Speech
Waitangi Day address
For more photos at the Waitangi Day Garden Party, click here.
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 the afternoon (Sign)
I then specifically greet you: Rt Hon John Key, Prime Minister; Hon Phil Goff, Leader of the Opposition; Rt Hon Dame Sian Elias, Chief Justice; Your Worship Len Brown, Mayor of Auckland, Distinguished Guests otherwise; Ladies and Gentlemen.
As this will be the last time I will have the honour of speaking as Governor-General on Waitangi Day, I want to take the opportunity to look back on Waitangi experiences and to share some of the insights gained during my term.
When I first spoke on Waitangi Day in 2007 at Government House in Wellington, I offered the view that New Zealanders needed to have a national conversation about the possibilities open to us as a Pacific nation, sharing the knowledge and wisdom that our many communities hold. I then said:
“As Governor-General for a term, I look forward to listening for signs of this conversation as I travel around the country over the next five years—and taking part in it. I look forward to learning the histories of different communities, to hearing about their experiences and to knowing the part each has played in New Zealand's larger story.”
In the time since, my wife Susan and I have done just that, travelling to almost every corner of this country. It has been a privilege to meet New Zealanders, young and old, and of every race, culture and creed, and to hear about their experiences and their histories. We have done this in both good times and in sad times, but in the last year there has been more than one year’s worth of sadness and destruction.
On Waitangi Day itself we have attended community events in a range of places in New Zealand. Those travels have taken us from Waitangi in Northland, to Okahu Bay and Manukau City in Auckland, to Farndon Park Domain on the Clive River near Napier, to Porirua and Frank Kitts Park in Wellington and to Ōnuku Marae at Akaroa in the South Island. We have also met many New Zealanders at Waitangi Day receptions either here at Government House in Auckland or at Government House in Wellington.
From those experiences, the conversation, debate and discussion we have observed, has been of the Treaty of Waitangi as a “shared story”.
It is a story of New Zealanders coming together to enjoy and share their national day—celebrating the many things that makes our country special to us.
It is a story of New Zealanders—Māori, Pākehā and others—reassessing their understanding of our history, and openly and frankly addressing the wrongs that were committed in the past. Given the depth of New Zealanders’ grievances this has been a long, and at times, difficult process. Despite inevitable controversies and misunderstandings, the process continues to move forward. New Zealand is all the stronger for having had the courage to attempt to reconcile its past with its present, and to make some amends.
It is also a story of New Zealanders looking anew at the meaning of the Treaty of Waitangi in a modern context. Sometimes the debate has been rancorous and sometimes we have failed to agree. That is to be expected in a democracy.
There is, however, a growing understanding that the Treaty gives all of us a stake in New Zealand. It gives us a shared basis for moving forward as one nation of many peoples and communities, whether we are “tangata whenua” or, in the words of former Waitangi Tribunal Chairman, Hon Sir Eddie Durie, we are“tangata tiriti,” the people of the Treaty.
Because the Treaty is a founding document of this country, and because the story of the Treaty is shared, it is not surprising that we do not always agree on its meaning, and that our understanding of its spirit and principles continues to evolve.
Pages in our history that were once seen as settled have been reassessed, and age-old preconceptions and shibboleths are being looked at afresh. Our ongoing reassessment has been aided by the work and views of historians and other academics, by churches, by community groups, by the media and by our elected representatives.
The Waitangi Tribunal, in particular, has played a pivotal role. With its wide membership of Pākehā and Māori from the judiciary and the legal profession, from business, academia, the public sector and the wider community, the Tribunal’s hearings and reports have challenged all New Zealanders to consider again our nation’s history and the role of the Treaty in our lives.
From its establishment in 1975, the Tribunal demonstrated that the Treaty was a living document whose principles were as relevant today as they were when it was signed in 1840. For example, 27 years ago in its report on a claim regarding plans for a sewer outfall in North Taranaki, the Tribunal drew attention to the Crown’s ongoing obligation to protect Māori fisheries and the need to better care for our environment.
But the Tribunal also emphasised the positive role of the Treaty of Waitangi in our nation’s life. As it noted in its 1983 judgment: “The Treaty … made us one country, but acknowledged that we were two people. It established the regime not for uni-culturalism, but for bi-culturalism. We do not consider that we need feel threatened by that, but rather that we should be proud of it, and learn to capitalise on this diversity as a positive way of improving our individual and collective performance.”
Almost 70 years ago, New Zealand poet, the late Allen Curnow, published a poem that continues to intrigue readers to this day. In his sonnet, The Skeleton of the Great Moa in the Canterbury Museum, Christchurch, Curnow recounts a childhood memory of marvelling at this extinct bird. The poem muses on the bird’s failure to adapt to these islands after the arrival of humans, and concludes as follows:
“Not I, some child, born in a marvellous year,
Will learn the trick of standing upright here.”
The poem, and its well known final couplet, have been given many interpretations, and have been used as a reference to comment on issues as diverse as New Zealand’s national identity and its foreign policy, its landscape and its literature.
To me, this poem speaks of the peoples of New Zealand—Māori, Pākehā and many others who call this country home—still trying to learn “the trick of standing upright here” together. For New Zealand is, in the grand scheme of history, still a young nation, and learning the trick—that is, the partnership of peoples that underpins the Treaty—takes time and constant effort. While we may occasionally stumble as we address the past, understand the present, and look to the future, it is important that we never lose sight of what we have achieved together - standing upright here together.
The point was well made by historian, Emeritus Professor Alan Ward in the 2009 Waitangi Rua Rautau Lecture. He emphasised that in the serious business of addressing the disputes of the past, we should not discount the many good times we have shared. He said, and I quote:
“I fear that we are sometimes inclined to forget that we have shared so much, Māori and Pākehā together, in good times and in bad, and will inevitably continue to do so .…While we work at these serious tasks, I trust we will not overlook the many decades and many venues we have enjoyed in each other’s company, in workplaces, classrooms, sports-fields, dance halls, pubs and clubs. Above all we have intermingled bloodlines. To overlook our shared experience, would be to throw away our most precious asset.”
That precious asset—our shared experience—includes establishing an enduring and strong democracy and serving with much valour throughout the world to defend democratic rights and freedoms. New Zealanders also continue to be leaders in science, technology, innovation, business, sport, and the creative arts. It is a proud record of service and achievement that belies New Zealand’s relatively small population.
New Zealand has also become an increasingly diverse nation. People from all corners of the globe, and of every ethnic, cultural and religious group, call this beautiful country their home, while the structure of New Zealander’s families and personal relationships has become equally diverse.
As New Zealand citizens, whether we were born overseas, or whether our ancestors came here by canoe, sailing ship, steamer or aeroplane, the Treaty gives us all a stake and place in New Zealand. The University of Auckland Professor Manying Ip has written a book, Unfolding History, Evolving Identity, about the story of New Zealanders of Chinese descent. In her introduction she uses a phrase that sums up for me the connection we all have to this country: “Where my heart is at ease, this is home.” It is a credit to all New Zealanders that, underpinned by spirit of the Treaty and our good-hearted and tolerant attitude to others, so many have been able to build new lives and families here, and for our hearts to be at ease. These many achievements make me another intensely proud to be a New Zealander.
In conclusion, the challenge to all of us is to build on our nation’s diversity and to build on our many achievements together. They are part of the shared story of the compact signed at Waitangi 171 years ago on 6 February 1840 and they are a mighty legacy as we move forward together.
And on that note I will close in New Zealand’s first language Māori, by offering everyone greetings and wishing you all good health and fortitude in your endeavours. No reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, kia ora, kia kaha, tēnā koutou katoa.