Wellington Club Dinner

Ladies and Gentlemen, I greet you 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 (Sign)

Specifically may I acknowledge you: Tim Olphert, President of the Wellington Club; you David Brown Douglas, Vice-President; Members of the Committee; Members and spouses and partners.

It is a great pleasure to be here tonight, with my wife Susan, for the first time (officially) as an Honorary Member of the Wellington Club.  While it is by no means the first time I have attended a function here in this last year, the title of Honorary Member is one I acquired consequent upon appointment as Governor-General.

It is a tradition for holders of the Governor-General Office to be invited to become Honorary Members. I join a long line of Governors-General who have swapped the title of Member for Honorary Member and thus deepening an existing association.

I observe that my predecessor but one, Sir Michael Hardie Boys, who was Governor-General from 1996 to 2001, spoke to Club members as his term in office was coming to a close.  With five years' worth of experience—including New Zealand's first two MMP elections—he had much to recount.

I am, by contrast, just a few weeks' short of just one year in office.  However, with the exception of a constitutional crisis or General Election, I can say that have experienced just about one example of everything the role can provide in any of its three parts, constitutional, ceremonial or community.

This has meant (for my wife and I) State Dinners and Welcomes for visiting Heads of State and Members of the Royal Family (our own and others), ceremonies for Anzac Day, Waitangi Day; for Ambassadors presenting their credentials.  I've also assented to many laws covering a multitude of different issues.

As Governor-General of the Realm of New Zealand, which includes Tokelau, Niue, the Cook Islands and Ross Dependency, I've visited Niue and will be visiting the Cooks and Tokelau in the next weeks. I've also represented New Zealand at the 90^th Commemorations of the Battle of Passchendaele in Belgium and at funerals of the Head of State of Samoa and the late King of Tonga.

There have been visits (by Susan and I - today included) to many parts of this country to see community service in action.  I've opened new schools, buildings and facilities and planted several trees. This has provided a wonderful opportunity for us both to meet New Zealanders from all walks of life.  At the rate of planting trees, by the time I finish my time in office I'm sure I will have done a great deal to ameliorate carbon emissions!

There is also the matter of conferring awards at investiture ceremonies, at the Government Houses in Wellington and Auckland.  They are ceremonies to be particularly enjoyed as there again arises an opportunity to meet a wide range of people, all of whom have contributed much to New Zealand.

However, on Thursday morning I will have the honour to confer the first Victoria Cross for New Zealand on Corporal Willy Apiata.  By the way, this is not the State secret it has been for the past months as the media were informed of the ceremony last week.

Corporal Apiata's actions are an inspiration to everyone and the courage he displayed is of the finest human quality and one that we can only hope to emulate.

The VC Day will be a particularly special occasion in the GG term.  Gallantry awards are rarely conferred and no New Zealander has received the Victoria Cross since the Second World War.  Given that, it may be sometime before another Governor-General is called upon to do so again. 

As I mentioned in starting, this is not at all the first time I have attended this Club. As a Member since 1995, I have had much occasion to enjoy the ambience of the Club and in the capacity of a near neighbour from the Ombudsmen Office in the next-door building.  Indeed the Chief Ombudsman Sir Brian Elwood and I could get here in the most adverse weather without getting our heads wet.  Talking of wet weather one of the things I have enjoyed over more than a decade is the matter of coming here whenever possible with a particular friend whenever the weather is of the kind that has made our city's reputation.  For over 10 years whenever the wind is blowing and it is cold and grey and wet one "foulweather friend" as we call each other will ring the other and we will come here for lunch together.

Additionally whether to with the judiciary or the Ombudsmen there have been many reasons for this Club and its amenities to be enjoyed by both my wife Susan and I.

It may no longer be a surprise to many but it seems worth repeating that the Wellington Club is the 43^rd oldest club in the world with a membership now exceeding 1,300.

More than its credentials, however, is the opportunity this place provides to meet with people who share a range of professional, personal and artistic interests.

This is the great value of institutions such as the Wellington Club. They are forums that nurture reflection and discussion outside of a formal professional environment.

A Club such as this is also valuable in that it reflects not only the people who are its members, but also the physical environment in which it operates. In this case, the Wellington Club is an embodiment of its namesake Arthur Wellesley, because having been founded in 1841, makes it not much younger than the city itself. 

If the Club had its own voice, it could tell fascinating stories of our capital city and Dr Beasley's centennial history, edited by the Presidents wife Lorraine Olphert underpins this.

The Club reflects the city's business and civic leaders capacity to engage with part of our country's future.

There are also reflections here on the changing face of Wellington, from busy port city to serious capital to cosmopolitan and creative hub celebrated by locals and visitors alike. Indeed, I observe that Wellington was recently voted the fourth best capital in the world, by the Mercer 2007 Worldwide Quality of Living survey.

I expect early members would have been delighted—and quite possibly surprised—to learn this of their fledgling city's future.

In this sense, The Wellington Club can be said to be a living repository of the changing face of our capital.

Wellington, and indeed New Zealand, has also changed in many other ways.  Our society is now culturally far more diverse than it was 166 years ago.  People from all corners of the globe now call Wellington home.  In the last Census, for example, the number of people of Asian descent in the Wellington region outnumbered Pacific peoples.  More than a quarter of the people living in the Wellington region were born overseas.

Religiously more diversity occurs.  In New Zealand has a whole, while Christianity remains the largest faith at 52 percent, a third disclose no religion at all, while the numbers of Hindus and Muslims has grown substantially.

While these changes can enrich our cultural mix, issues such as the wearing of burqa in court, the desecration of Jewish headstones and the publication of the Mohammad cartoons show the challenges inherent in these social changes.

I expect that this Club and its surroundings will offer many opportunities for these issues to be aired and refined.

It is from responsible airing of differing views, that New Zealand will come to a better understanding of how to accommodate the differences and values of those new to our country with the values of a democratic society that we hold dear.  It will not be an easy process but it is one that I believe members of this Club have a role to play.

Whilst I'm thinking of responsible airings, I would like to issue a modest challenge.  It is to note that the City of Wellington, now heading towards 170 years of age, might have something in it to celebrate its illustrious namesake, Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, victor of the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.  Is it not a fair challenge to make that this city might have a statue of the Duke of Wellington (perhaps on horseback like in London) and placed in a prominent place in the city and that it should in some way be connected with this illustrious Club?

To close, I will quote some words of the former Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Kwan Yew, speaking of the qualities of the Singapore Cricket Club. He said:

"Perhaps in this [Cricket Club], we have a symbol of what has been happening in [Singapore]. It cannot stay still but there is an indefinable quality about this Club which no other club can match—it bridges the transformation from what was, to what is, and represents our capacity to meet what will be."  

Replacing the word Singapore with Wellington and leaving out the word Cricket, one can say, so it is with The Wellington Club.

I have enjoyed the indefinable quality of this Club for many years now (not least because of its wonderful staff) and I look forward to continuing the association in the capacity of Honorary Member.

Mr President, thank you for the Club's fine hospitality this evening.  I began speaking in all the New Zealand realm languages.  May I close, particularly because it is Maori Language Week this week, by speaking in Maori, issuing greetings and wishing everyone good health and fortitude in your endeavours.