Grantlea Downs School

To Bernie Leonard, Acting Principal and to the staff of Grantlea Downs School, to all of you students of the Grantlea Downs School, greetings, kia ora, kia orana, fakalofa lahi atu, taloha ni (sign ‘good afternoon).  These are the languages of the Realm of New Zealand.

The Head of State of New Zealand is Queen Elizabeth II, the Queen of New Zealand.  As she lives in England, she needs someone here to stand in for her.  For this five year period, that person is my husband, Anand, who is known as the ‘Governor-General of New Zealand’.

Being the wife of the Governor-General creates some opportunities for me to visit most parts of our wonderful country and the people in the many communities of New Zealand.

It is a great pleasure, for me to be able to visit you here today at Grantlea Downs School in Timaru.  Thank you for your warm welcome to me and to George Campbell the chauffeur of our magnificent jaguar car, Amanda Smith who has organised the visit, and Captain Ian Auld from the Army who is an Aide-de-Camp to the Governor-General.

It is very important to look after the environment that we all share.  Every one of us New Zealanders has hopes and dreams for a bright and happy future and for us and our family and friends in this special land we call home.  By being thoughtful about things like water our rubbish and how much energy we use to live, we can all have a better, brighter life in this world we all share.

Your school has been an ‘Enviro-School’ for about four years and, in 2007, you gained a bronze medal.  I think it is outstanding that you all work on reducing your waste, by things like recycling your lunch through worm bins and chickens raised by the junior classes.  You also grow your own seedlings for your vegetable garden.  I am a keen gardener, but you have all overtaken me with your enthusiasm for your gardens.

Congratulations to all of the members of the Enviro-Team.  Keep doing the fantastic job you are doing!

I have learned about your Clean Stream Team but I may not be able to see it because of the rain.  The value that the Clean Stream Team, with help from the YMCA and Ecan, contribute to the waterway is significant.  You can all be proud of your efforts in enhancing and protecting a life-giving natural resource.  Water is something special that we need to use and treat with care.

You are all doing a great job, and I encourage each one of you to go home and tell your friends, your parents, your grandparents and your community everything you have learnt about looking after your environment.  You should encourage them how they can help you to make this place better and keep it life-sustaining.

Dr Suess, who wrote “The Cat in the Hat” and “Green Eggs and Ham” books, once said:

“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not.”

I wish you courage to follow your hopes and dreams which can be translated as ‘no reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, kia ora, kia kaha, tēnā koutou katoa’.