Speech
Bougainville Library Trust reception and auction
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 evening (Sign)
I then specifically greet you: Lloyd Jones, Chair of the Bougainville Library Trust and your fellow trustees, Pat Sheehan, Kate de Goldie, Sue Elliott, Anne Chamberlain, David Russell, Hon Luamanuvao Winnie Laban, Peter Carter and Peter Swain; I also acknowledge the presence tonight of Justice Mark O’Regan, President of the Court of Appeal; Justice Denis Clifford, Judge of the High Court; many other distinguished guests if I might use that catch all phrase; Ladies and Gentlemen.
It is with great pleasure for Susan and I to welcome you all to Government House in Wellington to this fundraising occasion on behalf of the Bougainville Library Trust.
In the nearly five years that Susan and I have functioned in the Governor-General role, we have been invited or asked to host many hundreds of events. While we have endeavoured to be as accessible as possible, it is inevitable that many invitations or requests have had to be turned down.
One request with which we had no hesitation in accepting was to host this fundraising auction for the Bougainville Library Trust. This endorsement was for several reasons.
The first concerns the people who are supporting the project to build and run a library and cultural centre in Bougainville.
For a Trust to receive the patronage of Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Rt Hon Sir Don McKinnon, be chaired by award-winning author Lloyd Jones and supported by the other trustees I have mentioned, says something cogent about the quality of the proposal.
Sir Don, as New Zealand’s Foreign Minister, led the New Zealand team that in 1998 brokered the peace agreement that ended Bougainville’s bloody and tragic civil war. Mr Jones’ award-winning novel, Mr Pip, which won the Commonwealth Writer’s Prize, has brought renewed international attention to horrors of the civil war that devastated Bougainville and the struggles of its people since that time. As one who also covered the war as a journalist and who has maintained an active connection with Bougainville ever since, Mr Jones is well placed to lead this initiative.
The second point that impressed us was that this initiative is being undertaken with the full co-operation and consultation with the local government and people of Bougainville. History abounds replete with examples of well meaning development projects promoted by outside sponsors that go astray because they are designed to address problems that only outsiders can see and in the long-term, cannot be sustained. A diesel tractor for example, may be wonderful in improving agricultural production for a community but if it breaks down and there is no-one with the knowledge, or spare parts, to repair it, it can be wasted initiative.
That is not the case with regard to this project. Mr Jones’ suggestion of establishing and stocking a library has been met with enthusiastic support in people in Arawa in Bougainville. I understand the land for the library has been provided by the local authorities and the community has established the Bougainville Heritage Foundation—Kakei Antanava (The House of Wisdom, Knowledge and Intelligence) to protect and promote the island’s cultural identity. As James Koibo MBE, the Foundation Chairman and Regional Commissioner for Bougainville’s Government has said: “We want a place where our children can learn to read, write and tell their stories.”
As an aside, given we are talking about libraries and the tropics, I am reminded of the example in Tim Harford’s 2006 book, The Undercover Economist, of a school library built in Cameroon in Africa, incidentally without direct aid money.
With a roof that looked like an open book, it looked very impressive. But its design required internal guttering that quickly overflowed in the rainy season flooding the building. The school’s books were only saved because the librarian refused to move the collection into the new building.
Susan and I have had some experience of tropical downpours during our term. When we were welcomed on to the RAMSI base in the Solomon Islands in 2009, the heavens literally opened. While we were relatively sheltered under large umbrellas, the saturated New Zealand Defence Force and Police personnel undertaking the haka were not quite so fortunate! So in reviewing the Trust’s proposed designs it was good to see that a simple gable roof that avoids the need for internal guttering has been employed!
The third point of resonance is the connection between New Zealand and Bougainville. As I mentioned earlier, New Zealand played a critical role in brokering the peace agreement that brought the disastrous civil war, which claimed up to 15,000 lives, to an end.
New Zealand’s connection did not end there. As it did in Timor-Leste and later in the Solomon Islands, our country backed its commitment to the principles of peace with significant support, providing military and police assistance to monitor the peace and rebuild the island. It was not until 13 years later that the last NZ Defence Force personnel left Bougainville. The gratitude to New Zealand for its work in the wider region has been relayed to me many times by senior leaders. For example, during my time as an Ombudsman, when the Chief of Ombudsman of Papua New Guinea, whom I met several times was a Bougainvillean, Simon Pentanu, during the State Visit I made to Papua New Guinea and the Solomons at the end of 2009, and only 10 days ago at the Royal Wedding in London when I met for the first time the new Governor-General of Papua New Guinea, Sir Michael Ogio, himself a Bougainvillean also.
The fourth point of resonance is a personal one. While I claim no specialist knowledge of librarianship, I will admit to a life-long love of reading books. Reading has been a central part of my life since the time of being a small boy when my membership of the Leys Institute Library in Ponsonby stood alongside having a Post Office Savings Book.
Mr Jones’s novel, Mr Pip, with its interweaving of the story of 13-year-old Matilda with that of Philip Pirrip or “Pip” as he was known in Dickens’s Great Expectations, underscores how important books are to opening minds, particularly those of young people. A whole evening could be spent quoting from Mr Pip; it contains so many wonderful turns of phrase. One poignant paragraph seems particularly appropriate. I could immediately identify with Matilda when she said with a sense of magical wonder:
“I had found a new friend. The surprising thing was where I’d found him—not up a tree or sulking in the shade, or splashing around in one of the hill streams, but in a book. No one had told us kids to look there for a friend. Or that you could slip inside the skin of another. Or travel to another place with marshes, and where, to our ears, the bad people spoke like pirates.”
That sense of wonderment is one I can recall from my earliest days. As Governor-General, whenever visiting schools, I have consistently spoken to children about both the joys and importance of reading for one’s individual prospects and for the progress of the wider community.
This brings me to a final point. Books and libraries are more than just sources of entertainment or storehouses of knowledge, important as those roles may be. In informing and underpinning public debate, books and libraries are at the heart of a democracy and as vital to its health and wellbeing as a free press and the right to freedom of speech and assembly. While the right to vote is fundamental to a democracy, it is a shallow right when those casting their ballots may be illiterate or lack sufficient information to form and debate opinions.
The Autonomous Government of Bougainville held its first election six years ago and it faces many challenges as it rebuilds infrastructure and economy. This proposed library and cultural centre will be built on the site of Arawa’s former library which was destroyed in the civil war. Helping the people of Bougainville build this library and cultural centre is as important as repairing roads. It holds the promise of being a symbol of reconciliation, progress, peace and new beginnings.
And on a note that I trust will encourage some strong bidding throughout the evening, 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.