Grand Final of the 2008 New Zealand Schools' Debating Championships
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 morning (Sign).
May I specifically greet you: Hon Peter Dunne, Minister of Revenue; Howard Broad, Commissioner of Police and your deputy Rob Pope; Dr Helen Bichan, from the Bioethics Council; Tim Clarke, Greer Robson and Odette Wilson of the law firm, Russell McVeagh; Dr Andrew Stockley; student debaters; Distinguished Guests otherwise; Ladies and Gentlemen.
Thank you for inviting my wife Susan and I to attend the Grand Final of the 2008 New Zealand Schools' Debating Championships. I am sure that everyone in the audience this morning is as impressed as I have been by the very high quality of the debate just observed. May I offer warm congratulations to all speakers.
As Patron of the New Zealand Schools' Debating Council, I come to address the gathering now, immediately after the final debate at a point where the well pitched words of its participants are still very much in the ears of the audience. To be asked to speak now is to occupy what some might term 'the graveyard slot'.
However that thought dissipates more than somewhat, first because of the chemistry of this fine room. The legislative chamber is, may I suggest, is both a fine room in which to speak as well as being a fine statement of our country and its history. Consider for a moment the crest on the plinth behind me symbolising our colonial past and compare that with the contemporary Seal of New Zealand on the podium at which I speak. Consider too, the fine New Zealand timbers with which this room is lined and the craftsmanship that has gone into the panelling. Above us wrought in stone and marble are columns that reflect not only the United Kingdom but beyond to Greece and Rome.
It is, also a pleasure to acknowledge not only the students taking part in the Grand Final, but everyone who has participated in the tournament. All those who came to Wellington as representatives of their regions can be very proud of the skill and endeavour that have brought them here.
I am from a long association with debating more than somewhat familiar with the nature of these moments when the external speaker also provides the adjudicators with some much needed cogitation time.
As a speaker otherwise I have spent much of a working life as a lawyer, judge and ombudsman. Often in public, and now as Governor-General, I am called on to address a great number of functions. I know what it means to have a piece of time - often a small piece of time - in which to find the best possible words and to make the most compelling case.
I know that all participants will have invested considerable effort to attain the necessary persuasive eloquence required of debating. Thomas Woodrow Wilson, 28th President of the United States from 1913 to 1921 was a man who made many speeches, and was once asked how long it took him to prepare. He famously said: 'It depends.
If I am to speak ten minutes, I need a week for preparation; if fifteen minutes, three days; if half an hour, two days; if for an hour, I am ready now'.
These words may have a certain ironic tinge to those who have grappled recently with the demands of impromptu debate. Nonetheless, they signal something of the nature of debating itself. When the clock ticks, and the bell is to ring soon, there is simply no option of speaking for an hour, hoping somewhere along the way to stumble over the points one wishes to make.
Preparation is what will have underpinned all this competition. You will have all worked very hard; you have prepared your arguments and found the words that have brought you to this point. Some of you will be rewarded by inclusion in the national team and later participation in international competition.
All of you will find that your involvement in debating will itself have helped prepare you well for the future.
You will certainly have developed a sense of the benefit of clever teamwork. You will know about the advantages of a careful, structured approach to a task - and how this is in no way inconsistent with having a great deal of fun.
And you will all have developed a certain confidence in your ability to engage in the many dialogues involved with civic life. You will accordingly join those who help frame some of those debates and will learn to speak up, I hope, when you know it is important to do so. Our country needs more and more people to participate in and develop our democracy and a central message I have is to encourage this.
It is not necessarily any easy ask. Sometimes the opposition will be intimidating, and their arguments insulting. But by continuing to talk, you will help the society you live in, develop and refine constructive ways of dealing with disagreement.
I am one who thinks that disagreement and diversity are good things for our society. And I very much like a phrase I saw in the recently published Reed Book of New Zealand Quotations attributed to a man called John Daley in 2002 saying, "stroppy poppy choppers have thrived here [in New Zealand] for years and done rather too good a job at keeping us in our place".
By debating you will also know in your bones that most issues have at least two sides. Of course, you'll have a preferred position, the position you think is right and correct. You will share your perspective, and advocate for it. You will know, though, how things could have been argued in another way; and how a familiar event in a different light can throw another set of shadows.
You will be in a position to respect the diverse views and experiences of your fellow-citizens, and to help others develop and express that respect. As New Zealanders continue to think more explicitly about our identity as a nation, you will get to articulate some of the central questions of the times. You will, get to rebut glib or dangerous answers, and use your skills to help you find the best way forward. And I for one, among many, look forward to your contribution.
Meanwhile, with my own enthusiasm for debating, I have come close to breaching my own time limit this morning. Let me then underline congratulations to all participants in these championships. Best wishes are due too, to the teachers and coaches, the sponsors, parents and supporters.
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 your endeavours. No reira, tena koutou, tena koutou, kia ora, kia kaha, tena koutou katoa.