Search

Good morning.

I extend a warm welcome to you at this National Outcomes Forum: “Collaborating with information to support resilient and sustainable services”.

I would especially like to acknowledge Robyn Shearer, CEO of Te Pou, the National Centre of Mental Health Research Information and Workforce Development and the important work Te Pou is doing.

A warm welcome too to Professor Tom Trauer, from Australia a recognised international expert in the use of outcomes in mental health and addiction services.

• Thank you Geoff, and thank you all for making time to be here today. What a fantastic room Matangireia is – steeped in Māori political history.

Good afternoon. I am very pleased to speak to this year’s conference.

To acknowledge:

• National Beekeeper Association President Barry Foster
• Hawkes Bay Branch Chairman John Berry
• Bee Industry Group Chair John Hartnell
• the organising committee

I’ve been the Associate Minister for Primary Industries since December last year, when the Prime Minister asked me to work with David Carter.

May I start by placing on record my thanks to Professor Bill Harris and his team from Otago University for inviting me to address the Otago Foreign Policy School once again.

I intend to speak about both the strategic and economic significance of the Middle East to New Zealand.

Sadly, we are reminded by our television screens most evenings that the Middle East remains the world’s major source of potential and actual conflict.

We now have, in effect, a civil war in Syria.

Matai ki te rangi, tera ko Puanga, ko te tohu mo te tau hou
As one gazes at the heavens it is Puanga signalling the new year

No reira, nga mihi o te tau hou ki a katou katoa.

Ki te tangata whenua, nga mihi. Ki a Tā Mason Durie, Professor Taiarahia Black and Steve Maharey, Vice Chancellor tena koutou. Aa ki a tatou katoa kua huihui mai nei i tenei ra, tena koutou katoa.

Good morning. Today you are setting off on a long journey to London to pay tribute to all those who served in Bomber Command during World War II.

Nearly 6,000 New Zealanders served in Bomber Command during the war and sadly, 1851 did not return home.

I’m sure that when the new memorial is unveiled you will be thinking of those friends and colleagues who did not return home with you.

In total, 55,000 Bomber Command personnel lost their lives.

The bombing raids were dangerous, but played a major role in weakening the German war effort.

Thank you once again for inviting me back to speak to you.

It is always a pleasure to attend your conferences.

Each year as I prepare to attend your conference I think about the various tax initiatives being delivered and how they might affect you, and there are many.

Today, I would like to look forward, to things that will happen and to things that could happen.

I want to talk about upcoming changes to tax rules and about changes to the tax administration as we know it.

I am honoured to represent New Zealand, and to amplify the voices of the Pacific, as New Zealand is current Pacific Islands Forum chair.

New Zealand has come to Rio with a hope – that in reaffirming and renewing the world’s commitment to sustainable development we will address the future of the planet and aspirations of future generations.

A healthy environment is essential for maintaining human life and livelihoods and for healthy economies that are sustainable into the future.

I would like to start with a small reflective tribute to the late Sir Frank Holmes, an absolute stalwart of the PECC. This must be the first formal or informal PECC meeting I have attended in the last thirty years without Sir Frank being an integral part of the discussion.

Thank you for inviting me to address your conference.

This is the first chance that I have had since taking up my Energy and Resources portfolio to meet with a cross-section of engineers from the electricity industry.

I thought that to begin with I would briefly talk about the Government’s priorities in the energy area. 

Your primary focus is on electricity issues, but I’m sure you will be interested in the way in which our broader energy framework influences the long-term development of your industry.

Welcome to Wellington! And in some cases, to New Zealand. Thank you for inviting me to open this conference. It is a pleasure to be here with you this morning.

Fossil fuels make a valuable contribution to the energy needs of all countries, including New Zealand. At the same time many countries are looking to develop technologies to help address concerns about oil prices and about how to efficiently use fossil fuels as a precious resource.

The day after last year’s Rugby World Cup Opening Ceremony the editor of the Telegraph Newspaper in London wrote:

“How the coordinator of London’s 2012 Olympics must envy New Zealand’s cultural coherence … the haka is one of the grand sights of world sport and at the heart of the whole opening ceremony.”

“What New Zealand has is something of huge worth: a defining cultural pivot around which the whole event could spin.”

I am pleased to attend the launch today of STOP THE TRAFFIK Aotearoa New Zealand.

This newly formed network shows a commitment to effective, coordinated anti-trafficking efforts by NGOs, service providers and other interested parties.

People trafficking is an abhorrent crime. It is also very distinct from people smuggling. People smuggling is voluntary illegal migration. It is a violation of nation’s borders.

Introduction:

• Good morning, I am pleased to have this opportunity to speak to you and deliver this year’s Bunckenburg Address.

• I see the address - named in honour of your former President Henry Herbert Bunckenburg – has been a tradition of the NZIQS since 1986. I am honoured to be the latest person to deliver this speech to you.

• This morning I will cover Government’s priorities for the building and construction sector and the Department of Building and Housing’s work programme.

E aku rangatira, tēnā koutou katoa.  Ka nui te honore ki te mihi ki a koutou.

Thank you for inviting me here today for the unveiling of a brand new piece of artwork to mark World Elder Abuse Awareness Day and Papatoetoe’s 150th Anniversary.

Mr Speaker, I move that the Mixed Ownership Model Bill be now read a second time.

This Bill and debate, is about controlling our nation’s debt, strengthening New Zealand’s capital markets, and providing funding for new high-priority infrastructure projects.

No nation can afford to let debt get out of control.

Huge debt is at the core of why the United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, Italy, and Greece are being forced to impose tough measures – we don’t want that for New Zealand.

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen.

It’s great to be back at New Zealand’s premier agricultural event.

I would like to acknowledge those on the stage with me:

• Rt. Honourable Jim Bolger (Chancellor, Waikato University)

• Professor Roy Crawford (Vice Chancellor)

• Sir Dryden Spring and David Hisco (ANZ Bank)

Welcome. It is my great pleasure to be hosting this breakfast today to acknowledge World Refugee Day, which occurs a week from today.

I would like to pass on my thanks to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and Refugee Services Aotearoa New Zealand, who have initiated this event. I would especially like to welcome from Australia Mr Rick Towle, the Regional Representative from the UNHCR.

I would also like to acknowledge the other Members of Parliament present here today and distinguished guests.

World Refugee Day

Indigenous Leaders in Senior Government positions
[the challenges and opportunities of being indigenous leaders within federal governments]

I want to begin by acknowledging the First Nations People who have welcomed us to your tribal lands and extended to us the spirit of generosity which has made us feel so at home.

The welfare system has not been working as it could. It has allowed too many to become trapped in an intergenerational cycle of dependence.

There are more than 317,000 people on welfare right now. Add to that the 220,000 children living in welfare dependent homes and there are more than half a million New Zealanders reliant on welfare in any given week.

This Government is transforming the welfare system into one that is modern, active and responsible because currently it is passive, out of date and quite frankly it is failing us.

I want to begin by thanking the Institute for providing me with this opportunity to provide an update on the state of our UN Security Council campaign.

I intend to use the occasion to put on record the ground rules under which we are contesting a UN Security Council seat – because in some respects we appear to be testing what appears to have become conventional wisdom about such campaigns, and I want to make it clear that we are doing so with our eyes open.

Mr Speaker, I move that the Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill be now read a first time. I nominate the Local Government and Environment Committee to consider the bill.

At the appropriate time I intend to move that the Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill be reported to the House by 15 October 2012.

Tena koutou, Tena koutou Katoa (Greetings to you all)

Thank you to the Chairperson, Director General, and Regional Directors for your opening remarks.

It is an opportune time to be discussing youth unemployment at this Conference as it is clear that the numbers of our young people out of work has been rising in both developed and developing economies, even where general unemployment rates are stabilising following the global recession.

Tena koutou, Tena koutou katoa (Greetings to you all).

Mr President, fellow delegates. I’m very pleased to be able to address this session, to acknowledge the contribution Director General Juan Somavia has made to the ILO, and to congratulate and welcome our new Director-General, Guy Ryder, who we have elected to lead this organisation over the years to come.