Scholars Assembly, Sacred Heart College

Ladies and Gentlemen and Students of Sacred Heart, I greet you in the languages of the realm of New Zealand - English, Maori, Cook Island, Niuean and Tokelauan.

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

Specifically may I greet you: Principal, Jim Dale; Deputy Rob Pepping, Curriculum director Christopher Hayward, Marist Brothers notably Brothers Richard Dunleavy and Marcel Hall; Staff otherwise and Students.

It is an honour, and a personal milestone to be invited here today.

An honour in being the first person from outside the SacredHeartCollege community to have been invited to present the Scholars Awards.

It is a personal milestone because as someone who left here 45 years ago in 1962, I could not have imagined that I would be returning, in 2007, to speak with the school as Governor-General of the country.

I certainly had ambitions and goals although they were not formed. I knew I wanted to be a professional person, to work with communities and I hoped for eventual success in both these endeavours.

But life can take unexpected turns. Indeed, I doubt that there would be many 13, 15, or even 18 year old students who would set themselves the goal of becoming Governor-General.

If I can impart any morsel of wisdom with you, it is wisdom that I draw from my own experience. As I mentioned, I did not spend my school days dreaming of becoming Governor-General, but I did spend school days aspiring to be the best and most productive person I could be, even if that was accompanied by many times when I felt it hadn't happened.

By being single-minded in the goal of being competent and productive, I was able to follow a career which took me down many paths.

Indeed, mine has been a career where every ten years or so, I had a new set of windows open. This provided me with an ever-changing perspective on our legal and political system, and our people.

With it grew a great fondness and respect for New Zealand and its people which has only increased and distilled over the last few months.

Ultimately, it was an over-all goal for me to achieve to the best of my ability, and to embrace many ways of achieving that.

To illustrate the benefits of remaining flexible so as to achieve goals, it might be useful to give you a short insight into my career.

After leaving the College, I went to University and after a faltering start, to study law. I worked part-time as a Law Clerk while a student.  I met my wife Susan whilst still a law clerk and we married at the end of the University time in 1970 so she has shared what follows next and has provided the absolute essential - of a warm, loving and sound household for ourselves and our children, without which none of what I am about to relate (or at least very little) would have been possible.

Following graduation with a standard degree and admission to the Bar, I practiced as a lawyer for 12 years. Half of that was spent as a Crown prosecutor and the other half as a regular court lawyer, with an emphasis on criminal law and revenue law.

When the Court structure was changed and expanded at the beginning of the 1980s I was recruited to be a District Court Judge, with both general and criminal jury trial jurisdiction. During the next period of time from 1982 to 1995 I worked as a Judge in Palmerston North for a short time and then Auckland for a 10 year or so time.

I 1995 I was appointed an Ombudsman by Parliament for two terms each of five years. As Ombudsman, there were several tasks.  I investigated complaints made by members of the public against New Zealand' s central, regional or local government or agencies. It involved making decisions about whether or not their complaints were reasonable and to make recommendations when they were not.  I also dealt with freedom of information cases.

Last year, I was appointed as Governor-General. In this role, I represent our formal Head of State, Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II.  I will serve in this role for five years.

After that, I cannot be certain what I will do. although I expect my wife Susan and I will be motivated to go on a very long and uninterrupted holiday.

to make what I have said have some scale or sense it is necessary to ask if there is a theme.  If there is a theme to my career, it is captured in the word "learning".  Learning about people, about how we live together and how we can work together to ensure our country is one we continue to be proud of.

Learning does not begin on the first day of a new job. It does not begin on the first day of college, or even on the very first day of school. It begins the moment you are born and it should never stop. Learning is the very essence, as well as the foundation of life.

The American philosopher Mortimer Adler once said, and I quote:

The purpose of learning is growth, and our minds, unlike our bodies, can continue growing as we continue to live.

Partly because of this, I believe it is important to always keep an interest in not only your immediate work, but in the wider world around you.

In a College setting, this means always looking to be involved in things that are happening outside the classroom, as well as achieving to the highest degree that which is within the classroom.

I should emphasise that achieving in the classroom is, of course, a priority while at College. This requires listening to your teachers, it requires self-motivation and focus, and it requires participation within the classroom environment.

These are all requirements to succeed in any endeavour in life. So it is well worth developing and honing these skills today.

Throughout my working life, I have always maintained a recreational interest in subjects outside my immediate duties. I have tried to consider my work from a number of aspects - rather than being solely guided by my tasks - and this has needed much forebearance from my wife Susan and the family I have been blessed to have.

While a practising lawyer, I developed an interest in criminal law reform and served on a Government-led body in that regard.

Likewise, I maintained an interest in the development of continuing professional education programmes to help further the skills of working lawyers.

As a Judge, I continued this interest in professional education and became responsible for the country's Judicial Orientation Programme, and Judicial Education Programme.

I also developed an interest in criminal justice and the work undertaken by Prison Boards and the Parole Board. Both of these are clearly an integral part of the legal system and deserve considerable attention.

As an Ombudsman, I maintained this interest in continuing professional education. It was an interest which formalised when I was invited to be part of a Commonwealth Secretariat group delivering a training programme for newly appointed Commonwealth Ombudsmen in London.

This interest in furthering professional education was not a core part of my legal work - at any stage in my career. If we use an educational metaphor, these activities were extra-curricular.

However, just as young people should experience education beyond school, I believe adults should likewise experience their profession beyond the workplace.

One of the best ways to achieve this is by being connected with the community and with organisations that serve the community. These often provide the right environment for continuing your education outside the classroom, or the workplace.

In my experience, maintaining wider interests and keeping close to the community have helped me become a better lawyer, a better Judge and a better Ombudsman than I might otherwise have been.  I was able to do this with sport and with service on community committees - which is something my wife Susan did as well and was something we encouraged our children to do.

If my own experiences can act as any kind of guide to you, it may be in two parts.

First, I have found it valuable to set high standards for myself. Without limiting my ambitions to any particular job, I have always aimed to always do my absolute best.

Secondly, I have tried to keep my mind open to learning and to new opportunities. This has helped me remain inquisitive and fresh - and I believe this has helped open many doors for my progression.

The two are clearly connected - one is not possible without the other. To be the best at whatever you do, you must remain open to new thinking and experiences.

I would like to reiterate my pleasure at being here today, as a Sacred Heart College Old Boy and to acknowledge the start I received here at the hand of the Marist Brothers.  I am also pleased to say that a number of my personal friends remain those whom I first met whilst here.  Lastly I remain pleased to have as respected friends Marist Brothers like Marcel and Richard.

I would then like to congratulate all the Award recipients being honoured today.

You have each shown yourself to be capable of setting yourself high goals, and achieving them.

Your efforts today will set you up for high achievement later in life and I look forward to seeing how you contribute to your communities, in the future.

One day, let it be a positive prospect that you will return as an Old Boy to present awards to SacredHeartCollege students of the future.

I began speaking in all the New Zealand realm languages.  May I close by speaking in Maori 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.