Government and Nation launch

To view photos from the launch, click here

Rau rangatira mā, e huihui nei, tēnei aku mihi māhana ki a koutou.  Kia ora tātou katoa.  Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, warm greetings to you all.

I specifically acknowledge: Hon Christopher Finlayson, Minister of Arts, Culture and Heritage and other Ministers of the Crown —tēnā koutou; Rt Hon Dame Sian Elias, Chief Justice—tēnā koe; Assistant Speaker Ross Robertson and members of Parliament —tēnā koutou; Lewis Holden, Chief Executive of Ministry for Culture and Heritage; Janine Faulknor, Te Ara Team manager and Professors Nigel Roberts and Stephen Levine from Victoria University of Wellington, editors of the Government and Nation theme—tēnā koutou. 

Thank you for inviting me to Parliament this evening and for the opportunity to launch the “Government and Nation” theme of Te Ara – the Encyclopaedia of New Zealand. 

Since its launch seven years ago, Te Ara has enabled New Zealanders to watch our story unfold in a distinctive way.  Te Ara’s language is lively and simple.  It has sound files, full colour images and videos.  About a fifth of its text is in te reo Māori.  It is flexible, interactive, and can be continually updated.  It is an encyclopaedia to browse and explore.

Te Ara has won many prizes and accolades.  However, the thing I find most distinctive about Te Ara is the imaginative way it links form and content.  Without the limitations of paper and ink, and organised by subject rather than alphabet, pieces of information are linked and intertwined.  Each story is part of a larger narrative giving the reader a rich experience and chance to explore a subject in its wider context.

Today a new milestone has been reached with the launch of the seventh major theme - “Government and Nation”.  This theme covers an extensive range of subjects from Te Tiriti o Waitangi and our legal system, to institutions of government and the education system.  It speaks of the institutions, structures and processes that define us as a nation among other nations, and which set the scene for every aspect of our lives.

With a number of centenaries linked to the First World War fast approaching, it becomes clear just how far back that tradition extends.  I’m sure the entries about the battles at Gallipoli in 1915 and the Western Front in 1917, for example, will be of great interest to many New Zealanders.  Like many New Zealanders, I look forward to exploring these and the other themes more fully in the coming weeks. 

From a personal perspective, and now as Governor-General, I have a vested interest in the concepts of government and nation.  Indeed, as New Zealanders we all have a responsibility to appreciate where we fit and to look beyond day-to-day concerns.  In my case, I will probably start by brushing up on the history of my office in the “Governors and Governors-General” entry!

I’m always heartened when New Zealanders engage in the practises of our nation of which they are a part; when they participate in our democracy, enter the debates and stake a claim for the kind of society we want ours to be.

What inspires us to do this, I believe, is a sense of nationhood.  And it is nationhood that is the thread running through the Te Ara theme we are launching today.  From symbols like our flag, to major social change, to political participation and protests; these entries represent key elements of who we are.  It’s an important story to tell, and it’s wonderful to see it being brought to New Zealanders in such an appealing and accessible way.

Te Ara harnesses the potential of the internet to engage a wide readership with uniquely New Zealand content.  As a free online encyclopaedia, it helps to ensure that New Zealanders stay interested in, and informed about their history, society and culture.  In that context, Te Ara is a worthy successor to the 1966 Encyclopaedia of New Zealand edited by Dr Alexander McLintock.  And that is a view that New Zealanders obviously agree with, there were more than a million visits from March to May this year - more than 50 per cent more than the same period last year - and of those visits, more than 60 per cent were from New Zealand.

Forty-six years ago, in congratulating the 1966 team, then Prime Minister Keith Holyoake said in the Encyclopaedia’s foreword that they had created “something quite unique in New Zealand literature.”  Today I want to congratulate the Te Ara team for creating an equally precious taonga for New Zealanders.  In particular, I want to thank the theme editors Professors Stephen Levine and Nigel Roberts; the more than 60 eminent writers including former Prime Minister Sir Geoffrey Palmer, historians, diplomats and senior public servants; and all who have contributed to ‘Government and Nation’.

And so it gives me great pleasure now to launch “Government and Nation”.  Thank you. Kia ora huihui tātou katoa.