Mayor's Speech - Reception for Wellington MPs

Members of Parliament, councillors, council colleagues. Welcome to the Council Chamber, and a particularly warm welcome and belated congratulations to all of you from the new intake of MPs.

Not that you will feel particularly new now. If a week is a long time in politics, the three months since the election must have seemed a lifetime, with the rigorous workout the Prime Minister has been giving you in Parliament. But a very warm welcome anyway.

Thank you to the Parliamentary old hands who have come along. It's comforting to know there are people here who can keep order if the new kids start to misbehave and discuss politics.

And if anyone goes into urgency, the loos are just outside the Council Chamber doors.

I know every one of you comes from the best place in New Zealand, and have probably told your voters that. But I'd just like to mention a few of Wellington's virtues so you know what's REALLY the best place.

Firstly, I'd like to apologise if any non-Wellingtonians arrived expecting to find a dull, grey city. James K Baxter's famous reference to the ‘sterile whore of a thousand bureaucrats' is woefully out of date on two counts.

Much work has been done to transform this into an exciting, colourful, vibrant city. There's always something going on. And it has been a long time since there were only a thousand bureaucrats here. But I digress.

The Prime Minister's demands allowing, some of you may have found time to sneak out to have a look round already. I hope you liked what you saw.

I am proud to say Wellington is New Zealand's arts and culture capital. We have a fantastic range of arts events and the headquarters of a number of national arts organisations.

The NZSO, National Library, National Film Archive, National School of Dance and Drama, the National Opera, Royal New Zealand Ballet. Any Aucklanders here - hands off.

And we have four professional theatres - Downstage, Toi Whaakari, Bats and Circa.

We have Te Papa and the biggest squid you'll ever see. We have our theatres, cinemas, street sculptures, concerts, festivals, carnivals and maybe the odd hobbit.

We have fine dining and fantastic cafes, bars and clubs. In fact, we have more cafes per capita than anywhere outside New York, though obviously you'll all be far too busy to be able to take advantage of that.

We're blessed in sports too. We have the mighty Hurricanes, the Lions... which reminds me: Auckland members should contact Wellington RFU to arrange to visit the Ranfurly Shield, which you won't have seen since September.

We have All Blacks tests, the Sevens, test and domestic cricket, netball, basketball, soccer - and the best stadium in the country. Anyone used to watching teams play on building sites may be keen to see a stadium with seats that go all the way round.

We are also very proud of Wellington's natural beauty, the harbour and hills, the fact that you can be in dense bush or on a sandy beach just minutes from the city centre.

You can be biking at Makara Peak in the morning, windsurfing on the harbour at lunchtime and attending an opera theatre or cafe in the evening - all minutes from the CBD.

If you find yourself in hot water, as I understand can happen from time to time in politics, you can always head to Oriental Bay and cool off in our celebrated clear water - 500 metres from a working port.

Sometimes when the pressure's on you may feel inclined to run for the hills. I can recommend Mt Victoria. If you're really in trouble, try the Rimutakas.

Given the often precarious nature of your job, you will probably empathise with endangered species.

You might be heartened by a visit to Zealandia, the famous Karori sanctuary, where some of our most at-risk creatures are breeding and flourishing - though it must be noted that in their case it's an environment free of predators.

The sanctuary is, by the way, the only must-see Wellington attraction after Te Papa mentioned in the Lonely Planet guide.

Last month a survey found Wellington to be New Zealand's best place to bring up children. Another declared it New Zealand's safest city. Wellingtonians are on average better educated and better paid than other New Zealanders. Probably better looking, too.

But I don't want to boast. It's just that I'm proud to be the Mayor of this great city. I hope that, whatever political life may throw at you, non-Wellingtonians among you will always remember your time here as well-spent in a city that welcomed you and stopped you getting too bored between Parliamentary duties.

Thank you for coming, thank you for listening. Enjoy this evening and enjoy your time in the Capital.

Thank you.

The speech delivered may vary from this text.

Department Details:
Mayor's Office