In Search of Paradise

May I begin by greeting everyone in the languages of the realm of New Zealand, in 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 evening  (Sign)

May I specifically greet you: Graeme Lay, author and your publishers and editors, Linda Cassells, Nicola Legat and Rebecca Lal; Jacinda Torrance, designer, Distinguished Guests otherwise; ladies and gentlemen.  May I then add, in the context of this evening, further Pacific greetings: Talofa lava; Malo e lelei, Ni sa bula vinaka, Kam na mauri, and Mi likum yu tumas.

Thank you for the invitation to my wife Susan and I to be here at the launch of Graeme Lay's new book, In Search of Paradise: Artists and Writers in the Colonial South Pacific.

I have been asked to formally launch the book and will do so in a hopefully acceptable fashion shortly. Before I do, I would like to speak briefly about the importance of the South Pacific to New Zealand and as a point of inspiration for European artists and writers during the colonial period.

I am one who can reflect the Pacific from more than one angle.  While being born in Auckland, my parents were born in Fiji and so the Pacific is part of my ancestry.  I have relations in Fiji.  Indeed, when I opened the Tangata o le Moana exhibition at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa last year one of the "exhibits," appearing in a video describing growing up in Auckland as the child of  Pacific immigrants was myself.

From another part of the  personal perspective, I have American Samoan relatives and last year when in Tutuila I was able to see some of the relatives and visit family graves.

In the Governor-General role, I am the representative of New Zealand's Head of State, for the wider realm of New Zealand, which includes the self-governing states of Niue and the Cook Islands and the territory of Tokelau - hence my formal greetings in beginning.

In my first year as Governor-General, Susan and I had the opportunity to visit all three and emphasising that the New Zealand Governor-General serves them all.

New Zealand Governors-General have in the modern era increasingly represented our nation to the rest of the world, and hence has come travel by us to the Pacific including for example attending the funerals of King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV of Tonga and Malietoa Tanumafili II, Head of State of Samoa and the coronation of King George Tupou V in Tonga.  There has also been a formal and separate State Visit to Samoa, with which country New Zealand has its only Treaty of Friendship.

New Zealand is a nation of migrants. Some travelled in canoes from Polynesia.  Some travelled in sailing ships and steamers from Europe and Asia.  Others came in ships and aeroplanes from the Pacific and Asia.  As noted New Zealand historian, the late Dr Michael King said:  "In a country inhabited for a mere one thousand years, everybody is an immigrant or a descendent of an immigrant."

The last Census found that nearly a quarter of New Zealanders were born overseas.  That increasing diversity is enriching New Zealand's society, culture and economy.

One of those many groups of immigrants have been those from New Zealand's Pacific neighbours, which now account for almost seven percent of the population.  Of the almost 266,000 people who identified as being Pacific origin, most were from six major island groups—Samoa; the Cooks; Tonga; Niue; Fiji; and Tokelau.

All these connections emphasise how much New Zealand is part of the Pacific and the Pacific is part of New Zealand.  In Auckland, the world's largest Polynesian city, people of the Pacific have added their own distinctive colour and vibrancy.

Europeans were late arrivals in the Pacific.  It is estimated that for nearly five thousand years before the arrival of the first European explorers, that the people of the Pacific had been exploring its vast tracts of water.

From the outset, along with the missionaries, the traders and whalers, European artists and writers were part of the exploring group of the Pacific.  They came with the prevailing philosophical views of the Romantic era and with notions such as that of the "noble savage," and "unspoiled paradise". Those themes, and many others, continue to inform many forms of European art, including more recently, cinema and television.

Until the movers arrived at Government House in Wellington recently, many of these themes could be seen in the art works on display there.  One of them was Nathaniel Dance's 1776 portrait of Captain Charles Clerk, one of Captain Cook's underlings and a Maori chief which until recently hung in the Drawing Room.

The painting was donated to the House by my predecessor Lord Galway in 1941.  It is not only the only known portrait of this close friend of Cook but is also believed to be one of the first representations of Maori and Pakeha together in European art.

The two did not pose together and historians believe Dance cribbed the image of the Maori chief from Sydney Parkinson's artistic work from Cook's first voyage to New Zealand. 

The harmonious image Dance portrays was, as we all know, sadly not to be and the Pacific continues to deal with the legacy of that colonial period.

One of the lovely things about launching a book is that the launcher and spouse get to dip into it before D Day and I want to say how much Susan and I have enjoyed that opportunity.  On page 44 for just one brief example there is a quotation of Sir Joseph Banks written in April 1770 describing Maori whom he called "Indians".  "The men are of the size of the larger European clean limbed and active"  He goes on. "I have seen 15 paddles move with immensely quick strokes and at the same time as must justness as if the movers were animated by one soul"  He goes on "The canoe all the while moving with incredible swiftness". 

It seemed to me on reading this that there was a reprise with the well known Maori proverb that goes:- "Kaua e rangiruatia te ha o te hoe; e kore to tatou waka e u ki uta"

The translation is that in a waka, those rowing must lift their paddles in unison or the shore will not be reached.

In addition to Banks that of Sydney Parkinson and Herman Melville, Robert Louis Stevenson, Paul Gauguin, Gottfried Lindauer is beautifully displayed and informatively discussed in Graeme 's new book.

The book not only provides a window to show us much of the Pacific throughout the period of European contact, but also tells us much of how European explorers viewed themselves and the world and people they were meeting.

It is a significant addition to work on this period and I feel certain that it will gain a wide audience.  I congratulate you Graeme, the editors, the designer and publishers, Random House,  on producing such a beautifully handsome volume.

And on that note, I will close in our country's first language Maori, by offering everyone greetings and wishing everyone good health and fortitude in your endeavours. No reira, tena koutou, tena koutou, kia ora, kia kaha, tena koutou katoa.

It is with great pleasure that I accept the invitation to officially launch In Search of Paradise: Artists and Writers in the Colonial South Pacific.