Speech
Child Cancer Foundation Life Membership Awards
May I begin by greeting 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 afternoon (Sign)
May I specifically greet you: June, Lady Blundell, Patron of the Foundation; John Robson and Dr Jane Skeen, Vice-Chair and Board member respectively; Neil Porteous, Chief Executive of the Foundation and your predecessor Jim Barclay; Award recipients Denis Kirkcaldie and Pauline Hapi; Rt Hon Sir Gordon Bisson, former Justice of the Court of Appeal; Distinguished Guests otherwise; Ladies and Gentlemen.
It is with pleasure that my wife Susan and I welcome you to Government House Wellington for this afternoon tea where two new life members of the Child Cancer Foundation are to be honoured.
As Governor-General, I have been asked to confer life membership awards of the Child Cancer Foundation on Denis Kirkcaldie of Wellington and Pauline Hapi of Rotorua, but before I do, I would like to briefly speak as to the significance of the Foundation's work and the contribution of volunteers.
The Foundation began in the mid-1970s when a group of concerned parents together with medical staff, formed a small Auckland based committee looking at the special needs of children with cancer and their families. Lady Blundell, whose husband Sir Denis had recently retired as Governor-General, was at the inaugural meeting in 1978 and agreed to be the organisation's Patron, a position she has held to this day.
Since that time, the Foundation has grown from a small Auckland-based committee to a national organisation with income from donations, fundraising and appeals. It does not receive any government funding or funding from other cancer support agencies, but relies solely on the generosity of New Zealanders.
Despite that growth, the Foundation remains committed to its core principles that neither any child with cancer, nor their family should ever feel alone, and that the family has the right to be together during treatment. Importantly, it recognises that the most effective approach to treating childhood cancer involves families and health professionals working together. I am advised that on average, about 150 children are diagnosed with cancer every year.
The Foundation's many achievements would not have been possible without the dedicated support of an army of volunteers and its small group of paid staff.
Statistics New Zealand recently published research that showed more than one million New Zealanders are actively involved in volunteer work, representing 31 percent of the population over the age of 12. Together New Zealanders contribute more than 270 million hours of formal, unpaid work for non-profit organisationals annually.
Volunteers contribute these million of unpaid hours to health, emergency services, community support and development, support and recreation, education and a range of other services. Most of these organisations have no paid staff at all.
Volunteers are the "glue" that hold our society together. If our volunteers ever withdrew their services, our health system, as one example, would largely grind to a halt.
Today's two recipients both shed light on this culture of volunteering, although in different ways. Both had children affected by cancer, and both have made a sustained contribution to the Foundation over many, many years.
But while Pauline's primary contribution has been in frontline family support for some 30 years in the Rotorua area, Denis' primary contribution has been in governance, most recently as the Foundation's National Chairman from 2002-2007.
Both roles have their challenges and weighty responsibilities and both are equally valid expressions of a culture of volunteerism. I congratulate you both on your work,and most importantly, for your leadership, not only for children with cancer, but for our nation.
In dealing with the enormity of cancer, and particularly the emotional distress it causes to families where children suffer, the enormity can at times seem overwhelming.
But in supporting a worthy causes, every bit of effort helps. As South African, Archbishop Desmond Tutu once said:
"Do your little bit of good where you are; it's those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world."
And on that note, I will I close in New Zealand's first language, Maori, offering greetings and wishing everyone good health and fortitude in your endeavours. No reira, tena koutou, tena koutou, kia ora, kia kaha, tena koutou katoa.