Governor-General pays tribute to the Polish people

Your Excellency Mrs Beata Stoczyńska, Ambassador for Poland to New Zealand; New Zealand Symphony Orchestra Chief Executive, Peter Walls; Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, Greetings, Kia Ora, Kia Orana, Fakalofa Lahi Atu, Taloha Ni and in the context of this evening's concert, Dzien dobry.

Your Excellency, thank you for allowing me to say a few words before the commencement of this concert. 

As we are all aware, earlier this month, the Polish President Lech Kaczynski, his wife Maria, and 95 other prominent citizens of Poland were killed in an air crash in western Russia.

I was to attend the State Funeral for President Kaczynski and his wife in Krakow but unfortunately the ash cloud, that disrupted the plans of many people, saw me travel no further than New York before a decision to come home was made reluctantly.

While I was unable to provide in person the condolences of New Zealanders to the Polish people on the tragedy they have suffered, I wish to take an opportunity to do so now.  

President Kaczynski and all those who died on that flight had made a significant contribution to their nation and they will be sorely missed.  The loss of so many, so suddenly, has rightly been described as a terrible tragedy for the Polish nation.

However, if there is one thing that can be said about Poland, it is that despite a history marked by many sad events, its people have, in the face of adversity, resolutely held firm to their culture, language and to their national prospects.  

No one symbolises that strength and solidarity more than the composer whose birth 200 years ago we mark tonight, Fryderyk Chopin.  A composer and virtuoso pianist, he is regarded as one of the great masters of romantic music.  As a Polish patriot who was exiled in Paris, his music speaks with much emotion of Poland's glories and its sufferings. 

Tonight as we revel in the glory of Chopin's music, and that of other Polish composers, we remember the Polish people and offer them our deepest sympathies and respects.

No reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, kia ora, kia kaha, tēnā koutou katoa.