Maharey hails Kiwi egalitarianism in valedictory

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He was tipped to be Labour's next leader, but Steve Maharey left Parliament today satisfied by much of what he had achieved in 18 years as an MP.

Mr Maharey was elected as MP for Palmerston North in 1990 and after Labour won the 1999 election, served eight years as a senior minister.

He quit his ministerial posts last year to take a job as Massey University vice chancellor after the election, a change brought on by a rethink following the death of his wife Liz in 2004.

A state-house boy Mr Maharey today paid tribute to New Zealand's egalitarian tradition, which he said had enabled him to rise to posts such as minister of social development and education.

"That I'm able to tell that story says a great deal about what is good about this nation.

"Fairness and equal opportunity have long been part of the New Zealand political tradition and it led to governments putting in place institutions that made a practical difference to people like me.

"Like most parents, mine, whose love and unflinching support I want to recognise here today, did not have the personal resources to present me with all the opportunities I've enjoyed during my life.

"Only the community working together could do that."

He said many of his political ideas honed in nine long years in opposition aimed to put the state and communities back into an equal position with the market-driven policies instituted during six years of Rogernomics.

That approach-- known then as the "third way" - was now mainstream and by and large had replaced the left-right ideologies of the past.

"If the centre of politics in the 1980s was the market, I'm proud to say it is only part of the centre now."

But Mr Maharey, one of the key strategists of the fifth Labour government, admitted his thinking was not always clear, especially on his first day in Parliament as former Prime Minister Jim Bolger moved around the floor welcoming people.

"I said to myself ... that's Jim Bolger, just about the same time as he said 'hello and who are you'.

"I said 'I'm Jim Bolger' and he said 'no you're not, I am'."

Despite the awkward exchange he said the two got along well now.

Even after nine years of strong economic growth and a raft of policies that had made New Zealand a fairer society, several challenges remained, Mr Maharey said.

They included making policies and workplaces more family friendly, the elimination of poverty through raising incomes and more early intervention in dysfunctional families, a written constitution, greater sustainability and more democratic participation.

Mr Maharey challenged MPs in the next Parliament to be bold in their ideas.

"Members will have their own goals. Make them bold. The mistakes of the 1980s and 1990s have left an legacy of understandable caution in politics.

"The current economic crisis reinforces this stance. But in the midst of new times, the spectre of the past should not be allowed to get in the way of a vision for the future."

- NZPA