Speech
Auckland Grammar School Old Girls' Network
I greet everyone in the languages of the realm of New Zealand - 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)
May I specifically acknowledge you: Jennifer Froude, President of the Auckland Grammar School Old Girls' Network; Liz Thomson, Patron and School Principal; other Association office holders and members of the executive committee; distinguished guests otherwise; ladies and gentlemen.
Thank you for inviting my wife Susan and myself to attend the Association's Annual Dinner. I have been asked to speak on my vision for the future of New Zealand. This is a somewhat daunting topic, which one can approach from many different angles.
I will approach it by first looking backwards for, as American philosopher George Santayana once said: "Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it." New Zealand has recently passed two significant milestones in its history.
The first milestone, on 26 September, was the 100th anniversary of the declaration of Dominion status in 1907. While the declaration meant that New Zealand was no longer a colony, it did not, as some in the media have recently suggested, result in New Zealand being independent of Britain. New Zealand remained a part of the British Empire and was no more or less independent that it had been before. That's probably the way most New Zealanders wanted it as language, culture, defence and trade links bound most Pkeh people to the wider 'Britannic world', then at the height of its prestige.
Outside of the pomp and ceremony in Wellington, Dominion Day was a largely low-key affair. In Foxton the Town Clerk read the proclamation to an audience of two—himself and the local newspaper reporter.
It wasn't until 25 November 1947, when New Zealand finally adopted the Statute of Westminster that this country was truly an independent nation. Adoption of the Statute—16 years after it was passed by the British Parliament—meant Britain could no longer pass laws for New Zealand without request and consent from Wellington. A few months later, in 1948, Parliament passed its first citizenship legislation, creating for the first time the concept of New Zealand citizenship. It is strange indeed that while both these laws resulted in fundamental changes in our constitution and place in the world, neither has ever been marked with the same level of fanfare.
The second milestone, marked on 12 October, was the 90th anniversary of the Third Battle of Passchendaele. On that fateful day in Belgium, New Zealand suffered its greatest military losses either before or since. In the space of two hours, more than 2800 men were killed, injured or lost in action. The decision to send New Zealand troops into what commanders on the ground could see was going to be a disaster, was made by British rather than New Zealand commanders.
In July of this year -three months ago, Susan and I visited the battlefields in Flanders and represented New Zealand at the European commemorations of the Battle. The sacrifice of so many was brought home to us when we visited the largest Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery at Tyne Cot, where headstones stretched as far as one can see.
The horrors of the First World War meant that while New Zealand "went where Britain went" in the Second World War, it did not, however, so easily give away control of its troops. My predecessor, Lord Freyberg, as head of the 2nd NZ Expeditionary Force was given explicit instructions that he was a servant of the New Zealand Government and not the British military. Along with signing the Treaty of Versailles in its own right in 1919 at the end of the First War, it was further evidence of New Zealand's growing independent stance in its foreign relations.
What both these anniversaries remind us is that New Zealand has changed so much in relatively little time. For a nation that is about as old as the invention of photography, we have gone from being a dependent colony to independent nation in a very short space of time. New Zealand decides its own place in the world and (for example) where its troops will and will not serve.
Culturally, New Zealand has also changed markedly. In 1907, the Maori population had declined to such an extent that some forecast the complete demise of the race. Maori language and culture were seen as quaint museum pieces while the confiscations of the land wars were injustices keenly felt by those who had experienced them first hand.
Today, Maori are a vibrant part of New Zealand society, culture and economy. Maori language and culture are cherished as an important part of New Zealand's increasingly diverse multicultural society. While much remains to be done, the injustices of the land wars are finally being resolved.
New Zealand is now more culturally diverse than at anytime in its history. The 2006 Census revealed that 22 percent of New Zealanders were born overseas. A century ago, most New Zealanders born overseas hailed from Britain and Ireland. At the last census, the number of New Zealanders born in Britain and Ireland had dropped to 28 percent—exactly the same proportion as those born in Asia.
That diversity in reflected in the ethnic makeup of the more than 1300 students of your alma mater, Auckland Girls' Grammar today. Pakeha make up just under 30 percent of the roll while Maori make up a further 20 percent. The other half of the school are Samoan (16%); Tongan (6%); Indian (5%), Niuean (4%); Chinese (4%), Cook Island Maori (4%); with other Asian, Pacific and African peoples making up the remainder.
Such diversity will increasingly be the norm and I believe that my appointment as Governor-General, as one born in New Zealand, but with links to Fiji and India, is a reflection of that underlying change.
That diversity is enriching New Zealand's culture, society and economy. It also bodes well for greater understanding between different cultures. The words of former American President Jimmy Carter come to mind and although he was speaking of the United States they seem equally apt in describing New Zealand's growing diversity. Carter said:
"We have become not a melting pot but a beautiful mosaic. Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams."
But these different beliefs, yearnings, hopes and dreams also pose challenges as the values of those new to our nation may clash with the democratic and secular values that New Zealanders hold dear. New Zealand will have to sensibly debate how those differing values will be reconciled. To that end, your Association, as an organisation whose members are sourced from an increasingly multi-cultural school, can play an important role in informing this debate.
In New Zealand's short history, another area of dramatic change has been in the role of women. When your school was founded and the first girls joined the boys' grammar school in 1888, women could not vote. And while New Zealand became the first country to grant women the right to vote in 1893, it was not until 1919 that they could stand for election to Parliament. And it was 41 years after suffrage that a woman was elected as an MP.
The role of women in New Zealand has changed dramatically as women now pursue careers in business, the community, the military and politics. During the time of my predecessor, Dame Silvia Cartwright, New Zealand was probably unique in the world in that women held as many as four pivotal constitutional roles - of Governor-General, Prime Minister, Chief Justice and Speaker of the House. Despite those advances, statistics continue to show that women lag behind men in representation in senior management and director roles and in pay equality.
Another area that has changed dramatically is our education system, particularly at the secondary level. Teenagers are seen less as "older children" and more as "young adults." The values that underpin that choice of words in turn reflects the seismic change in pedagogies that have seen our school system move from "teaching" people to "educating" them. The curriculum has also changed dramatically as the breadth of human knowledge has exponentially increased.
Reflecting those changes, your alma mater is unlike the school it was in 1888. Education for women more than a century ago was largely seen as preparing for them for marriage and child rearing. The few careers were open to women—primarily teaching and nursing—and then only until such time as they got married.
From the outset, however, Auckland Girls' Grammar has been a progressive school and has remained at the forefront of the education of the city's young women. As New Zealand's social and cultural mix has changed, so has that of Auckland Grammar. The School's cultural mix, which I mentioned earlier, is highly diverse.
It is often an unusual perspective looking back at your years at secondary school, in my case more than 40 years after the event. Many of us had little choice about which secondary school we went to, as the decision was made by our parents. I'm sure if we removed the rose-tinted glasses, we'd also admit that not all of us enjoyed a lot of the period—despite the repeated assertions by our elders that they were "the best years of your life."
New Zealand's secondary schools, whether they are state, private or integrated, that have reached the magical centenary, seem to have developed a distinctive character. I know that was the case of my secondary school, Sacred Heart College in Glen Innes, and it is also the case with Auckland Girls' Grammar. That a number of you, as former pupils, have chosen to send your daughters to Auckland Girls' reflects the strong roots it has in the city's fabric. It also reflects your commitment to those progressive ideals and the school's commitment to excellence and to being a place where young women can celebrate their differences and strengths. AGGS is a school that reflect the words of Albert Einstein -"try not to become a person of success but rather try to become a person of value".
Auckland Girls' Grammar has a long and proud history. In 2000, it won the Goodman Fielder School of the Year Award in the year 2000 and in 2006, 13 students picked up $270,000 in tertiary scholarships. It was with great pleasure that I was part of the panel that awarded a Sir George Elioit Scholarship worth $20,000 to alumna Yalan Mo, who is now studying at Auckland University.
In conclusion then, my vision for the future of New Zealand then is one of an increasingly diverse society. I have noted the changing place of Maori, of our nation's increasingly diverse cultural mix and the role of women, as three touchstone areas. To that could easily be added a diverse religious mix and increasingly complex family and personal relationships. These changes have in turn been mirrored in New Zealand's growing sense of identity in the wider world, which I have also briefly outlined.
My vision is also one where those things that make us different—whether as individuals or communities—are celebrated as strengths, not as weaknesses. It is one where all New Zealanders will engage with these differing communities. To that end, your association and your school, are fine examples of such engagement in practice.
As I have indicated, it will not be an easy process. But like your school's motto—Per Angusta ad Augusta—by making our way through the difficult path ahead, I remain confident that we will arrive at great heights.
On that heartening note I will close, speaking just in Maori, issuing greetings and wishing everyone good health and fortitude in your endeavours.
No reira, tena koutou, tena koutou, kia ora, kia kaha, tena koutou katoa