On behalf of the City of Christchurch may I welcome you to the 13th Australasian Conference of Volunteer Guides in Botanic Gardens.

On behalf of the City of Christchurch may I welcome you to the 13th Australasian Conference of Volunteer Guides in Botanic Gardens.
 
As you may know the council was only sworn into office on Thursday night and this is my 6th official event as Mayor.

Board of Trustees chair Kevin McDonald, School Principal Geoff Siave, Christchurch Central MP Nicky Wagner, Councillor Pauline Cotter and staff and pupils of Shirley Intermediate along with the wider school community.

When your principal Mr Siave asked me if I would come to this opening, I had only just been elected, so I said I would if I could.
 
It turns out that this is now my first official engagement as the Mayor of Christchurch. All my other engagements have been as Mayor elect.

May I welcome you all here as the Mayor of Christchurch and may I congratulate all of the  councillors on their successful election.
 
Although four councillors are returning to the Council table, we are a new council and this is a fresh start.
 
 We have been meeting since the day after the election and I can say that each and every one of us  is  committed to delivering the leadership this city has mandated us to provide.

Hon Gerry Brownlee and the Hon Maurice Williamson;
The Acting Dean of the Cathedral, the Reverend Lynda Patterson
The competition judges and special guest Kevin McCloud (an international judges and so well known to us all as host of the popular British television show Grand Design)
Members of the community, building industry leaders and the media
Fellow Councillors and Representatives from the four finalists of the Breathe New Urban Village Competition - Teams from Holloway, Ganellen, Walker and Viva/Jasmax
 
On behalf of the city of Christchurch a very warm welcome to you all.

The Rt Hon Winston Peters and all my former Parliamentary colleagues from NZ First; Kevin Gardner, President of NZ First, and all the trustees; Delegates and friends; On behalf of the city of Christchurch, a very warm welcome to you all.
 
This is the second event I have spoken at as the Mayor-elect of Christchurch.
 
Yesterday I thanked a school from Yokohama that continued to bring its students to Christchurch even through the earthquakes, enabling them to celebrate their 20 years of partnership with Christchurch this year.

Thank you Rob McKay, Managing Director CCEL and Mr Hirama (Vice-President Yokohama Jogakuin Junior High School) for inviting me to be here.
 
 It's a pleasure as the Mayor elect of Christchurch to congratulate each of you on your graduation from the Study Abroad Programme.
 
You may wonder why I wanted to come to this graduation even before I have officially taken office. It is because I love Japan – one of my brothers lives in Tokyo and I have a Japanese niece and nephew – but that's personal.