Employment Expo

Friday 21 November 2003

Good afternoon...welcome to this employment expo which I must also note is providing temporary employment to an alarming number of speakers today. With about 8 speakers still to go, I'm going to boost my own personal poll ratings by being very brief.

I really just want to make some key points here.

Christchurch is now a multicultural city, employers who reflect that reality are going to do better in future than those who don't.

Going right back to when Ngai Tahu and the early settlers met we are also a place that historically has opened our arms to newcomers. We need to continue and deepen that tradition.

We are a city that also has a huge historic reputation for active compassion...we need to build on that for the good of the newcomers and also for our own good.

Our new blood is also our passport into the future. We just had a very powerful Malaysian delegation visit

Christchurch a few weeks ago. Many of them studied here 30 years ago under the Colombo Plan. They bear us enormous good will which is turning into economic benefit.

The 21st century is already being called the Pacific Century the century when the centre of economic and political power will have moved from the Northern to the Southern hemisphere. For the first time in our very short history as a nation we are in the right place and time to enjoy enormous advantages, socially and economically.

We will only be able to do that if we can show we really are world citizens, prepared to preserve the best of our own way of life while also including the new faces and cultures amongst us.

Today is a great chance to show our new people the face of New Zealand I and people like our next speaker prefer to think is our real one, a face of generosity, openness and fairness.