Speech
NZ Rose Society National Spring Show and Convention
May I begin by greeting you 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: Dr Gerald Meylan, President of the World Federation of Rose Societies; Mr Peter Elliott, President of the New Zealand Rose Society; Mr John Ford, President of the Manawatu Rose Society; Hon Steve Maharey, MP for Palmerston North; Your Worship, Mr Jono Naylor; Distinguished Guests otherwise; Ladies and Gentlemen.
Thank you for inviting wife Susan and me to attend the New Zealand Rose Society's National Spring Show and Convention here in Palmerston North today.
I have been asked to formally open the Show and will do so in an orthodox fashion in a few moments. Before I do, I wish to speak briefly about your endeavours and about roses.
I must admit at the outset that I am no gardener and if you were hoping for some essential vice-regal tips on dealing with black spot, you would be better placed to ask my wife Susan, who is a keen gardener.
Roses, however, have been part of the New Zealand landscape for more than a century. In the 1880s, James Inglis, a British visitor who wrote a book entitled, Our New Zealand Cousins, noted that:
"Pines have been very extensively planted all around Auckland. They form quite a feature in the scenery, and seem to thrive luxuriantly in the volcanic soil. So, alas, do briars and some Scottish whins or furze, which some enthusiastic idiot has at some former time introduced from a mistaken sentiment of patriotism."
While we all rue the day that gorse, to give the "whins or furze" their more common name, were ever introduced, I don't think the same could be said of the briar or rose, although some rural road workers might disagree.
I suspect no other flowering plant has generated as many references in literature, art and music as the rose. From Chaucer and Shakespeare and Shelley, Yeats, Tennyson through to TS Eliot, all have used rose-based metaphors. Often they contrast the beauty of the rose's flowers with the pain inflicted by its thorns. Many are references to love and so it is appropriate that the theme for this year's National Spring Rose Show and Convention is "Romantic Roses."
This year's Show marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the New Zealand Rose Society and the 60th anniversary of the Manawatu Rose Society, which is hosting this year's event.
The large numbers of entries for this year's show and the numbers attending reflects not the superb conditions many areas of New Zealand offer for rose growing, but also the interest of New Zealanders in growing them.
It also seems appropriate that such an important anniversary should be marked in Palmerston North, which was for many years known as New Zealand's rose city. So highly are the city's roses regarded that I am advised that in 2003 the Dugald Mackenzie Rose Garden in the Victoria Esplanade Gardens received an international aware from the World Federation.
While I am not a gardener, I value your work in beautifying our towns and cities, not only by maintaining their own properties but also in voluntarily assisting and supporting local councils in beautifying many public areas as well.
I suspect gardeners have long realised what New Zealand writer Katherine Mansfield meant when she said: "Grow things. Plant. Dig up. Garden. I feel with all the force of my being that 'happiness' is in these things."
And on that heartening note it gives me much pleasure to officially open the 2007 NZ Rose Society National Spring Show and Convention.
And on that note 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.