Speech
Pasifika Medical Association Conference
May I begin by greeting everyone in the languages of the realm of New Zealand, in English, Maori, Cook Island Maori, Niuean, Tokelauan and New Zealand Sign Language. Greetings, Kia Ora, Kia Orana, Fakalofa Lahi Atu, Taloha Ni and as it is the afternoon. (Sign)
May I specifically greet you: Dr Kiki Maoate, President of the Pasifika Medical Association, outgoing President Dr Teuila Percival, and your fellow executive board members; Dr Roro Daniel, Secretary of Health of the Cook Islands; Rieti Maninraka Secretary of Health for Kiribati, Dr Sitaleki Finau Director of Health for Niue; Ms Helen Tavola from the Forum Secretariat; Dr Api Talemaitoga, Chief Advisor Pacific Health from New Zealand's Ministry of Health; Distinguished Guests otherwise; Ladies and Gentlemen.
May I then add, in the context of this gathering, further warm Pacific greetings: Talofa lava; Malo e lelei, Ni sa bula vinaka, Kam na mauri, and Mi likum yu tumas.
It was with pleasure that my wife Susan and I accepted the invitation to attend the 11th annual conference of the Pasifika Medical Association.
In every New Zealand setting, whoever speaks ought to first establish a place to stand before the audience and with regard to health and the Pacific, I am a New Zealander able to approach that from a number of angles.
With reference to the themes of this conference, I am speaking as the son of a doctor. My father worked as a General Practitioner in Ponsonby and Glen Innes here in Auckland for many years until the late 1980s.
I am also speaking as someone with a long-standing interest in the health profession - an interest that was perhaps established by dint of my father's occupation, though subsequently nurtured in a number of ways throughout my working life.
As a working lawyer, Judge and Ombudsman, I have had the opportunity to be connected with many contemporary medico-legal issues.
One example is the 16 months I spent chairing, at the Government's request, the Confidential Forum for Former In Patients of Psychiatric Hospitals. This was a legal first for New Zealand, which sought to add a 'truth and reconciliation' element into dealing with issues that some former patients wished to raise affecting their time in a hospital. The Forum, subsequently chaired by my colleague, former Principal Family Court Judge, Patrick Mahony, when I was appointed Governor-General, released its report last year.
I am also speaking today as a former patient. After a road accident in July 2002 and an odontoid fracture of C2, I spent three months in the "derrick round the head" environment of halo traction equipment.
These three medical perspectives - family, professional and patient - have provided me with some appreciation for the work undertaken by health profession. I acknowledge the hard work and commitment health professionals display in their work.
I am a New Zealander able to approach the Pacific from a number of angles. While born in Auckland, my parents were born in Fiji and so the Pacific is part of my ancestry in that way. Indeed, when opening the Tangata o le Moana exhibition at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa last year, one of the "exhibits," appearing in a video describing growing up in Auckland as the child of a Pacific immigrants was myself.
Also from a personal perspective, due to an uncle migrating from Fiji to Tutuila in the 1930s, I have Samoan relatives living in American Samoa and Hawaii, and last year I was able to privately visit and to visit family graves in Pago Pago.
As Governor-General, I am not only the representative of New Zealand's Head of State, but also that of the wider Realm of New Zealand, which includes the self-governing states of Niue and the Cook Islands and the territory of Tokelau and hence my formal greetings when beginning to speak this evening. I do that on all public occasions in New Zealand. In my first year as Governor-General, I had the pleasure of visiting all three and of emphasising that as Governor-General I must serve them all.
New Zealand Governors-General have increasingly represented our nation to the rest of the world, and so I have also travelled widely, visiting both Samoa and Tonga twice.
New Zealand is a nation of migrants. Some travelled in canoes from Polynesia. Some travelled in sailing ships and steamers from Europe and Asia. Others came in ships and aeroplanes from the Pacific, Asia and throughout the world. As noted New Zealand historian, the late Dr Michael King said:
"In a country inhabited for a mere one thousand years, everybody is an immigrant or a descendent of an immigrant."
The last New Zealand Census in 2006 found that about 23 percent of New Zealanders were born overseas. That increasing diversity is enriching New Zealand's society, culture and economy.
One of those many groups of immigrants has been those from New Zealand's Pacific neighbours, which now account for almost seven percent of the population. Of the almost 266,000 people who identified as being Pacific origin, most were from six major island groups—Samoa; the Cook Islands; Tonga; Niue; Fiji; and Tokelau.
All these connections emphasise how much New Zealand is part of the Pacific and the Pacific is part of New Zealand. From arriving as largely poor migrants to an affluent country, they have achieved much. Auckland journalist Gilbert Wong summed up well Pacific Islanders' achievements in New Zealand as he wrote in Metro Magazine:
"All that first-generational migrant drive for children to make the most of education has resulted in the police officers, nurses, teachers, bank managers, lawyers and doctors Some have attained the higher reaches of society professional associations have sprung up a critical mass of Pacific people forming a new identity a few hours by 747 from their home islands. New Zealand is close enough to the springs of Pacific culture for those living here to be refreshed and constantly renewed, whatever they choose to call themselves."
But while the people of the Pacific, both Pasifika here in New Zealand and throughout the region, have much to be proud of, the community faces significant challenges, and none more so than in issues related to health.
According to the Ministry of Health, Pacific people in New Zealand die younger and have higher rates of chronic diseases than other ethnic groups, excluding Maori. Pacific peoples are more likely to suffer from and die from heart disease, cancer, strokes or diabetes than other New Zealanders.
The solution to these issues lies not in accusations and finger pointing, but in partnerships with communities. More than 20 years ago, the first international conference on health promotion, held under the auspices of the World Health Organisation, presented the Ottawa Charter. Named after the city in which the conference was held, it continues to be a key document for guiding health professionals.
While recognising that peace, shelter, education, food, income, sustainable resources and social justice were the fundamental conditions for health, the Charter went further by emphasising that these had to be achieved within a wider framework. Food is important, but we all know that too much or the wrong kind can just as easily lead to as many problems as not having enough.
The Ottawa Charter outlined five areas for action—building healthy public policy; creating supportive environments; strengthening community action; developing personal skills and re-orientating health care services toward prevention of illness and promotion of health.
These action areas resonate well with the themes of your conference, particularly around collaboration and sharing of resources, reforms in the health sector and excellence in professional practice. They are also themes that fit well with the aims of the Pasifika Medical Association.
A key issue for the health sector, not only in New Zealand, but throughout the world, is the need to respond to the unique health needs of our many cultures. This is no small order and, as I have noted, it can only be achieved through collective action over a long period of time.
I would like to finish by issuing a challenge or what is called in Maori a wero - that you leave this conference with a renewed sense of purpose to work for the betterment of the people and communities you serve. In doing so, do not be afraid of aiming high and seeking the best for your people and communities. It is well expressed in the following Maori proverb which in Maori goes:
Whaia te iti kahurangi. Ki te tuohu koe, me he maunga teitei. And which in English goes:-
"Search for great things. If one has to bow, let it be to a lofty mountain."
And on that note, I will close in New Zealand's first language Maori, by offering everyone greetings and wishing you good health and fortitude in their endeavours. No reira, tena koutou, tena koutou, kia ora, kia kaha, tena koutou katoa.