✨ Government Address
It is fitting on this occasion that I should record the undying
gratitude of the nation towards all those who fought and worked,
and, in diverse ways, contributed so selflessly towards the
attainment of victory.
It shall not be forgotten that, for the sake of their fellow-
countrymen and in the cause of freedom and justice, so many
of the bravest of the two races, Maori and pakeha, gave up their
lives.
It is, I know, the fervent desire of all that the gratitude of
the nation should find expression in practical form, and that all
possible assistance should be rendered to those who have
returned, and to the dependants of those who have fallen. To
this wholehearted resolve must be added the pledge that the
people of New Zealand will do their utmost to ensure that there
will be no recurrence of the tragedy of war which has engulfed
the world for six long and terrible years.
Technically, the state of war still exists, and it is indeed
most disappointing that the armistice regime should be so
prolonged and that the final treaties which should usher in the
state of peace should still be undetermined.
My Ministers share to the full the disquiet engendered by
the lack of unity which has characterized peoples who were so
united in the achievement of a common cause but a few months
ago, and, because they are convinced that the maintenance of
peace throughout the world is as vitally important as was the
achievement of victory, my Advisers continue to make their
fullest contribution towards the attainment of a just and lasting
peace.
To this end my Government pledged itself to uphold and
carry out the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations,
which was signed a year ago to-day. Throughout the period
since the cessation of hostilities my Ministers have devoted
much care and attention to the problems associated with the
conduct of international affairs.
My Prime Minister attended the first session of the General
Assembly of the United Nations held in London in January and
February of this year, and his report will be placed before you
at a very early date.
One of the matters to be discussed at the second part of the
first session of the General Assembly of the United Nations,
which is to meet in New York in September, will be that of
trusteeship. In accordance with the provisions of the Charter
of the United Nations it is necessary for New Zealand, after
discussion with the ‘states directly concerned,’ to submit a
trusteeship agreement which will replace the League Mandate
for Western Samoa. This document will be placed before you
at as early a date as negotiations with the other States permit.
My Minister of Finance, the Right Hon. Walter Nash,
represented New Zealand at the Conference of Prime Ministers
recently held in London, at which were discussed problems
relating to the international situation, the proposed peace
treaties, British Commonwealth relations and defence, and the
advantages to be derived from co-operation on economic and
welfare matters in the South Pacific and in South East Asia.
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VUW Te Waharoa —
NZ Gazette 1946, No 44
NZLII —
NZ Gazette 1946, No 44
✨ LLM interpretation of page content
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Opening of the Third Session of the Twenty-seventh Parliament
(continued from previous page)
🏛️ Governance & Central Administration26 June 1946
Parliament, Opening Address, Governor-General, WWII, Victory, Peace, United Nations, Western Samoa, International Relations