Ambassador Annelies Boogaerdt and other members of the Diplomatic Corps:

Afghanistan, its people, its challenges. 

Thirty years of almost continuous war have devastated Afghanistan, as these photographs make clear. They also mean that for a majority of people war has been a constant element of their lives.

This is the challenge the world now faces in Afghanistan: developing a culture of peace and stability, where people can expect to live free from war.

This is not primarily a military challenge. It requires working with the Afghan people to restore faith in their governance and in their society.

Success in this will then protect us from the terrorist groups that have been based in Afghanistan.

Both our countries have been engaged in Afghanistan for nearly a decade. We are there because of the threat that terrorism poses to us. New Zealanders have been killed in most of the major terrorist events of the last decade - September 11, London, Bali, and now Jakarta. These have all stemmed from Al Qaeda, and its offshoots.

The NATO/ISAF mission in Afghanistan involves virtually all the developed countries. It is in our common interest to defeat terrorism.

The exhibition's title, "Out of the Dust", captures the extent of Afghanistan's struggle in recent decades. It is shown by images of conflict, in the lines of people's faces, in their artificial limbs and in the burned-out remnants of tanks left by a previous invader.

Alongside those images, however, we see the pleasure people can take in the daily tasks that mean normality. The colour and resilient spirit captured in these pictures show that Afghanistan is gradually emerging from the turmoil of the past. This is not yet complete, but we can take heart in the progress made.

The lives of the people shown in the collection tell us much about why we - New Zealand, the Netherlands and so many other countries - are there. We want Afghanistan to have a future where the people of Afghanistan can live in peace, and where there is no safe haven for those who would attack us.

We can only do that in concert with the Afghan people.

Ambassador Boogaerdt, congratulations to your Government on sponsoring this testament to Afghanistan's resilient spirit. I declare it open and wish it every success.