Antarctic Season Official Opening

Saturday 1 October 2005

Sign of the Takahe story.

Welcome to the People’s Republic of Christchurch, a city that has bucked the trend and kept its family silver firmly on the mantle piece.

However, Our AA+ Standard and Poors rating isn’t bad for a People’s Republic and reflects the prudent financial management and huge advances which have been achieved.

Our forebears started out with nothing and we aren’t in the situation of saying we have most of it left. We’ve done well.

Doug Myers came up with this ‘Republic’ name tag. He’s also been recorded as saying people are poor because of their “lack of inner motivations and moral fibre” – which shows the huge gap between our respective political points of view. I believe he and his assets now live off-shore.

So why have we kept our assets? Despite Mr Myers’ comments, this really is a no brainer.

We want our destiny to be kept in our own hands as much as possible.

WE want to plan for OUR OWN future.

We don’t want to stand in line while a corporate office in New York decides whether to spend money here, or in Shanghai.

We want to make sure our region’s strategic assets are operated in a way to benefit the region as a whole.

A good example is to ensure we have an electricity distribution company with a long term focus on security of supply – not like Auckland where assets were allowed to run down.

We want the $30 million in annual dividends to the Council to be spent in the city.

We want the ability to continue to reduce rates by 15% plus a year. This year our rates increase of 3.49% is much smaller than either Auckland’s at 9.70% and Wellington’s 7.68%.

Our low rates are the envy of many similar sized cities.

We want to be able to use the capital returns and special dividends made to the Council to make major investments in community assets, such as the Art Gallery.

Since 1995 over $650 million of capital and dividend returns have been made to the Council – the Council has relatively low levels of debt and significant cash revenues which means it is well set up to tackle future development and asset maintenance.

We want to plan for our own future and not be reliant on decisions made in Hong Kong, Auckland, Shanghai or New Delhi.

Just as a matter of interest … how many of you have children who have left New Zealand and are living and working overseas, and who are talking about staying overseas?

We want to have the ability to create such a magnetic environment, that those young people, amongst our best and brightest, feel compelled to come home, to grow OUR economy and OUR region.

Those kids are our family jewels too.

We want to be a magnet to investors, immigrants and tourists.

In short, we want to have control of our own destiny.

Our companies are a success story and our people are proud of it.

They are managed through Christchurch City Holdings Limited, or CCHL.

CCHL has total assets of $1.5 billion. When I started as a Councillor it was around $350 million.

As we accountants all know, a fool and his money is soon audited. CCHL does not interfere in the daily operations of the subsidiaries, but monitors their activities on a regular basis. Director appointments go through an independent process designed to get the best person for the job. Yesterday we appointed one of Christchurch’s top corporate lawyers to our Holding Co Board.

CCHL companies, include Orion Ltd (the biggest), Lyttelton Port Company, Christchurch International Airport, Christchurch City Facilities Ltd (Jade Stadium), City Care, Red Bus and the Selwyn Plantation Board.

Christchurch International Airport (CIAL) is one of the jewels in our crown. We own 75% of the shares. It is a very important gateway for the city and has the ability to influence the flow of tourists into the city and the South Island through its relationship with the airlines. It is a good example of why we want to own our assets.

The airport has welcomed a record 5.5 million passengers this year. Those of you who have travelled to Christchurch may have noted the congestion there.

The airport is about to invest in facilities costing around $200 million. The new terminal will set new standards for efficiency.

I’m too big hearted to crow about how the Auckland City Council sold its airport shares and saw those shares appreciate by 40% the next year. Mr Banks thought it was a good deal but I don’t think the people of Auckland did!

We have pre-emptive rights over the Government shares and would purchase them tomorrow given a chance.

CCHL makes decisions on what’s best for the city in the long-term.

We are currently asking the question of boards how do we make our company a $5 billion company?

We control our destiny.

We own the infrastructure – WE plan for OUR future.

And as for our bright future…

The new Local Government Act has made a huge difference in how a Council does business.

Local authorities now have a role in achieving economic, environmental, social and cultural wellbeing for their citizens and communities.

We are now working on a plan for the future by stepping outside the traditional jobs of paving the streets, picking up rubbish and disposing of sewerage. These must be done but how can we plan for other things.

As city leaders we have to get away from a spreadsheet rationality and inspire a new vision for the city.

Needless to say, were one of the first local bodies to adopt triple bottom line.

We are big enough to think about investment in new technologies like broadband. Telecom isn’t focussed on what our city needs, it’s solely focussed on self interest, it doesn’t do anything until challenged. We are currently investigating alternatives and perhaps it will be us who will challenge them.

We are a small country on the edge of the world and this is an advantage.

It makes us more aware of the need to be innovative, to move quickly to seize any advantages offered. Peter Jackson was able to move back to New Zealand and bring a whole industry with him.

Christchurch wants to attract its own Peter Jacksons back to make our city more dazzling, more attractive to the global market.

Our future is firmly in our OWN hands and we are looking into the long term to plan for what is needed to meet these goals.

We’ve recently been through a ‘visioning’ process…and asked ourselves how would we like to see our city 20 years from now…

We dreamed of retrofitting 40,000 houses and fixing the air pollution problem. Image the economic impact – 40,000 houses × $3k = $120 million, jobs, economic wealth.

We dreamed of an urban development strategy that delivered a city of villages. There were 3,500 submissions on our urban development strategy.

We dreamed of having a light rail system.

We dreamed that Jade Stadium became the Rugby centre for New Zealand, and we got the World Cup for 2011.

We saw Christchurch leading the country in the use and development of broadband and internet technology.

All of which brings me back to where I started…

By retaining our family silver we’re in control of our own destiny.

AND we can afford to dream big dreams.

Which for me, as an accountant in a former life, should send a shiver down my spine!

We’re too far gone down the republican path to attract the likes of Mr Myers back…

… But I want my children to come home too.