Tēnei te mihi ki a koutou i runga i te kaupapa o te rā
Tēnā koutou Tēnā koutou Tēnā koutou katoa
Minister Nicky Wagner
Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen
It gives me very great pleasure to be here this afternoon.
Two weeks ago when the WORD Writers & Readers Festival was on I spent almost my entire weekend here at the Piano.
I think in that one weekend this beautiful facility confirmed for me it was already living up to its claim to be a world class facility for New Zealand and a home for music and the arts in Canterbury.