Canterbury Club 150th anniversary dinner

Thank you for my honorary membership to your beautiful club. Thank you also for offering Richard and me such a warm welcome, and for inviting us to be part of your sesquicentennial celebrations this evening.

I’d like to specifically acknowledge:

• Mr James Lill, President of the Canterbury Club, and Mrs Justine Lill
• Honorary Captain Bevan Killick, Canterbury Club Honorary Patron, and Mrs Jacqueline Killick
• Colonel Peter Fry, President of the Canterbury Officers’ Club, and Mrs Elizabeth Fry
• Canterbury Club Committee Members
• Club presidents from around the country gathered here this evening – including Philip and Bridget McConchie of our home Wellington Club. 

Tēnā koutou katoa.

As it so happens, in the last few weeks we have been guests at the Wellington Club, and then at the Northern Club, where I was honoured to deliver a tribute to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth.

This afternoon, I met Queen’s Guides at Kate Sheppard House – a perfect venue for the celebration of female achievements – and I feel there is a synchronicity in our coming to the Canterbury Club tonight, as one of its founders was Kate Sheppard’s great friend and ally in Parliament, Sir John Hall.

Sir John worked tirelessly for women’s suffrage, and he deserves greater recognition for the part he played in getting the necessary legislation through Parliament in 1893 – decades ahead of any other country. You can feel rightly proud to have Sir John as one of your founders.

Christchurch has always been a pioneering city, and I have many fond memories of my time spent here over the years. Particularly vivid are my memories of the 1974 Commonwealth Games, where I was privileged to perform in a kapa haka group in the opening ceremony. That was also the occasion of my first meeting with Queen Elizabeth. 

Little did I imagine then that I would be having a private audience with Her Majesty in 2021, via zoom, following my appointment as her Governor-General – or that I would be accorded the extraordinary privilege of representing Aotearoa at Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations – and only a few months later, her funeral at Westminster Abbey.

In my three visits to the UK since taking up this role, I have met members of the Royal Family on several occasions. You will be pleased to know that they have great affection for Aotearoa and are looking forward to visiting our country when their schedules allow.

I know the new Prince of Wales visited Christchurch after the Canterbury earthquakes and he will no doubt be astonished to see the transformation.

When I have visited Christchurch in recent years, I have been excited to see the bold new architecture and cityscape.

I am well aware that some of the scars from those earthquakes will always remain, but there’s a feeling of energy and optimism here – no doubt shared by the proud Cantabrians in attendance tonight. I am looking forward to hearing about your hopes and aspirations for your city.

During my term of office, I will do my best to visit different regions the length and breadth of New Zealand.

So far, I haven’t been to the South Island as much as I would like, but you will appreciate how much of my programme has been interrupted by five overseas visits in my first year of office.

In a few weeks’ time I will be visiting South Canterbury, and I am looking forward to returning to Christchurch on a regular basis. In fact, I will be back here in early November to preside at two investiture ceremonies for honours recipients.

Tonight, I am going to take this opportunity to convey something of my agenda during my term of office.

Each Governor-General approaches the role differently, depending on their background. In my case, I bring my experience in research, academia, health, and the public service.

As a woman from Te Tai Tokerau, the daughter of a Māori mother and an English migrant, married to a Welshman, and with a Chilean daughter-in-law, I appreciate the complex identities to be found in so many families in contemporary New Zealand. And I welcome the energy and vitality that such diversity brings to our communities.

I like to see my role as helping to find common ground for all the peoples who have chosen to make this country their home. Whatever our origins, whatever our place in society, I think we all wish for a better world for our children and their children.

Accordingly, a central focus for me is the wellbeing of our people and the wellbeing of the environment that sustains us all.

I will work to encourage the many good people who are promoting sustainability – whether in business, schools, workplaces and marae, and the many New Zealanders who are working tirelessly to conserve and protect the environment.

We are but temporary kaitiaki of our whenua and awa, and the quality of our decisions has an impact on the generations who will follow us.

I will do what I can to highlight the work of people who are pursuing excellence in their chosen fields of knowledge and expertise.

Our future depends on the integrity of our evidence-based decision-making, and the stakes are too high for us to allow wilful ignorance, misinformation and disinformation to go unchallenged.

In my recent travels overseas, I can report that Aotearoa New Zealand is held in extraordinary high regard. I am so proud to be an ambassador for our country.

I believe that our small size and the essential goodwill of our people enable us to be nimble and responsive to the challenges of our times.

I conclude tonight with an observation made by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth: that the great religions of the world ‘press home the message that everyone has a responsibility to care for the vulnerable’.

She believed that ‘each one of us can help by offering a little time, a talent or a possession, and taking a share in the responsibility for the wellbeing of those who feel excluded’.

As you reflect on the 150 years of the Canterbury Club, and how much your members have contributed to the growth and prosperity of the region, I hope that the wisdom of Her Majesty’s words will encourage you to continue to do what you can to further strengthen your community, and rebuild this remarkable city.

Kia ora huihui tātou katoa.