Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum Dinner

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 evening (Sign Good Evening). 

May I specifically greet you: Rt Hon Helen Clark, Prime Minister of New Zealand; Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, Hon Julia Gillard;  Ministers of the Crown from Australia and New Zealand; John Key, Leader of Opposition; Members of Australian and New Zealand Parliaments; Forum co-Chairs John Allen and Rod McGeoch;  Distinguished guests otherwise;  ladies and gentlemen.

My wife Susan and I have great pleasure in welcoming you here to Government House in Wellington this evening, and to host this dinner as part of the 2008 Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum. 

We are delighted, both professionally and personally, that you are here.  Professionally, because it seems entirely fitting to celebrate our country's most important relationship in Government House.

Personally, because while I was born in New Zealand, Susan was born in Australia and thus we are two more people who personify the great sense of family and kinship that joins our two nations together

Earlier this year arose the great privilege to make a State Visit to Australia and to be hosted by Governor-General Major General Michael Jeffrey and Mrs Marlena Jeffrey, to meet Prime Minister, Hon Kevin Rudd, and to encounter many eminent Australians and reflect on their connections with New Zealand.

And connections there were many, spanning government, law, commerce, science, sport as well as family.   

Your presence tonight again honours those connections and that friendship, and - I hope that you will look to ways of enhancing it in the future.

There are some rock-solid foundations to stand on, none greater perhaps than the great ANZAC tradition which continues to play - such an important role in how we think of ourselves both separately and together. 

As the mission to Australia re-affirmed, there are huge similiarities between our two countries.  But there are some significant differences in the make-up of our populations, in the shape and size of our economies, and - sad to say - in the relative performance of our cricket teams!

But let us not solely depend on the similarities as we take this relationship forward.  After all, it can be in the differences, in the nuances, where there is much to learn, in both directions.

The American writer Mark Twain, who visited New Zealand in 1895, apparently wrote that 'all people think that New Zealand is close to Australia and that you cross to it on a bridge'. 

In the ways that count most, the closeness certainly exists, though the particular bridge does not.  In the more than 90 years since Gallipoli we have maintained our sense of connection, and realised it in a great range of activities and endeavours.

So it is, that a New Zealander far from home - walking down a London street, perhaps, or eating or in a restaurant in Chicago - will feels a leap of at least something when he or she overhears the distinctive diphthongs of the Australian accent.  It's not quite ours, but it's not hugely different.  It speaks to us of somewhere very near home - notwithstanding the 2000 odd kilometres between Wellington and Sydney.

New Zealand and Australia have a set of relationships unparalleled elsewhere.

That world, however, is not static and thus this great relationship must continue to evolve to meet the new challenges of our times - especially in a world that faces what the former Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, called "problems without passports", namely trans-national challenges requiring trans-national solutions.

If the past, distant and recent, is any guide, we can rise to that together.

We share a common Westminster legal and parliamentary heritage; are the proud owners of CER, the world's finest free trade agreement; founding members of the Commonwealth and the United Nations; stalwart contributors to the cause of freedom in the world's troubled regions; and, may I add, co-owners of not only of Phar Lap but also of Robbie Deans! 

And, domestically, we are both proudly  independent nations determined to build better societies, to acknowledge mistakes of our pasts, and committed to the well-being of all our current and future citizens.

Our people can move between our two countries freely as workers, students and tourists, enjoying the many advantages of such experiences.  We are free to decide to stay at each other's place - perhaps for a long time, or perhaps just while the billy boils.

Once again, I welcome you here tonight and I extend to you very best wishes for your discussions during the remainder of the Forum.

When in Canberra in February our party visited the New Zealand Memorial there.  Those of you who have visited it will recall that it symbolises the ANZAC relationship through a pair of bronze structures resembling the handles of a Maori basket or kete.  Engraved on it is a Maori proverb which reads:

Mau tenei kiwai o te kete, maku tenei

which translates as: "You at the one handle, and I at the other handle, of the basket."

Ladies and Gentlemen, I cannot presently think of a more fitting metaphor for our common endeavour.  

On that note, I will close in New Zealand's first language, Maori, by offering greetings and wishing you good health and fortitude in your endeavours. No reira, tena koutou, tena koutou, kia ora, kia kaha, tena koutou katoa.