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Tēnā koutou.  Tēnā koutou ki te hau kāinga, otira, ki a tātou katoa.

Auckland, 27th October 2012

Tēnā koutou.  Tēnā koutou ki te hau kāinga, otira, ki a tātou katoa.

Thank you for inviting me to speak at your graduation ceremony tonight.  Today I have travelled from Greytown in the Wairarapa to be with you. 

The journey to be here tonight has meant long hours of travel for me, but let me acknowledge straight off the journey that each of you has taken to be here.

Tangata whenua, business leaders, staff and conference attendees, tēnā koutou.

To John Fiso and the Board of the New Zealand Association of Private Education Providers, thank you for the opportunity to share with you some thoughts at the closing of your conference.

The writer Alvin Toffler, once said, “the illiterate of the future will not be the person who cannot read. It will be the person who does not know how to learn”.

E te tupuna whare, tēnā koe. E ngā uri o Ohomairangi, tēnā koutou. Kia ora tātou katoa.

I acknowledge my parliamentary colleagues, Todd McClay and Te Ururoa Flavell, Dr Toby Curtis, Malcolm Short and Mayor Kevin Winters.

Mai Maketū ki Tongariro ...
Ko Te Arawa te waka
Ko Te Arawa māngai-nui ūpoko tū-takitaki

From Maketū to Tongariro ...
Te Arawa the canoe
Te Arawa the determined people

Good afternoon, thank you for opportunity to speak at your conference today.

Since I spoke to you last year the New Zealand economy has been steadily rebuilding out of the GFC. Our economy is almost two-and-a-half per cent larger than it was this time last year, and the Christchurch rebuild continues to ramp up.  According to the March quarter Household Labour Force Survey 10,800 more people are employed in construction in Canterbury than this time last year, and the reality is we have just begun.

Tena koutou katoa

Ki a Kingi Tuheitia, me te kahui ariki anei nga mihi. Aa ki te tangata whenua o te rohe nei, nga iwi o te waka o Tainui – tena koutou.

Talofa lava, mālō e lelei, bula vinaka, kia orana, tēnā koutou katoa.

Thank you to Reverend Alesana McCarthy for our opening karakia this afternoon. 

To Anita Finnigan, the visionary who founded BEST some 24 years ago, staff of the BEST team and whānau here today - thank you for inviting me to be the keynote speaker at your graduation ceremony for the Certificate in Tourism and Certificate in Business Administration.

In Budget 2012 the Government will be focused on rebalancing our overall spend in tertiary education between expenditure on student support and investment in tuition and research.

We have one of the most generous student support systems in the world.  Rebalancing it a little will free up some money that we reinvest in the quality of tertiary education we provide, and help our overall fiscal position.

Salam alaykum

Tena koutou katoa

Greetings to you all

First, can I say what an absolute privilege it is to be asked to provide the concluding remarks to this wonderful event: the International Exhibition & Conference on Higher Education.

I come from a small country from the other end of the world. New Zealand is a good 17 or 18 hours flight from Riyadh but it is a testament to how truly international that international education is today that every year 7000 Saudi students study in my country.