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beACCESSIBLE be.Leaders Course

31/7/2016

 
​I don’t like being asked for my vision for Christchurch, because the perspective I bring to that question has changed so many times since the first earthquake struck our city nearly 6 years ago.
I was born and raised here, so I love Christchurch.  But the earthquakes have given us opportunities we may never have had otherwise.
Tomorrow is the 160th anniversary since by Royal Charter we became New Zealand’s first city.
There is something about being NZ’s oldest city but becoming New Zealand’s newest city at the same time.
And maybe that’s the ambivalence.  The old and the new – the past and the future.
From the present we look back and we honour our past but at the same time we learn from our history.  From the present we look optimistically to the future, but we remember what has gone before and we are determined to make the most of the opportunity that lies ahead.
It was Edward de Bono, who said:
“If you do not design the future, someone or something else will design it for you.”
Christchurch is at a unique moment in its history right now and we have a chance to ‘design our future’.
We need a city that reflects the diversity of the people who work, live and play here. We have the opportunity to ensure that it is safe, smart and sustainable.  And of course that it is accessible for everyone.
Right now, we are at an important stage in the transition from central government to local leadership - which is perhaps not so fascinating for you - but it is of central importance to me as Mayor of Christchurch.
This transition means we can refocus our view of the city.
No longer does Christchurch need to be viewed through a lens of disaster and demolition - now the lens is one of regeneration and the opportunity that brings.
And that’s where leadership comes in.
The Canterbury earthquakes have taught me new words – like liquefaction and lateral spread – but they have enabled me to understand words I thought I understood well, but didn’t, like community, resilience and leadership.
My staff gave me a necklace with these words on them, because they know how powerful their true meaning has become to me.
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 they central or local government. 
The extent of social capital within communities is not measured by socio-economic status; it is measured by those relationships.
Resilience is not about being strong in the face of adversity – that’s stoicism. It’s the capacity to prepare and plan for an adverse event, and to absorb, to respond, to recover, to adapt and where necessary to co-create a new kind of normal. Resilient communities have plenty of pre-existing social capital. 
When we have cannot possibly predict with accuracy what we will have to respond to at any time in the future – the effects of climate change, a disaster triggered by a natural event or a crisis triggered by our own doing - communities need to be prepared to respond themselves.  The government cannot be everywhere and cannot do everything.  If communities have been disempowered to the extent that they are unable to fend for themselves then recovery will be much slower and much more challenging.
And then we come to leadership. Leadership is not a position – it is a characteristic based on certain qualities. Sometimes people who are described as leaders do not have these qualities and are not true leaders.  And sometimes those qualities are evident in people who do not hold leadership positions, but are true leaders in every sense of the word.
I remember going to a forum where young people were asked to describe leadership and the usual words were offered: strong, decisive, committed, authoritative, responsible.
Any textbook would associate those words with what it takes to be a leader.  But this is what is described as a heroic model of leadership – someone who comes in and takes charge – such leaders issue orders and are obeyed. 
In the emergency response period following a disaster, people often look for this form of leadership – command and control can be comforting; someone else taking charge, knowing what to do.
But there is another way to define leadership and this definition ties in with my experience once the crisis is over and we begin the process of recovery. 
The kind of leader that emerges in this environment is one that is respectful, engaging, empathetic, inclusive and intuitive. 
Why do we think of women when we hear those words and yet we don’t necessarily think of women when we look for a leader? 
But that is an aside – the real issue is that it’s all about trust.  And it is these leadership qualities that build trust.
So where does this conversation go now in your context?
I heard Gil Penasola speak recently of the 880 city – where it’s great to be 8 and it’s great to be 80.  An inclusive city embraces the idea that this is a great city to be a kid and a great city to grow old.
Accessibility is a unifying theme when considered at the two ends of a life’s spectrum and everything in between.
I heard a Mayor speak at a conference:
I’m no greenie, but if you’re going to build back why wouldn’t you build back green?
He also said – never forget the greenest building is the one that’s already standing.
But my point is this.  If you’re going to build back, why wouldn’t you build back green and accessible and smart? And if you’re thinking the whole of life why wouldn’t you make your home accessible from the start? Think of the retrofitting bill paid by the health system and ACC year in year out.
Does it really take an earthquake to think about the future?  Do other city’s have to wait for that too?  Or could we show them the way?

Citizenship Ceremony to commemorate 160th Anniversary

31/7/2016

 
I wish to begin by welcoming the 32 candidates, representing 13 different nationalities, who will leave the Botanic Gardens this afternoon as New Zealand Citizens. May I also welcome the family and friends who have joined us today to support you.
 
Acknowledge special guests:
 
Hon Peter Dunne, Minister of Internal Affairs – it is fantastic to have the Minister here in person.  Usually a welcome to our new citizens by video has to suffice, but the Hon Peter Dunne will join me in the presentation to our new citizens today.
 
Cr Jimmy Chen, Cr David East and Dr Karleen Edwards, CE of the CCC
Hon Ruth Dyson, MP, Dr Megan Woods, MP,Ms Jo Hayes, MP
The Venerable John Sheaf, Vicar General, Anglican Diocese Church of Christchurch representing the Bishop of Christchurch
Mr Jeff Montgomery, Registrar-General, Department of Internal Affairs
Lieutenant Commander Paul Smith – Commanding Officer HMNZS Pegasus
Major Kendal Langston – representing the Commanding Officer 2/4 RNZIR
Inspector Peter Cooper – Christchurch Metro Area Commander NZ Police
Dr Surinder Tandon and Mrs Archna Tandon, Christchurch Multicultural Council - who were recognised in the Sensational Selwyn Awards 2016 last night.
 
Today is a special day. Not only are you to become New Zealand citizens, you are doing so in a city that is honouring its 160th anniversary with this special ceremony.
 
On this day, 160 years ago, Queen Victoria signed the Royal Charter that officially established Christchurch as New Zealand’s first city.
 
That was 16 years after Queen Victoria signed the Treaty of Waitangi – the foundation of our nationhood and citizenship.
 
So although this is your special day becoming citizens, it is our special day as a city, when we reflect on our place in our nation’s history.
 
Just as the story of your lives and the journey that brought you here is being added to the Christchurch Story, our city is beginning a new chapter in that story too – New Zealand’s oldest city is becoming our nation’s newest city.
 
But as we know from our experience, it is not just the buildings, places and spaces that define us as a city. It is the people who live here, who shape the character of this city.
 
We have been through a lot over the past 6 years and for many that chapter in their journey is not yet over, but there is no-one who doesn’t want to seize the opportunity we now have to write the next chapters together.
 
We have the opportunity to grow, a perfect metaphor for a Garden City: we have the opportunity to connect, we are an international gateway city as well as a destination; and we have the opportunity to find balance – something that is so precious when we see what is happening in the world.
 
An inclusive city, where people’s dreams can come true, no matter where you have come from or what you believe – a place where anything is possible.
 
And you are each and every one of you a part of the Christchurch Story.
 
Today we celebrate both the past and future of this city.
 
Mayor’s Personal congratulations
 
May I be the first to officially congratulate you as New Zealand citizens. I hope you will always remember this occasion as a special day – the 160th anniversary of the founding of Christchurch.
 
I remember the celebration that marked the 150th anniversary at the Christchurch Town Hall, which is where we will once again hold citizenship ceremonies when it re-opens just before our 162nd anniversary.
 
At the 150th I spoke as the Minister of Women’s Affairs. I remarked that Christchurch was a city of “firsts”, and not just because we were New Zealand’s first city.
 
From my perspective, I reflected that our city produced the first woman MP, the first woman Cabinet Minister, the first Maori woman Cabinet Minister and New Zealand’s first Premier, who of course wasn’t a woman – women couldn’t vote in 1856.
 
But Christchurch became the heart of the Women’s Suffrage movement that would ensure this, too, would be overcome in time and gained us a first as a nation – the first to grant women the right to vote.
 
There are three ceremonies that I particularly enjoy being involved in as Mayor. 
 
External Awards ceremonies that honour individuals, teams, communities or groups for outstanding performance, acts of bravery or special achievements.  I love hearing their stories and honouring their successes and achievements.
 
I love our own Civic Awards that represent special dedication to the city. And again listening to the stories of what has driven such dedication.  It is always a privilege to be able to thank them on behalf of a grateful city.
 
And the other ones are the citizenship ceremonies that I preside over each month starting each year on our national day, Waitangi Day.
 
Waitangi Day is a day where we reflect on our bi-cultural nationhood, derived from the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, which has enabled us to celebrate the diversity of the multi-cultural society that we have become today.
I have long made the point that each one of us or our ancestors made a journey to make New Zealand home - by waka, by ship or by plane - it is that journey that we all have in common and that is one of the foundation stones of our nation.
 
There is a story behind each of those journeys.
 
And it is in sharing those stories that enables us to build understanding and enduring relationships, which together create unity. And it is the culmination of those stories that adds another chapter to our history as a nation.
 
In Maori you will hear the expression ' tūrangawaewae ' literally ' a place to stand '. A place where we feel especially empowered and connected - our place in the world – a place to call home.
 
Some of you have had to give up your citizenship of your place of birth in order to take up citizenship here.
 
Let me say that as new citizens none of you severs your ties with your home of birth; you bring your language, your culture and your history with you and you nurture them in your children.
 
And we, the wider community, are all enriched by your experience and all that you bring with you.
 
And you gain another home – a place to stand – as a citizen of New Zealand.
 
Ngā mihi nui me te aroha nui. Congratulations and best wishes.
Kia ora, kia kaha. Go well and be strong.
No reira tena koutou, tena koutou, tena ra tatou katoa.
 

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