NZ Water and Wastes Association 46th Annual Conference & Expo Opening

Wednesday October 2004

Good morning and welcome to Christchurch. I must say that your organisers have chosen well in picking a relevant location for this conference.

With the faint echoes of many years worth of heated debates still ringing in my ears, I would have to observe that if you took away water, wastes and irrigation as hot topics, life here would be very much quieter and calmer.

Perhaps in other parts of the country, subjects like water, waste and irrigation fail to get the blood pumping and the emotional temperature on the boil. Rest assured that while other places may find your work less than enthralling, here you are like rock stars in the public interest stakes.

In fact, if you had just added rubbish bags to the conference topic list you would have been looking at a major hit. If you flew in here, as you flew over the Canterbury Plains you also flew over some of the most red hot irrigation debates going on in New Zealand.

If you head to the beach where we plan a multi million dollar state of the art waste water outfall you will be visiting a site of similar controversy. Every time you turn on the tap while you are here be aware that you are dealing with iconic water.

Last year when an innocent in the health field suggested fluoridation for our water the reaction was on par with suggesting slavery as a cure for unemployment. Unpopular was not in it. If polling went into negative figures that's where you would find that idea. So don't be fooled.

Christchurch may look like what it is, one of the world's top Garden Cities but just below that peaceful surface lurk some profound passions. Most of what you deal with goes in "big picture" terms into the quality of life category. How important is that here and nationally? Hugely important.

Last night I had the dubious pleasure of pointing out to the Property Council in a debate that the party's over for unlimited development. I pointed out that when the Prime Minister's Growth and Innovation Advisory Board asked Kiwis what was important to them, personally, the top of the charts was quality of life. It was the big winner.

If quality of life was a political party it would be running the show. Quality of life got 46 per cent. Next was quality of education, with 36 per cent. Then on third was quality of the natural environment at 32 per cent. I would venture to say you have a major role to play in both quality of life and the natural environment.

Your work is vital in both enhancing and keeping what Kiwis say are most valued by them in good shape.

I hope you have a great conference and get a chance to enjoy our wonderful city while you are here.