I literally sat down and wrote my valedictory this morning.

​It has been hard to think of the words to say, because I wanted to start with thanking the person who gave me the confidence and strength to run for this role in the first place, but he is not here.

Rob didn’t want me to run for Mayor. He knew how devoted I was to my electorate, and he was confident that I could continue to make a difference as a Member of Parliament and potentially serving as a cabinet minister again.

I was told by a sitting councillor early in 2013 that he had included me in a poll that he was running to test his own candidacy. This produced a result that showed he could win – but I was already well ahead right across the city. I said I wasn’t going to run and would happily support him.

Then he pulled out a couple of months later. And the rest is history.
Running independently was important to me. And so was having councillors that could support me transitioning to the role in local government where I had not served.

Vicki Buck was key to the local govt background as a former Mayor, and Raf Manji gave me the confidence in the financial space I needed. As it turned out I needed that more than I knew given what we faced when we arrived.

I won’t go over the details again other than – a $400m hole in the budget, insurance claim nowhere near settlement and massive commitments regardless of insurance settlement which meant the public had huge expectations and no idea that we had no budget to pay.

That’s why the first term was based on getting the books in order.

I knew back then that the Mayor needed to be someone who could reach out and unite a divided city. I had demonstrated that as a cabinet Minister working on major reform on a bi-partisan basis working closely with the opposition spokesperson who then became Minister while I chaired the select committee completing the reforms I had started.

This is my preferred model of working and always has been. It does mean compromise and requires trust.

I learned quickly that Council was very different from government.

I remember asking John Key how it would be if Cabinet papers were published a week before the cabinet meeting, there was ill-informed commentary on the decision you were going to make for a week, the cabinet meeting was live-streamed, and then the one person who disagreed led the news that night.

I am not for one minute challenging the transparency and accountability that councils operate under.

Prime Ministers can rely on Cabinet collective responsibility.

Mayors cannot.

That is why I have always sought to find compromises – preferring a win win.

And it is why I haven’t always voted, because the Mayor needs to speak for the Council decision whether I personally agreed or not.

Looking back over 9 years bookended by the government’s earthquake recovery model that put a government dept in charge of major city functions and a global pandemic which has disrupted the ambitious plans we had for this term, we have had to face serious challenges – flooding, fires and of course the tragedy of March 15.

Although I will never forget the 51 shuhada, their families and all those injured and affected by what they saw that day, it is the response that I will always hold dear to my heart and something that represents the pride I have in our city in times of crisis – the way we come together and support each other no matter what.

And that’s why Covid has been hard. We have needed to isolate ourselves and that has caused a lot of distress.
Having said that I have felt a real sense of privilege having been the Mayor of the city where I was born and raised.

I feel that I have made a difference, and I want to thank all of the councillors who have supported me in my role over the past three terms.

I also want to acknowledge the Council staff. It’s a strange world that says we have one employee – the number of people who have said hi boss in the lift makes me smile. But we around the council table do have responsibilities for the staff. Because what we say and do and post on our facebook pages can impact heavily on those who can’t answer back.

I have always taken my governance role seriously, until I walked into the planning team the other day after I had been on morning report saying I regretted we couldn’t notify a plan change to protect our trees. I said to them I know I’m not following process, but could we?

They said leave it with us. By close of day, I had an amendment which council approved the following day.

I use that as an example of the people who walk into this building every day determined to serve their fellow citizens in the best way they can.

Ithank you for everything you do for us.

Thank you to the team that makes up the office of the Mayor, the CIR team, the media team, the legal team for a whole lot of reasons (Ian Thompson) – I have appreciated your support.

Thank you finally to the thousands of people who have voted for me over the three terms. And also those who have offered words of support and encouragement everywhere I go. It has been truly humbling to feel that level of support.

When I started I said I had enormous optimism for the city and I leave with the same sense of optimism. We have turned the corner, however our experience is a salutary reminder to everyone that you never know what lies around the corner.

I wish the next Mayor and council well, and good luck to all my colleagues putting themselves forward again to serve your communities and this amazing city and district.

Catherine Chu

Unfortunately, Catherine is an apology for this final meeting. Catherine was elected to the Council for the Riccarton Ward on the Independent Citizens ticket in 2019. She had been a community board member for the three years before that.

Her CV was outstanding, and I remember asking her how she could have possibly achieved so much when she was only 23. She said that she started university when she was 15 years old. Clearly, she had extraordinary ability at a very young age.

Catherine announced earlier this year that she was not standing again. She has said that she is keen to explore options outside local government.

Please join with me to acknowledge her service and wish her well for the future.

Anne Galloway

I have said that Anne Galloway is quite simply one of the nicest human beings I have ever met. She is stepping down after serving as councillor for Halswell ward for the past two terms.

In all the years I have known Anne, I don’t think I have ever heard her say a bad word about anyone. She has a strong set of values, and she lives by them.

Her values have been to the fore in two of the key roles she has held at Council, including co-chairing Te Pae Pīkari (Youth Advisory Committee) and chairing Tahua Taupua (the Mayor's Welfare Fund).

Te Pae Pīkari stands for The Perch of Fledglings, and talks to how this committee is not only focused on the wants and needs of rangatahi/youth but also works from the tuakana–teina learning model.

Tuakana-teina describes the relationship held between a younger and older family member (although it doesn't have to refer to family). The teina/younger person has the tuakana/older person for mentorship and guidance.
 
However, the opposite relationship is equally as powerful, with the tuakana receiving fresh perspective, energy and creative ideas from their teina.

Through this committee, the Council wants to impart knowledge to the next generation; to lead well, make valuable decisions and encourage active community participation.

To do this effectively, it is vital that the Council listens to the voices of rangatahi who may be affected by the Council's decisions.  By involving rangatahi in the decision-making process itself, it helps foster mutual understanding and fit-for-purpose outcomes.

From day one Anne has been passionate about involving young people in the democratic process. This has included providing opportunities to engage with Council and encouraging active citizenship.

Anne has also been a champion of providing meeting needs for those experiencing challenges in their lives and addressing inequity.

You are going to be missed from by fellow elected members as well as the staff you have worked with. Thank you so much for your six years of service as a councillor. You earned the trust and respect of your community and in all the decisions you’ve debated you have reflected a genuine empathy and care for our residents. We wish you well for the future.

Jimmy Chen

I remember Jimmy when you first came to see me all those years ago seeking advice on what to do to run for Council. I told you to door knock – and that’s what you did, keeping a record in a notebook of all the residents’ homes you visited – you used to show me your progress.
Four terms later since being elected in 2010 in the Riccarton/Wigram ward, and the Hornby Ward since 2016, Jimmy’s record has been exemplary.  He is a true man of his community, a passionate and dedicated representative.

Jimmy was born in Taiwan – his parents were from Sichuan, China – and with his wife and two daughters he migrated to Christchurch in 1996. 

I know how honoured I felt to travel with you to Sichuan as part of our Mayoral delegation to China in 2015. It was the first time you had been to the region where your family came from.

You have always been a strong advocate for the diverse communities that make up our city.

And your legacy is our city’s Multicultural Strategy – we were the first Council in the country to develop such a strategy and you can be proud of your role in making that happen, working closely as you have always done with representatives of our multicultural communities.

We attended our last citizenship ceremony together last night. I have valued you welcoming candidates to the ceremonies over the years that I have been Mayor. You have done so in Te Reo and in many community languages as well. You represent the story from migrant, to citizen, to city councillor. I am sure you have inspired

In addition to his role Chairing the Council's Multicultural Committee, you have chaired the Canterbury Waste and Regional Landfill Joint Committees.

You have been a champion for the south-west communities campaigning hard for Matatiki: Hornby Centre, the new library, customer services and recreation and sports centre. Jimmy a front row seat will be reserved with your name on it for the official opening.

Well done Jimmy for your years of remarkable service to our Council. We wish you a happy retirement with your family who want you home.
Although I do note you have been elected to your grandchild’s school board of trustees. Congratulations.

Andrew Turner

Andrew, how can I thank you enough? I have always said the ideal deputy Mayor is someone whose skills complemented the Mayor’s.
Well in our case yours certainly have and much, much more.

As deputy Mayor for the last two terms, you have been utterly dependable and reliable - my trusted right hand - always willing to step in whatever the occasion and whatever the notice.

You stepped in for me when I had to face an extremely difficult time in my life, and I will be forever grateful.

You stepped in again this year, this time at the 11th hour to lead the delegation to our sister city of Adelaide when I was hit by the flu. Even last weekend, you welcomed people to the Transitional Cathedral to pay their respects to the late Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and travelled to Wellington to represent our city at the National Memorial Service.

Not only are you an outstanding deputy Mayor, but you are a great chair whether it’s the Finance and Performance Committee or a working group, you have led and guided the council through a range of complex issues including our Long Term and Annual Plan processes.

You are a safe pair of hands, who has the ability to look for win-win solutions. I have never seen you flustered or angry in a meeting.

Next week you come to the end of three terms as councillor for the Banks Peninsula ward, having joined the Council following a term as an elected member of the Community Board. You are passionate about Banks Peninsula and many of the boards you serve on have links to the Peninsula.

It is fitting that the next chapter of your life is as manager of the Rod Donald Banks Peninsula Trust – your dream job, which I believe you start the week following the election. They are lucky to have you, just as our city and this Council has been lucky to have you as a loyal servant to the community for so many years.

​Thank you so much from the city, from the Council and from me personally.

​Kia ora koutou, da jia hao.

​Can I first thank Consul General He and her team for today’s arrangements; it’s a pleasure to be celebrating this occasion in person for the first time in three years!

Consul General, you have made a great impression on many people in your short time in our city. I’m sorry that I personally won’t get to work with you much longer! However, I do wish you an enjoyable tenure in our city and region, and every success in your work here

Can I also acknowledge Sarah Pallet, MP for Ilam; Penny Simmonds, MP for Invercargill; Neil Brown, Mayor of Ashburton; John Leggett, Mayor of Marlborough; Gary Kircher, Mayor of Waitaki; Sharyn Cain, Deputy Mayor of Waimate, all of my Council colleagues and special guests, it’s great that so many of you could come at this time.

We gather in honour of the 73rd anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. While the People’s Republic is young, we all know that China has an incredibly rich history that spans hundreds of years.

Our part of the world has long had a strong relationship with China, which is also steeped in history, of which Rewi Alley has played such an important role. Born in Selwyn, raised in Hurunui and Christchurch, and a lifetime of service in China he created an unbreakable bond, which is the foundation of the friendship between NZ and China.

Today, we enjoy Sister City relationships with Gansu and Wuhan, a friendly relationship with Shenzhen and broader people-to-people and economic connections with many places in China. I know the same is true of all the districts and regions represented here today.

It is especially important to reflect on these relationships this year, the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between New Zealand and China.

Everybody in this room contributes to the bilateral relationship in some special way, and we celebrate what at their heart are people-to-people relationships.

We can all be very proud of what we have achieved and look to the future of the relationship with optimism.

On that note, I would like to propose a toast to the 73rd anniversary of the foundation of the People’s Republic of China, and the ongoing friendship between the people of our two countries for many years to come
Xie xie, tena tatou katoa

Consul General He Ying,
Wendy Zhang President Christchurch Zhonghua Society and
Distinguished guests.
​
Could I also take the opportunity to acknowledge Cr Jimmy Chen, as he is stepping down as a councillor after many years of loyal service to his community.

He has been a champion of the relationship between Christchurch and China, and a champion for our multicultural city.

Thank you to the Christchurch Zhonghua Chinese Society for inviting me here today. It is an opportunity for me as the Mayor to endorse today’s event, which encourages business cooperation between Christchurch and China.

Although I may be stepping down as Mayor, I still have a role as an Honorary Adviser to the Asia New Zealand Foundation. I was honoured to be offered this role as it means I have a continued connection to the range of Asian communities who live in this city and who have supported me over many years – as a Member of Parliament, a Cabinet Minister and as Mayor.

Today is about taking advantage of new opportunities to develop and grow business relationships between Christchurch and China, as well as encouraging cultural exchange and promoting opportunities within the tourism sector.

As I have said on many occasions, although Ōtautahi Christchurch is a fabulous destination in its own right, we are the international gateway to the South Island of New Zealand, taking the vast majority of visitors to where they want to come.

We look forward to the return of China Southern Airlines and the reestablishment of direct flights between Guangzhou and Christchurch as the hugely successful connection they were pre-Covid.

As we celebrate the 50th Anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and New Zealand, I congratulate the Christchurch Zhonghua Chinese Society on this initiative and wish you every success for the day and all that results from it.

​Welcome to the Property Conference 2022 and for those delegates from out of town. a special welcome to Ōtautahi Christchurch.
​
I have been welcoming conferences here for the last couple of months and I have to say how good it has been to show off what is happening in our city.
I attended the World Cities Summit in Singapore a couple of weeks ago, and it was great to be with so many people again. What I have missed over the Covid protection period has been the opportunity to meet people in person. The reality is that we can see and listen to each other online, however it’s what happens between the sessions that makes a conference come to life.
And the location offers the opportunity to be inspired by what we can see around us. And in our case, there is a lot to see.
When this was just a placeholder on the blueprint it was hard to imagine the scale of a convention centre that would take us from Victoria Square to Cathedral Square.
And now it’s real, Te Pae, and what a difference it is making.          
Ōtautahi Christchurch is the country’s oldest city established by Royal Charter in 1856 and has become Aotearoa’s newest city, and that is being reflected in the people who are choosing to make this place their home.
We have got so much going for us:
We’re less expensive than other major New Zealand centres, in terms of commercial rent, land cost, and residential costs.
We’re internationally connected with one of New Zealand’s busiest international airports and a significant seaport.
We have four internationally recognised tertiary institutions.
The city centre is more than 80 per cent brand new, with buildings built to new seismic, sustainability and accessibility requirements.
Our central city is walkable with new laneways, hotels, restaurants, and bars all within minutes’ walk from the major conference venues. And all this is punctuated by urban green areas, the Avon Ōtakaro River winding through the central city, and one of the world’s largest urban parks, Hagley Park, in the heart of the central city.
I read the introduction to this year’s conference: which said that Resilience & Recovery are relevant to the property sector as a whole – whether it is a crisis sparked by a natural event, a pandemic or whether we personally have the stamina to thrive during adversity – there couldn’t be a more fitting location than Ōtautahi Christchurch, and in particular, Te Pae our stunning new Convention Centre to discuss these issues.
Prior to being elected as Mayor, I asked the outgoing Mayor if he would sign off an expression of interest in becoming a member of the 100 Resilient Cities Network pioneered by the Rockefeller Foundation. He was more than happy to do so, which meant that I was able to sign the application on my first day in the role.
The fact that our city was chosen as one of around 30 inaugural members of the network is a tribute to the commitment we were already making as a city to build resilience, not just in terms of infrastructure, but in terms of community resilience - a vital ingredient for facing the enormous challenges that lie ahead.
Little did we know back then, the extent of the challenges we would have already faced – the flooding, the Port Hills Fire and the tragedy of the terrorism attack on two city mosques in 2019 – book-ended by the earthquakes and a global pandemic.
 
In each case the response saw the city come together in ways that have made me feel proud to be the Mayor and which leave a legacy of knowledge and understanding that will stand us in good stead for the future challenges that we know climate change will bring.
I think of the Mayoral Taskforce on Flooding in 2014 which enabled us to build resilience in residential areas vulnerable to flooding and create confidence going forward.
As my term comes to an end, I have been reflecting on the state of the city I thought I was inheriting nine years ago and all that has happened since. There were some unfortunate surprises back then. However, what I want to share with you is the incredible sense of optimism I continue to hold for this city and our place in the world.
We are an incredible city and the fact you are here means you can see it for yourself.
As a council we set the vision for our city early on as a place of opportunity for all – a place that is open to new ideas, new people and new ways of doing things – a place where anything is possible. And the possibilities remain boundless.
We offer our residents the opportunity to grow, to connect and to find balance. I took these words from a talk I gave at the end of my first term as Mayor.
The opportunity to grow spoke to a city of learning and development; the freedom to create new things and bring ideas to life supported by an excellent innovation eco-system; and the offer of meaningful work.  
The opportunity to connect means we are connected to each other, as people and as communities, the rest of the country and the rest of the world; we are a collaborative city; and since March 15, 2019, we have become known as a compassionate city.
The opportunity for balance refers to healthy living and interaction with nature; a modern city built for living in; New Zealand’s most cycle and pedestrian friendly central city, surrounded by stunning natural features.
I remember Malcolm Johns, our airport’s Chief Executive describing Christchurch as the Goldilocks city – not too big, not too small, just right.
I always say we are big enough to have all the facilities a big city has, yet not so big you get lost in the crowd.
We are not only right-sized, but we also have room to grow - sustainably.
With the urban areas of the two districts to our north and south, Greater Christchurch is the fastest growing area outside Auckland.
We are relatively easy to get around, and we have the advantage that we can get ahead of the challenges that Auckland has had to face.
We have worked with our neighbours in Selwyn and Waimakariri to create an urban planning environment over many years through the Greater Christchurch Partnership and we have just entered into an Urban Growth partnership with the government.
The infrastructure boundaries have come under pressure as a result of the NPS-UD, and we have a council decision on the agenda today on the notification of Plan change 14, which gives effect to the NPS-UD, as well as the recent RMA changes enabling increased intensification.
Balancing aspirations for a low rise, human scale Central City with the need for urban intensification to reduce our reliance on urban sprawl is a very live debate.
No one opposes intensification, but it cannot be at the expense of our tree canopy, which is under increasing pressure.
Nor can it be at the expense of good urban design, making our neighbourhoods great places to be.
If there is a note of frustration I will sound, it is that we were already well ahead of the curve before Labour and National joined forces to impose the changes without consulting with us or our communities.
Our District Plan had already been completely overhauled after the earthquakes, and we already have central city and residential medium density zones providing for 50 and 30 households per hectare respectively. So, the imposition of a one-size-fits-all approach makes no sense. But it is what it is.
So where to from here?
After the earthquake, the City Council developed a draft recovery plan based on a community engagement simply called Share an Idea. This engaged the whole community in reimaging what the central city could be. Thousands participated. It was a remarkable exercise in co-creation.
And although the process was superseded by a government blueprint and the Central City recovery Plan that was embedded in our District Plan, there are great examples of when the design matched the expectations the community had set.
The Strip has been replaced by the Terraces – and the city has turned to face the river – Ōtakaro is now as familiar a name as is the Avon. And a bleak pre-earthquake environment has been reimagined as a Riverside Market and a pedestrianised street which you would have seen last night. I say this to emphasise the importance of the private sector investment in our reimagined city.
I want to talk also about the significance of our city embracing its pre-European history.
This most English of cities has embedded this history in the landscape, the names in the buildings, and in the pou that complete the narrative. If you walk into Victoria Square, you will see this. Walk across to our amazing city library – Turanga and you will see it as well.
What is more, we have learned more about what shaped us as a city that our European forebears built on the swamp they drained. The earthquakes taught us the importance of that.
And a place that is near and dear to my heart. Once homes to thousands of residents, then the desolated Residential Red Zone, and now the Ōtakaro Avon River Corridor – a pathway from the city to the sea is one of the most amazing opportunities a city could ever have to rethink an area of more than 600ha around four times the size of Hagley Park.
The creation of this area has made the city more resilient against the impacts of climate change, and at the same time, opens up the opportunity for a new form of co-governance between mana whenua and the city that respects the land and the river in a way that could never have previously been possible.
That is truly exciting.
Like cities all over the world, we face the challenges of climate change, technological and societal change.  And while we can draw on the past, old solutions will not help us respond to new challenges.
In addition, we are a new city, and like cities across the world, we are competing to develop, attract, and more importantly retain high-value industry and talent.
That’s why our EDA, ChristchurchNZ has drawn on our region’s strength, and looked to the global challenges that lie ahead. They have focused on four industry clusters:
Future Transport & Aerospace; Food, Fibre & Agritech; and Health-tech & Resilient Communities.  These clusters are enabled and supported by the fourth cluster, a strong High-tech services sector.
We are creating communities around these clusters which bring together business, tertiaries, researchers, students and government agencies to enable us to stand on the world stage and attract the diverse and skilled talent our city needs, and to retain our young, local talent.
So some issues that you could be thinking about as a Sector:

• Partnerships – our city is still evolving.  How can developers, communities and public agencies like the Council and Kāinga Ora work together to create great neighbourhoods.
• How do we co-create solutions to new challenges such as overcrowded on-street carparking, communal waste management, liveable streets and urban canopy cover.
• How do we reimagine affordability and with that, what a range of housing tenure options could achieve.

And finally, you asked me to reflect on what is missing to make the city truly great. The answer is more people. And as I said we have the room to grow sustainably, and we have the ideal planning framework in place to get ahead of all the challenges that we know lie ahead.
The other side of that though is not what’s missing, but what there’s too much of and that’s our attachment to our own cars. Single occupancy vehicles on that daily commute - day in, day out. It is the single greatest draw on our carbon emissions profile that remains the easiest to fix.
Every commuter could take action and what a difference it would make.
However, it can be hard to cut through the headlines that this time in the electoral cycle invoke.
Change will have to happen. And I am sure our city will recognise that sooner or later.
Urban development and transport go hand-in-glove, and I am hopeful that the changes to the Public Transport Operating Model announced by government alongside the work on mass rapid transit will produce the sustainable solutions we need.
And I thought I’d end with this quote – from Judith Rodin who was the President of the Rockefeller Foundation when we joined the 100 Resilient Cities Network.
I love this quote because it makes me enormously optimistic for the future of our city. “There is no ultimate or end state of resilience.  But, by working together to build resilience to the greatest degree possible, we can reduce our reliance on crisis as a driver of change and, instead, deliberately take the future into our own hands – for the well-being of our families, our communities, our cities, and indeed, the planet we all share.”
We will always be a city of opportunity for all. And it is that sense of possibility that fills me with the sense of optimism I felt when I first ran for the Mayoralty nine years ago.
Thank you for choosing Ōtautahi Christchurch for your conference. You have definitely come to the right place.

Tēnā tatou katoa. It’s my absolute pleasure to be here today on behalf of the city alongside ChristchurchNZ and Christchurch Educated.

Can I acknowledge Malcolm Lyall the Deputy Mayor of Selwyn; Grant McPherson, Chief Executive of Education New Zealand who has come to Christchurch specially for today’s event; all of our distinguished education representatives and special guests; and most importantly you, our international students.

Today is significant because it’s the first time that we have officially welcomed tertiary students to our city since before the pandemic. And it’s especially meaningful because so many of you have been through so much to get here, facing difficulties that didn’t exist before COVID-19.

Last week I met with a group of secondary school students who have recently come to New Zealand, just like you. One of the questions I was asked by the group was what was the benefit of international education to Christchurch?

The answer is that the international students add so much to the social, cultural and economic life of our city. You are part of our story, our desire to be a place that is open to new ideas, new people and new ways of doing things – a place where anything is possible.

So I wanted to be here myself to tell you that we truly value having you here, and we’re honoured that you’ve chosen to make Christchurch your second home.

You have chosen a very special part of the country to come to. Not only do we have quality educational institutions, but we can offer a lifestyle and special experiences that will shape you as a person. For example I often say to visitors to our city that you can go skiing and surfing in the same day – not that you would want to!

I would like to finish with a quote from the great Nelson Mandela, who simply said that “education is the most powerful weapon that you can use to change the world”.

​I wish you well for your studies and your lives here in Christchurch.
Nō reira tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā ra tatou katoa

May I begin by welcoming you to this important opportunity to immerse yourselves in the NAMSA conference 2022. And may I particularly welcome delegates who have come from out of town to Ōtautahi Christchurch.  

As Mayor, it’s always great to welcome people to a special place that offers the opportunity to reflect on the world of possibility that our challenging times can offer– particularly with the two themes – today being a day of personal growth and reflection and tomorrow, a day for collaborative growth.

Time for reflection and the role of collaboration are both important aspects of leadership.

I remember asking my mother, a long time ago, what a normal school was – with seven kids she had always been involved in education – PTAs and the like – so she explained the connection between normal schools and the then Teachers’ Colleges and the special role you hold in supporting our teachers on their journey to be teachers. It was later that I learned of model schools. I have only ever had one in my electorate Ouruhia Model School – and I acknowledge Mark Ashmore-Smith.

When Mark first wrote to me earlier this year, he said that schools in Canterbury have undoubtedly been through challenging times in the past 12 years, and nationwide schools are facing previously unheard of challenges. He said that while NAMSA schools are uniquely positioned and focused on working with universities to produce the best teachers we can, schools were also facing other huge challenges (social, economic and health).

This was to give me context to the request to speak about leadership through challenging times.

I guess what he was reflecting was that schools, being the heart of the communities from where they draw their students, are having to face up to the same pressures that are impacting their whānau.

That means this is a very challenging time for the leadership of your schools right now and I want to acknowledge that.
Leadership does not exist in a vacuum.

Our city has been called on to respond to and recover from the impacts of disasters, over the past 12 years caused both by natural events and man-made.

We have had earthquakes, flood and fire – we have had the devastation of the terrorist attacks of 15 March 2019 - and now we are still reeling from the impacts of the global pandemic.
We have seen leadership emerge from the heart of our communities in response to different events.

I was a Member of Parliament at the time of the earthquakes and also at the time of the shock announcements over the reorganisation of schools that followed in Sept 2012 – something which had a terrible effect on many communities who were still struggling to cope with the damage caused by the earthquakes.

I remember speaking to an ashen faced principal as he came out of the briefing with the then Minister of Education, Hekia Parata. I said how was it?

He said he needed to hold it together for the sake of the kids. He said we had to tell the kids and their families that no matter what, they would make it work and they would be ok.

It was a selfless comment and reflected the compassion that he held for his students and his community. But it also reflected the powerlessness that he felt and that his community would experience opposing the change. I could see in his face the futility he felt about taking on a fight he could not win.

There were school communities that came together and stopped the closures they were facing; others did too, but to no avail. The power imbalance contrasting the outcomes based on socio-economic status was stark.

I left Parliament and was elected the Christchurch Mayor in October 2013 as this was playing out.

My former staff gave me a parting gift – a necklace – it had a pendant with a quote on it, which reads: "The most courageous act still is to think for yourself. Aloud". Coco Chanel.

That quote is really about the importance of having the courage to speak up and stand up for what you believe in.

The three smaller beads had one word each: community, resilience and leadership.

My team knew the significance of these three words to me - words I thought I understood but didn't truly appreciate until after the earthquakes.

Community is not the co-location of houses – that's a suburb. It's the relationship between the people in those houses and their relationship as a group with decision-makers – that's community – and the strength of those relationships – that’s social capital. And, of course, community is not limited to location or place – it also refers to communities of identity and interest.

Resilience is not strength in the face of adversity – that's stoicism; something we Cantabrians have in spades. We have learned that resilience is so much more than the traditional meaning of bouncing back after something occurs. It includes the capacity to adapt to a new environment or new conditions.

But it is the capacity to co-create a new future when there is no going back to normal - that is the true hallmark of resilience for me.

And leadership is not a position – it is a mark of character.

People often look to the heroic form of leadership after a disaster - strong, decisive, authoritative, inspiring, and responsible - it can be comforting to have someone else taking charge, knowing what to do. And you should never underestimate the importance of reassurance. When people are shocked – like they were with the earthquakes – it is the role of a leader to offer reassurance.

But what we have learned from the post-disaster period or the recovery, is that leadership needs to be much more than that heroic form of leadership – leadership needs to be engaging, respectful, inclusive, empathetic and intuitive. 

These are the leaders who are trusted and who in turn entrust others – they look to others for their capabilities and empower them to take the lead.

Facing a crisis also means you don’t always know what you don’t know. So, humility has an important role to play.

Admitting what you don’t know helps build trust. You always have to be careful what you commit to. Expectations set during such times are hard to walk back when they prove unachievable. You simply can’t make promises you may not be able to keep – no matter how much you may want to offer that comfort.

Sharing information in an open and transparent way and engaging with the community – in your case your school community – are also factors in building trust. And trust is something you can’t do without when we are talking about leadership.

And in that context, I wanted to briefly reflect on the terrorist attack on our city mosques – you never know what challenge you will be called on to face – this was where empathetic leadership set the scene for what was an extraordinary response.

Even the simple image of our Prime Minister wearing a headscarf – hugging members of the Muslim community – her pain and her compassion visible to all – captured the essence of empathy. 

She offered comfort and hope from a position of integrity.

Empathy is an intangible quality, which is however, by its meaning, authentic. 

Those most deeply affected by what had occurred knew that their Prime Minister was there for them, and that she knew exactly how they felt.

Members of the Muslim community felt understood and affirmed.

This set the stage for a unified call for compassion, which will always define our collective response as a city and a nation. The Muslim community led the way in the call for unity, peace, love and compassion, and the call for forgiveness. And we were inspired by their leadership to respond in kind.

It was at this time that I became aware of the influence that social media was having on members of the community. I was aware of the phrase going viral – but not the dark places that have been fostering hatred of those who are not like them. I have been shocked by what I have learned.

It makes me think your challenges as leaders will be greater than ever as we seek to right the wrongs of the past. The impact of the internet is only now becoming apparent, especially as young people seek to explore their world without the judgement that life experience brings.
 
Another point to make is that there is no more important a time than in the immediate aftermath of a crisis to stand back and take a helicopter view that engages a wide range of perspectives before making irreversible decisions.

This is why a recovery leader may be different from the person who takes the leadership role in responding to the immediacy of the crisis. And that’s why relationships are so important.

You are talking about collaboration tomorrow and I used the word co-creation when referring to resilience earlier.

Co-creation brings with it the sense that we are in this together; a recognition that whatever has happened is not someone else’s problem to solve, but one that we work on together.

I remember Sir Peter Gluckman, the then Prime Minister's Chief Science Adviser, prepared a report for the government three months after the February earthquake. He said the potential exists for the emotional effects of disaster to cause as great a degree of suffering as do the physical effects such as injury and loss of property or income.

He said:
"The earthquake was a disempowering event – an event that individuals had no control over and leaves them essentially with no control over how they live.

The need to regain some sense of control over one's life is central to the recovery process. Disempowerment essentially reinforces the initial trauma."

Restoring a sense of agency to a community, empowering them to make decisions, and helping them see it through, that’s what will help them build resilience.

I remember someone sending me JK Rowling's speech on the occasion of Harvard University's 357th Commencement. She talked about failure – not to glamorise the experience of finding herself at the end of a broken marriage as a solo parent with a Classics degree and not much else.

In fact, there was nothing glamorous about her experience of poverty and despair. But she said this:

So why do I talk about the benefits of failure? Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged. I was set free, because my greatest fear had already been realised, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.

I have highlighted some of the words – stripping away the inessential; I might never have found the determination to succeed; my greatest fear had been realised and I was still alive. And rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life. She goes on to say:

The knowledge that you have emerged wiser and stronger from setbacks means that you are, ever after, secure in your ability to survive. You will never truly know yourself, or the strength of your relationships, until both have been tested by adversity.

And that is one of the most important things I have learned, and that is that when you hold a leadership role, you need to be well-supported, and you need to have established very strong relationships.
I have invested a lot of time and energy into building relationships in my role.

However, Covid has hit hard when we are not yet fully recovered from the events that have gone before – people are tired – and the internet has opened a Pandoras Box of toxicity that is in many respects more damaging than the pandemic itself.

And the challenges we are going to have to confront are only going to get greater – both natural hazards and the man-made disasters.

This makes the role you play more vital than ever.

I read this back this morning and felt the ending was a bit bleak.

So, I thought I would add a reflection I gave on the life of Nelson Mandela, whose life has been one of inspirational leadership.

"As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn't leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I'd still be in prison."

One of the legacies that Nelson Mandela left his country was the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which was set up by the Government of National Unity to help deal with what happened under apartheid.
The interim constitution described it as providing an historic bridge between the past of a deeply divided society characterized by strife, conflict, untold suffering and injustice, and a future founded on the recognition of human rights, democracy and peaceful co-existence and development opportunities for all, irrespective of colour, race, class, belief or sex.

The promotion of this approach took great courage and true leadership. It would not have been possible from someone who was still trapped in prison – physically or metaphorically.

It was a nation's chance for restorative justice – the chance to speak the truth, acknowledge what had been done, own up and take responsibility for personal actions, whether directed or otherwise, and to express sorrow – a genuine apology for the wrongs that have been committed against others.

Recording the history – laying down the truth - and apologising for wrongdoing is at the heart of our Treaty settlement process here in Aotearoa.

Reconciliation cannot come without truth, because it requires forgiveness. And that cannot be offered to someone who denies the truth.

This knowledge should guide all in leadership positions as it did Nelson Mandela, who understood that so completely.

We have a history as a nation ourselves, which we must reconcile.

And the history curriculum gives me real hope for our future.

And an important part of that future is in the hands of your kaiako – those who teach and those who learn – and your leadership.
No reira tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa.