Speech
Auckland Chinese New Year Festival
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: Arthur Loo, Chairman of the Auckland Chinese Community Centre; you Prime Minister the Rt Hon Helen Clark, you John Key, Leader of the Opposition; Minister of the Crown, Hon Judith Tizard Members of Parliament - and there are a significant number Pansy Wong, Hon Tau Henare, Dr Jonathan Coleman, Jackie Blue, Tim Groser; Consul-General Ma Chong Ren, Consul-General of the People's Republic of China; Your Worships, Hon John Banks, Bob Harvey and Len Brown, the Mayors of Auckland, Waitakere and Manukau respectively; Distinguished Guests otherwise, Ladies and Gentlemen. Greetings to you all and in the context of today's gathering may I add: Nei Ho and Ni Hao.
Thank you for inviting my wife Susan and myself to attend this year's 2008 Chinese New Year Festival and Market Day here at the ASB Epsom Showgrounds.
This is a day for many short speeches. In mine I would like to comment on how Chinese New Year festivities are ancient and important to Chinese communities around the world but they are also a way in which other New Zealanders have come to respect and connect with Chinese people.
Secondly these celebrations in Auckland, and elsewhere throughout New Zealand, show off the contribution of people of Chinese descent to New Zealand.
Through a combination of hard work and enterprise, those of Chinese descent have added value to New Zealand's economy and society by their participation in business and the professions and more recently in public life and wider society.
The 2006 Census revealed that Chinese migrants are one of this country's fastest growing ethnic groups and close to 150,000 people of Chinese descent now call New Zealand home. Those contributions vary from the pioneering work of Taranaki businessman Chew Chong in establishing New Zealand's dairy industry through to people such as Peter Chin and Meng Foon, the Mayors of Dunedin and Gisborne in local government, Pansy Wong in Parliament, and Manying Ip in academia. These are but a few of the many examples that could be given—think for example how many accountants and doctors of Chinese background work for the benefit of our community.
Chinese people have also made a significant contribution in facilitating trade between New Zealand and China. Getting on for forty years ago, when New Zealand established diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China, trade volumes between New Zealand and China were just $7 million—today they are over 1,000 times that level, and still growing in both directions.
Chinese New Year celebrations have grown to become a community-wide celebration of colour, culture and cuisine and I wish to add congratulations to the Auckland Chinese Community Centre for again organising this wonderful event.
Like New Year celebrations in all cultures, Chinese New Year celebrations mark the end of one year and the seeking of better fortune in the year ahead. The year ahead is the Year of the Rat said to be a year when hard work will be rewarded. It is also a family time, when ties of kinship are renewed and family achievements are celebrated.
To you all I say: Sun nin fai lok and Gung hei fatt choi and I wish everyone a happy and prosperous new year.
Our country's first language Maori has a custom which I think deserves respect - that of the speaker finishing, offering greetings and wishing everyone good health and fortitude in their endeavours. I will do that here by saying:- No reira, tena koutou, tena koutou, kia ora, kia kaha, tena koutou katoa.