Land Search and Rescue Annual Awards Dinner

Introduction and acknowledgements
E nga mana, e nga reo, rau Rangatira ma me nga manu tioriori e huihui nei, tēnei aku mihi ki a koutou.  Kia ora tātou katoa. Distinguished guests gentlemen and ladies warm greetings to you all.

Can I specifically acknowledge: Phillip Melchior and Hadyn Smith, Board Chairman and Chief Executive respectively of Land Search and Rescue – tena korua.

Life members of Land Search and Rescue, members of the Board, volunteers, staff, supporters, ladies and gentlemen it is a great pleasure for Janine and me to be here this evening.  We are both looking forward to presenting various awards and certificates later this evening.  Dinner is due to be served soon and I’m sure you are all looking forward to that, so I will keep to the ABC of speaking. I will keep my comments accurate, brief, and clean.

I’m not sure you’re aware but there’s a rather important event unfolding as we meet here.  I ask that you excuse us having our cell phones on.  However, our son is celebrating his 18th birthday, belatedly, with his older siblings in Auckland and we are on tender hooks.  And of course there are the election results that I expect to get information on some time during the night too.

Well back to this event which is also a special one.  As LandSAR’s inaugural Patron, this is a very special occasion for me.  You are an organisation that protects things that are important to New Zealanders – lives, a love of the outdoors, and the ability to enjoy it.  I was asked to mention why I chose to become the Patron of LandSAR, and I will certainly do that later.  There are some things that I want to say about you, LandSAR and its people, which might help me put a context to my being your Patron.

A love for, the liberty to enjoy, and life in the outdoors
New Zealanders love the outdoors.  It is a part of our collective lifeblood.  It is part of our way of life.  Wherever we are in our country, we will never be far from the bush, a mountain, or a river.  We have extensive areas of land set aside as national parks and that is important for all New Zealanders.  Large tracts of our bush, mountains and rivers are available for recreational use.  Given my heritage, Ngati Tuwharetoa, I am especially proud of the spectacular Tongariro National Park, the world’s fourth national park when it was established in 1894, and now a UNESCO world heritage site.

Having the liberty to enjoy the outdoors has always been seen by New Zealanders as an intrinsic right.  We are all fortunate to have such a wonderful and large backyard to play in. That freedom to explore, experience and enjoy the outdoors, however, does not come without its risks.  Many New Zealanders do not appreciate how to manage those risks adequately.  

My previous career in the New Zealand Army gave me an insight into how to use recreational spaces and especially how to survive “in the bush”.  I was fortunate to spend quite a bit of time in our bush.  Fieldcraft and bushcraft were staples of my early Army learning diet.  Tracking, survival and other skills were incredibly useful in understanding my limitations.  They also gave me a healthy respect for operation in the isolated wildernesses both at home and overseas.

Most Kiwis, however, are oblivious of the risks and many do not have the skills to move confidently “in the bush” and especially when things start going wrong.  As you all well know, when a person goes missing in the bush, on a mountain, or at some other remote location it’s because of a misappreciation of time, difficulty of the hike, weather conditions etc.  Sorting these miscalculations out requires a significant amount of time, effort, and expertise with mounting a search and rescue effort.
 
Land Search and Rescue (LandSAR)
With the mission of “providing search and rescue support for the lost, missing and injured” and in partnering with the Police, LandSAR provides a crucial service for New Zealand.  With 2,500 trained search and rescue volunteers and more than 60 groups throughout the country, LandSAR has New Zealand covered.  The skills that LandSAR holds are a significant resource for New Zealanders.  For example, the specialist dog teams that are used in finding people buried by avalanches.

Reflecting on your 2010-2011 Yearbook, it seems to me that LandSAR serves New Zealanders in the good times and in the sad times. The good times are when a missing person is found alive and well.  That to me seems to be the very best part of your job.

However, there is the other result, the times when your missions are tinted with tragedy, where the missing person is found deceased, or cannot be found at all.  There are times too when your efforts are focused around devastating events.  On behalf of all New Zealanders, I want to record our thanks for the LandSAR volunteers who deployed to Greymouth at the time of the Pike River Mine disaster.  I also thank you for the more than 350 LandSAR volunteers who deployed to Canterbury following the 22 February earthquake.

With all missions and deployments, LandSAR volunteers hold the trust and respect of New Zealanders.  The almost 208,000 volunteer hours given in the 2010-2011, is a substantial contribution by individuals to this organisation, and to the communities you serve.  When you put those hours in the context that every hour represents some one volunteering their time and expertise – it’s a truly awesome statistic.

Again, I want to pass to you individually and collectively sincere thanks, on behalf of all New Zealanders, for the incredible work this organisation and its volunteers have done.  Given the purpose of tonight’s gathering Janine and I look forward to recognising the special few who have been outstanding over the past year.  The comfort, support and expertise you provided, particularly following the traumatic events of the past twelve months, are of incredible importance both locally and nationally.

I mentioned at the start that I’d say why I chose to be the patron of LandSAR.  Well, for every person found, that is one less person lost.  If that person is alive, then it’s one less grieving family and one less grieving community.  If they’re recovered deceased, then at least families and communities can grieve.  If they’re not found at all, we can be confident that the best was done to locate them.  It is hard to quantify, but it is important.

In part it should be obvious why I chose to be Patron of Land Search and Rescue from my comments about you.  However, I also chose to become your patron because I love the outdoors and I want all New Zealanders to be able to share that in the confidence there are professionals who can mitigate the risks should that be needed.  LandSAR does wonderful and lifesaving work and I count it as an honour and privilege to be your Patron.

Kia ora huihui tātou katoa.