Coastguard conference 2009
25/09/09 18:00 Filed in: Speeches
Opening speech to the Royal New Zealand Coastguard Annual Conference 2009
As patrons of Canterbury Coastguard, Carole and I have much pleasure in being here for the annual conference of the NZ Coastguard.
I’ve been the Patron for the Canterbury Coastguard for a number of years. Each time I meet with you I’m struck again by your dedication and personal commitment to serve your fellow New Zealanders.
It’s people like you who keep voluntary organisations alive and running. This is not unimportant as your organisation also happens to save lives.
I’m sure you look at the way parliament is portrayed in the media and wonder if all politicians are driven by a similar desire to serve. I am reminded, in this regard, of a story I heard recently.
A priest was being honoured by the local coastguard at his retirement dinner after 25 years in the parish. The local MP who was also a member of his parish had been chosen to make the presentation and give a speech at the dinner.
The politician was delayed, so the priest decided to say his own few words while they waited. He said: "I got my first impression of this town from the first confession I heard here. I thought I had been assigned to a terrible place. The very first person who entered my confessional told me he had stolen money from some old, retired pensioners and when questioned by the police, he was able to lie his way out of it. He had also stolen money from his parents, embezzled from his former employer, and had an affair with his former boss's wife. I was appalled,” said the priest.
“But as the days went on I came to learn that most of the people were not like that at all and I had, indeed, come to a fine parish full of good and loving people, with a dedicated Coastguard service of the highest quality.”
Just as the priest finished his talk, the MP arrived full of apologies for being late. He immediately began to make the presentation by starting his speech.
"I'll never forget the first day our parish priest arrived," said the politician. "In fact, I had the honour of being the first person to go to him for confession.....”
It’s inspiring to read about some of your members who won the Coastguard National Awards in 2008, and to see some of the 2009 nominees here tonight.
It's easy for us to take your service for granted. But what would we do if we didn't have people around who give so much to helping others?
I’d like to pay tribute to the 2008 Award winners: Richard Packham from Rotorua; Chris Henshaw from Mana; and Rosie Musters from Nelson, and to the 2009 nominees.
All of you here are heroes. There are more than 2,500 members of the Coastguard across New Zealand. You are dedicated active volunteers who freely give over 300,000 hours of your time every year. You are ordinary people like the rest of us, holding down jobs and bringing up your families, but in your spare time, you do extraordinary things.
Rescuing people and keeping us safe in and on the water is not easy. I know you work long and irregular hours, you witness traumatic events, and each time you go out you put your own safety at risk to go to the aid often, of a total stranger.
These risks were brought home to me in March this year, when five crew members from the Coastguard vessel Tutukaka were injured when their rescue vessel struck rocks in bad weather.
You risk your lives all the time.
That’s why I was very pleased last year to advocate in Cabinet with colleagues like Annette King, that a levy from petrol and diesel used by recreational boaties should help fund the work of the Coastguard.
You need all the funding you can get, and it doesn’t make sense for boaties filling their boats with fuel to pay a road tax.
The hours that you spend helping to raise money; the effort that goes in to getting a boat like the new rescue vessel in Gisborne; the care and attention you have to give to administration; your commitment to having two people in your operations room 24 hours a day ... it all adds up.
I know that some of your members would like to see more funding to invest on community education. There is an urgent need for boating education to be given to the New Zealand community by the coastguard service.
People still go out in boats without life jackets, without rescue beacons, and in greater numbers than their boats or dinghys can handle safely.
As we head into summer, I’m sure you are gearing yourselves up for a busy time. Because for all your efforts to educate the public, in schools and at fishing tournaments, and throughout the community, people will still go out onto the water and get into trouble.
The tragic death of a child on Lake Taupo recently ignited a heated debate on whether we need licenses for boaties, just like we have licenses for car drivers. Certainly, we must keep the pressure up for boating education.
While the skill of our top yachties is world class, there is also a need for the fundamental skills of seamanship and boathandling to be spread more widely in the boating community.
There is still a large number of people who think nothing bad could ever happen to them.
New Zealanders love and treasure our oceans, lakes and rivers environment but we also need first class marine skills if we are to get the most out of our boating activities and be safe at the same time.
I was impressed to see how innovative you have been this year to raise awareness about safety: you used Trade Me to auction off rides across the Whanganui River bar on your super boat, Earthrace! I understand you had over 29,000 hits on TradeMe, and raised about $10,000.
Without you all we wouldn't have a Coastguard. And without the Coastguard, marine recreation and our Kiwi lifestyle on the water would be very different.
We're blessed with the marvellous coastline and waterways that we have in New Zealand.
We think of ourselves as a small country, because our population is small. But our coastline is enormous by global standards. And most of our coastline is readily accessible for pleasure craft as well as for commercial users.
It makes for a fantastic lifestyle. But it also inevitably makes for mishaps and accidents.
A lot of them are minor - people run out of fuel, get stranded or run across a minor problem. And the coastguard is there as a safety service to help them out.
Sometimes though, the mishaps are catastrophic. And then the help the Coastguard is able to provide is critical. It literally makes the difference between life and death, between recovery and tragedy.
On an average day the Coastguard around New Zealand makes ten rescues. That’s over 3500 incidents every year. And it’s potentially over 5600 people who may not be with us today if it wasn’t for you.
It's well known that one of the great privileges of living in Canterbury is that our weather conditions can be rugged at times. And whenever we hear of boats losing their way or needing help in those conditions, we also hear of brave coastguard efforts to help them.
For shift after shift, rescue teams from the Coastguard are going out into arduous cold and rough conditions hoping to make a rescue, knowing that when they come home, families will be waiting, desperate for good news.
That's what you're signing up to when you join the NZ Coastguard service and it is a heavy responsibility.
The New Zealand Coastguard Service helps to save lives and it's no wonder, therefore, that there is a special pride and sense of achievement in Coastguard volunteers as a result.
For all the work you do as volunteers in making our water safer, I want to express gratitude on behalf of the whole New Zealand community. It's a privilege to be here and for both Carole and I to be patrons of your local organisation. Carole and I congratulate you on your work over the last year and we congratulate and commend the people receiving recognition today and in the years gone by.
We wish you all the very best for the coming year.
As patrons of Canterbury Coastguard, Carole and I have much pleasure in being here for the annual conference of the NZ Coastguard.
I’ve been the Patron for the Canterbury Coastguard for a number of years. Each time I meet with you I’m struck again by your dedication and personal commitment to serve your fellow New Zealanders.
It’s people like you who keep voluntary organisations alive and running. This is not unimportant as your organisation also happens to save lives.
I’m sure you look at the way parliament is portrayed in the media and wonder if all politicians are driven by a similar desire to serve. I am reminded, in this regard, of a story I heard recently.
A priest was being honoured by the local coastguard at his retirement dinner after 25 years in the parish. The local MP who was also a member of his parish had been chosen to make the presentation and give a speech at the dinner.
The politician was delayed, so the priest decided to say his own few words while they waited. He said: "I got my first impression of this town from the first confession I heard here. I thought I had been assigned to a terrible place. The very first person who entered my confessional told me he had stolen money from some old, retired pensioners and when questioned by the police, he was able to lie his way out of it. He had also stolen money from his parents, embezzled from his former employer, and had an affair with his former boss's wife. I was appalled,” said the priest.
“But as the days went on I came to learn that most of the people were not like that at all and I had, indeed, come to a fine parish full of good and loving people, with a dedicated Coastguard service of the highest quality.”
Just as the priest finished his talk, the MP arrived full of apologies for being late. He immediately began to make the presentation by starting his speech.
"I'll never forget the first day our parish priest arrived," said the politician. "In fact, I had the honour of being the first person to go to him for confession.....”
It’s inspiring to read about some of your members who won the Coastguard National Awards in 2008, and to see some of the 2009 nominees here tonight.
It's easy for us to take your service for granted. But what would we do if we didn't have people around who give so much to helping others?
I’d like to pay tribute to the 2008 Award winners: Richard Packham from Rotorua; Chris Henshaw from Mana; and Rosie Musters from Nelson, and to the 2009 nominees.
All of you here are heroes. There are more than 2,500 members of the Coastguard across New Zealand. You are dedicated active volunteers who freely give over 300,000 hours of your time every year. You are ordinary people like the rest of us, holding down jobs and bringing up your families, but in your spare time, you do extraordinary things.
Rescuing people and keeping us safe in and on the water is not easy. I know you work long and irregular hours, you witness traumatic events, and each time you go out you put your own safety at risk to go to the aid often, of a total stranger.
These risks were brought home to me in March this year, when five crew members from the Coastguard vessel Tutukaka were injured when their rescue vessel struck rocks in bad weather.
You risk your lives all the time.
That’s why I was very pleased last year to advocate in Cabinet with colleagues like Annette King, that a levy from petrol and diesel used by recreational boaties should help fund the work of the Coastguard.
You need all the funding you can get, and it doesn’t make sense for boaties filling their boats with fuel to pay a road tax.
The hours that you spend helping to raise money; the effort that goes in to getting a boat like the new rescue vessel in Gisborne; the care and attention you have to give to administration; your commitment to having two people in your operations room 24 hours a day ... it all adds up.
I know that some of your members would like to see more funding to invest on community education. There is an urgent need for boating education to be given to the New Zealand community by the coastguard service.
People still go out in boats without life jackets, without rescue beacons, and in greater numbers than their boats or dinghys can handle safely.
As we head into summer, I’m sure you are gearing yourselves up for a busy time. Because for all your efforts to educate the public, in schools and at fishing tournaments, and throughout the community, people will still go out onto the water and get into trouble.
The tragic death of a child on Lake Taupo recently ignited a heated debate on whether we need licenses for boaties, just like we have licenses for car drivers. Certainly, we must keep the pressure up for boating education.
While the skill of our top yachties is world class, there is also a need for the fundamental skills of seamanship and boathandling to be spread more widely in the boating community.
There is still a large number of people who think nothing bad could ever happen to them.
New Zealanders love and treasure our oceans, lakes and rivers environment but we also need first class marine skills if we are to get the most out of our boating activities and be safe at the same time.
I was impressed to see how innovative you have been this year to raise awareness about safety: you used Trade Me to auction off rides across the Whanganui River bar on your super boat, Earthrace! I understand you had over 29,000 hits on TradeMe, and raised about $10,000.
Without you all we wouldn't have a Coastguard. And without the Coastguard, marine recreation and our Kiwi lifestyle on the water would be very different.
We're blessed with the marvellous coastline and waterways that we have in New Zealand.
We think of ourselves as a small country, because our population is small. But our coastline is enormous by global standards. And most of our coastline is readily accessible for pleasure craft as well as for commercial users.
It makes for a fantastic lifestyle. But it also inevitably makes for mishaps and accidents.
A lot of them are minor - people run out of fuel, get stranded or run across a minor problem. And the coastguard is there as a safety service to help them out.
Sometimes though, the mishaps are catastrophic. And then the help the Coastguard is able to provide is critical. It literally makes the difference between life and death, between recovery and tragedy.
On an average day the Coastguard around New Zealand makes ten rescues. That’s over 3500 incidents every year. And it’s potentially over 5600 people who may not be with us today if it wasn’t for you.
It's well known that one of the great privileges of living in Canterbury is that our weather conditions can be rugged at times. And whenever we hear of boats losing their way or needing help in those conditions, we also hear of brave coastguard efforts to help them.
For shift after shift, rescue teams from the Coastguard are going out into arduous cold and rough conditions hoping to make a rescue, knowing that when they come home, families will be waiting, desperate for good news.
That's what you're signing up to when you join the NZ Coastguard service and it is a heavy responsibility.
The New Zealand Coastguard Service helps to save lives and it's no wonder, therefore, that there is a special pride and sense of achievement in Coastguard volunteers as a result.
For all the work you do as volunteers in making our water safer, I want to express gratitude on behalf of the whole New Zealand community. It's a privilege to be here and for both Carole and I to be patrons of your local organisation. Carole and I congratulate you on your work over the last year and we congratulate and commend the people receiving recognition today and in the years gone by.
We wish you all the very best for the coming year.