Top Scholar Awards

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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 morning (Sign)

I then specifically greet you: Hon Anne Tolley, Minister of Education; John Morgan and Catherine Williams, Acting Chair and Acting Chief Executive respectively of the New Zealand Qualifications Authority; Karen Sewell, Chief Executive of the Ministry of Education; Dr Graham Stoop, Chief Review Officer of the Education Review Office; Distinguished Guests otherwise; Ladies and Gentlemen. 

It is a great pleasure for Susan and I to welcome you all to Government House for this year’s New Zealand Scholarship Premier and Top Scholar Awards ceremony.

It is a particularly significant to be able to again host this ceremony in Government House, which recently reopened after a more than two year conservation project.  That project saw the House pulled apart and put back together again, with new roof, new services and seismic strengthening along with wider refurbishment.  This House has worked for a hundred years in the interests of New Zealanders, for their investitures and award ceremonies as well as social gatherings and encounters with foreign visitors.  Susan and I would encourage each of you to enjoy the ambience of the House at the conclusion of the ceremony this morning and enjoy its art and artefacts.

I would like to take an opportunity to speak about the significance of the awards being presented here today. 

This year, the Premier and Top Scholar Awards specifically recognise 35 young New Zealanders who have achieved at the highest academic levels.  Without doubt, you are highly talented individuals.  But talent and intellect alone have not brought you to this ceremony. Your presence here today is the result of setting goals and then consequent hard work, sweat and perseverance that has seen these goals accomplished.  The awards also reflect the support of your families, whose backing has provided a platform for your success.

These qualities were amply on display in three of the Premier Award winners that I have been asked to introduce.  It has been interesting to learn more about them indepth and their range of interests and achievements.  What links them all, in addition to their outstanding academic achievements, is the notion of wider service and involvement in their schools and communities.

First, David Bellamy, from Christ’s College in Christchurch, who is also the Top Scholar in Chemistry, was awarded six outstanding scholarships.  David  was a member of the New Zealand Chemistry Olympiad Team in 2010 and the College’s joint Academic Head of School.  He also has a bent for performing, taking leading roles in school productions as well as being lead trumpeter in the College’s Big Band and a member of the New Zealand Youth Jazz Orchestra.  David is now studying health sciences at the University of Otago.

Secondly, Athene Laws from St Cuthbert’s College in Auckland, who is also the Top Scholar in Geography, was awarded five outstanding scholarships.  Athene has also displayed significant musical aptitude as the top clarinettist in the secondary school division of the New Zealand Woodwind Competition and was the pianist in a Trio that reached the finals of the New Zealand Chamber Music contest.  Athene also co-authored a paper to the Australian Public Health Immunisation Conference in 2010 and is the youngest ever solo phone counsellor with Youthline. She is now studying towards a conjoint Bachelor of Music and Bachelor of Arts degree at Victoria University of Wellington.

Lastly, Michael Tzu Min Wang (pronounced Zoo Min Wong), from Macleans College in Auckland, was awarded four outstanding scholarships.  The College’s dux in 2010, he was a member of the Macleans College Orchestra that won the Auckland KBB Music Festival in 2010.  The winner of the New Zealand Institute of Physics School Physics award in 2009, in the same year he also represented New Zealand at the International Mathematical Olympiad in Germany.  Michael, who is in his last year at Macleans College, is also Vice-President of its Intercultural Club and an Executive Leader of its Interact Service Programme, the secondary-school arm of Rotary.

The awards, however, speak of more than just the significant achievements of today’s recipients.  They emphasise more widely the importance of education in shaping individuals and shaping our society. 

Education is the key that allows everyone to achieve all that we want to be.  It is an equalising force that breaks down barriers, allowing everyone the opportunity to succeed, regardless of their background.

Education is also the key to the prosperity of our society.  Today, I am giving my speech using an iPad.  Millions  of these devices, and other tablet computers, have been sold worldwide, employing thousands of people in making and marketing them as well as designing the apps they use. 

However, when I went to university in the late 1960s, the notion of a lightweight computer weighing little more than a block of butter was the stuff of science-fiction .  Indeed, only 20 years before that in 1949, forecasting the onward march of science, the magazine Popular Mechanics, had boldly forecast, and I quote: “Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons!”

It was people like those being recognised here today that have created the high technology and innovative industries which are transforming the global economy.   They are talents which our country New Zealand sorely needs if it is to prosper and succeed.

It should be emphasised, however, that prosperity should not be seen solely in terms of monetary wealth or direct application.  Some of the greatest innovations have come from people who were not seeking wealth, but simply seeking to understand an aspect of our world. 

As just one example, I would mention the work of New Zealand-born Nobel Prize winning scientist, the late Dr Maurice Wilkins, who helped unravel the structure of DNA.  This fundamental discovery not only led to treatments for a host of diseases in humans, plants and animals, but, for example, transformed forensic science, allowing many crimes to be solved and perpetrators brought to justice.  Again, the biomedical and biotechnical industries which this discovery spawned now employ thousands of people in many parts of the world.

And on that note of encouragement and renewed congratulations for your achievements and in anticipation of what each of you will contribute to the community, I will close in our country’s first language,offering everyone greetings and wishing everyone all good health and fortitude in your endeavours.  No reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, kia ora, kia kaha, tēnā koutou katoa.