Queen Street with the multitudes chanting "Amandla, amandla, amandla!" When she was a cleaner, she organised pickets and the workers, and when I was in my late teens, she dropped me and my brother off at the marae and told us to learn Māori, which we did. 