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Karanga mai, mihi mai, tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa. Our distinguished guests, writers, readers, listeners, good evening everyone. I am, truly, delighted to have the privilege of formally opening the New Zealand Post Writers' and Readers'…

Mrs. Caughey and members of the Trust Board, Mrs. Reid and your school family, staff and girls, parents and friends, Miss Holland, Mr. Compton and Miss Johnson. Thank you for the invitation to come to St Cuthbert's and to share this exciting day with you…

E weehi ano to te rangi - e weehi ano to te whenua - e weehi ano to te takiwa. (There is that which is to be revered in the heavens; and over the earth; that which is to be revered throughout the universe.) Uuia kia Rangi-nui e tuu iho nei - ia Papa-tua-…

Prime Minister and Mr Shipley, Mr Bolger and Mrs Bolger, Te Arikinui, Dame Te Ata-i-Rangi-kaahu and Mr Mahuika, Ministers, Mayors, Your Excellencies, our co-hosts, Sir Ronald and Lady Trotter, ladies and gentlemen, our guests one and all. Nga hau e wha,…

E nga mana, e nga reo, rau rangatira ma, tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa. Mr Garlick, Chairman of the St James Theatre Charitable Trust; Dame Kate Harcourt, its Patron; Your Worship, Mayor Blumsky; Your Excellency, the British High…

Mayor John Burke (if attending), Mr White (Principal, Paremata School), Mr Kelly, Mr Arthur, Mr Leggatt, the Chair and members of the Board of Trustees, parents and, the most important people here, you children of Paremata School. Thank you for inviting…

E nga mana tangata whenua, e nga reo, rau rangatira ma; tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa. I pay respects to the authority of the people of this place: and to the speakers and to the distinguished people who are assembled here, I extend…

Mayor Philip Woollaston (Mayor of Nelson); Deputy Mayor of Tasman District, David Ogilvy; Bev Harvey (Chairwoman of Nelson Volunteer Centre Trust); Nancy Cowan (Regional Co-ordinator, Volunteer Centre); Mary Lafrentz and Bruce Hancox (Chairwoman and…

E nga mana tangata whenua, e nga reo, rau rangatira ma, tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa. Mr President, Your Worship the Mayor, Minister, other distinguished guests and visitors from near and far, ladies and gentlemen. I greatly appreciate the…

First let me say how pleased we are to be here tonight. This is a great school, with a fine record of educational excellence. My wife's father, and his brother, came here, so did both my ADCs and I am proud to be an old boy, and very proud too of the fact…

It is a very great pleasure once again for me to present the Supreme Award, for New Zealand Exporter of the Year. This is a very exciting and eye-opening event. How much we all learn as we listen to the achievements of our exporters. New Zealanders excel…

Tihei mauri ora! Taa huri-huri kau ana te tai ote tangata. Ka whaka-rongo nei te ahu-nga mai ote korero. I seek divine grace as I rise to my feet, so that I will be alert to the ultimate source of my words. Uuia kia Tararua tupuna e tuu nei pea. Kia…

Lady Jansen, Mr Lewis, Mr Head, Your Excellencies. New Zealand's commitment to and participation in what was originally called the United Nations Organisation, goes back to San Francisco, to the UN's birth, on the other side of the International Dateline…

Michael Hirschfeld, (Chairman of the Theatre Artists' Charitable Trust); Judge Carolyn Henwood and her fellow Trustees; Neville Carson, Circa Theatre Co-ordinator; Neil Gray, Senior Partner, Chapman Tripp Sheffield Young; representatives of the Trust's…

Mr Whineray, Mr Switzer, executives of Carter Holt Harvey, Judges, Award entrants, other members of the architectural profession, ladies and gentlemen. First, let me thank you for inviting me to present these awards this evening. These are the days of the…

  I cannot compete with the Bolger family in family statistics. We both have four grandchildren, but we have two more on the way; we of course have had a head start, married forty years. Like Mrs Bolger, I would like to acknowledge the prayerful support…

E nga mana tangata whenua, e nga reo, rau rangatira ma, tena koutou. E nga manuhiri kia Whanganui a Tara, nga hau e wha, nga iwi e tau nei, tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa. To the people of this land, to those who are to speak here, to the…

Ever since the possibility of an election under MMP became a reality, New Zealanders have taken a particular interest in the constitutional powers of the Governor-General.  I have talked about it on a number of occasions.  I have usually done so in the…

Ever since the possibility of an election under MMP became a reality, New Zealanders have taken a particular interest in the constitutional powers of the Governor-General.  I have talked about it on a number of occasions.  I have usually done so in the…

Seldom has our nation known such a universal expression of sorrow and of sympathy as we have seen in these last few days. At the beginning of the week the Prime Minister and I each sent to Her Majesty The Queen a message expressing, as best as mere words…

In the last couple of weeks I have been put in mind of a little story that was a favourite of the Reverend George Goodman, who I expect many of the Methodists here will remember, and who exercised a considerable formative influence on me in my younger…

Karanga mai, mihi mai, aku rangatira, tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa. In my salad days, when I spoke at a friend's wedding, I would quote a saying I had come across, that 'Marriage is like a birdcage.' The birds outside are flapping against…

In late 1994, the High Court of Malaysia was asked to rule on a weighty matter of constitutional law. Following a general election in one of the states of Malaysia in February that year, the head of state in that jurisdiction had appointed a new Chief…

Mr Orsman, Mr Samson of Oxford University Press, Vice-Chancellor Holborow, to all you distinguished guests here this evening: tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa, and a very warm welcome to Government House. The stated purpose of this evening is,…

Thank you for the honour you do me tonight. I have always valued my membership of the Club, and I was surprised to find, when I checked the record, that I have been a member for over a quarter of a century - an unkind way of saying 25 years. I began my…

Mr Murray, Mrs Aspey, members of staff, 6th and 7th formers of Tawa College: It's a pleasure to be here this morning at this very fine school. I have certainly heard a great deal about it, and about the achievements of those who have been to it, but I…

Honourable Members, please be seated. At the beginning of every new Parliament, the Governor-General formally opens proceedings by delivering the Speech from the Throne. This is an occasion of some pomp and ceremony. I wear formal dress, a little like…

Mr President, distinguished guests, Councillors and Fellows of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, ladies and gentlemen: It is a great honour to speak to you this evening: both as a newly admitted Honorary Fellow of this most respected College;…

You will all have seen copies of those old maps on which the empty spaces beyond the known shores bore the inscription - or the warning - "Here be dragons." New Zealand lay in one of those empty spaces, once. Of course, it was not empty. Navigators from…

Good morning - tena koutou katoa. Right from the start - well, even before it - I've failed three of the tests of true leadership. First, I've failed to identify my objective: I didn't get a title to this talk to the organisers in time for the printing of…

Sir John, Mr Fraser, Board Members, competitors, judges, sponsors, everyone involved in the Youth Skills Olympics. It is a privilege to be invited to share this Award Ceremony with you; just as it was so interesting and so stimulating to go to the Expo…

Kei te mana whenua; e rangi Prince Michael; Kei te Pirimia; kei nga mangai o nga whenua o te ao; kei te motu whanui e pae nei; tena koutou katoa. I have extended greetings to the Maori people of this place; to His Royal Highness Prince Michael; to the…