Speech
Opening of the Liberty Swing
I greet you all 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: Rosemary Cook, District Governor of Lions; John Tennant, President of the Lions Club of Island Bay; Carl Muollo, President of the Island Bay Bowling Club representing the Trusts Charitable Foundation; John Owen, representing the Macquarie Bank Foundation; Paul Andrews and Jacqueline Murray from the Wellington City Council; Rebecca Burns from CCS New Zealand; Paddy Green from IHC New Zealand; Distinguished Guests otherwise; Ladies and Gentlemen; Boys and Girls.
Thank you for inviting my wife Susan and me to official opening of the Variety Club Liberty Swing in Island Bay's Shorland Park.
I would like to take this opportunity to outline the importance of this facility and the work that went into getting it made and installed.
I suspect if that if most of us cast our minds back to our childhood, we would all hold fond memories of playing a park such as this. Hide and seek, hop scotch and playing on the slides and swings are a staple part of the archetypal Kiwi childhood.
As parents, we all hold dear memories of pushing an excited child in a swing—the child laughing and urging you to push them higher and higher as if they were almost about to fly.
That delight and sense of freedom, however, has not been a possibility for children who use wheelchairs or those that require body support.
The "Liberty Swing," such as this means that those children are no longer denied the exhilaration of using a swing. Nor are their parents and family denied the opportunity of helping them enjoy such an experience.
These swings, of which there are 18 in New Zealand, are promoted by the Variety Club of New Zealand and I am advised that this is the first for the Wellington area. The project has the wholehearted support of CCS New Zealand and IHC New Zealand.
This project, the brainchild of Lions Club of Island Bay, has been several years in the making. With the support of the Wellington City Council and some significant charitable donations and fundraising from its annual "Big Dig" on the Island Bay foreshore, the Club has delivered a real benefit to the community for which it can be rightfully proud.
And the benefit will not just be for children and families in Wellington. As the swing is usually locked, the same key that operates every Liberty Swing in New Zealand and Australia will also unlock this swing, making it available many, many people.
In 30 years' of service, the Club has done much for this community. The free-to-use gas barbeques located in this park and the Island Bay dive raft are just a couple of the many projects it has promoted.
That spirit of service is part of what makes our nation so special. The work of volunteers such as those involved in the Lions Club of Island Bay strengthens the fabric of our society.
In conclusion then, I wish to thank everyone involved with this project, from the people and organisations that made donations, through to those involved in the fundraising, purchase and installation.
As Governor-General, it gives me great pleasure then to officially declare this Liberty Swing open. Let the fun begin!
On that note I'll close in Maori 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.