I have been fortunate tonight to be seated between Sir Ron Scott and Evan Williams from the original promotion committee, who travelled to Jamaica in 1966 to secure Christchurch's successful bid for the 1974 Commonwealth Games.
 
Evan informed me Mayor George Manning travelled with them. As a new Mayor I am invited to many events, but I particularly wanted to come here tonight, because I was 13 years old when the 1974 British Commonwealth Games were held here.

When I left Parliament, my former staff gave me this necklace. It reads: "The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud". It is a quote from Coco Chanel.
 
That quote is really about how important I believe it is to speak out for what you believe in. Sometimes that requires courage. The three smaller beads speak to community, resilience and leadership. These are words I thought I understood, but didn't truly appreciate until after the earthquake. A community is not the co-location of houses – that's a suburb. It is the relationship between people in those houses and their connection with decision-makers, be that central or local government.