(applause)
E ngā mana, e ngā reo, e ngā iwi o'te motu tena koutou tena koutou tena tatou katoa.
There’s a moment that comes when you’re white water kayaking, where you are forced to commit.
You are going down that rapid whether you are ready or not.
You could have trained well for it, you may have the best equipment you could afford,
you’ve navigated the boat to the best possible position on the river,
now you must trust your instincts, your experience and your skills.
They are what will take you to success.
Our party is not quite at the head of the rapid but we are approaching it very quickly.
We face a third term National government with a slender majority,
and which with every passing day seems tireder and more and more out of touch.
Our goal must be to enter government with the strength, the purpose and the momentum necessary
to deliver transformational change.
Change that will restore hope and justice to our community,
change that will pull us back from the suicidal exploitation of the natural environment
and change that will make our economy deliver on our environmental and our social goals
and not the other way around.
I’ve spent the last couple of months trying to ensure that you know and are confident
that I have the skills and the leadership experience necessary to perform this particular role.
I have that extensive background in the leadership of community, business, and government sector organisations.
I have the proven track record in leading campaigns that have achieved their goals,
both inside parliament, like marriage equality or saving the Mokihinui River,
and also outside of Parliament
through the anti-apartheid movement, through the gay rights movement and many others.
And I’ve also been part of the team that, inside parliament, has ensured
that we have had greater organisational focus and greater effectiveness from the Green party in parliament.
I have been proud to represent our party and the values that we all share, in that strategic role.
But now I want to step up to a bigger role.
Today I want you to see the person who has always asked
‘if not me, then who?’ ‘if not now, then when?’
Integrity, honesty, courage and solidarity have always been my values, as well as a passion for justice
and a determination that we leave the world that we live in a better place for generations still to come.
For me, the Green party represents a synthesis of all of those powerful threads in my life,
and I am ambitious for our party.
Enough waiting, I am hungry for the opportunity to represent those values
and that powerful positive vision in government for our country.
When you sit down with your branch together in the next few weeks to determine how you’re going to cast your vote,
I’m confident that my skills, my record of achievement and my leadership experience,
will all say to your heads that I am the right choice for this role.
But I also want your hearts to know that I am passionate about this party
and passionate about the promise that we have yet to deliver on for New Zealand.
I know where those rapids lead, I know how to steer us through them,
I have the proven track record of leadership and achievement
and I know how to be calm and clear-headed in a difficult situation.
Trust me now, follow me through, please give me your first preference votes
so that I have the mandate to stand alongside Metiria Turei and lead our party to victory.
Thank you.
(applause)