Speech
Pan-Pacific and Southeast Asia Women’s Association
Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa, good morning to Your Worship, Celia Wade-Brown, Mayor of Wellington, to Deb Moran, from Women’s Affairs, to Tiahuia Abraham, National President of the Pan-Pacific and Southeast Asia Women’s Association and to members of the national executive, to Beryl Vincent, Wellington President of PPSEAWA and to members of your executive committee, to Association members and to everyone.
Thank you for inviting me to address this meeting of the Pan-Pacific and Southeast Asia Women’s Association in Wellington this morning. It is, of course a morning on which we will all be thinking of those in Christchurch.
I have been asked to formally open this year’s National Conference and Annual General Meeting as Patron and it is an appropriate moment to reflect on the history of the Association.
First, let me say how good it is to connect with members of PPSEAWA again. It was a pleasure, in 2008, to host at Government House in Auckland the 80th birthday celebrations that marked the international establishment of the Association.
Anand’s mother has been closely associated with PPSEAWA for more than fifty years. She joined in Auckland in 1958 and throughout much of her life was committed to the ethos and people. PPSEWA in turn drew great strength from her work.
She was first elected as President of the Auckland branch, then was National Vice-President and was later made a life member, an award I know she greatly appreciated.
She was very unwell when Anand was sworn in as Governor-General but was able to watch the ceremony on television.
This Association grew out of two conferences of women in Pacific countries, held in Honolulu in 1928 and 1930. The Honolulu-based Pan-Pacific Union created an organisation within the region to address “…all matters of interest to women” after 183 delegates, including from New Zealand, responded to their call.
Three years after that first meeting in Honolulu, in 1931 , a national committee of the Association was formed in New Zealand and so this Conference and Annual General Meeting also marks the 80th anniversary of that event.
Internationally, the Association has grown to include women from many more nations in the Asia-Pacific regions as diverse as Pakistan, India, Tonga, Cook Islands, Korea, Japan and the United States.
There are now nineteen autonomous national member associations, with many having local chapters. The organisation has consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council and is represented at the UN in New York and Geneva, where it makes its voice heard in international decision-making.
Eight-three years after that first meeting in Honolulu and eighty years after that first gathering in New Zealand, PPSEAWA remains the only women’s organisation devoted to peace and understanding in the Pacific and South East Asia.
The Association has remained true to its core objectives while growing and adapting to meet contemporary needs.
The bonds of peace can be strengthened by fostering friendship and understanding among women throughout the region, and by promoting co-operation among them to improve social, economic, and cultural conditions.
In New Zealand, the Association works assiduously to assist organisations that support women, children and the most disadvantaged.
In 2010, nationally, PPSEAWA worked to assist Plunket with new arrivals and migrants to Wellington. This year the Wellington branch is working to assist the Fred Hollows Foundation and it fundraised to support those affected by natural disasters in Pakistan, Samoa and Tonga. These are worthy causes and organisations. Both groups, the Fred Hollows Foundation and Plunket, hold vice-regal patronage.
PPSEAWA is an affiliated member of, and contributes to, the National Council of Women of New Zealand. Reflecting the work of PPSEAWA, I have sought to support organisations that work to help women, families and children. They include the National Children’s Day, the National Council of Women, the New Zealand Federation of Women’s Institutes, Rural Women New Zealand, the YWCA and the Peace Foundation.
The link between these organisations is that they help and support children and families. My interest has been enhanced by the birth, in the last two years, of our first three grandchildren. The contrast between being a parent and grandparent was perfectly summarised by Madeleine Albright, who was United States Secretary of State from 1997 to 2001. She said:
“Being a parent is one of the most difficult and demanding and rewarding things that you can possibly be; you really are responsible for the day-to-day upbringing of your child and you have to do some sanctions and try to figure out when to reward. With grandkids, you can just reward; and it is a purely beautiful and pleasant relationship, and you don’t expect as much as you do from your children. It’s just a perfect relationship.”
Grandchildren also encourage me to remember to work to leave this world a good place for them to live.
I recently read a comment by Dame Jane Goodall, the noted scientist and conservationist, who has dedicated her life to the study of chimpanzees. She challenges us to look beyond our families to think of the grandchildren of our grandchildren and beyond. She said:
“It’s awfully sad that with our clever brains … that we seem to have lost wisdom; and that’s the wisdom of the indigenous people who would make a major decision based on how that decision would affect people seven generations ahead. We’re making decisions based on the bottom line. How will this affect me now? Me and my family, now. How will this huge decision affect the next shareholders’ meeting three months ahead? … So although we think we’re caring about our children and grandchildren, we’re actually stealing their future.”
After 80 years of achievements, the challenge before you is to consider the world we are leaving to those who will celebrate the Association’s bicentenary. It is a challenge that I am certain that you will rise to meet.
Anand’s term as Governor-General comes to an end in August and this is likely to be the last time I will speak to you as your Patron. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for the valuable work you do in New Zealand and the Asia-Pacific Region.
No reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, kia ora, kia kaha, tēnā koutou katoa.
Would you please now join me with an enthusiastic round of applause to celebrate my declaring the Pan-Pacific and Southeast Asia Women’s Association National Conference and Annual General Meeting officially open.