Asia Pacific Regional Board Meeting of the Duke of Edinburgh's Award Dinner

Greetings, Kia Ora, Kia Orana, Fakalofa Lahi Atu, Taloha Ni.

May I specifically greet you: John Pascoe, Chairman of the Asia-Pacific Region of The Duke of Edinburgh's Award and Chief Federal Magistrate of Australia; Andrew Meehan, Chairman of the Young New Zealanders' Challenge; Distinguished Guests otherwise; Ladies and Gentlemen.

As Governor-General and President of the Young New Zealanders' Challenge of the Duke of Edinburgh Awards (Te Wero Taiohi o Aotearoa), it was with great pleasure that my wife Susan and I accepted the invitation to attend the Award's Asia Pacific Regional Dinner this evening.

I would like to take this opportunity to speak briefly as to what I see as the value of the Young New Zealanders' Challenge and its future in our country. To start, I would like to quote from a testimonial from a young man who has recently completed his Bronze Award:

"In the future I am looking forward to attending a polytechnic course in Canterbury and want to become a builder or joiner with long-term goals of joining the Army . I am also looking forward to completing my silver award and then want to complete my gold award before December 2008 The Young New Zealanders Challenge has given me a new focus and allowed me to reassess my life ambitions. It has also allowed me to be involved with sports again."

The goals this clearly focused 15-year-old expresses are highly commendable and would be shared by many at his age who are also involved with the Challenge.  But what makes his story different is that seven years ago his mother died, his elderly father found it increasingly difficult to care for him and last year he and a friend robbed a store at knifepoint.  He now lives in a CYFS Care and Protection Home.

The Challenge, however, has been a key catalyst in extricating this young man from the criminal justice statistics. As a former lawyer and judge I know of so many boys for whom a knifepoint robbery at such a young age was not the last of their contact with the criminal justice system, but the beginning of a life-long association, often with tragic consequences. 

In addition to the enormous monetary costs of the courts and imprisonment, such an association has immense human costs.  They include victims and their families being emotionally and often physically scarred for life, the offenders' family being shamed and so much human potential being wasted. It is therefore heartening to read of how the Challenge helped a young man veer away from such a sadly well-trodden path.

Before taking up the position of Governor-General last year, I went and met, as is the custom, Her Majesty The Queen in London.  I also took the opportunity to visit the International Award Office for the Scheme.

The Office arranged for me to visit a Youth Prison Establishment in Aylesbury where the Award Programme works with some of the most dangerous young offenders in the United Kingdom.  I was particularly impressed to see a facility installed by a leading car manufacturer that allowed these young men to learn about mechanics and to gain points towards Duke of Edinburgh Awards.  Just like the real life story I read out earlier, this visit showed how the Award can play a significant part in ensuring that a young person's first time in prison might also be their last time.

Anecdotal evidence is now being supplemented by quantitative research.  I am advised that an independent evaluation of young offenders involved in an Award programme in Scotland between 2003 and 2005 showed a 75 percent reduction in offending and a 93 percent retention rate. For those, such as myself, who have long been perplexed by the dilemma of turning around youth offending, these are particularly heartening statistics.

What this information also reveals is that, contrary to the impression some may have, the Award reaches into all corners of our society and indeed all corners of the world.  The presence of representatives from 10 countries at the regional workshop and regional board meeting being held here in Auckland speaks volumes of the increasingly international reach of the Award. I am advised that there are now 125 countries participating in the Award involving more than 620,000 participants.

As President of the Award in New Zealand, I have presented 215 Gold Awards at ceremonies throughout the country since August last year.  Some came to the Award through partnerships with Scouts, Guides, Boys' Brigade, Girls' Brigade or St John.  Others have come to the Award through their School, University, Marae, Special Needs Unit or refugee group.  The diversity and background of those receiving awards has been startling to me.

In conclusion, in the 44 years since my predecessor Sir Bernard Fergusson instituted the Awards in New Zealand, they have established themselves as a key mechanism in instilling key values of citizenship and responsibility.  The Challenge also involves thousands of New Zealanders in voluntary service and holds much promise in helping our society deal with some of its most intractable problems. 

But most importantly, for the young people involved, the Challenge helps build that most precious of qualities—self-confidence. As the great writer Samuel Johnson once said: "Self-confidence is the first requisite to great undertakings."

And on that heartening note I will close in Maori by issuing greetings and wishing you good health and fortitude in your endeavours. No reira, tena koutou, tena koutou, kia ora, kia kaha, tena koutou katoa.