Reception for World Vision 40 Hour Famine Leaders

Tuesday, 29 June 2004

Great to be here to salute officially those who have led this year, and quite possibly those who will lead us all in the future.

I want to make a point of saying that you, who have given your time to lead and work for the common good, are part of the reality I see that keeps me going.

I see positive examples of people able to give themselves to a cause or vision every day. It is always especially good to be able to acknowledge the work of the younger volunteers given the bad press young people get all too often.

As I said last year, the reality is that over half the volunteer work in this community is done by under 25's. It is fact that we older folk need to acknowledge more openly and often.

Society is made up ultimately of makers and breakers. The breakers tend to get the headlines but it is the makers who keep us well as a people and as a society.

I am also well aware that to get the record results for the 40 hour famine that you have, many of you have had to try and turn your school culture around to do so.

I hope on the way you learnt one of the great truths of politics...that you can make a difference...that the biggest barrier is just making the decision to do so.

I'm also a recovering accountant in addition to being a Mayor so I'm all the more impressed with some of the totals that some of you have achieved. Some of you have shown the sort of fundraising flair that would make you very popular with political campaign managers. There have been some amazing efforts.

You will have also banked a lot of emotional capital as leaders and people that make things happen on the way.

Don't let that asset go to waste. I believe we have a wonderful generation of creative leadership taking shape away from the spotlight of the media.

In fact, a year or two back when students were starting to march in the streets to support their teachers and their right to good education I very quietly thought “good on you”, what a great sign for the future.

You are part of that rising tide of new leaders. Today you may feel tethered by newness and shyness to this building. Don't. Unbelievable as it may seem now, I think some of you will be back here running the show sooner than you think.

Still I hate to spoil a good afternoon out with those sort of notions so I will again thank you for your generosity, your vision and your courage to swim against what some see as the tide. You see it as the surf of opportunity. So do I.