Federation of Women's Institutes

To: Eleanor Holt, President of the New Zealand Federation of Women's Institutes and your fellow national executive members;  to The Honourable Pansy Wong, Minister of Women's Affairs;  to Councillor Deborah Hislop, from the Hutt City Council;  to Representatives of the National Council of Women,  and the New Horizons for Women Trust;  to Distinguished Guests,  Ladies and Gentlemen:  Greetings,  kia ora,  kia orana,  fakalofa lahi atu,  taloha ni  (sign ‘good evening').  These are the languages of the Realm of New Zealand.  They are English, Māori, Cook Island Māori, Nuiean, Tokelauan and New Zealand Sign Language.

Thank you for inviting me to attend this evening and to address you. As the Patron, I will be pleased to formally open this, the Federation's 88th Annual General Meeting.  In my address, I wish to draw parallels between our national history and the history of the Women's Institutes.

I am proud to be Patron of the organisation, not only because it represents strong, traditional values relating to personal, home and family life but also, as the wife of New Zealand's Head of State, I feel you are always around me.  The New Zealand Federation of Women's Institutes has a strong presence in the Wellington Government House.

About 60 years ago, when Sir Bernard Freyberg was the Governor-General, members of the Women's Institutes worked beautiful tapestry seats and backs for chairs which they gave with pride for use at Government House in Wellington.  Since then they have graced the Grand Hall and State Dining Room and they represent both this organisation and the heartland of New Zealand.  You are able to see this one, for Lower Hutt, here tonight.

Near us here, in Government House Vogel, these wonderful chairs are used in the State Dining Room but because there is not the room for all thirty nine, some are in storage until the Wellington House is completed.

The New Zealand Federation of Women's Institutes was started in 1921, only three years after the end of the First World War.  Last year, on Armistice Day, we marked the 90th anniversary of the end of what was meant to be war to end all wars.

Women played a key - and largely unrecorded - role in the conflict.  They kept industry and farms running here while their sons, husbands and brothers were overseas and there were many, too, who served with the troops as nurses.

ANZAC nurses at Gallipoli and later on the western front were estimated to number more than 600 with the New Zealand Army Nursing Service and others working with the Red Cross.

Given that four out of ten of our countrymen who landed on the first day at Gallipoli were killed, it is hard to imagine the horrifying injuries those nurses on the hospital ships had to deal with.  Aparently, the best they could do was comfort dying men, given their practical limitations.

When Anand and I to travelled to Gallipoli earlier this year to represent New Zealanders on ANZAC Day, we were humbled by the plight of these men.  Those nurses must have been overwhelmed.

Also - in 1918 - there were deaths due to the influenza pandemic which followed the war.  These are our worst losses due to disease ever when, in just two months that year, nearly nine thousand kiwis died - about half as many people as had died in the disastrous war - and from a much smaller population than now, as well.

There is no doubt that in 1921 the grim realities of these events were in the minds of our founding women.

At that time there were far more people living in rural areas.  Women's career options and social expectations were more limited and the pressing concerns were for family.

Issues facing women today are quite different.  Yes, focus around home and family remains, but there are added pressures about work, careers and wider politics.  Most New Zealanders live in urban areas - although rural areas continue to be the backbone of our nation's economy.  We are influenced by expectations of our role which have profoundly changed in the last 90 years.

The Federation and its member Institutes have also changed.  That we are no longer called the Country Women's Institute, reflects the wide base of the membership in both rural and urban areas.  With more than eight thousand members we are one of the larger organisations representing women in the country.

New Zealand, and the world, face economic troubles so,  just as in 1921 there were difficult times and women knew how they needed support,  it is today our aim ‘to encourage and inspire women within a dynamic, caring organisation'.

An example of something happening at the moment, I am told, is that there is work going on to provide cooking classes for Kiwis to make inexpensive but hearty meals.  The recipes in the appealing Home & Country are mouth watering and the the articles always interesting.

The fundraising to support Women's Refuges and the scholarships you give are marvellous.  I commend you for your work on these and other initiatives to help to make our wonderful country a better place.

Home & Country is a powerful way to link the Federation and give a real sense of direction through the President's letter.  Eleanor Holt has used this opportunity well to provide cohesion and direction through her steady, fine leadership.

You have as your present theme: "Together we can make it happen."   I believe we can take inspiration from the work of the founding women of 1921, for whom this world looked bleak indeed but who stood together to start the Country Women's' Institutes.  I believe we can also take inspiration from those who, in the gloom after the Second World War, stitched a legacy for us to see in the beautiful chairs like the one here tonight.

Tough times always pass if we can keep working towards a brighter future - and together we will make it happen.

And so it gives me very great pleasure to wish you both fun and progress as I declare the 88th Annual General Meeting of the New Zealand Federation of Women's Institutes officially open.

No reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, kia ora, kia kaha, tēnā koutou katoa.