Embargoed until 9.10 am
Wednesday 26 September 2007

Rt Hon Helen Clark
Prime Minister

Speech at

the opening of

Concepts of Nationhood:
a symposium to mark the centenary of the proclamation of Dominion status for New Zealand

Grand Hall
Parliament

9.10 am

Wednesday 26 September 2007

A century ago today, Prime Minister Sir Joseph Ward stood on the steps of what is now the Parliamentary Library and read the proclamation announcing that New Zealand was no longer a colony, but rather a dominion within the British Empire.

This was a significant milestone in the development of New Zealand’s nationhood. I welcome those present today to mark this important anniversary.

Today’s symposium is about New Zealand’s concepts of nationhood — including the symbols, the events, and the ideas and values which have contributed to the fabric of our country’s identity. Leading commentators, historians, and constitutional lawyers have been asked to reflect today on our changing concepts of nationhood since the 1907 proclamation of dominion status. Some will also ponder what may lie ahead.

Whether we are talking about the past, the present or the future, the question of what constitutes this place we call home is important - both for how we see ourselves, and how the world sees us.

Ideas about what contributes to our country’s identity have changed a lot over the course of a century, partly as we positioned ourselves in the world, and partly as we have become more comfortable with ourselves.

Of most significance perhaps is our growing willingness to acknowledge both mana whenua and our growing diversity as key components of what defines 21st century New Zealand.

Becoming a dominion took us a step up the ladder of the family of nations which made up the British Empire, and our forebears were keen to take that step at the time. Our ties to Britain were still strong - through the trade links, the flow of people, and the rich cultural traditions we inherited.

Few New Zealanders in 1907 wanted greater independence, but they did want to show the world that this was a country in its own right.

That desire to assert who we are is still held strongly today. We are proudly independent. We also keep the relationships we’ve always had, while forging new ties in our region. These latter ties are growing rapidly through trade, migration, and many other links.

Many different peoples now contribute to New Zealand’s identity, and we can recognise and celebrate each one of them. It was not always thus – as episodes of intolerance and exclusion in our past have shown. I hope that a defining feature of 21st century New Zealand will be its inclusion of all who live here.

Our creative people can both reflect and contribute to the shaping of our identity.

Writer Witi Ihimaera has referred to our ‘literary whakapapa’ — the blend of cultures and traditions which produce the essence of modern New Zealand writing. In music, in art, or in writing. Today in the performing and visual arts too, a strong sense of New Zealand-ness shines through.

As Prime Minister, and Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage, I have looked for opportunities for New Zealanders to be able to gain more information about and insights into the events and phenomena which have shaped our country’s identity.

The creative sector does have a big part to play in that. Through the media of screen and the performing arts, digital media and radio, and literature and the visual arts, we do now have many more opportunities to see New Zealand reflected and learn more about ourselves.

I have also been keen to encourage a greater interest in our history, not least in the mass mobilisations which saw close to a quarter of a million of our people deployed off shore in the conflicts of the twentieth century and which had a marked impact on our society.

To that end, there have been a number of memorial projects in recent years; not least among them the New Zealand Memorial in London. It was dedicated last year, and symbolises our country’s substantial shared heritage in war and peace with Britain, as well as asserting our distinct identity.

New Zealand war memorials have also been established in Pusan in Korea, and in Canberra. A sculpture of a New Zealand soldier will soon stand on the ANZAC Bridge in Canberra

At home New Zealand took the return of the Unknown Warrior in 2004 and the dedication of his tomb to heart, and it has greatly boosted interest in and visitor numbers to the National War Memorial.

Now planning is proceeding on the New Zealand Memorial Park which will adjoin the precinct of the National War Memorial, and the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior.

All these monuments stand as symbols of what has gone before, provoking inquiry and reflection about our nation’s past and why we did what we did.

So do the significant anniversaries of New Zealand military engagements. Next week, for example, I will be with other New Zealanders in Belgium to commemorate our role in the Battle of Passchendaele ninety years ago. The first day of that battle, October 12, ranks as New Zealand’s worst ever military disaster in terms of lives lost on a single day. Surely that should not be forgotten – or recorded as a mere footnote of history? It traumatised families throughout the land at the time.

To ensure we do not forget, a Shared Memories Arrangement will be signed next week with the government of Flanders. A similar arrangement was entered into with France three years ago.

Other significant commemorations in recent years have occurred at Gallipoli; in Crete, and at El Alamein, Cassino, and Normandy; and in Korea. Most of these commemorations have usually been structured to include both veterans and young New Zealanders. The latter have been chosen through essay competitions encouraging them to learn more about the experiences of earlier generations, and the impact they had on our nation’s development and identity.

In other like projects, an artist’s residency has been established near Gallipoli, ensuring ongoing reflection on the legacy of the New Zealanders who served there.

And dozens of veterans have been interviewed for the Ministry of Culture and Heritage's oral history project, with eight major volumes on the Second World War now complete.

The Government has also taken a leading role in the use of digital media to make information about New Zealand’s historic and natural heritage more widely available. The Ministry of Culture and Heritage is responsible for the world’s first online encyclopedia, Te Ara; the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography has gone on the internet; and our country's main history website, nzhistory.net.nz, has been expanded.

Our country’s sense of difference and identity owes much to our values and how we express them on the world stage, in times of both peace and war. We’ve long had a firm commitment to nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. Our armed forces serve around the world as peacekeepers. We are stepping up our commitment to development assistance, especially in our own region.

Such positions shape perceptions of us in the eyes of the international community – they are an expression of our identity.

That identity is also moulded by our physical place. New Zealand is a land of great beauty with a rich natural heritage. We pride ourselves on our clean and green environment. Our challenge now is to work harder on the substance behind that slogan. Becoming more sustainable is not only a contribution to the global environment ; it’s an investment in our economic future too in a world which is beginning to care a lot about greenhouse gas emissions and carbon footprints. And the importance of being sustainable may well come to be seen as a core New Zealand value this century.

Throughout our history, and in the present too, symbols have been important, and I know Sir Geoffrey Palmer will discuss some of them this afternoon.

The move to dominion status in 1907 is one of those key events with symbolic status in our story of nationhood, and it is that which brings us here today. It brought no tangible change for New Zealand — even though at the time some saw it as our 4th of July. It did however, shift perceptions — and perceptions and symbols matter in our nation’s story.

Solid constitutional change came later, when New Zealand ratified the Statute of Westminster, giving our Parliament full legislative powers within this country. This year we also mark the sixtieth anniversary of that critical event.

Among today’s speakers, David McIntyre, Andrew Ladley and Alison Quentin-Baxter will acknowledge these important milestones which have been passed on the way to becoming the nation we are today.

But identity is never fixed, and there are always many strands to it — there always have been, and we’ve always talked about them, as Giselle Byrnes will tell us.

Diversity is what makes our culture rich and vibrant. Maori views of identity and concepts of ‘New Zealand’ are central to that. Ngatata Love will discuss this aspect of our identity as it applies to both past and present. Later in the day, Charles Royal will look back into our past in order to look forward. Colin James will do the same from a different perspective.

I want to thank all today’s speakers for contributing to what should be a stimulating day. I hope all present find the day stimulating, and relevant to our evolving nation.

For our path of nationhood has been one of evolution, not revolution. That in itself is something of value. All of our speakers recognise that — the gradual and constant process of change, as we develop and modify our distinct voice, attuned to the time and place in which we live.

The place of our nation and our national identity in a rapidly changing world has interested New Zealanders for a long time. Those who come after us will find it as fascinating. And they will find it just as challenging as we do today.

I would now like to introduce our first speaker.

James Belich is one of this country’s most distinguished and well-known historians. He is currently Professor of History at the University of Auckland, but I understand that in the New Year he returns to Wellington to take up a Chair in History at the Stout Research Centre at Victoria University.

Jamie has produced some of New Zealand’s most influential and stimulating historical works. The New Zealand Wars and the Victorian Interpretation of Racial Conflict, published in 1986, became the basis for a television documentary series in 1998.

His two-volume history of New Zealand, published in 1996 and 2001, was a major reinterpretation of this country’s past — and as such, generated considerable debate. Jamie has won numerous prizes and scholarships for his work, and in the 2006 Queen’s Birthday Honours List he was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for service to historic research.

Please join me in welcoming James Belich to speak on the topic of ‘Globalisation and the nation’.

ENDS

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