Launch of Remember Me

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 evening (Sign)

May I specifically greet you: Derek Hansen, author; Lorain Day, Publishing Manager for HarperCollins; Distinguished Guests otherwise; Ladies and Gentlemen.

On behalf of my wife Susan and myself, it is with pleasure that we welcome you to Government House in Auckland for the launch of Derek's new book, Remember Me.

I speak to you today not only in my capacity as Governor-General but also as a childhood classmate and friend of the author and as one who grew up in Ponsonby at the time this book is set.  I even have photographic exhibits of this.

I have been given the privilege of launching Remember Me, but before doing so in a moment I would like to briefly speak about a Ponsonby childhood, how the suburb has changed and a little about Derek's book.

Looking back at childhood is always a fraught task.  Even when you consciously try not to, it is so easy to subconsciously put on rose-tinted glasses and to look back at the past more favourably than it deserves.  As American writer and columnist Franklin Pierce Adams once said: "Nothing is more responsible for the good old days than a bad memory."

The 1950s in New Zealand were a period of change.  Rationing had finally ended and while the Second World War was well over, New Zealand was to be drawn into conflicts in Korea and Malaya.  Despite the wool boom of the early 50s, there were also tensions at home with the 1951 Waterfront Lockout or Strike being a notable example.

There were also celebrations with the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1952 and her triumphant tour of New Zealand and the conquest of Mt Everest by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tensing Norgay in the following year.

It was also a time of change for the Ponsonby and Grey Lynn suburbs.  As New Zealand's population passed two million for the first time, people began to leave the older inner city suburbs and the area became run down.  Some of the earlier migrants, in my parent's case from Fiji, in Derek's from England, who had moved to Ponsonby began to move on. Trams began to disappear and were replaced by trolley buses. By the late 1950s and early 1960s, the area's demographics were beginning to change again as the next tranche of migrants, in this case from the Pacific, began to settle there.

Sadly many Victorian villas in the wider area (like Newton and Freemans Bay)  disappeared to make way for the motorway, for Harbour Bridge access and to the call for urban renewal.  Later, of course, the inner city suburbs became popular again and an area that was once seen as a slum area now husbands some of Auckland's upper level real estate.  The old villas, once looked upon with some disdain, are now highly treasured by the city's present population.

For me, the year 1956, the year that Derek's book is set, is particularly special.  Like the narrator of Derek's book, I was also 12 in that year.  One of the abiding memories of my childhood is being at Eden Park in March when I watched cricket history being made in this country.

On that day—after having waited 26 years—New Zealand won its first ever test match. While the significance of the achievement in beating the legendary West Indies team was probably lost on me, the excitement of being one of several hundred people to swamp the ground to congratulate the New Zealand heroes remains with me to this day.

Thanks to the Weekly News, part of the New Zealand Herald, I also have photographic evidence of this moment in my life.  A few days later it published a picture of a diminutive Anand Satyanand walking excitedly across the ground with hundreds of other fans.

More than anything, inner city working class communities such as Ponsonby in the 1950s were close knit.  Everyone knew everyone—and their business. Into such a mix, it is easy to see how the events which are outlined in Derek's highly autobiographical novel could cause such mayhem.  I have started reading the novel and can say that the reminders of life in Ponsonby and Richmond Rd in the 1950s are uncanny to say the least.

Of course, we all went in different ways.  My family moved to Glen Innes and I went on to a professional career that has led to my surprise to the present office of Governor-General.  Derek had a long and successful career in advertising and after the success of his first novel, Lunch with the Generals, continued writing.  He is now the author of eight novels and three collections of short stories. 

I am sure that this novel will be equally successful.  I will now hand over to Lorain Day who will briefly speak, followed then by Derek after which I will officially launch, Remember Me.

On the note I have hopefully struck of fond memory, friendship, nostalgia and congratulations, I will close in Maori by issuing greetings and wishing you good health and fortitude in your endeavours.

No reira, tena koutou, tena koutou, kia ora, kia kaha, tena koutou katoa