Manaaki Block opening

May I begin by greeting everyone in the languages of the realm of New Zealand, in English, Māori, Cook Island Māori, Niuean, Tokelauan and New Zealand Sign Language.    Greetings, Kia Ora, Kia Orana, Fakalofa Lahi Atu, Taloha Ni and as it is the morning (Sign)

May I specifically greet you: Mark Ryan, Deputy Chair of the Otago Polytechnic Council and your fellow Councillors; Phil Ker, Chief Executive of the Polytechnic and your fellow staff; Megan Cloughley, President of the Otago Polytechnic Students' Association and students of the Polytechnic Te Kura Matatini ki Otago; Your Worship Peter Chin, Mayor of Dunedin; Distinguished Guests otherwise; Ladies and Gentlemen. 

It is with pleasure that my wife Susan and I join you for the official opening of the Otago Polytechnic's Manaaki Block.

I have been asked to officially open the Manaaki Block, but before I do, I would like to speak briefly of the significance of this occasion.

The first thing to say is how good it has been to be back in Dunedin.  Since being appointed Governor-General just over three years ago, Susan and I have regularly visited Dunedin and Otago for a number of community events and the vibrancy of the city is a continuing aspect.

This city has certainly changed from the year I spent as a student at the University of Otago in 1964, living at Aquinas College in the North East Valley above Opoho. 

Two years after my time here, Otago Polytechnic was officially born in 1966.  Its ancestry, however, goes back almost as far as Otago University to the Dunedin Technical School, founded in 1889 and the Dunedin School of Art, founded in 1870.

Throughout its history, the Polytechnic has strived to provide its students with quality skills for quality careers.  Those careers include nursing and midwifery, design and fashion, automotive and civil engineering, or in tourism and hospitality, to name but a few.  

It does so by ensuring its programmes are backed by strong links with industry and other tertiary providers and which are relevant to the needs of students, and also of employers, locally and regionally.  Your most recent report as CEO, Phil Ker, which I have read with interest, supports this.

That is particularly so at the moment. With the difficult times that New Zealand's economy and those of many nations throughout the world are experiencing, people are looking for skills to improve their chances in the workplace.  I feel certain that the Council, management and staff of the Polytechnic are working to meet that challenge.

I also note that Otago Polytechnic's academic staff have been leaders in their fields.  For example, that its teachers have won National Tertiary Teaching Sustained Excellence awards in 2009, 2008 and 2007.

This refurbished Manaaki Block brings together a host of different students' services, including the student health centre, student lounge, the offices of the Students' Association as well as the home for the School of Hospitality, which runs the Student Centre.  There seems to me, as this is called the Manaaki Centre, meaning help-entertainment-support-food, to be a suitable proverb in the Maori language to describe this.

In Māori it goes:

Kai ana mai koe
He atua:noho atu
Ana ahau he tangata

Which literally in English says:

You are eating here like a god.  I am sitting here as a man.

What it means, however, is that where a visitor arrives when one is eating, he should be asked to share the meal which is, of course, what will go on here.

There is a wonderful opportunity here for both Otago Polytechnic staff and students and a challenge.   The challenge is that bricks and mortar can only facilitate learning-they cannot make it happen. 

It will be for each of you to put the Manaaki Block to its best good use.  It seems to me that based on the proud history of this institution, to some of which I have referred, there can be some certainty that you will. 

In conclusion, I add congratulations everyone involved in bringing this project to fruition.  It thus gives me great pleasure to declare the Manaaki Block open.

And on that note, I will close in New Zealand's first language Māori, by offering everyone greetings and wishing you all good health and fortitude in your endeavours.  No reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, kia ora, kia kaha, tēnā koutou katoa.