Presentation of Royal Humane Society Silver Medal and Charles Upham Award for Bravery to Inspector Alastair Dickie

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

Greetings, Kia Ora, Kia Orana, Fakalofa Lahi Atu, Taloha Ni and (Sign)

Specifically may I greet you: President of the Court of Directors, Royal Humane Society of New Zealand, Judge Neil Hattaway; Chairman of the Charles Upham Trust Board, Colonel Lindsay Williams; Mayor of Dunedin, Your Worship Peter Chin; Councillors; Awards Recipient Alastair Dickie and his family; Jordan Puku and his family.

Susan and I thank you for your invitation to present The Royal Humane Society Silver Medal and Charles Upham Trust Award for Bravery to Inspector Alastair Dickie this afternoon.

I am speaking today as both Governor-General and as Patron of the Royal Humane Society of New Zealand. But I am also speaking as a father of three children. In this capacity, I can empathise with the Puku family and the gratitude they must feel for the efforts of Inspector Dickie.This act of bravery performed by Inspector Dickie would strike a particular chord with any parent.

Present with us today is the family of Inspector Dickie, some of whom I am advised have flown in from Australia. Also present is Jordan Puku, who was rescued, and his family. I am aware that this is something that rarely occurs at the presentation of these awards and I am pleased that the two families may meet in such a situation as this.

As Governor-General, one aspect of the role is to meet and acknowledge extraordinary New Zealanders, some who may have put the lives of others before their own.Today presents a most telling example of such an extraordinary New Zealander, as we honour the bravery of Inspector Dickie. 

As we have heard already, on the morning of 23 May 2006, then Senior Sergeant Dickie rescued Jordan from a burning ground floor motel unit, putting his own life in danger in the process.

Few of us know for sure that we would put our lives on the line to save another person's life, especially the life of someone we do not know. Even for those of us who believe we would, if the situation were to arise then it may not be so easy to carry through our best intentions. This is not something I believe we should be ashamed of. Instead, I mention it to emphasise that it takes someone with rare courage to achieve such a feat. 

Such people might say that they did not doubt whether to go forth and perform an act of bravery. They will also say that anyone in the same position would have acted as they did. Again, it is testament to their particular nature that this is the case.

What is most important, however, is that they have acted to save another, despite a very real threat to themselves.

As the Greek Historian Thucydides once said:

"...the bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding, go out to meet it."

Kenneth Sandford's book "Mark of the Lion" is a favoured member of my library.  A short excerpt from page 89 puts this matter well."Upham was now in a state of exhilarated defiance.  The enemy machine-guns, firing from close range, were the main trouble.  He had to detect them, point them out to his riflemen, have them destroyed. 

So in an audacious game he paraded up and down, exposing himself long enough to draw enemy fire, enabling him to pin-point each gun that began firing at him.  One by one his men shot them out of the battle.

'There Charlie was,'  McKegney said later, 'telling us to keep down, keep down, and all the time standing there in the open himself, his arm in a sling.  Most of the boys thought it was too hot for us to stay there, but they couldn't do much about it, with Charlie wandering around as if it didn't matter, lead flying everywhere.  You'd have thought he was planning to stay a couple of months.  Charlie knew, I suppose, that if we didn't stick it out for a few hours the whole div might have gone west.'"

That kind of courage was of epic proportions.  In an after word to "Mark of the Lion" there is reference to a letter written to the editor of the Christchurch Press at the time of Upham's death in 1994.  That letter says in part:"As we bury one of history's greatest heroes we would do well to remember that compassion and duty, loyalty and service were the values which Upham gave his all for.  No call of cash register or self-preservation drove Upham on.  Only a deeply felt and understood sense of what was right."

Here, somewhat later in 2007, in highlighting the courage displayed by such people as Inspector Dickie, we can also learn from them. We can look at our own lives and perhaps identify how we can put someone else ahead of ourselves.

This could be through volunteer work, through donating to a charity or simply by helping out a neighbour. These things may not be life-threatening acts of bravery, but they could result in a life-changing outcome for someone else.

While the day-to-day life of Inspector Dickie may have changed little since Jordan's rescue, we have been told that had he not shown such courage, Jordan would not be here today and the lives of his family would have been changed forever.

It is for this reason that the presentation of two of New Zealand's highest peacetime bravery medals to Inspector Alistair Dickie is a worthy reward for his actions. I once again commend his bravery and on the community's behalf register thanks and admiration.

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