Launch of the First Door that Opened
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: Hon Chris Carter, Minister of Ethnic Affairs; Ian McKinnon, Deputy Mayor of Wellington; Peter Atkinson, Chair of Volunteering Wellington, and your co-managers Pauline Harper and Julie Thomson; Distinguished Guests otherwise; Ladies and Gentlemen.
Thank you for inviting my wife Susan and I to attend the launch by Volunteering Wellington of The First Door That Opened: Experiences of Migrants in Wellington's Voluntary Sector.
It was a pleasure to provide the foreword and I am grateful that you have now asked me to officially launch the book. Before doing so, I would like to briefly comment on the significance of volunteering in assisting new migrants to settle in New Zealand. There are two trends that are particularly relevant such a discussion—New Zealand's increasing diversity and the interconnectedness of our world.
Ethnically, culturally and religiously, New Zealand is far more diverse than it was a century ago. The 2006 Census revealed that about a quarter of New Zealanders were born overseas. In 1908 most of those foreign-born Kiwis would have hailed from Britain or Ireland. Today, New Zealanders born in those two isles make up little more than a quarter of foreign-born Kiwis—the same proportion as from Asia. My appointment as Governor-General in part reflects that diversity. While I was born in New Zealand, my parents were born in Fiji and my grandparents were born in India.
In terms of religious affiliation, this increasing diversity is also apparent. The last Census showed that while slightly more than half of New Zealanders said they were Christians—a small drop on five years earlier—a third professed no faith at all, a significant increase on five years earlier. As well, reflecting immigration from Asia, there were significant rises in those affiliated to non-Christian religions.
Combined with this diversity, our world is far more "connected" than ever before. Communication technology and high-speed convenient air travel means there is more cross-cultural contact than ever before. As my own family history illustrates, migration between countries have also increased.
While I believe this diversity has the ability to enrich our society, culture and economy, I am also keenly aware that it poses challenges. As disputes throughout the world have shown, just because there is greater cultural contact, it does not necessarily follow that people will show greater tolerance to each other. Greater contact can equally lead to a retreat to the security of one's own cultural, religious or ethnic zone or an assertive outward emphasis on nationalism.
While New Zealand has been spared the worst of such excesses, primarily due our tolerant live-and-let-live approach, it has not been immune to them. However, tolerance alone hides a hidden danger because it is effectively passive. Without active communication, the opportunity for real understanding is unlikely to occur and stereotypes can often go unchallenged.
Communication across cultures will not be fraught if we are prepared to get to know people as they are, not as we conceive them to be. Moving from tolerance to real understanding requires interaction—to meet, to talk and to socialise with others who are different from us. It also means getting to know people as individuals on their own terms.
One way that such contact can be fostered is through volunteering. It provides a valuable opportunity for those new to this land to meet and communicate with those who were born here and vice-versa. For new migrants who are seeking to establish themselves, it also offers the opportunity to improve language skills and gain a better understanding of what it is to be a New Zealander and can lead to employment opportunities.
I therefore wish to congratulate Volunteering Wellington on the good work it does in the Capital as a referral agency for volunteers, and particularly those new to New Zealand.
I believe that New Zealand has a strong culture of voluntary work. I have recently held investiture ceremonies in Wellington and Auckland, and I was impressed by the number of people, from many different cultural backgrounds, who have given so much to our nation through voluntary work. I know from my own experience as a Citizen's Advice Bureaux volunteer of the joys and intrinsic benefits that come from volunteering.
I also wish to congratulate writer Rebecca Gray, editor Mark Derby and publisher Roger Steele for producing this volume. This book not only celebrates the efforts of new migrants, but also provides a human face to those who have recently moved to this country and gives an insight into their aspirations, struggles and successes. It also provides for the employers of volunteers, a better understanding of the skills and benefits having teams of culturally diverse volunteers can bring to their organisation.
In conclusion, I again wish to congratulate everyone involved in producing this book. It is a timely reminder of the significance of volunteering, but also of the value of cultural diversity and the contribution of new migrants. In officially launching this book, I wish to draw on the words of the New Zealand historian, the late Dr Michael King, who once wrote: "In a country inhabited for a mere one thousand years, everybody is an immigrant or a descendant of immigrants."
And on that note, I will close in New Zealand's first language, Maori, by offering greetings and wishing you good health and fortitude in your endeavours. No reira, tena koutou, tena koutou, kia ora, kia kaha, tena koutou katoa.