Speech
New Zealand Federation of Women’s Institutes' AGM
Kia ora koutou. Greetings to you all.
I specifically acknowledge the Hon Jo Goodhew, Minister of Women’s Affairs; Nicola Young, Wellington Wellington City Councillor; Jeanette Andrews, President of the New Zealand Federation of Women’s Institutes and Executive Officer Colleen Dryden. Greetings also to the Sister Organisations present this evening.
I am delighted to be here tonight to open the 93rd Annual General Meeting of the New Zealand Federation of Women’s Institutes. As your Patron, I am pleased to support this organisation, which has made, and continues to make, such an important contribution to New Zealand women and the wider community.
Since 1921, your organisation has offered New Zealand women the opportunity to meet; to learn and share skills; to make friends and to become more involved in their communities. Like any organisation, it has evolved and grown as the world has changed. I think Miss Spencer and Mrs Hutchinson, the original founders, would quickly see that its core philosophy – to encourage and inspire women - remains the same.
What they might be astounded by, however, are the tools and technology today’s Women’s Institute members have at their disposal, and the incredible uses they can be put to.
It is perhaps appropriate then, that the Federation has chosen “technology” as the theme of this year’s conference. We live in an age of huge technological change, and new technologies are coming on-line all the time.
We have telephones that work like computers. And we can use our computers to make phone calls. We can pay for a bus ride by waving a plastic card, have our eyesight corrected with lasers, read on devices that will store hundreds of books for us, and even purchase bathroom scales that will tell us our weight - out loud. Great if you don’t like wearing your glasses in the bathroom. Not so hot if anyone else is within earshot!
The space age technology they used to show us in documentaries about possible life in the 21st century is with us, it’s real, relatively inexpensive and readily available. The change has happened at quite a disconcerting pace. Former US president Bill Clinton once said “Only astrophysicists knew about the Internet 20 years ago. Today my cat has a website.” It’s a light hearted remark, but it’s true that we have had a lot of change happen, in a relatively short space of time. With so many new tools and devices to learn about, and so many new words and terminologies to get to grips with, it can be quite overwhelming. Sometimes it’s tempting not to engage at all, and just get your children or grand-children to send emails for you or tune in your new flat screen TV.
I don’t think that’s the tack Miss Spencer and Mrs Hutchinson would take. When they launched the first New Zealand Women’s Institute, in Hawkes Bay, they were trying something new. Their commitment to bringing the Women’s Institute movement to New Zealand demonstrated an admirable degree of optimism, adventure and openness to new ideas. If they were here today they’d be extremely interested in trying out the new technologies that we have available, particularly the things that make our lives easier; like smart phones, the internet and texting.
I know there are many women in this room who can already pdf a document, download an app, and reboot their router. If you have absolutely no idea what I just said, why not let the next day or so inspire you to become part of the wired world.
The Women’s Institute has a proud history of teaching and sharing skills so you are in safe hands. Speaking from personal experience, my smartphone has been a life changer in terms of being able to work when I’m travelling. Video calling technology, like Skype, has also been great for Jerry and me in terms of keeping in touch with our family, our grandchildren in particular. Despite not living in the same city, we’ve been able to see the smallest members of our family on a regular basis. That has been extremely precious and allowed us to be more engaged in their early lives than we would be if we had to depend solely on letters, phone calls and the occasional visit.
I’ll leave you with this thought about the impact of technological change on a social norm. When we were growing up, our parents could reasonably say that we should follow their example because we were too young to understand. Today, because technologies are changing so quickly, it is quite reasonable for young people to disagree and assert that we are too old to know!
In conclusion then, I wish you well with your activities over the next few days, and coming to terms with technologies that can help to share happiness and sustain our communities. Please join me in a round of applause to celebrate the official opening of the New Zealand Federation of Women’s Institutes 93rd Annual General Meeting.