One Tree Hill Rotary Club

District Governors and Presidents, Rotarians, Ladies and Gentlemen, I greet you in the languages of the realm of New Zealand - English, Maori, CookIsland, Niue and Tokelau.

Kia Ora, Kia Orana, Fakalofa Lahi Atu, Taloha Ni

Thank you for inviting my wife Susan and I here today to join this meeting of the One Tree Hill Rotary Club.

I relate to Bede Brittenden's welcome, in the way you would expect of anyone who was in the 3^rd form at SacredHeartCollege when Bede was a 6^th former - prefect and the like.  A favourite memory of Bede is of him as a Rugby referee which he took up with great skill and authority whilst still a schoolboy.  He was copybook in style - clear and decisive in control and command.  Although remarkably objective as he was meant to be there was a wonderful moment when the schoolboy's question after the whistleblowing which went "Whose ball ref?" Said Bede not quite under his breath because he couldn't do an under the breath "Ours you silly bugger".

I also relate to Rotary as a member for most of the last 10 years of the Rotary Club of Wellington although the notional historian would not be satisfied unless I confessed to being one of those Rotarians who has not ever been able to make it through reading Rotary Down Under before dealing with it into the bin.

As someone with a Rotary connection, it has been a pleasure for both Susan and I to see first-hand in the new role, for now five months, the many ways in which the organisation functions, contributing to New Zealand communities.

Two brief examples suffice.  Just a few days ago, I spoke with a group of young people in Wellington taking part in the 9940 District Rotary Youth Leadership Award RYLA workshop. It was a fine opportunity to meet and talk with 40 people on the programme.  Aged between 18 and 24, they had already shown potential as leaders and from their questions and dialogue I solicited, it was clear that Rotary's faith in them was well-placed.  It was also pleasing to discern that they had signed up for RYLA with a certainty that it would help them realise their goals. It is a reassuring sign that Rotary continues to be relevant in New Zealand 2007.

The second was last Wednesday at the Walsh Fying School in Matamata when 65 young people - 16 year olds, mainly secondary school students from all over the country - graduated from a two-week programme which had taught each of them to fly and aeroplane solo.  The programme involves aviation interests, Air Force Air New Zealand and other airlines and volunteers from many quarters.  Interestingly, Rotary has been a key catalyst in identifying suitable candidates and putting them into places on the course - which has run for 41 years.

Rotary has been operating in New Zealand since 1921. In that time, it has evolved to suit the needs of its members and those they serve and as a result has given outstanding support to many New Zealanders.

It is to observe that for the first time a New Zealander, Bill Boyd a Howick in Auckland magazine publisher, is the President of Rotary International. This is tribute to him as well as to the accomplishments of Rotary in New Zealand.

Rotary is not alone however in facing a challenge to remain germane. Many other membership-based organisations, from political parties to churches to community groups, have also been forced to think carefully about how to retain and increase membership.

These challenges are also not unique to New Zealand. As the developed world moves at an ever-faster, more demanding pace, so too do the demands on people's time increase exponentially.

People seek value - not only for what we purchase or acquire, but for how we spend our time and energies.

As a result, there is a tendency for people to be increasingly disengaged from their communities and this affects any natural inclination to become involved in community organisations such as Rotary.

Consequently, Rotary needs to clearly demonstrate why people would want to give their precious time to the organisation - and by extension, to the community it serves.

This is even harder when seeking to appeal to young people.

The challenge for Rotary is to see how it can retain a reputation as a dynamic and progressive New Zealand humanitarian organisation, made up of business and community leaders, beyond 2007.

The key lies in leadership- providing it and fostering it in others.  It is about demonstrating, through action, how being part of an organisation such as Rotary can be rewarding - rewarding for the individual, for their community and beyond that for the country.

Although it sounds crass and direct people need to learn what value there might be for them to be involved in Rotary.

People are most interested in specifics. They want to see the fruits of their labour and they want to feel that their time has been well spent.

Organisations that have a strong community engagement tend to be ones that prioritise outcomes over rituals or traditions, as much as possible.

There are a number of ways in which this approach can be applied and endless examples of this in action.

One that springs to mind is the Waitemata Harbour CleanUp Trust. Established in 2002, the Trust is occupied with removing litter from Auckland's WaitemataHarbour and around the inner Hauraki Gulf.

The project has had considerable success and its website is well worth visiting. In July last year, volunteers had spent more than 10,000 hours collecting more than 132,000 litres of rubbish.

Those are affirming statistics for anyone who has been involved in the Trust's work and they will prove useful when the Trust is encouraging others to join their efforts.

Their volunteers will see the tangible value of their efforts - which is hugely rewarding in itself. And the results for the WaitemataHarbour speak for themselves.  Rotary is not specifically involved in any corporate way but it might merit consideration.

I say that because Rotary has a history of leading by example and it has a record of achievement which illustrates its commitment to achieving real results for those communities it serves.

We need look no further than Rotary International's Polio -Plus programme which has raised more than US$400 million to eradicate polio since the 1980s.  It has done that in a corporate way on a big scale partnering with the WHO and the UN with a result that polio as something endemic is now confined to four countries.

Locally, Rotary has also made a significant difference in many ways, over many years from promoting Defensive Driving courses to building adventure playgrounds for New Zealand children and initiating the Ellerslie Flower Show.

Rotary's involvement at all levels in New Zealand has been creditable. I believe the key to maintaining success is to always demonstrate the value Rotary brings its members and those it serves - through good leadership.

I am confident that with continuance of this organisation' s ability to evolve alongside New Zealand and New Zealanders, that our country and its reputation for doing things well, will benefit.

There is a good distillation and challenge provided by Bill Boyd's 2006/7 mission statement that goes "In the coming Rotary year, I ask all of you to join me as we Lead the Way to a better Rotary and better communities."

Thank you again for our invitation today and I look forward to seeing how Rotary can keep working for an even better New Zealand in the future.

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