Kei aku rangatira e pai nei, tēnā koutou. Nau mai haere mai ki Kororāreka. Kia ora mai tātou katoa.
I’d like to specifically acknowledge: Your Excellency Mr Alfredo Rogerio Pérez Bravo, Dean of the Diplomatic Corps – and may I offer my sincerest congratulations to you, Your Excellency, on marking your 50th anniversary with the Mexican Foreign Service this year: a remarkable achievement, and a testament to an outstanding career spent in the service of your country; Mr Grahame Morton, Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade; and Ms Nicola Purvis, Deputy Secretary of the Cabinet.
And to all our diplomatic heads of mission and spouses here this afternoon – tēnā koutou katoa. It is my pleasure to welcome you all to Kororāreka, Russell for this year’s annual Waitangi luncheon for the diplomatic corps.
I know you have all travelled some distances to be here today – from Auckland, Wellington, Canberra, Tokyo, and Jakarta – and I wish to begin by acknowledging how much the presence of each of you means, and to convey what a great highlight this is for me each year in my Waitangi week programme as Governor-General.
Whether this is your first visit, or you are returning, I hope that your time here in the beautiful Bay of Islands, and the conversations and experiences that you have, will give you a deeper sense of the significance of this special place, and offer some inspiration for your own roles as your respective countries’ representatives to New Zealand.
It was just across this bay, 186 years ago, that Māori chiefs and my predecessor, Captain William Hobson, came together to sign Te Tiriti o Waitangi/the Treaty of Waitangi, and in doing so, agreed to forge a nation together in the spirit of respect, understanding, and peace. History shows us that this has not always been honoured in practice or intention – but it continues to provide a basis for moving forward in dialogue.
At this time in our global community that can feel increasingly uncertain, we would do well to keep hold of those values which underpin our nation’s founding document. You do work that is vitally important as members of our diplomatic community. In your roles as ambassadors and high commissioners, each of you bears the mantle of responsibility to foster deeper understanding and strengthened relationships between nations – to bridge all boundaries of difference and maintain open lines of communication.
History shows us how easy it can be to fall victim to our worst impulses. But at its truest and noblest core, I know that diplomacy can stand as a testament to the very best in us: the goodness of what we learn from each other, our alliances, and all those things we share.
In my role as Governor-General, I feel privileged to meet New Zealanders across the country doing remarkable things, and putting the needs of others above their own. In such people, I see the essential understanding that the wellbeing of our communities and our planet, is contingent on the wellbeing of us all.
It was Dag Hammarskjöld who put it so well when he said: ‘It is no news to anybody, but we sense it in different degrees, that our world of today is more than ever before one world. The weakness of one is the weakness of all, and the strength of one – not the military strength, but the real strength, the happiness of people – is indirectly the strength of all.’
And it is this message that lies at the heart of the Treaty of Waitangi – asking us to be there for one another, in the hope and the vision of a peaceful, just, and prosperous Aotearoa New Zealand for all who call this country their home.
I wish to end by thanking you all once again for joining me here this afternoon, for all that you do in the spirit of respect and understanding that this place embodies. I wish you all a rich and enjoyable time in the Bay of Islands, safe return journeys, and all the best in your work in this year ahead.
Kia ora huihui tātou katoa.