Former Prime Minister John Key says he has few regrets in his life except for his mum not surviving to see how it all turned out.
"I hope she would have been proud," he said in his valedictory speech to the House today.
Mr Key announced his resignation in December last year, a few days shy of his eighth anniversary in the role.
He was New Zealand's 38th Prime Minister and is succeeded by his former deputy Bill English.
"I'd like to think I leave having made a positive difference to the country," he said, thanking his mum, wife, and children.
He also cracked jokes about his time as the country's leader such as texting Bill English after having been on a parachute jump with the SAS.
"I kept it short. 'l'm alive' I said. His reply was even shorter: 'Bugger'. One minute later I got another text from him 'Gonna give it another go?" he said.
John Key will leave Parliament for good on 14 April.
'Dumped into inappropriate services'
The mother of Ashley Peacock, Marlena Peacock (center) speaks to the Health Committee with Ashley's father David on her right. Photo: RNZ / Phil Smith
But elsewhere in Parliament there was a more sombre tone today when the Health Committee heard evidence from the parents of Ashley Peacock, an autistic man who has spent significant time in confinement.
A petition seeking the transfer of Ashley Peacock to specialist individual care is being considered by the Health Committee.
The move the petition calls for has recently been promised by health authorities but will likely take at least six months to happen.
