Te Parapara Māori Garden Trust

May I begin by greeting everyone in the languages of the realm of New Zealand in English, Māori, Cook Island Māori, Niuean, Tokelauan and New Zealand Sign Language. Greetings, Kia Ora, Kia Orana, Fakalofa Lahi Atu, Taloha Ni and as it is afternoon [sign].

May I specifically greet you: King Tuheitia and your wife, Te Atawhai; Your Worship Bob Simcock, the Mayor of Hamilton, and city councillors; Mavora Hamilton, Chair of the Te Parapara Garden Trust and other members of the trust; distinguished guests otherwise; ladies and gentlemen.

My wife Susan and I accepted with pleasure the invitation to be present this afternoon for the opening of the Te Parapara Gardens.

I have looked forward to jointly opening the gardens with King Tuheitia, but just before we do I would like to speak briefly as to the significance of today's events.

It is interesting to note that these gardens are the first of their kind in New Zealand, and yet places like this once sustained the people of this country.

I am told that in this garden everything will be done here just as it would have been done more than 200 years ago in Aotearoa.

That includes the tools that are used. All the necessary tools are being made from stones - just as Māori would have made them in the eighteenth century.

This is long, painstaking work but these tools will be 'the real thing'! and part of the authentic approach that is one of the most important aspects of this garden.

I am told that busloads of Waikato schoolchildren were held spellbound when Dante Bonica, who is leading the project of making the tools, held a demonstration day for schools in the region a couple of months ago.

I am sure that these gardens will become a very important tool for educating not only schoolchildren,  and people from the Waikato, but tourists from elsewhere in the country and visitors too.

Ironically, as we move further into the 21^st century, there is a greater desire to revive old traditions, some of which have almost died out.

One good example of this is Matariki, the Māori New Year.  Only about a decade ago, Matariki was hardly on the map or rather the calendar.

According to the Ministry for Culture and Heritage's online encyclopaedia, Te Ara, Matariki celebrations dwindled through the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, with one of the last being recorded about 1940.

Now Matariki has been revived.

It is celebrated at the end of the harvesting period and before planting and the stars at Matariki have always helped Māori to decide when to plant the season's kumara and to make many other decisions related to food supplies.

I am advised that Te Parapara takes its name from an ancient pa that stood along the WaikatoRiver banks not far from here. The inclusion of the Te Parapara Garden into the wider HamiltonGardens is very relevant to the history of the site and an opportunity to showcase the Tainui story of gardening.

It is not difficult to imagine that there were once people standing here, on what was once a pa site, looking up at the stars and thinking about when to plant their kumara.

And it is wonderful to know that because of these gardens that those traditions are being restored.

I would therefore like to pay tribute to all those who have worked so hard to get these gardens established.

I would particularly like to pay tribute to one man whose heart and soul were in these gardens and whom many have been mourning in the past two weeks.

Hare Puke was the patron of the Te Parapara Garden Trust, and kaumatua for HamiltonCity, the University of Waikato and WINTEC. He passed away in mid-November, but he knew that this celebration was imminent.  His passing was a great loss. 

In conclusion, I would like to congratulate the trustees of the Te Parapara Gardens on their initiative and the Hamilton City Council for accepting its proposal, and partnering with the Trust.  In the spirit of partnership, many other organisations have also given the project much sustenance. 

It speaks of a resilient and strong community, as does the growing of vegetables.  There is an apposite Māori proverb that speaks well of this self-reliance: He kai na tangata, he kai titongitongi; He kai na tona ringa, tino kai, tino makona noa, which translates as "you can only nibble at another's food; but with food that you have cultivated yourself, you can satisfy your appetite."

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