'When old men plant trees': James Shaw's farewell

James Shaw's valedictory statement included thanks, humour, yarns, surprising allies, warnings and advice for MPs on avoiding the endless policy tug-of-war.

In the last year or so Parliament has heard some unusually good valedictory speeches from a variety of outgoing MPs. Just a few weeks ago from Labour's Grant Robertson for example, or late last year from National's Todd Muller.

This week it was former Green leader James Shaw. So on the Sunday edition of The House we featured highlights of James Shaw's farewell statement.

The radio broadcast of audio highlights can be heard here.

The full speech can be read below, and at the bottom of this article is an embedded video of the event.

Hansard's record of the valedictory:

Thank you - you haven't heard what I've got to say yet! Thank you, Speaker. E mihi ana ki ngā mana whenua ki tēnei rohe, a Taranaki Whānui ki Te Ūpoko o te Ika, Te Ātiawa Whānui, Tēnā koutou katoa. E te Māngai o te Whare, tēnā koe. Nga mihi nui kia koutou katoa.

One night, during the course of the 2017 election campaign, I was so exhausted that I swallowed my tongue in my sleep, and I woke up- It didn't feel funny at the time. I woke up on the floor on my hands and knees, choking it back up.

That was a difficult campaign. When Parliament rose for the six-week election period, I delivered the adjournment debate speech for the Green Party, and 10 minutes before I was due to speak, I got the news that the Colmar Brunton poll that night had us down 11 points. We were on 4 percent. It seemed likely at that point that I was about to become the last leader of the Green Party and to deliver the last speech by a Green Party MP in Parliament.

Well, 12 weeks later, I was the Minister of Climate Change. I was on my way to Germany to the United Nations annual climate summit, but first I had to stop over in Rome to meet the Pope.

Now, there isn't a roller coaster on this planet that comes close to the white-knuckle ride that is politics, and I am simultaneously saddened and elated to be leaving it. Actually, I am mostly elated to be leaving it. I've been in Parliament for 10 years, Green Party co-leader for nine, six as a Minister of the Crown, and I have to say it has not been easy to work out what it is that I want to say, here at the end of it all.

There are a great many people to whom I owe a profound debt of gratitude. Sometimes, in these speeches, the acknowledgments come at the end, but I'm going to start with them, because if there is one thing that I want to express, it is gratitude…

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details