My whānau are here: my wonderful husband, Max Hardy, and our two little children, Te Mākahi and Waioeka. They're giving up a lot so I can serve in this House. I fell in love with Max at uni. He challenges me to do good wherever there is need and he is as much a part of the Labour movement as I am. This job is the next step for us in our commitment to the change we want to see for New Zealand. And I grieve a little, as many working parents before me have and many after me will, for this time I give up with Waioeka and Te Mākahi, who's turning three tomorrow—happy birthday, baby. They will no longer have a mum who is at every playdate and rocks them to sleep. I hope when they're older that they'll understand that there were other kids in Manurewa who needed me too: kids with rotten teeth in one of the wealthiest countries in the world, kids without warm, dry homes, kids I met in schools whose eyes light up when they meet a politician who looks and talks like them. Doing my best for the future of my kids means fighting for all families in Aotearoa. 