My parents taught me to work hard. Mum lined me up with a paper run at the age of 10 with the Daily Telegraph, and at the age of 12 at the Continental Fish Supply in Napier. I joined the Labour Party because of the social values that my parents taught me: that everyone, not just those at the top, deserves a good education and a job afterwards; that everyone has a warm, dry place to live, and access to good healthcare when they need it. I am a beneficiary of growing up in Māori housing in the 1980s with my parents in our family home, and years later buying my own home because of the KiwiSaver fund that enabled me to establish a deposit.