Speech
RNZRSA 96th National Council Meeting
Introduction
Tihei mauri ora! E nga mana, e nga reo, e nga iwi o nga hau e wha, tēnā koutou. Te manuhiri tuarangi, te manuhiri waewaetapu naumai haere mai. Tena koutou nga rangatira o tēnei hui. Kānui te aroha ki a koutou.
Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, greetings. Those of you who have travelled a long way to be here, and those of you here for the first time, welcome. To the leaders of the Royal New Zealand Returned and Services Association greetings - I salute you all.
I specifically acknowledge: Don McIver, President of the Royal New Zealand Returned and Services Association and your executive; Rt Hon John Key, Prime Minister of New Zealand and Ministers of the Crown; Grant Robertson MP, representing the Leader of the Opposition; Your Worship Celia Wade-Brown, Mayor of Wellington; Lt Gen Rhys Jones, Chief of Defence Force and his Service Chiefs; John Farmer, National Chairman of the Royal British Legion; and Ken Doolan, National President of the Returned Services League of Australia—tēnā koutou katoa.
Thank you for inviting me and my wife Janine to the 96th National Council meeting of the Royal New Zealand Returned and Services’ Association. I am honoured to be here and to continue the tradition of representing your Patron, The Queen of New Zealand, at this gathering.
As is customary, I have the privilege of opening your conference by conveying to you a message from Her Majesty The Queen. Her Majesty’s message is in response to a letter from your President and reads:
Please convey my warm thanks to the Chief Executive and delegates of the Royal New Zealand Returned and Services’ Association for their message of loyal greetings, sent on the occasion of their ninety-sixth National Council meeting which is being held in Wellington today. As your Patron, I much appreciate your kind words on the Sixtieth Anniversary of my Accession to the Throne and, in return, send my best wishes to all those who are present for a most successful and enjoyable gathering—Elizabeth R.
The Queen and the Diamond Jubilee
Opening your National Council Annual General Meeting with a message from The Queen has a special significance this year for two reasons, not only because she is your Patron.
The first is that Her Majesty, and the wider Royal Family, have long been strong and consistent supporters of servicemen and women, of veterans and of the Armed Forces, both in Britain, and in New Zealand. In addition to her patronage of the RSA, in New Zealand, Her Majesty is also Captain General of the Royal Regiment of New Zealand Artillery and the Royal New Zealand Armoured Corps, and Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment and the Corps of Royal New Zealand Engineers. One of Her Majesty’s sons is a war veteran. Two of Her Majesty’s grandsons – the second and third in-line to the throne - currently serve in Britain’s Armed Forces.
The second is that this year marks the Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty’s reign. Her 60 years as our Queen has been marked by dramatic global, economic, technological and social change. And yet, through so much change and upheaval, Queen Elizabeth II has remained a constant, inspirational and unwavering advocate of family, friendship and community values. In addition to her support for returned servicemen and women, she is admired for her service and dignity, her promotion of charitable organisations and royal patronages, and her dedication to her duties.
To mark the Diamond Jubilee, next month New Zealand will host a visit from Her Majesty’s heir and our future King, His Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales, and Her Royal Highness, the Duchess of Cornwall. Among other activities Prince Charles will open a Visitor’s Centre at Government House – New Zealand’s Diamond Jubilee gift. There will also be opportunities for Prince Charles, Air Commodore-in-Chief of the Royal New Zealand Air Force, to speak to service personnel at Government House and Ohakea Air Force Base.
The RNZRSA and wider commemorations
In describing Her Majesty’s reign at this important anniversary time, I mentioned the words service, dedication and duty. They are also words that speak of the Royal New Zealand Returned and Services’ Association. For almost a century, you have cared for those who were injured and the loved ones of those who did not return. You have advocated for the interests of New Zealand’s veterans and honoured their service through remembrance. And you have assiduously worked to relate the ANZAC spirit to a new generation in a new century, through initiatives such as the ANZAC of Year Award and the Cyril Bassett VC Speech competition.
Like our Queen who celebrates her Diamond Jubilee this year, the RSA, will mark a significant anniversary in its history, the centenary of its establishment in 2016. That anniversary will fall in the middle of the commemorations from 2014 to 2018 that mark the centenary of World War 1.
A First World War Centenary Panel has been established to be public advocates of the Centenary's significance. As Governor-General, I am Patron for the Panel. I hosted its inaugural meeting at Government House. The Panel includes, among others, your President, Don McIver, and Miss Cervantee Wild, who won the RSA’s Cyril Bassett VC Speech Competition in 2011. While we can anticipate Don McIver’s contribution, Cervantee brings a younger person’s perspective to the work of the Panel. She is of an age that many soldiers, sailors and airmen and airwomen were when they left home and served their country. She is of an age many of us were when we first donned the uniform of our country.
Later today you National Council delegates will consider a long-term strategic plan for the RSA. I understand you will seek a 10-year vision that outlines your direction and aims, including participation in the World War 1 centenary programme. In my view this is important work.
The growing numbers who attend ANZAC Day ceremonies suggests that New Zealanders want to commemorate and celebrate the service and heritage of our veterans. The programme you develope will give the opportunity to respectfully focus New Zealanders’ attention on the courage, the commitment, the comradeship and the integrity of those who served, and especially those who died, for our Sovereign and our country almost a century ago.
It will also serve to remind us of those who have served since that time in conflicts throughout the world. It will encourage us to remember that New Zealanders have served honourably to keep our nation free from tyranny, to defend our traditions and values, and to bring stability and peace to troubled lands.
On-going service and the challenges
Over the past 12 months, New Zealanders have been sadly reminded that military service is not without its risks, nor is it something that we can speak of only in the past tense. Service, military service is enduring and carries a heavy burden, for service personnel, their leaders and their families. Since I last addressed your National Council meeting, New Zealanders have gathered and mourned the loss of Corporal Douglas Hughes who died on active service; and Lance Corporal Pralli Durrer, Lance Corporal Rory Malone, Corporal Luke Tamatea, Lance Corporal Jacinda Baker and Private Richard Harris, all killed in action. Their deaths brought to 10 those New Zealanders who have lost their lives in Afghanistan. We are reminded that their families, friends and mates, mourn for them still.
Their tragic deaths speak also of the thousands of New Zealanders who have served in Afghanistan, and who continue to serve there and in places throughout the world. Wherever they have served or are serving, our sailors, soldiers and airmen and women have brought honour to the New Zealand Defence Force and to New Zealand.
In this company, I do not need to remind you that the sense of family is a strong one to servicemen and servicewomen. However, I have been reminded of this by the biological families of our recent fallen. They have seen the anguish in and yet the strength of the service family, and they have been deeply moved.
And so it is that these contemporary times pose a challenge for the RSA. Over the past 13 years, more returned servicemen and women – veterans - have joined the legion of New Zealanders who have served on deployment overseas than at any time since the Viet Nam war. An on-going challenge for you is to connect with these new veterans and bring them warmly within the embrace of the “RSA family”.
And on that note and with that challenge before you, I want to wish you all the best for your conference and say that it gives me great pleasure to declare the 96th 2012 National Council meeting officially open. No reira, kia ora, kia kaha, kia manawanui.