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May 2009

Chief Of Army - Change Of Command

Submitted by Heather Roy on Mon, 04/05/2009 - 1:27pm

Speech to Chief of Army Change of Command Ceremony and Farewell to Major General Louis Gardiner ONZM; Waiouru Military Camp, Waiouru; Thursday, April 30 2009.

Tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa.

It is my great pleasure to participate in today's ceremony as the representative of the New Zealand Government.  We have welcomed the new Chief of Army, Major General Rhys Jones, and I look forward to continuing the working relationship we developed in his position as Joint Force Commander.

However, it is with both pleasure and sadness that I join with you all to farewell the outgoing Chief of Army.

Time - so they say - goes by faster as you get older.

I first met General Lou three years ago.  It was here at Rongomaraeroa o Nga Hau e Wha, the New Zealand Army Marae.  I was a recruit on basic training.  He was the newly chosen rangatira of Ngati Tumatauenga.

ATC Association of New Zealand National council

Submitted by Heather Roy on Sat, 16/05/2009 - 9:45pm

Hon Heather Roy speech to the Air Training Corps Association of New Zealand National council; Trentham; Saturday, May 16 2009.

Air Marshal Sir Richard Bolt, Air Vice Marshal Peter Adamson, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. Good morning and thank you for inviting me to speak to you this morning.

The Air Training Corps enjoys a proud history. While you officially came into existence in 1941, the ancestry of the New Zealand Cadet Forces traces back to the first school-based unit in Otago in 1864. I was particularly pleased to have cadets included in my delegated authorities as Associate Minister of Defence and I certainly didn't wait around for the formalities to be complete before getting stuck in to learning more about your people, systems and structure.