Crown Prince of Belgium

Kia ora koutou, nau mai haere mai ki te Whare Kāwana o te Whanganui-ā-Tara .  Te Ariki Piripi, tēnā koe.  Distinguished leaders, ladies and gentlemen, and especially our guests from Belgium, welcome to Government House.  Goedenavond, Bonjour and Guten Abend  - good evening and greetings to you all.

I specifically acknowledge: Your Royal Highness, Prince Philippe, Duke of Brabant and Prince of Belgium; Your Excellency Pieter de Crem, Minister for Defense of Belgium; Rt Hon Dr Lockwood Smith, Speaker of the House of Representatives; Hon Dr Jonathan Coleman, New Zealand’s Minister of Defence; and Ms Paula Wilson, New Zealand’s Ambassador-designate to Belgium.

Your Royal Highness, it gives me great pleasure on behalf of all New Zealanders to formally welcome you back to New Zealand, and to welcome your delegation to New Zealand and to Government House Wellington.  As is our custom, sharing a meal, this State Dinner, is a crucial precursor to doing business.  This evening, you and your delegation will get to sample some of our products, cuisine and beverages!

Your Royal Highness, I note that you will be accompanied by a delegation representing Belgian business and Belgian Defence.  In respect to trade and business, we tend to look at the European market as a single entity and overlook its component parts.  It is fitting you remind us that Belgium has much to offer.  Belgium is a major point of entry for New Zealand’s exports to the European Union so it is timely to see that connection recognised by your visit.  There is also a healthy flow of investment between our two economies, and I believe those links will be highlighted during your visit to Auckland.

Here in Wellington, the connections between our countries have included the presence of the iconic Belgian hero, the boy detective, Tintin.  There was a substantial New Zealand input into the film The Adventures of Tintin, which was first shown in Brussels a year ago.  Hopefully that will lead to more productions here of the works of Georges Remi - Hergé. 

As an aside, the producer of The Adventures of Tintin is New Zealander and Wellington film maker Sir Peter Jackson.  Sir Peter is also well-known as one of the creative geniuses behind the Academy Award winning trilogy, The Lord of the Rings.  Tomorrow night, the world premiere of the first of three prequels to The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will screen in Wellington.  Making four books into six movies, now that’s creative business!  I am sure there are many other creative, innovative and wonderful business opportunities for both of our countries to explore.

Your Royal Highness, the friendship between Belgium and New Zealand is enduring.  At its heart are our shared commitment to the principles of freedom, democracy and human dignity.  They underpin our co-operation as like-minded partners in the modern world, and because of them New Zealand and Belgium share excellent relationships in many international bodies.  We respect Belgium as a committed internationalist across a range of spheres, including security, development and the environment.  And we respect Belgium as a founding member of the European Union and, of course, the EU’s principal host. 

Our friendship and commitment to fundamental values were forged in our shared history and I acknowledge another dimension of the delegation that is travelling with you, including your Minister of Defence Mr Pieter De Crem and Mr Paul Breyne, the centenary commemoration team. 

We have a shared heritage with events that occurred in Belgium and elsewhere nearly a century ago.  It is those events of the First World War that still feature most prominently for New Zealanders when your nation is mentioned.  The centenary of that dreadful conflict that we both are preparing to commemorate in less than two years’ time brought some 110,000 New Zealanders – roughly ten per cent of our population at that time – from half-way round the world to Europe and the Middle East.

The First World War had a devastating impact on both our countries.  In New Zealand, 42 per cent of men of military age served in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force.  Nearly 60 per cent of them were killed or wounded before the guns stopped on 11 November 1918.  Messines, Passchendaele and Ypres were seldom far from the lips of the people in this country.  One can find these place names etched on memorials in nearly every town and city in New Zealand.

Your Royal Highness, I know that the preparations for the centenary commemorations of the First World War will begin in 2014 for Belgium, New Zealand and many other nations.  The memories of this tragic time in both our histories, and honouring the thousands who still lie in a Flanders’ field, for whom there was no home coming to elsewhere in Belgium or New Zealand is a poignant reminder of the futility of war.  Many New Zealanders will be making a pilgrimage to the battlefields where their forebears fought, and to the cemeteries where many are at rest.  And so, your being here, your military background and, what we would call – your mana – your status lends great standing prominence to this aspect of your visit.

Your Royal Highness, on behalf of all New Zealanders, I warmly welcome you and your delegation to New Zealand.