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Good morning it’s great to be with you in Queenstown today. I would like to acknowledge:

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

I would like to start by acknowledging Tasman District Council Mayor Richard Kempthorne, and my colleague local MP Dr Nick Smith and Labour’s Damien O'Connor.

Thank you all for being here today, and thank you for inviting me to speak to you on a subject I love talking about – positive ageing and ageing positively.

Today I want to talk about the Budget, which will come out on 15 May.

This will be the National-led Government’s sixth budget.

Some of those budgets have felt at times like an exercise in crisis management.

So I take my hat off to Bill English, who has done a great job of steering the country through the recession, the global financial crisis and the aftermath of a very destructive and expensive natural disaster.

Everyone’s circumstances are of course different and some people are still finding it hard.

Good morning ladies and gentlemen. 

It’s great to see so many people, including the many international guests, here today.  I hope those of you from overseas have an opportunity to see some of the sights that our country is renowned for before you return home.

I want to take a minute or two at the outset this morning to tell you about a couple of the key points I made at the National Energy Research Institute conference here in Wellington a fortnight ago. 

Kia Ora. Thank you for inviting me here today to celebrate the newly developed South Waikato Health Centre.

It’s a great privilege for me to join you today.

The South Waikato Health Centre co-locates a number of health services here onsite at the Tokoroa Hospital.

Utilising two unused wards, the site has been transformed into modern facilities. 

Introduction

Thank you for that introduction, Arlene.

It is my pleasure to extend to all the delegates a warm welcome to New Zealand, and specifically to Christchurch.

Christchurch is one of New Zealand’s largest cities and has a rich and varied history, including becoming New Zealand's first city by Royal Charter in 1856.

Since the major earthquakes in 2010 and 2011 and the thousands of subsequent aftershocks Christchurch has re-emerged at the forefront of New Zealand’s economic recovery.

(delivered by Tim Macindoe MP)

Thank you for the opportunity to open your fourth national conference, today here in Hamilton.

Having studied your programme, I can see this conference will be a great opportunity to share ideas and to hear evidence about advanced practice by Allied Health Professionals.

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.

It is my great pleasure to be back in Colombia.

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

Thank you Pamela, and good morning to you all and welcome to the 2014 PreFabNZ conference.

I’d like to extend a special greeting to delegates from overseas, welcome to Auckland.

Putting together conferences like this takes time and energy.

I would like to start by acknowledging Pamela Bell, PreFabNZ chief executive, who has done so much to make this event possible.

Good morning. It is great to be back in Chile. This is my third trip to Latin America in just over a year, and my second trip to Chile and to this beautiful region.

The last time I was here I accompanied our Prime Minister as part of a broader trade mission across Latin America. This time I am joined by our trade Minister Tim Groser, and a 14 strong New Zealand business delegation.

This delegation includes some of the best of New Zealand's agribusiness, agri-tech, and agricultural training expertise.

I have to admit to a great sense of excitement about the purpose of this smokefree summit.

The driving force behind this summit is to kickstart a revolution - the smokefree youth movement.

It is a revolution dear to my heart.

While the purpose - to eliminate tobacco from our lives is laudable - the really remarkable feature of this Summit is that it is your momentum, your inspiration, your leadership that is making it happen.

It is about you standing up for the kaupapa - telling the world that tobacco is not your future.

Good evening and thank you for the invitation to talk about the work we are doing to improve the public health service in New Zealand.

Good health is hugely important to New Zealand families. A strong public health service gives families peace of mind - knowing that the care they need will be there, when they need it.

And that's the priority of our government too. Protecting and growing the public health service for New Zealand families.

And with your support, the public health service is making a lot of progress.

Good afternoon and thank you the opportunity to speak at this event today.

Thanks to Dr Tutone, and Nora, for your speeches earlier, and a special thanks to Kim for sharing your remarkable story about your own journey as a kidney donor.

There are also a few other acknowledgements I’d like to make before I begin;

I am really pleased to be with you this morning at this National Tamariki Ora conference. It is a perfect opportunity to be able to recognise the contribution that Well Child Tamariki Ora makes to the health and wellbeing of our tamariki mokopuna.

Throughout the course of this week, as well as here in Heretaunga, I will be in Ohakune, Palmerston North, Wellington, Upper Hutt, Auckland, Waitangi and Waiheke Island before finally on Saturday I return to Whanganui.

There are some days that stand out above the rest. 8 November 2010 was one of those days.

That was the day Les Hokianga and his dozen champions biked to the Beehive – having cycled almost 300km, competing against headwinds, and freezing southerlies.   These weren’t professional cyclists – this was simply a team of men – very big men – who decided they wanted a better future for their whanau. 

Ladies and gentlemen

Good morning.

Thank you for this – very timely – opportunity to speak to you this morning about the Government’s reforms of New Zealand’s family justice system. Yesterday the Governor-General signed an Order in Council, setting 31 March as the day the new system comes into effect. And later today the Ministry of Justice will launch a new Family Justice website, and begin a public awareness campaign.

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

Thank you Jacob Tapiata for your warm introduction.

It’s a pleasure to be here today, and I thank Massey University for giving me the opportunity to be a part of this exciting event.

When I learned about this project called It’s My Life I was very impressed that you, the students, are the driving force behind it. 

I think it’s important that young people lead the way in creating a Smokefree New Zealand by 2025.

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

Thank you for inviting me to speak about the value of the voluntary sector to New Zealand, and to assist in presenting this evening’s awards.

I am delighted to be a part of this wonderful and prestigious event.

The Trustpower Community Awards is now one of the country's largest community-based awards programmes.

Tena koutou katoa Nga Kaitiaki o Te Puna Rongoa o Aotearoa.

There is a special poignancy about being here at Owhata Marae today.   

One of the distinguished features of this marae, is the sacred rock called Iriirikapua – the place at which the tupuna kuia, Hinemoa, would sit, listening to Tutanekai playing his kouaua from Mokoia Island.

Today, we think of the plaintive beauty of that sound as it lingered over the waters – and we grieve as we remember the koroua, Hiwinui Heke and everything he meant to us.  

It is my pleasure to be here this afternoon and can I say how pleased I am to see international education on the agenda.

Over the last few years as Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment I’ve been privileged to travel overseas promoting New Zealand as a study destination, and helping to establishing links between New Zealand and overseas institutions.

The Global Energy Challenge

Energy is an integral part of our lives.

It is the foundation on which we build economic growth, prosperity and progress in our societies.  

Across the globe, we are all facing the same basic energy challenge.    

We want our citizens and countries to continue to develop and prosper.  

But we need to reduce carbon emissions from our energy use and respond to climate change.

Mr Speaker, I move that the Employment Relations Amendment Bill be now read a second time.  I thank the members of the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee, and particularly its chair David Bennett, for their thorough consideration of this Bill.

Mr Speaker, this Bill implements the Government’s policies aimed at increasing flexibility and fairness in our employment relations framework.

Distinguished Guests

It is a great pleasure to be in Beijing today.

And I’m pleased to be here at the China Agricultural University for the first time - thank you for your warm welcome.

This is my fourth visit to China, reflecting the strength of the bilateral relationship between our two countries.

It also demonstrates the importance we place on the relationship and the potential we have to take it even further forward.

With me today are New Zealand’s Minister of Trade Tim Groser, and our Food Safety Minister, Nikki Kaye.