Source: New Zealand Governor General

E kui mā, e koro mā, e huihui mai nei I tenei ra, tēnei aku mihi nui ki a koutou. Kia ora mai tātou katoa.

I’d like to specifically acknowledge: Mr Bill Mansfield, Chair of the Southern Seabirds Trust; Ms Janice Molloy, Trust Convenor; and Mr Al Brown, chef, restauranteur and food communicator.

And to all our award recipients and guests here this evening – tēnā koutou katoa.

It is my great pleasure to welcome you all to Government House Auckland for this year’s Seabird Smart Awards – the first of these awards I’ve had the pleasure of hosting as Governor-General. I must firstly note that my husband, Dr Davies, is a great seabird enthusiast – and that he was especially delighted to hear we would be hosting these awards here tonight.

As a country, New Zealand has a particular affinity for birds – and I’m sure it wouldn’t be an overstatement to say that they’re a significant part of our national character. I was proud to learn that Aotearoa has a greater diversity of seabirds breeding on its shores and islands, and feeding in its waters, than any other country in the world. 

In December last year, Dr Davies and I had the pleasure of visiting the Chatham Islands, and hearing about some of the remarkable seabird life in that beautiful and remote place. We learned about the Chatham Islands tāiko, with its extraordinary burrows, sometimes five metres in length, dug to avoid land-based predators – and the tōrea, with its uniquely-speckled eggs, designed, as they are, to blend in perfectly with those distinctive, grey-speckled sands of Rēkohu.

Two such beautiful creatures, living in perfect harmony with their natural environment – and both tragically on the verge of extinction. I understand that some ecologists have referred to seabirds as ‘ecosystem engineers’ – with entire islands and coastal ecosystems relying on their presence to survive and thrive, making their loss all the more significant and damaging.

As both direct and indirect human activity is responsible for this loss of seabird life, we bear a corresponding responsibility to do all we can to reverse this loss and protect these precious creatures. As Governor-General, I am pleased to be able to recognise the work of some of those carrying that mantle of responsibility here this evening.

It was American writer and naturalist, Aldo Leopold, who said that conservation is ‘a positive exercise of skill and insight, not merely a negative exercise of abstinence and caution.’ Each of this evening’s recipients embodies these words – through the positive actions you’ve taken, the skill and insight you’ve demonstrated, and, in turn, the deep care you’ve shown for New Zealand’s seabird life.

I also wish to take this opportunity to recognise Bill, as Chair, and Janice, and Convenor and Founder of the Southern Seabirds Trust, as well as all your staff, volunteers, and sponsors – for the powerful work that you do, working alongside the fishing industry in New Zealand and internationally, to foster seabird-safe practices.

It brings me great pleasure to note that His Majesty King Charles III, as Patron of the Southern Seabirds Trust, and passionate conservationist, has also passed on his heartfelt congratulations to all those involved in this evening, and who have been honoured with an award tonight. I understand that a copy of the letter from Buckingham Palace will be available to award recipients, and is also on display for all those in attendance here this evening.

Inspired by his time on Easter Island, the great Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda, wrote The Art of Birds, which includes the following lines I thought fitting for this occasion:

I’m an incorrigible birder,
I cannot reform my ways –
though the birds
do not invite me
to the treetops,
to the ocean
or the sky,
to their conversation, their banquet,
I invite myself,
to watch them
without missing a thing…
And bird by bird I’ve come to know the earth:
and received those wings in my soul.

My sincerest thanks and congratulations once again to all of this evening’s recipients – and to all those here tonight who contribute so significantly to the wellbeing of New Zealand’s rare, diverse, and truly precious seabird life.

Nō reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātou katoa.

MIL OSI