Posted on 03/11/2021
10am Wednesday, 3 November 2021Oaks Hotel 89 Courtenay Place,Wellington NZ 6011, and online / virtually
10am Wednesday, 3 November 2021
Oaks Hotel 89 Courtenay Place,
Wellington NZ 6011, and online / virtually
Andrew Jefferies
Chief Executive
Tena koutou,
Tena koutou,
Tena koutou katoa.
Greetings and G’day.
I begin by acknowledging the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we are meeting today, and pay my respects to the elders past and present.
And I would like to welcome those of you who are joining in person in Wellington and by video, with a special acknowledgment to those joining from parts of the world where travel is not possible.
These strange times remind me of one of the founding stories of Australia.
The Dreaming, or Dreamtime, is the name for the 'time before time'. When Ancestor Beings emerged in darkness, they bought the sun with them. It flooded the Earth in light, and they created, water, air, earth, fire, and lastly the moon and stars.
Their work done; the Ancestors returned into the earth.
You can hear an echo of their spirits and mirages in the songs of the Aboriginal people
One of those songs ends with the words:
"I am this land
And this land is me."
I remind us of this because now, we have become a part of Australia.
In this past year, our company embarked on one of our most significant stories. We have stepped into the Northern Territory and made ourselves part of the place.