6th World Congress on Coloured Sheep

Saturday 13 November 2004

Good morning. I really cannot think of any country better suited to host this Congress than New Zealand.

Although we now like to market ourselves internationally as 100% pure, the reality is that we really have been a country that has historically lived off the sheep's back. We have a Kiwi as a national emblem when a more accurate national totem would probably be the sheep.

I'm not sure what the present ratio is but for many years I think we ran at a ratio of about 30 to 35 sheep to each person. Whatever the present numbers we are still a nation that can more than hold up its head when it comes to sheep numbers. We have a lot of them. Always have and I rather suspect always will.

It's worth noting that after all the excitement about the cloning of Dolly the sheep, very few people seem to have noticed that Dolly has already gone to the big paddock in the sky courtesy of a few design faults.

It looks like for the foreseeable future that the skill of seasoned breeders and the DNA roulette wheel of informed guesses will still play a large part in the breeding of sheep.

I guess many of you will have already been to the Canterbury A&P Show and seen first hand how major a role sheep play in those festivities.

Against New Zealand's historical excellence as bulk producers of sheep we also need to acknowledge that the way ahead for this country lies in developing and maintaining niche markets. Along with niche markets there is the huge global demand for natural products.

Naturally coloured wool is always going to have a better chance of attracting a premium price than wool that has been dyed. While New Zealand is presently enjoying the fruits of a global commodity boom, the best investment in our continued prosperity lies with developing a stronger presence in all new niche markets.

Christchurch is perhaps New Zealand's most outward facing city. We are a trading city that both prospers and falters by how well we conduct ourselves on the unforgiving stage of international trade. We have the great good fortune to have a mixed economy that combines manufacturing with more rurally based production.

Add a hefty dose of tourism and our status as the high tech hub city for New Zealand and you have the recipe for a thriving regional economy.

I'm pleased you are here to add to this mix. I hope you have great stay and get the chance to see why so many of us love to live here, rather than visit.