Thank you Lynell and Vanisa for giving me such a warm welcome.

I would also like to acknowledge your patron, Her Excellency Lady Susan Satyanand, Wellington YWCA Ambassador Avenal McKinnon and life-members Audrey Reynolds and Faith Gibbons.

It is a pleasure to be with you today to celebrate one of the occasions that defines New Zealand as a nation.

We are justifiably proud of the fact that we were the first country in the world to give women the vote back in 1893 and we should be equally proud of our record for being a "fair nation" in the 116 years since then.

Achieving the vote in 1893 was the result of years of struggle by some amazingly strong women, including our Suffrage foremother Kate Sheppard.

New Zealand is still a young nation, but in our short history one of the things that have always defined us is a strong sense of fairness - the idea that everyone should have the same opportunities.

As a result, New Zealand enjoys a strong international reputation for its human rights record and people listen to what we have to say, despite our small size.

We continue to be in the leading group internationally in terms of promoting and advancing gender equality and as a nation we speak strongly for women in international forums and works hard to meet our obligations in relation to the status of women.

Ours is a nation that acknowledges and welcomes the important contribution of our civil society; we recognise the fact that New Zealand benefits when women are able to participate fully and equally in our society.

We may be considered to be a small country on the international stage, but New Zealand has a big voice in promoting equality at international forums - a role that we take very seriously because the world cannot afford to underutilise the talents and skills of women.

To ensure this continues to be the case, the Ministry of Women's Affairs organises and manages the Caucus on International Women's Issues - which comprises of a range of Non-Government Organisations including YWCA, Amnesty International, the National Council of Women and UNIFEM, who represent women at international conferences.

It is contributions like these and the ability for Government and non-government organisation to work together that has obtained New Zealand a strong international reputation as being a "fair nation".

This reputation has also come about through the tireless efforts of some trailblazing women, who have ensured women are not only having their voices heard, but they can live up to the famous adage that, "Women can do anything".

Women like suffragette Kate Sheppard, pioneering aviator Jean Batten and the first women MP Elizabeth Reid McCombs all planted deep roots within our country's landscape to ensure that all New Zealanders - including the 51 percent who are female - can continue to grow.

Since then, many women have followed in their footsteps and have planted roots of their own, including New Zealand's first female judge Dame Augusta Wallace and our female Prime Ministers Rt Hon Jenny Shipley and Helen Clark.

Ours is a country that has had women succeed in almost every field, from politics to aviation, from Governor Generals and Auditor Generals to top authors, singers and artists.

Women in New Zealand - and the world over - are proving that they can achieve in any field. In fact, we seem to be running out of fields to lead the way in.

This has largely come about by New Zealand leading the way back in 1893 when women were given the vote, when Kate Sheppard won the fight for our country to be a "fair nation".

But it is important we don't rest on the laurels of our strong "fair nation" reputation and that we continue on in the footsteps of these pioneering women to ensure that the barriers that prevent women from achieving are removed.

It is important that we build on the good work of Kate Sheppard and the many wonderful women since her and ensure that the skills and talents of women are fully utilised in our society.

It is crucial that we ensure women are able to exercise real choices about their lives and that they are able to enter into any career path - whether they choose to be a hairdresser, a plumber, a nurse, a mechanic or a deep sea diver.

The Ministry is working to identify ways of improving career paths for women in low-paid, female-dominated occupations, including developing ways of promoting apprenticeships and trades to young women.

In the year 2009 it is astonishing that 99 percent of builders, electricians and motor mechanics are men - which means that our young women are missing out on the opportunity to earn while they learn.

One of the Ministry of Women's Affairs work streams over the next 12 months is to promote trades to young women and ensure they know it is a viable option as a career path.

We live in an age where there is no such thing as ‘men's work' or ‘women's work'; there is just ‘work'. Women should be encouraged to take up a trade and increase their earning potential.

As Minister of Women's Affairs, I am also passionate about increasing the number of women in leadership - which is something I understand this branch of YWCA is also passionate about.

Through your Discovery mentoring programme, you are ensuring that our future leaders are being identified early and that they have the tools and networks to reach their full potential.

Mentoring through a programme like Discovery is a great way of ensuring young women have better information on which to base decisions and are able to recognise and develop their talents.

It also allows them to develop networks that will continue to assist them throughout their chosen career paths.

Networking is an important tool for anyone who is looking for opportunities because a good network of contacts can open closed doors and gives us the opportunity to share strategies towards overcoming challenges and to achieve goals.

When talking about networking, I like to use the analogy of a spider web.

Like a web, networking takes hard work, diligence and patience and brings together individual strands to create a strong and powerful environment that can capture almost anything. The benefit of spinning a strong network is that we have the opportunity to utilise our individual talents and bring them together for strength and prosperity.

More than a century ago, Kate Sheppard spun her own network, which enabled her to get women the vote.

She showed that by working together as a nation of men and women, we can achieve anything and become world leaders.

We must now utilise this attitude and continue to benefit from the skills and passion of our women.

One area where New Zealand could benefit from having more women in leadership is within our company boardrooms, where currently less than nine percent of directors are women.

There is strong international evidence that companies with greater gender diversity in the boardroom are more profitable than companies with all-male boards.

Earlier this year, Prime Minister Hon John Key launched the Women on Boards business case - a joint venture between the Ministry of Women's Affairs, Business New Zealand and the Institute of Directors which puts forward the strong arguments for increasing gender diversity in the boardroom.

For example, the Catalyst Report - which looks at the Fortune 500 companies in the United States - reveals that companies with more women in the boardroom tend to outperform those with fewer women across all measures.

The Women on Boards business case puts forward the argument that having more women in the boardroom isn't just the right thing to do - it's the bright thing to do, because it can significantly increase a business' profit margins.

To ensure public sector boards can benefit from gender diversity, the Ministry promotes suitable, qualified and able women for public sector board position through its Nominations Service.

The large number or talented and able women on the Nominations Service database demonstrates that there is a vast pool of suitable candidates ready to serve in the boardroom.

But while the government can create an environment where women are able to get ahead, the fact is that women must first have the confidence and the leadership skills to want to follow in the footsteps of Kate Sheppard, and not be afraid to say ‘I can do that'.

Our country's proud history has been built by many trailblazing women and the best way that we can continue to honour them is to put our hands up for leadership and continue to prove that women can do anything.

Organisations like the YWCA empower women to unlock their potential on a daily basis and it is important that on days like Suffrage Day, we don't just celebrate the women of the past - but also those of you who are still working to ensure women are able to break through the barriers and achieve.

If we unlock that potential, everyone in New Zealand will benefit.

So thank you for helping to create a better future. I'm sure Kate Sheppard would approve.

Thank You