Cawthron Institute

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 specifically greet you: Bob Dickinson, Chair of the Cawthron Trust Board and other trustees and directors, Reverend Ellena, Gerald Hope, Kerry Marshall, Archdeacon Ruru, Gay Salmon, Agnes Siefried and Rochelle Selby-Neal; Gillian Wratt, Chief Executive of the Cawthron Institute, and staff members; Hon Nick Smith, Minister for the Environment and Member of Parliament for Nelson; Hon Maryan Street, Member of Parliament; Your Worships Aldo Miccio and Richard Kempthorne, the Mayors of Nelson and Tasman respectively; Distinguished Guests otherwise; Ladies and Gentlemen.

It is a great pleasure to be at the Cawthron Institute for its 90th Anniversary celebrations. My wife, Susan, and I very much enjoyed a detailed tour of the Institute’s facilities when we were here in May last year as a part of a visit to the Nelson-Tasman region.

I note that several of my predecessors as Governor-General have spoken at the Cawthron Institute, with Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, the 1st Viscount Jellicoe, opening the Institute on 2 April 1921 being the first.

It is recorded that Lord Jellicoe referred to Thomas Cawthron as ‘a true patriot’.  While he made significant philanthropic donations throughout his life, he had apparently and unfairly gained a reputation of being a miser.

There was nothing miserly, however, about the bequest in his will when he died in 1915.  He left £231,000—a sizeable sum of money in those days—for the establishment of a technical school, institute and museum.

The exact shape the institution should take was not clear in the will and the trustees sought the assistance of a notable advisory panel.  That committee was headed by Emeritus Professor Sir Thomas Easterfield, one of the Foundation Professors of what is now the Victoria University of Wellington, and it decided the Institute would concentrate its work specifically on New Zealand’s primary industries.

Professor Easterfield so impressed the trustees, that they appointed him as the Institute’s inaugural director, a role which he held until 1933.  Founded on Cawthron’s gift and Easterfield’s leadership, vision and enthusiasm, the Institute remains New Zealand’s largest independent community-owned research centres.

In his 1921 speech, Jellicoe said that he was very impressed by what he had seen and that the institute would – as he put it - “benefit the whole of New Zealand to an immense extent”.

It has certainly done that in the nine decades since then.  From early research that traced “bush sickness” in cattle to a lack of cobalt to shellfish breeding today, the Cawthron’s research programmes have clearly had a significant impact on the development of a variety of New Zealand primary industries and on science more generally.  As Easterfield’s successor as Director, Sir Theodore Rigg, noted: “Its establishment was not only of great value to agriculture but it also stimulated scientific research throughout the whole of New Zealand.”

Another of my predecessors, Lord Charles Cobham, spoke here in 1960.  Cobham was a lively speaker whose collected speeches sold widely in New Zealand after his term as Governor-General, to raise funds for the Outward Bound Trust.

Cobham admitted to knowing very little about science. He said in his speech to the Cawthron Institute that in his classical education in England, only one hour a week had been devoted to science.  As he put it: “The authorities regarded science with reserve, if not suspicion; scientists were regarded much in the same light as oddities who wished to study Arabic or learn the bassoon.”

In 1970, Sir Arthur Porritt, the first New Zealand-born Governor-General, opened the Cawthron’s current premises.  As a former Surgeon-General to The Queen, Sir Arthur would have been on much firmer ground in speaking on scientific matters.

Another with a scientific background was Dame Catherine Tizard, who spoke here in 1991.  Dame Cath holds a zoology degree from the University of Auckland, where she worked as a senior tutor for many years.  One of her students in 1963 at the University of Auckland was myself.

In her speech, Dame Cath talked about the need for New Zealanders to be “scientifically well-informed”.  As she put it, “We need people who are not scared by the word ‘science’, who, to use the current jargon, see science as being ‘user-friendly’.”

It was unusual to find women in the field of science even when Cath McLean, as she then was, started at University in the late 1940s.  I was, therefore, most interested to learn that the Cawthron Institute had a very well-qualified woman scientist on its staff right from the beginning. 

According to her entry in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, Kathleen Curtis was the first New Zealand woman to gain a Doctor of Science degree – and she was the first female scientist appointed to a research position in New Zealand when she took up employment at the Cawthron Institute.

Dr Curtis, devoted her life to the work of the Institute, and tackled plant diseases which, in some cases, provided a direct threat to the Nelson region’s economy, these being diseases in tomatoes, apples and tobacco.  The Dictionary entry records that she often went for walks on the hills, hunting out native fungi – and that a puff ball fungus that she found was named after her - Claustula fischeri curtis.

Dr Curtis (later Lady Kathleen Rigg) is, of course, just one of hundreds of scientists who have done their life’s work at the Cawthron.

Having spent my working life in the law before taking on the Governor-General role in 2006, I make no claim to be any more of a scientist than Lord Cobham, although my Bachelor of Laws degree contains unusual cross-credits like Chemistry due to a not entirely successful attempt to complete medical intermediate before starting in the Law School! 

Even so, I think that it is obvious that the work of scientists holds the key to future prosperity.  As the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Adviser, Sir Peter Gluckman, noted in a speech last year:  “Science is fundamental to how we live our lives and how we address the challenges ahead of us on an increasingly compromised planet – protecting our environment while responding to the demands of economic growth and enhanced productivity, improving the way we live in an increasingly complex and networked society, and maintaining and enhancing the relevance of New Zealand in the world.”

In more recent years, the Cawthron Institute has focused its attention on providing high quality research, advice and analytical services to support the development of New Zealand’s seafood industry and the sustainable management of the coastal and freshwater environment.  Given that Lord Jellicoe was, prior to his appointment as Governor-General, the First Sea Lord and a keen yachtsman, it is a direction of which I am sure he would have approved.

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all those who have been associated with the Cawthron in its long and very productive life so far—and I wish the Institute all the best for the next 90 years of scientific research.

On that note I would like to close in New Zealand’s first language Māori, by wishing you all good health and fortitude in your endeavours:  No reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, kia ora, kia kaha, tēnā koutou katoa.